The Experiment - A Different Kind of Boost

9:53 AM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments

I do not know what is going on with my body. I follow the rules of dieting. I monitor the calories going in and the calories going out. I have not changed my level of exercise nor have I changed what I am eating during the week (weekends are completely out of my control!). Last week I lost an ungodly amount of weight. I was eating a large bowl of turkey chili for breakfast, an egg for snack, a very large chicken breast with a whole fruit for lunch and dinner (split) and an apple for afternoon snack. I am still doing little to no exercise save for walking my doggy every afternoon but he stops to sniff the bushes so often during that walk that I never get my heart rate up. This week I ran out of food (we grocery shop every three weeks and we are at the end of said time period) so I was scrounging but still had similar meals. I had a large bowl of cereal for breakfast, hummus and olives for snack, a large chicken breast for lunch and dinner and an egg for an afternoon snack. I did run out of fruit, maybe that was the difference but all this week I stayed at the same weight. When I stall like that I get bummed and unmotivated. I try to be good but with no results. To remedy this, I went on the intra-webs and tried to look up ways to boost the diet, to get off a plateau. I know that one week is not really considered a plateau but for me, who weights herself everyday, it is. What I found was what I expected to find. I could do a fast for a day, I could beef up my (non-existant) workout, I could lower my caloric intake.....blah blah. I know all that stuff but it isn't all that healthy, well, the exercise part is but if you have been reading my blogs you might know that I am a busy girl as well as a bit of a lazy girl.

And so I was left bummed. That is until my boss asked me to do a special project. I had to take a pallet of spoiled wine and dump it. I took that opportunity to be out in the sun for a while. I dragged out the pallet (about 24 cases of wine) into the sun and began to open and dump each bottle. I used the situation as a way to get some extra exercise. I was purposely lifting boxes and tossing bottles into the recycling dumpster in a manner that would benefit maximum energy output. It got hot. I got really hot. I took off my sweater and then just stripped down to a little tank top. A tank top I never intended to be seen in at work. I had no choice. I would have had heat exhaustion had I not. I also liked the thought of getting some vitamin D as well as perhaps a bit of a tan.


There I was working away in the sun in my skin tight jeans and little tank top. People started walking by and noticing me. Pretty soon I was getting compliments from people walking by.I didn't realize that at work, I wear pretty baggy shirts and jackets just because of the nature of what I do and how dirty it can get. I mean, I know what I look like under all the baggy clothes but others didn't. It was a huge ego boost to have my friends and coworkers tell me.."wow, you look fantastic!" and "If you lose anymore weight, you will disappear!" Sure, the latter is not true. I know I have a bit more to go, but those compliments really gave me a boost. So the scale didn't tell me I lost weight, the people around me did and that is good enough for me!

On a similar note, I do have to say that at home, my bf is always complimentary. I have no problem with self esteem at home. He has always said I am perfect but I have noticed that in the past month or two he has been following me around with his tongue dragging particularly long on the floor which I like a lot. He is into the tall, curvy, blond thing and I provide that in spades but I am having one concern. For many women, when you lose weight, you lose it in your chest to some degree. I think it is possible that I am near that stage and I am trying to keep an eye on the situation even though there is little I can do about it. Those are two curves I do not want to lose. I only have 11 pounds left to lose so hopefully, the shrinking of my body overpowers the shrinking of any other body part! So far I am very happy with my results and this past boost of confidence from my friends and coworkers has really helped.

Tomorrow I have another distraction. My wine group meets again. I am making what sounds like a wonderful little snack of goat cheese and grapes. I will share the recipe later if it is any good. For now I have 11 pounds to lose in 48 days. Wish me luck!