Week 7: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Moderation

Celebrating Grammy's Birthday

Total Weight Lost: 10 lbs

I spent the first half of this week celebrating the normal results of Nicole’s blood work and my mom’s last few days in Maryland by drinking lots of coke and eating french fries.  The second half of my week was spent trying to undo all the celebrating I did during the first half.  Nicole, for her part, spent the entire week nursing every two hours and gobbling down jars of pureed bananas, squash, and sweet potatoes in a valiant attempt to gain enough weight that the doctors would never again need to send her to the hospital for tests.

I’m just seven weeks into my healthy living journey, and I’m already having a hard time remembering why I started.  Sure, it feels great to see the excess pounds come off, and I know I’ve done a monumental thing for my body by over-hauling my diet, but the truth is, I miss all the junk.  I miss picking up a 20 oz coke and a pack of those waxy chocolate Hostess donuts as a reward for doing the grocery shopping.  I miss eating Lucky Charms for breakfast every morning.  I miss going out to eat and ordering whatever I feel like having, calories be darned.  And sometimes I look in the mirror and think, “It’s not so bad.  So what if I never lose all of my pregnancy weight?”  I believe that is why elastic pants were created.  And black.  Nothing says ‘slimming’ like a black sweat-suit, right?  It would only take a second to delete this whole blog.  If anybody asked about it I could just smile sweetly and say, “Me?  Trying to lose 30 pounds?  Why I’m sure I have no idea what you mean, and could you please just hold these chicken nuggets for a moment.  It’s hard getting the cap off my coke one-handed...”

But I’ve been down that road before, and I don’t like where it leads.  So I think I need to strike a balance: find a happy median between complete deprivation and utter indulgence.  I thought the Skinny Cow chocolate fudge ice cream might be just such a median until I started calculating the costs of that particular habit.  Two a day (no, not both for me--I got Chris hooked on the strawberry cheesecake ones) adds up to roughly $60 a month, and that’s not including tax.  I can’t quite fathom that much of our grocery budget being spent on ice cream.  Coke, maybe.  But not ice cream.

And speaking of coke, what is it about that stuff that is so irresistible to me?  I know the caffeine may play a part, but lots of things have caffeine.  I’ve never been able to substitute with iced tea, coffee, or even diet coke.  I watched a documentary on Coca-Cola a year or two ago, and it explained a little about the marketing campaign.  They basically associated coke with fun, implying that it is nearly impossible to have one without the other.  This campaign has been wildly successful with me, because nothing goes better with fun than an ice cold (but without ice) coca cola.  A road trip is not a road trip without coke.  It’s my beverage of choice at parties and barbecues.  Sitting outside (in a bug-free environment) in the sun with a coke is the epitome of relaxation.  Well, except for sitting inside on a rainy day with a coke.  No, I just don’t see myself giving it up.  Luckily, I have it on good authority that one (and sometimes even two) cokes can be enjoyed on a daily basis without adverse affects on the figure.  Apparently, you just have to be very careful about what you eat the rest of the day.

For now, I will try to focus on the things I’m doing right.  My whole family is eating out less, eating more fruits and vegetables, and almost exclusively eating 100% whole grain carbohydrates.  I will accept that I am not, nor will I ever be, perfect.  Likely, I will always want to eat chicken strips and home-made french fries on Friday nights.  And I will want a coke to go with them.  And I will want a giant piece of chocolate cake for dessert afterward.  And then I will want another giant piece for 2nd dessert, but I’ll try to resist this--most weeks.  Here’s to moderation!