161.2 - First Quarter 17lb 8" - How I Did It

4 inches off waist, 2 off tummy, 2 off each thigh, and other smaller achievements

While it seems my weight is unchanged, it really went up 3 pounds over a weekend with guests and is again on it's way down.

Today, I decided to give back and posted the following on 43things

"My goal is "Eating Well for a Year" rather than focusing on losing a certain amount of weight."

How I did it:

1. Beginning last Thanksgiving, I reviewed previous dieting successes and failures and began recording my daily calories and exercise at MyNetDiary
2. From Leo Babauta's Habit Change Cheatsheet, I gained structure and motivation
3. I had a clear goal, my daughter's early summer wedding but I needed insurance to avoid regaining
4. On January 2, I began a blog, A Year of Eating Wisely, making a public commitment to changing my life
5. I set a mini-goal for the first ten pound achievement, "rewarding" myself" with an extra day of Zumba weekly. As weight came off, I began to look forward to exercise.
6. My husband went on a stringent diet and backed off encouraging me with high calorie cooking and daily drinking

Lessons & tips:

* Know yourself, trust yourself.
* If you've ever successfully dieted before, you have a good idea of what
will work for you, what foods you can have around, what situations set
you off. Writing it all down helped clarify my personal behavior
allowing me to define when I would let go and how I would recover.
* The single largest positive factor was "removing my husband's influence", the temptations he brought to the table. He really loves foods and epitomizes lack of self-control. For him success has come from the Ideal Protein diet, paying $$ and eating a highly structured artificial diet (after three weeks he was off insulin, so it works for him).
* For me at age 63, I never again want to eat anything I don't like. That rules out dozens of diets. In the long run, it would be nice to imagine that I will be able to eat anything with abandon, but I know that's unlikely.
* Don't expect to find a perfect diet. My diet evolved week by week thereby avoiding boredom.
* Eat around the edges of the supermarket. I totally avoided the white stuff - bread, pasta, potatoes except on special occasions - it made them more special.
* The long-term goal is to identify foods and situations beyond your control, admit you will occasionally err, and know yourself well enough to believe you can recover.

Helpful Resources:

* MyNetDiary or something like it which required daily calorie counting for a month or two
* ZenHabits for motivation
* ZumbaWorks dance-exercise twice weekly to start; 3x currently
* Allegro Pilates (The Club At Spine And Sport Institute, Vero Beach) once weekly has made incredible improvements in my posture and balance
* Blogger daily at first until I found my rhythm, an analysis and journal of success and failure
* The Skinny by Louis Aronne, MD for insights to reorder what and when to eat
* Joe's Goals is set up to open every morning to remind me to track my weight daily

Day 85

164.0 Speed bump: Events happen

The food was tremendous at a shower I attended over the weekend. I decided in advance that I was happy not drinking. I showed some restraint on my first pass through all the wonderful buffet alternatives. This was not a day for dieting, but I definitely avoided crackers and took only a minimal serving of pasta. Then someone commented that the lobster bisque was the best they'd ever had, and it is one of my favorite foods. They were right, and when I saw someone else return for seconds, I was hot on their heels. But I was actively observing my behavior and realized that a lot of what enticed me was not as good as it could have been, i.e. not as good as warranted the amount I initially took. Lesson learned: take one of each item on a first pass through the buffet line, even if it is mussels and clams. It would also result in a plate that looks like skinny people always seem to manage to take. I'd rather go back for seconds than gamble on how much I would like anything. If the bisque rocks, indulge.

There sat a tier "wedding cake" done with fondant frosting which I have never tried and was warned might not taste good. So, although I often skip cakes, I went ahead and had a new experience. It was touched with almond and absolutely excellent. Then a tray of homemade tiramisu was delivered and, thanks to daughter #2 it is my now favorite dessert - it was heaven and I will soon be the owner of its recipe.

So, the fine for this dietary speed bump was 4.4 pounds. But, because I am actively thinking about 'eating wisely', I made a point of learning from the experience. After eating very sparing for two days afterward, I awoke today fully pardoned. I don't see how I could survive a cruise, but I hope for a life full of occasional speed bumps. On to 160.
Day 73

164.4 Wine, the other Chocolate

For some, I realize that to the prospect of giving wine is a diet show-stopper. Personally, I am driven by chocolate (bought a bag of Hersey's Bliss yesterday and ate just one). It's worth reiterating a point made in an earlier blog: a diet is not real life but a means to more quickly achieving a new set point from which you may learn to eat wisely. That said, I suspect that for me wine increases my appetite and I am quite willing to forgo it for a time.

