GETTING READY
It’s mid-February, a couple of weeks before the beginning of our vacation. I’ve been dieting since Halloween and have lost 40 pounds. Low calories, low carbs, keeping a food journal and the treadmill. I hate the treadmill. The only way I’ll do it is if Jeopardy is on. So I have to start walking sometime before the beginning of Jeopardy #2 each evening or I can’t work out for 30 minutes (my minimum). If I’m making dinner or working late or have to take my kid to karate during that timeframe, I don’t work out. It’s stupid. I can’t wait to get to Jamaica and be able to walk on the beach. And swim. I’m worried about what’s going to happen, but I’m really motivated to keep up the momentum. Planning I keep saying to myself. Every Monday morning I go to the dietician. She has taught me that planning is key to success. It’s just as easy to plan a fabulous meal that is healthy, delicious and beautiful to look at as a meal that is loaded with calories salt and fat (and delicious and beautiful to look at) – if you plan ahead. So I start laying out plans.
I call the chef at our hotel and let her know what I’m doing. I tell her I need her help and suggestions, that I’m concerned about all the rice and beans. And I’m worried about bammy and dumplings. She’s onboard immediately. I’ve never met a good chef that didn’t love a food challenge. We walk about incorporating more veggies, and lots of grilling. We talk about sushi making and I offer to bring nori and tofu wrappers for her to play around with.
The packing begins. I haven’t had a drink in almost 4 months and I don’t want to have one now. I pledge to wait till I get to Negril. I remind myself that I got through the entire holiday season, including a couple of high-consumption Christmas parties, without any alcohol and enjoyed myself just fine. I can do this. I can pack without vodka! But it was strange. When it gets tempting, I just take it a day at a time. Tell myself I can have the vodka cocktail tomorrow, just not tonight. After all it’s not leaving the planet right? And then tomorrow night I say the same thing. And I use the same thinking on the mushroom pizza craving. I just keep promising day to day, and of course – the big promise – I can have it in Negril if I really want it and I plan for it.
I make sure to pack my food journal – I normally use forms the dietician hands out, but anything will do. I’m bringing my Jamaica journal (notes from trips from every year) and plan to use that to keep my diet notes. To be really proficient at the diet game, I would write down what I planned to eat that day or that week ahead of time and follow the plan. But that requires a lot of time, and I’m not at that stage yet -- so I just make sure to write down everything I eat and the calories. Losing weight is science after all. You have to know not only how much you are consuming, but what types of food, and when. I count calories. I want to be between 800-1200 calories/day. Writing it down is key to keeping track. And I’m honest about it – after all I’m only fooling myself if I don’t. (“You’re only fooling yourself" was a favorite line of my father’s, but I was an adult before I appreciated the full meaning of those words.) I also pack a pocketsize calorie book.
My friend Sharon (lifelong friend and co-dieter since 3rd grade) turned me on to Dieter’s Teas. I have several types – Super Slimming, Dieters Green, and Ultra Slim. They are all made of the same basic ingredients with only slight variations, including senna, licorice root, permission, papaya, loquat. They have laxative qualities, but are also meant to detoxify, cleanse and help ease bloating. I pack enough for 2 packets a day. I always retain water in the warm weather, and I’m hoping this tea will help. Actually, it can’t hurt is what I figure. I throw in some prescription water pills in case the tea doesn’t work -- it’s hard to walk and feel energetic when your ankles are cankles. And fat puffy ankles atop my new flip-flops is not the look I’m after.
Other than that the packing goes along as usual – it’s endless, but I take great pleasure in it. Soon we are there – one more sleep – the day before the big event. Time to CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE. Rule Number 1 – don’t feel obligated to eat everything that is left in your refrigerator. If you throw it out, so what? You wasted a few dollars perhaps. But if, in the name of not “wasting” food, you eat it – what have you gained? An extra pound or two you would then gladly pay much more money to lose! It’s the same as when I finish my kid’s plate because I don’t want to waste food. WASTE THE FOOD! It’s far better off being wasted, than being added to your waistline, thereby just exacerbating your problem. My kid who’s leaving the food on the plate, by the way, doesn’t have a weight program – BECAUSE HE DOESN’T FINISH HIS PLATE. LOL the ways we find to sabotage ourselves! If you can’t bear to throw things out, throw them in the freezer, or give them to your neighbor. But don’t eat them.
Next up – Getting There ….
