I'm back! And here's the latest numbers:
- Today's weight: 206.0 lb
- Change since last weigh-in (two weeks ago): -4.0 lb
- Cumulative weight loss: 128.0 lb
- Average weekly weight change: -1.75 lb
Nothing like spending a week shlepping boxes of belongings hither and yon to blast a plateau into little bits. I kind of suspected the plateau was all about my lagging once again on the physical activity part of the program, but it took the necessity of having to move from one apartment to another to get me into action. I hate moving with a passion to which words cannot do justice, and so when I do need to move, it throws me into a frenzy of activity, motivated by the desire to get the damn thing over with as soon as humanly possible. Well, I still have piles of boxes here and there, but my new room is now actually looking like a room and not a lost-and-found, and best of all my computer is up and running again. So at least I can return to most of my normal everyday activities--including blogging.
One of the interesting things about my new household is that I'll be doing a housing exchange in return for looking after my new housemate, an elderly friend who needs someone to make sure he stays on top of his meds, his nutrition, etc. Of course I'm intrigued at the prospect of bringing to bear a lot of the healthy-eating wisdom I've accumulated over the past year and a half of my little odyssey. There is a small wrinkle: like many of his age and generation, my new housemate--let's call him E.--has very set eating habits and preferences. He's really convinced he doesn't like any spices or flavorings, or anything excessively foreign or unfamiliar. I don't want to be freaking him out--at his age and in his health situation, he deserves to have food that is comforting rather than challenging--but I do want to broaden his horizons at least a little. Plus I don't want cooking for him to be boring for me! So I'm working on him gently. One of our recent conversations went a little like this:
Me: So do you think I put too much pepper in this dish for your taste?
E: Well, if you had asked me before I tasted it, I would have said that was way too much pepper. But now that I've tasted it, it's not too much pepper.
I'm probably never going to get him eating mapo tofu or congee with fermented bean curd--nor do I think that's the goal. But I have succeeded already in winning him over at least a little to the joys of roasted vegetables, something he's apparently never tried before. And I've also had a win or two so far with old-school comfort foods with a twist--tonight, for instance, I did my version of Salisbury steak, and he liked it lots. I already see pot roast, chicken a la king, and salmon croquettes on the horizon--only done my way rather than Swanson's.
And of course I'll be featuring lots and lots of veggies. Interestingly, while there are some vegetables he says he can't abide--zucchini, for one--there are several that he loves that are on most veg-haters' hit list, like spinach and beets. I made roasted fresh beets to go with the Salisbury steak, and he loved it. And while he's lukewarm about a number of the cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, he got really excited when I made coleslaw for one dinner. I did have to use Miracle Whip (blech!) because he prefers that to mayonnaise, but still I got some crucifers into him, and that's all to the good as far as I'm concerned.
I suspect that cooking for E. will be a recurring theme in this blog from here on in ... stay tuned for further adventures.
You go girl! 4 lbs!! Way to go. I'm so proud of you. I am enjoying your journey with you. I am so impressed by the fact that you don't let your plateaus get you off track. You rock!!
Posted by: Miss Kelly | June 20, 2007 at 05:01 PM