lose weight

Thanks whoever used me as their “Buddy Bucks” coupon for Nutrisystem. (I’m Harmless_Dilettante there.) I got a coupon for $30, a very nice birthday surprise.

If anybody else is starting Nutrisystem and wants to do this (we both get $30 off) the link is currently on this page:

http://www.nutrisystem.com/jsps_lil/lil-shop-pno.jsp

If that doesn’t work, drop me a line and I’ll see if I can’t get a code for you.

I also do the Daily Dose thing. It takes 50 clicks (one per day), but then you get a coupon for $10 off. I’m so cheap! The link for that is on the main page once you’re logged in.

Mr. Harmless and I had cake, ice cream, and a nice steak dinner with all the trimmings to celebrate my birthday. Then, a day of binging on leftovers. So, for my birthday I essentially got myself more fat. (Picture a big wrapped box with a pot belly in it, or possibly a big butt.) If there’s one thing I had enough of…

I need to remember that I always feel worse after these little binges. They actually make me unhappy. So, why the hell is this considered a treat again?

However, since it’s my 43rd, I’m quite sure the mystical significance of the number 43 will magically cull all unwanted fat from my body. Wouldn’t that be nice?

That would be me.

Up a pound Friday, and another this morning, it’s probably just water weight. (Crosses fingers.)

The bad news is that I look like this. Still, they got my hair and eye color right. That’s something.

Still I’ve stayed on my diet for two full days, mostly. More importantly I’ve lost half a pound. Yeah!

I think if I got as much instant gratification losing weight, as I get eating when I gain weight, I’d be better at slimming. Oh well, the time is going to pass regardless; I might as well spend it trying to better myself.

For now, I’m up a pound from the weight I was when I “started getting serious…again” on August 28th.

Total Weight Lost: 22 Pounds

Since: October 1, 2008

I’m up half a pound.

I accused my husband of subjecting me to reverse liposuction while I slept, but of course he denied it.

I was doing perfectly on my diet yesterday until I went out to dinner with my husband. He likes buffets.

For those who aren’t familiar with the American restaurant buffet, it consists of huge aisles of mostly mediocre food sitting out under heat lamps or on ice. You serve yourself, though there’s generally a waitress rationing out drinks. You pay a set price regardless of what you have, so over eating is pretty rampant.

The gelato at this place is really excellent. I took so much that my husband said, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but…” I ate him before he could finish that sentence. I’ll miss him.

Amazingly, the scale didn’t go up this morning. I guess listening to that little inner voice that said, “Eat one more bite and you’ll explode,” was the right thing to do.

Since my husband has reached and is maintaining his goal weight, I’ve decided to institute a ‘Be Like Mark’ campaign. He weighs himself everyday, so now I do too.

The good news is that I’ll have to be conscious of my weight everyday. (Because, as a woman in modern America there just aren’t enough reminders of how you should look? Damn you mass media!)

The bad news is every little gain or loss, even just water weight, is going to be staring me straight in the face. This morning I was mysteriously up a pound. Have I started to photosynthesize calories, or what? Argh!

I came. I saw. I binged.

I owed my angelic friend Kris a nice lunch out and yesterday it was time to pay up. (She looked after four of my horses when we were out of town for my father-in-law’s memorial service.) We went to Applebee’s, not fancy, but you do actually get out of the car and you don’t have to unwrap your food.

I quaffed a small sirloin, not terrible, plus a baked potato with minimal butter and a couple tablespoons sour cream. The green salad seemed like a good starter, but Applebee’s adds bacon, cheese, and croutons, plus some balsamic vinaigrette on the side just in case that’s not calorically dense enough. I’m pretty sure the steamed veggies were buttered, mostly because I buttered them. It was your basic coronary on a plate. Not so terrible, but not exactly weight loss fare. I probably would have been okay since I stuck to my Nutrisystem stuff for the rest of the day.

For some reason, (after a vicodin to counteract moving several thousand pounds of books in the last few days), I woke up at midnight and started eating everything not moving too fast. I even consumed an entire bag of crispy onions. Delicious, but the label should state: “a pound of calories in every bag!” and just get it over with.

Better luck today, I hope.

The last four months have been pretty challenging. The worst part was the death of my wonderful father-in-law. It made me really sad. When I’m sad, depressed, stressed, angry, anxious, breathing, etc. I eat. So I gained back nine pounds.

Today, I start sticking to my diet and losing the fat again!

Today’s goal: Stick to my Nutrisystem plan like glue. Weigh in. Write everything down. Stay busy and out of restaurants, coffee houses, and the kitchen.