LavenderLily

Take five overweight people who are struggling to slim down and ask them what they think their main obstacle might be, and you’ll get at least seven different answers.  Bad food choices, stress eating, mindless eating, not enough exercise, genetics… the list goes on and on.

 Until now, I never was really able to come to grips with MY issue.  I’m a (mostly) healthy eater - I’m one of those people that actually LOVES steamed broccoli, spinach and grilled fish.  The salad bar is my best friend… I never dump cheese, eggs, meat, nuts or fatty dressings on my plate, and always load up on the darkest and/or brightest veggies I can find.  I seldom snack, and stress is more likely to make me lose my appetite than increase it.  As for exercise… I’m not perfect, but I’m better than I used to be.

Weight Watchers is supposed to keep me in check, and if I followed the plan, it would work very well.  But I’m a “delusional eater”.  I’m one of those people that thinks I’m doing great simply because I’m eating nutritious food.  What I haven’t been able to accept - at least, not until today - is that QUANTITY MATTERS. 

I’ve been eating all the right foods, alright…. I just eat too. damn. much of it. 

I don’t saddle down to a 1/3 lb. bacon cheeseburger and onion rings… instead, I hit the local Souper Salad or Jason’s Deli and tuck into a huge plate of salad with beans, okra, beets and fat-free dressing, one - maybe two - cups of soup (depending on what they’re serving), a sweet potato and maybe a breadstick or two.  I generally don’t eat dessert.  OK, maybe a piece of gingerbread in place of the breadsticks.  But still… there is simply no need for me to eat so much.  I need to develop some sense of control and accept the fact that eating a bucket of salad is no better, in terms of weight loss, than eating a small plate of sausage lasagna.

I don’t work for Progresso, and I don’t work for Weight Watchers.  I just want to make that very clear before I begin.

Last weekend I saw a commercial that really struck a chord with me, because it featured the one type of work dweeb that I just can’t stand:  the lunch scout.  I think you know who I’m talking about.  There’s always one person in the workplace who makes it his or her business to loom over every microwave dish or lunch pail within a 1-mile radius, verbally questioning its contents and critiquing whether or not it looks edible.  At some point, he or she will find a dish that is deemed to be something that he or she could never eat because they either brought something from home or they’re stuffed as a tick at a blood drive, but WOW, IT SURE LOOKS GOOD!!!!  And they will announce this OVER. AND OVER. AGAIN.  No matter how many times you offer them a taste, they couldn’t possibly have a single bite, but WOW, IT SMELLS WONDERFUL!!!

This particular commercial featured such a person, but she was drooling over a food that, until now, I had given little thought to… canned soup.  Seriously.  This person was getting her knickers twisted over CANNED SOUP.  It was this brand and flavor of soup, to be precise:

I was skeptical at first, because I’m not a “canned soup girl” by nature.  In the past, I had attempted to choke down endless cans of Campbell’s, only left to be disappointed by the taste of cheap pasta and tomato overkill.  Aside from their cream soups (which I only use for cooking), I have never liked what they have to offer.  There, I said it.

Looking for a convenient dinner that can be carried to work in my purse that is also light on Points, I cast my doubts aside and gave it a shot.  BOY, WAS I SURPRISED!!!  This is the best canned soup I’ve ever had!  Seriously!  I’ve ate this for dinner for the past four evenings - Vegetable and Noodle, Italian Vegetable and Southwestern Bean & Vegetable - and have been impressed with all of them.  They have a rich flavor and they don’t skimp on veggies OR pasta!   Each can has two servings, and the can advertises 0 Points a serving but when I calculated it myself it worked out to something like .8 Points per servings, so I guess they round down.  But, still, where are you going to find such a tasty, healthy, satisfying meal?  I have a whole can of soup along with 10 Triscuits (3 Points), and depending on what I had for lunch, I supplement it with a banana or grapefruit for dessert. 

I highly recommend all of them, but if you’re carb-adverse or just don’t like pasta (like one of my co-workers, who also doesn’t like bread, sandwiches, rice, chocolate, Miracle Whip, flour tortillas or any kind of cheese except cheddar), go for the Southwestern Bean & Vegetable.  No rice, no pasta…. just lots of veggies, black beans and tasty spices.  Mmm-mm-good INDEED!!!!

Last night my digestive system informed me, in it’s own special way, that it has…. erm…. mixed feelings about my new lifestyle.

