Plugging along

First, this week’s stats…

Weeks completed: 2
This week’s change: -2.5
Net change: -5.5

I’m getting back in the groove, more or less.  I’m not as starving as the first week, for sure.  I’m remembering more dinners I can make.  I’m not feeling the need to snack constantly.  That said, man this is harder than when I was childless and working.  When I was going to work every day, I could pack my little bag.  It got repetitive, sure, but I packed my lunch and my snacks ahead of time.  It was all right there, but no extras. The vending machine was two floors down, so fairly easy to not get something.  Sure, it was hard when people brought in junk food or there were leftovers from some meeting.  But day-to-day, it was pretty cut and dry.

Now, I’m a stay-at-home mom. At home, all of my food is here.  I don’t just have the single portion with me at my office, I have the entire box in my cabinet.  It’s all just right there, so easy to grab something.  And then there are these two toddlers I’ve got… the ones who seem to eat constantly (breakfast! morning snack! lunch! afternoon snack! dinner!).  The ones whose calories I have no desire to restrict, who benefit from full-fat yogurts and butter on their waffles (they’re a touch on the small side, my daughter especially).  They leave half of the tasty stuff I provide completely untouched.  It seems wrong to just throw it out, maybe I’ll just have a bite…  Argh.  But I’m trying, I really am.

Exercise is still largely out of the question for me, until after I recover from my upcoming foot surgery (shortly after Turkey day) and can wear sneakers again.  But I’m pretty well staying within my points each day.  And on the occasional day when I chuck restraint out of the window, I’m doing well with getting back to reality the following day.  Hooray for the virtual peer pressure of this blog!

Alright, onto my sweet/sour/sweet for this week…

Sweet: Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte.  Mmm.  This is my new favorite.  It’s the shorthand way of ordering a skim latte with sugar-free vanilla syrup.  It’s darn tasty, and a Tall is a scant two points (90 calories).  And a serving of milk! I was considering indulging in a biscotti as well the other morning, and then checked the label and realized it would be three points.  Three!  For a damn biscotti!  So not worth it.  But the Skinny Vanilla Latte is a nice little treat that won’t break the points bank.  Of course, at $3.26 each, it might start to bruise another bank, but that’s another story.

Sour: Garlic Bread.  Holy crap, garlic bread is a ton of points. I ended up with what felt like a lot of points leftover at dinner time the other night.  After two pieces of garlic bread, though… I was over for the day.  Doh!

Sweet: Money and takeout.  Trips to Starbucks aside, I do think that being back on WW is good for my wallet in addition to my waist.  I’m much less likely to order takeout, since it’s so hard to get something points-friendly.  So I’m cooking most of our meals, and am much more likely to actually eat the leftovers before they disappear in the back of the fridge and go bad.  While I haven’t actually done the math on groceries vs. delivery, I have to assume it’s a net improvement from both a health and a cash standpoint.

Finally, I am going into Thanksgiving with a plan.  We’re hosting, and it will be only a small gathering.  We’re making a full turkey (hey, I’d just as soon have leftover turkey for sandwiches, as it’s perfectly points-friendly), but fewer side dishes and only half-portions of the ones we are making.  I refuse to attempt to make a “light” green bean casserole.  I’ll let myself have the real thing on Thanksgiving, but I’m making significantly less of it so that I don’t keep eating it all weekend.  Same with dessert.  We used to make three desserts for about five people.  The Pumpkin Bread Pudding was delightful, but insanely heavy and was around to pick at for days.  This year, we’re making the very un-dessert-like Pumpkin Cranberry Bread, and we’ll just serve it with a little ice cream on the holiday.  If we even have any leftover, at least it’s not all eggs and cream.

And, truly, this is my new outlook on these things: I’ll let myself do what I want on Thanksgiving.  But it’s one day.  One meal.  It doesn’t have to be a downward spiral, it doesn’t have to be a weekend of gluttony. It’s one day, and I can have that one day.  But that’s it.

Let’s see if my plan works, shall we?  See you next week…