Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Day 40

Merry Christmas!

The definition of "brave" includes phrases like "...possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching...". To me, the definition of "brave" is stepping on the scale the day after Christmas! I'm not sure about the "without flinching" part, but I did my best.

This year's Christmas meal was pretty traditional. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, dessert, eggnog, etc. But it was not without its differences. For example, I loaded up on the veggies (green beans and carrots....not 'green' carrots, orange carrots....duh!). I also stuck to the white meat (which I like the best anyway). My wife made the gravy by adding water to a package, rather than using the fatty drippings from the turkey. It tastes different, but a good quality gravy still tastes great, and there is a HUGE difference in the calorie count when you make it this way. The eggnog was non-fat, and the dessert was a masterpiece of low-cal jello, fruit, and non-fat pudding. The entire family loved it, and it will definitely make its way into the rotation from now on. As a matter of fact, the Jello non-fat pudding packages are FABULOUS! They only have about 25 calories per portion plus whatever calories you get from the milk you add. You don't bake it, or boil it, or otherwise destroy the milk value, so it's a good way of getting your required dairy anyway, and except for a bit of stirring, it's a breeze to make. Of course, the less fat milk you use the better. 2% is my favourite. It's not skim, but it's much better than homogenized. Anyway, the entire meal was wonderful and I didn't feel the least bit cheated.

Today was another Christmas Feast. This time, at my in-laws. Normally, this is another gigantic meal, so some careful preparation was necessary. We brought some Diet Pepsi for me to drink, as well as the low-cal pudding which I made when we got there. My wife even went out to get 2% milk for me. There were a ton of high-calorie munchies/sweets/chocolates out all day, but I stuck to the carrot sticks and celery. My mother-in-law even put out a bowl of low-cal dressing for me to use as dip. I stuck to small portions of the main meal, and water to drink. The kids had a fruit and chocolate fondue for dessert, so I had some of the sliced fruit with my pudding. Again, it was a delicious meal, and I didn't have to worry about ruining my diet.

Day 40
Current Weight: 191
Weight Lost To Date: 15

I'm 40% through the 100 days, and almost half way to my goal. So far, so good. The hard part this week is actually the exercise part. I'm going to have to ride my stationary bike a bit more this week, as I don't have my own sports to keep me active. I also don't have my personal escalator (a.k.a. "the stairs") at work to challenge me. I'm sure BC would let me shovel her backyard, clean the snow off her roof, and wash her windows if I asked her. [Note to self: Avoid BC for the rest of the week.]

Don