Stomach Stretch - Eat Too Much - Update 28

I'm at same weight as I was two weeks ago. Obviously, I have had no success in moving into serious calorie control at a level to lose weight. The chart above shows the reality of the situation since the end of November and during the holidays. The condition has now stretched almost all the way thru January.

I can say that I have finally gotten rid of almost all holiday treats in the house. I do still have some fruitcake, but may undertake an experiment to determine just how well a sealed Claxton fruitcake will hold up in the freezer. I can't afford to be eating anything quite that rich in the immediate future.

Son-in-law was here two nights last week, but I can't really blame anything on him. Both evening meals with him were reasonable. Tuesday nite was salad, steak and baked potato. I use a little salt and pepper on the baked potato instead of butter and sour cream like I used to and I'm a Worcestershire sauce on steak kinda guy. Thursday nite wasn't too bad, even tho I did have a small half rack of ribs at Famous Dave's. I went easy on the beans and cole slaw.

I made a mincemeat pie on Thursday, but have only eaten two small pieces. One while it was still warm with a sliver of vanilla ice cream on it. The other Friday after a lite lunch w/no ice cream.
I probably should be somewhat pleased that I am stable after two weeks, but when I look back at the graph showing the big picture, it shows that I'm really back where I was in early November. I interpret that as almost 3 wasted months in the grand scheme. However, my body is probably saying, "It's about time you allowed me to adjust to all these changes!"

You know, our bodies don't really appreciate what they consider deprivation of 'proper food' and nourishment. Mine rebels. If I'm eating low calories for a few days, I may begin to feel chilled after sitting watching TV for a while in the evening. After losing some pounds, I sometimes notice my muscle mass is dwindling...but some of that could just be a indication of the 'old fart syndrome'.

I think I'm one of those northern Europeans whose body is designed to survive with fewer calories during the hard, cold winters. You know, we usually carry a few extra pounds of fat to provide added body fuel during tough times. There's a reason why historic pictures show many full-bodied women. They were the ones that made it thru the brutal winters on reduced intake. Or am I off on a tangent here. :-)

I won't divulge my overall long term goal for this weight control exercise, but I still have a long, long way to go. I originally hoped I might get close by the end of 2010. Now it appears it will take considerably longer, possibly another year even; or maybe longer...hope I hold out that long.

I definitely need to dedicate myself to intelligent eating without going overboard on cutting back to the point that it negatively affects my body and I also need to become more diligent on the calorie burning side of the equation. I'm not the type that can eat a whole lot of some low-calorie food just to be full. I seldom have hunger pangs as is, as I mentioned before, I just enjoy eating good food.

Since the weather's been a bit nicer/warmer the past week or so, I did get back into my local walks around the Big Town of Savage. Even took the camera along one day and snapped this foto of the Carroll Baldwin Hall, which dates from the early '20s. You can still see a remnant of the 17" mid-December snowfall.
Click picture for larger image.

Do good stuff; and definitely do have some fun,
JD

PS - I managed to get the new TV installed at the beach house and even managed to lift the 32" crt TV into the back of the van for the trip home. Talk about a cumbersome, heavy object...man! I must have followed the approved procedures for lifting. After a dose of ibuprofen prior to bed, I woke up with a well-functioning back the next morning.

PPS - The new counter top oven is doing really well. Only mishap so far is when I cooked the mincemeat pie. It called for temp of 425 for about 30 minutes. Even tho I had the oven up to proper temp prior to inserting the pie into the lower-middle rack position of the oven, I didn't realize just how active the upper heating element would be during the cooking stage. Unfortunately, the top crust was dark brown and over-done (altho not burned). Next time I'll try it on the bottom rack position.

The blackberry pie I cooked the week before came out well, but was baked at a lower temperature. My cousin told me once, "Ya gotta play with 'er to figger it out!" But, I think he was talking about his girl friend. :-)