Advice from a small town girl

As of last Thursday, I’ve made a 10-pound dent in my 100-pound weight loss goal.

Not without obstacles, however.

I managed to deal with the Memorial Day weekend family potluck pretty well – as long as you don’t count offending my brother. But that’s another story.

Potlucks are problematic for dieters. Well, for this one anyway.

I don’t care how beautiful the green salad or fruit trays are, I want potato salad, beans and lots of tender, juicy meat. If there’s room I might have watermelon. Pie is better.

Pie is my favorite food in the whole world.

My measurable success this year was that I only went through the line once, and I could still see the surface of my plate after I had dished up. Yeah!

Unfortunately, that success was short-lived, as I came home to Odessa and proceeded to eat. And eat. And eat.

It was one of those times when whatever I was eating didn’t even have to be good. There was just a hole that needed to be filled. In the interest of self-awareness and conscious eating, I did have the presence of mind to ask myself why I was doing this. The answer was a resounding “I don’t know and I don’t care!”

I “forgot” to go to Weight Watchers that week.

Then it was graduation, with fabulous food at each of the four parties we were invited to. Thank goodness we weren’t invited to all of them! I think I managed to be semi-reasonable, but still felt that I was “being bad.”

Potlucks and buffets are problematic in more ways than just being a challenge to one’s self-control, however. Nobody brings their worst recipe to a potluck.

I think the general rule of thumb is that the more delicious something is, the worse it is for you. It sure seems that way, anyway. Everyone has a new pasta salad recipe that involves lots of mayonnaise. I loved them all.

The best part of all of this is that when I returned to Weight Watchers last week, there was that 1-pound loss that got me to 10 pounds! Surely a miracle.

Since then I’ve attended my hometown pioneer celebration, where I indulged in a cheeseburger with grilled onions, followed by peach pie ala mode. I can do that, you know. The Weight Watchers program allows you to manage your points allowance to accomodate special occasions. You just can’t have a special occasion every day. And you HAVE TO WRITE IT DOWN.

Here are some of the things I’ve noticed over the past few weeks:

1) That cheeseburger and pie wasn’t really all that satisfying. No more so than any other meal might have been. Do I regret it? No. Will I do it again? Probably.

2) While I can’t really see my 10 pound difference in the mirror, I can feel it. I don’t have to hold my breath to button my jeans, and I seem to have more energy.

3) Milk is good. Besides providing the calcium that my aging bones need, it fills me up and keeps the cravings at bay.

4) Fruit is good. It makes a great snack and seems to go a long way toward satisfying my sweet tooth. And I’m much more likely to reach for a banana, apple or melon than I am for that bag of baby carrots.

They have a saying at Weight Watchers that is supposed to help us stay on track, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” I wouldn’t know. The closest I’ve ever been to skinny was when I was an infant.

This time, maybe I’ll find out if it’s true.