Back from vacation

Back from Eleuthera – I found toward the end of the week, my resolve to eat healthy began to wane. Too much temptation, and I started eating a few chips as they sat in front of me and would grab a few crackers on the plate. Soon I was slicing myself some cheese. I recognize that this is familiar behavior with me. I do well for three or four days when we are on vacation, but gradually I just want to have what everyone else is eating. I did avoid deep fried conches, but they were tempting. Another week with no loss but no gain either – a triumph for a vacation but not great for my steady resolve to look good in a bathing suit by summer nor even for fitting into this red vest by next winter!

The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency will be on HBO this month. I love how the author, McCall Smith, describes Precious Ramotswe as “traditionally built”. With only reading those words, we all know what she looks like!

I believe my biggest barrier to weight loss is portion control. I ordered a container of seafood salad (the non-mayonnaise type) at Dean and DeLuca’s the other day. It looked like a reasonable size. It was only when I took it the cash register and paid $11.50 that I looked at the weight. I was shocked by the price - who would pay $11.50 for take-out lunch to be eaten standing up with a plastic fork! It was way more than 1/2 of a pound. Since I was nowhere near a refrigerator and couldn’t take it with me, I ate the whole thing. Someone else would have thrown the extra out. I think it was three fistfuls, not one fistful (a normal size portion), which looks so puny to me! The trick is buying, eating and cooking smaller portions. My husband and I talk about this as we tend to eat what we cook, and we quite often cook more than we need for one meal so we can freeze the leftovers. But that makes having seconds of “healthy” meals easy.

I have decided to check out (check into?) Weight Watcher’s this week. I feel as though I need some other framework to keep going, maybe at a quicker pace. My vacation brought home to me how easy it is to slip into old patterns, and this is about changing patterns.