Today is Labor Day, 3 days into my quest for health and my inner 17-year-old-body, and the scale says I have lost 10 pounds. It may well take me 3 weeks or more to lose another 10 pounds, but this is a nice start.
Yesterday, Sunday, was a good day for me. In the morning I had breakfast with my sister at Carberry’s coffee shop near Central Square.
Then I came back home and did a little work on a writing assignment. I work from home on several writing-related jobs (copywriter for some websites, publisher and author for a small publishing company, and bookseller).
I had been a little concerned about my breakfast meal, since everything at Carberry’s seems to be about 500 calories and up. I wanted to enjoy my visit with my sister rather than sit there stressing about calories.
So I hit on a good solution at the last minute. I just stopped across the street at Whole Foods and picked up both my breakfast (strawberry & blueberry fruit salad) and my lunch (tomatoes).
Deborah, among many other things, is a nutritionist, and a very slender nutritionist at that. It was good to talk to her about what I am trying to accomplish. We had a good conversation, she gave me some good advice in a very easy-going way and she was supportive.
Later in the day I drove down to pick up my best friend and fellow GA member Rena and we had a terrific afternoon and evening – a walk on Nantasket Beach, a great dinner at The Schooner down the beach a way, and a meeting.
The menu at The Schooner was pretty tantalizing, and I didn’t deny myself. Because I had eaten the fruit salad and the tomatoes for breakfast and lunch, I knew I had about 1300 calories of wiggle room within my daily target of 1750 calories.
There were huge fried fisherman’s platters being carried around by the waitresses, and I am not exaggerating when I say that they were the biggest plates of food I had ever seen served to individuals in a restaurant. I didn’t go there.
Instead I ordered a house special that Rena pointed out to me on the menu, with shrimp, scallops and veggies grilled in garlic butter and served over a bed of penne pasta. I could only finish about half the pasta, but I had every morsel of the seafood and veggies and even helped Rena with her lobster. It was delicious. And it was very nice to enjoy my food, leave satisfied, and still have the pleasure that I experienced when I stepped on the scale this morning.
At the GA meeting, a fellow named Paul T. was celebrating his 5th anniversary of gambling-free living, so there was the usual cake. Except it wasn’t just the usual cake. It was beautifully decorated and frosted and I swear that when I walked by the kitchen during the break and everyone was standing there eating it, there were about four pieces of cake on the table calling out my name.
I didn’t answer. Sometimes a little denial is a good thing. I just told myself that the cake had nothing to do with me. My desire to stick with what I am trying to accomplish here was stronger than the plaintiff wail of the cake calling my name. It even helped me to know that I would be sitting here at the computer this morning writing about my day. In a couple of minutes the break was over, and the cake was still sitting on the table in the kitchen.
I was still full from the feast I had shared with Rena at the Schooner, and at least so far I hadn't ruined a beautiful day.
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