These numbers were taken yesterday (in other words, the day after Thanksgiving):
- Yesterday's weight: 198.0 lb
- Change since last week: 0 lb
- Cumulative weight loss: 136.0 lb
- Average weekly weight change: -1.45 lb
As faithful readers know, my tendency is to greet plateaus not with dread but with satisfaction, because according to my regimen, as long as my weight isn't going back up I'm doing the right thing. And never was that feeling of satisfaction over a plateau more appropriate than this past Thanksgiving. For I wound up consuming not just one, but three--count 'em, three--separate Thanksgiving dinners, which makes that plateau not a ho-hum, but a hurrah!
So--how did I manage to make through all those Thanksgiving dinners without my weight going up? Three very simple words: moderation, moderation, moderation.
The traditional Thanksgiving dinner tends to be especially loaded with calorically-dense foods: the stuffings, potatoes, gravies, cream-enriched vegetables--and all those desserts! And lots of those foods have heavy sentimental value. I knew it would be unrealistically harsh to tell myself I was going to stick to the letter of my food plan, so I did indulge in most of those foods. However, what I did not indulge in is that other time-honored Thankgiving dining practice: that of gorging to the point of pain.
I took little bitty servings of the nutritionally-dense stuff, and rather larger helpings of the lower-impact foods like (un-sauced) vegetables, green salads, and of course the turkey itself. And I mightily resisted the urge to take seconds, except for the lower-impact foods. At the end of each meal, I was pleasantly full--but in no discomfort whatsoever. Which was especially nice after the third meal, as that was over at the house of some friends with a hot tub. I could just feature trying to deal with a hot tub if I had gorged like I used to in the Bad Old Days. Instead, it was a pleasurable end to a wonderful (if exhausting) holiday.
What also helped was, of all things, my foodie sensibilities. Somehow, all these years of exploring all sorts of foods seem to have left my palate a bit jaded. Don't get me wrong, I still love food and eating--but let's just say it takes a hell of a lot more to surprise and delight my palate than formerly. So, yeah, I sure enjoyed all of the food I tasted--but no dish mesmerized me in such a way that I felt compelled to keep tasting it (and tasting and tasting and tasting some more ... you all know how that one goes!). In fact, I'm now totally content to go without tasting pecan pie again until next year at the earliest--I used to love that stuff, but the one I sampled just tasted like tooth-achingly sweet goo faintly flavored with nuts and caramel. Not something I want to squander precious food allotments on again anytime soon.
So see: being a foodie does not have to be at odds with being a sensible eater--in fact, with the right mindset one's foodie-hood can be turned from a weight-management liability into an asset.
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