On one hand, I do feel a little better now than I did last week - lighter, more energized.  Maybe it’s psychological.  I’ve only been back on WW for three days now, so I’m having a hard time believing that I’m already feeling the benefits.  While I’m slowly getting adjusted to the idea of eating less food (let’s not fool ourselves here… WW is all about eating less.  Nobody on WW ever tucks into a barrel of salad with fat-free dressing.), my body is responding with a silent - but no less demonstrative - alarm that translates roughly into, “WHAT THE #*@!???”

I’ve been battling a constant cycle of gurgling stomach, pinched cheeks, bathroom trip… wash, rinse and repeat.  I haven’t been drinking a lot of fluids (but I know I should) but there’s been an enormous increase in roughage.  Lots of veggies, acidic fruit - grapefruit, mostly - and vegetable soups.  Sadly, I haven’t benefitted much from this gross internal struggle in the way of weight loss.  Not yet, anyway.

The last time this happened, I was on the Cabbage Soup Diet.  Anyone ever tried it?  It really does work quite efficiently, as long as you stay with it.  If you venture past the “fruit on the 1st day, veggies on the second day, both on third” structure, you’re begging for trouble.  Eating normally after a couple of weeks of the Cabbage Soup Diet will make the pounds cling to your hips faster than Paris Hilton on a streetlamp during Mardi Gras. 

I seem to be doing a little better now, but I’m still kind of afraid to move at times. 

Ask your neighbor or the poor sap in the cubicle next to you what makes her skin crawl, and she’ll tell you there is really nothing more nauseating than a born-again dieter, marching triumphantly through the sugar-encrusted lives of “those other people”, cloaked in the velvet robes of self-righteousness and clutching calorie counters and exercise DVDs to their heaving, bloated bosoms. 

We really do think we know it all, don’t we?  Of course we do! 

We didn’t just roll out of Dunkin’ Donuts this morning with the innocent eyes of a babe.  Oh, no… we’ve seen things.  We know what those bad, bad breakfast cereals can do for you.  They’re loaded with carbs, sugars, preservatives, additives, benzytes, lactites, Hettites…. and that’s just the cereals that you thought were GOOD for you… you know, the ones that don’t have cartoon characters on the boxes.

Come to think of it, pretty much ALL breakfast food has bad news written all over it.  You can’t eat pork because of the fat and sodium content, so that rules out sausages, bacon and ham.  Forget about “meat substitutes”… even if you wouldn’t mind eating them (and I actually kinda like them), there’s that whole idea of eating “fake food” that freaks out the health experts.  Oh, and French people don’t eat fake food, and of course we have to copy the French people (rolls eyes derisively).  Rolls, biscuits, pancakes, waffles and toast are loaded with carbs, and eggs would be fine if it weren’t for the pesky cholesterol.  Fried potatoes?  PLEASE!!  Even fruit has sugar, and truthfully, it’s not that satisfying to those of us who prefer savory to sweet.  So what’s left to eat?

 Oatmeal.  (I’m now envisioning my mother at 7 years old, in her Catholic schoolgirl uniform, squealing, “Mmmm, OATMEAL!!”)

My mom is obsessed with oatmeal.  She swears that it helps you lose weight like nobody’s business, and has been eating it every morning for the past two weeks.   I think she would bathe in the stuff if she could.  But, hey, she’s lost quite a few pounds since she started doing it… 15 lbs. or so.  Obviously, most of it’s water weight, but I’m hankering for some quick, delusional water weight loss right about now, so maybe I’ll follow her lead.  Mmmm…. OATMEAL.

Have any of you heard of oatmeal as a miracle weight loss food?

So I’m back on Weight Watchers today.  It’s for real this time.  I did WW a couple of years ago, when I worked for a company that promoted weekly meetings and paid half the costs.  I lost about 65 lbs. back then, and of course when I left the company I thought I would have the discipline to keep up with it. 

Of course, I didn’t.

So now I’m right back where I started.  George Patton once said, ”Don’t pay twice for the same real estate.”.  Yes, I know that quote has been used to refer to “the process” by many a dieter.  Maybe I shouldn’t use it for that very reason.  I hate clichès and predictability, and frankly, it’s a moot point in my case.  My real estate has not only expanded past its borders, it now requires a whole new abstract journal.  Perhaps this quote is better suited to my current situation:

 “You can’t lead from the rear.” — Stonewall Jackson

Today’s food journal (I don’t use the journal provided on this site because it’s way too complicated and doesn’t accomodate WWers):

                                                                                                TOTAL POINTS    26