This week, the New York Times reported http://nyti.ms/cPLRGT:
1. The risk of becoming overweight was almost 30 percent lower for women who consumed one or two alcohol beverages a day, compared with nondrinkers.
2. The trend toward less weight gain among drinkers doesn’t appear to hold true for men.
Yes, they threw in the caveat that if you don't drink, it's not recommended that you start. However, if you have been a drinker, isn't this great news.

It also fits with what I believe should be a basic philosophy of eating. If it contains no unknown, unpronounceable ingredients and people have been consuming it for ages, then it's probably okay. Sad to say, I immediately can think of two contradictions: corn, which has been so hybridized that it's now become a fattening substance, and fish, which through contamination might be hazard to your health. So, if you're willing to suffer the sulfites, wine looks like an okay deal.

A final plus for wine. A good friend suggests that switching to white wine may help rid belly fat. Worth trying. Definitely the absence of wine has almost totally removed my belly fat, but too many other variables have changed to fairly assess its impact.
Day 76

164.6 Finally, the breakthrough - Chocolate!?!

It been weeks of 165-167. Finally broke through this morning.

Denial and Reward.
Yesterday I started using a custom teeth-whitening kit. I had thought long about this and tried whitening strips unsuccessfully. Then at a recent cleaning, the topic came up and the hygienist waxed euphoric over its success. Since it is basically a permanent improvement, with only quarterly touch-ups allowed, I bought in. I discovered after committing to it, though that for one week, I should refrain from eating or drinking anything that could stain clothing. And THAT for a coffee addict was momentous. Giving up wine was nothing compared to this.

So enters CHOCOLATE. Recently in the news, several studies have extolled the benefits of chocolate. From time to time, I have been able to eat it with control; my older daughter is a master of self-discipline. When suddenly, my younger daughter tells me she too can eat only three squares a day, it's time to reconsider my relationship with this most desired food group. Last night after dinner, instead of coffee, I snuck into my bedroom and ate a Hersey square which was hidden away. Letting it slowly melt was utterly divine. If this is the year to learn to eat wisely, it must include allowing myself luxuries - a chocolate is the most lovely, small indulgence I can give myself, IF, and it's a big if, I can eat it without abuse.
Day 70

165.6 Walking: it may be the right thing to do, but it ain't happening

I've been such a walker, and have walked on an almost daily basis at certain times of my life. At one point in time, 15 years ago, I would walk five miles regularly.My goal at that time was to walk 20 miles a week. I have never experienced that again recently.

Having a job outside of the home, leaving early and returning late, changed that to weekend walks. An older dog made those walks slower. Then cold weather this winter essentially ended walking. I realize now that walking a dog doesn't compare to Zumba, but it could definitely get me exercising daily, especially now that dear Abbie has passed. I know that it would be beneficial to resume walking regularly.

So what's holding me back?
Day 64

166 A new car parable

My husband broke 200 today - cause for celebration as, for his weight, it marks the demarcation of being no longer "obese." So I said to him, "You've been given a new car." I asked him how it's going to look in a year. "If you treat it like the last car, then it's going to look old real soon." And that's what we're doing with our bodies. I was speaking to him, and then I started thinking about it, and it's true for me, too. I recently found a note card of resolutions dated January of 2008. I weighed 164 pounds then. It's a sad fact, and my resolution that year was to go down to 150. Instead, in a year and a half I put on 15 pounds. It was a very unpleasant year, professionally. And now I am back to where I started. I was given a new car, and I ran it down. And I can do it again, just as easily. So, I'm a year and a half older and, hopefully wiser. Let's do everything possible to maintain our losses.
Day 61

165.6 The target sticks

Who would have thought that the satisfaction of reaching my first goal, 165, would so quickly turn to frustration as it has become a new plateau. There's certainly not too much to write about with no movement in a week. A truly depressing discovery was stumbling on my Resolution List for 2008 which noted that my current weight was 164-165. Then, my target was 150. Now, I see 155 as a more realistic goal. Obviously getting there is going to take sheer determination with an emphasis on consistency with fewer binges. Current status: aerobics 3 times a week; Pilates once a week; no booze; minimal sweets, and I mean fruits and starchy vegetables. Where is the hole to go through?
Day 60