DIETING WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

I mentioned in Johnny Cake Swag that I've been involved with the Nutrisystem Diet Program for the past 4 months. About mid-April I 'hit the wall' and began wavering in my dedication to the program. Easter week was also the point that my work schedule began to pick up requiring me to be away from home and my stash of Nutrisystem foodstuffs. I've been getting on the scale every few days to make sure that I'm not gaining weight and I've increased my exercise program as well. So far, I've avoided weight gain by eating as many Nutrisystem meals as I can and trying to remember that I'm nevergonnabeaFATBOYagain! Well physically anyway. I like aspects of mental fatboyism. Fat Boys are kinda like nerds in certain areas(!), but those similarities cannot be elucidated in this PG Rated blogosphere! In essence, I'm figuring out ways to have my dieting and enjoy eating it too.

For about 10 years, I've been working on making lifestyle changes with the goals of better health and a smaller waistline. At one point in time, I weighed about 360 pounds.

About 15 years ago, early one winter evening while at work, I saw my reflection in the front windows, as I stumbled down the main aisle-way. I had gotten so humongous that I had lost the symmetry of my gait! Shifting that bulk from side to side had replaced my fluid glide. I went into shock with the realization of what I had allowed myself to become. I developed an immediate plan of action. I got home that night and informed my wife Dracula that I was going on a "diet". I began my Atkins action plan by eliminating most of the delectable comfort foods that I had come to love, since she and I had been together.

I was pretty good, the first few weeks.

I came home one night from work and there was half a coconut cake sitting atop the refridgerator. I opened the freezer compartment and a half gallon of butter pecan ice cream fell into my hands! The ice cream protested but I put it back in the freezer compartment. As I lay in bed that night, I could hear the ice cream then the cake whispering to me softly from the kitchen: "Jaaay Paaaauuuul, come and eat me! No, J. Paul, eat me! (In unison) Jaaay Paaaauuuul, you can have us both!"  On the third night, after dinner, I had a wedge of cake and almost a pint of the ice cream.

Sated, I sat in my chair watching television. I looked over at Dracula who had a smug little grin on her face. I didn't ask. I already knew the answer. My mind reeled at the realization that the cake that she brought home had sat atop the fridge for 3 days and she had not touched it! And it was I who had unzipped the carton of ice cream and gobbled it up. DRACULA, LA SABOTEUR!

I said nothing to the saboteur. I continued to buy salads at work. I took the stairs instead of riding the elevators. I stopped taking Dracula out to dinner 2 to 3 nights a week. Five years later, I dropped 250 pounds of ugly fat overnight! I left Dracula and moved into a small apartment, one block from my job. Two years after my escaped from Dracville, I did not renew the lease on my automobile. I walked everywhere I needed to go or caught the bus. My body responded. I lost over 30 pounds.

Two years ago, I left my job as a civil servant and began working for myself. Free from the crushing anxiety of wanting kill my immediate supervisor, I began eating 2 meals a day and reducing my portion sizes.  After I moved from midtown last year to my condo on the Gold Coast, I turned my dining room into an office space.  I do the majority of my current work here at home. Being at home has afforded me the opportunity to use the Nutrisystem.  My current dilemma is how to continue using the system in an enjoyable way for the long term.

I got off to a good start this Sunday morning.  I got up early, made a pot of coffee, did the triple s, had an apple and a breakfast bar as I watched Sunday Morning.  I went to my good friends church and sat through long spirited service.  At about midpoint of the service, I began thinking about lunch.  I decided I must have a responsible meal when I got home. This is what I came up with.

I was not successful at getting back into the Nutrisystem program, over the past week. I had several meetings in the early afternoon, so I ate while I was out.  Since Monday, I've consumed 6 Lite beers, 2 shots of Jack Black and 2 cocktails mixed with Carolans Irish Cream. In the totality of my hedonistic life, I did not commit a horrible crime.  In the Nutri world of diet and fitness, I not only fell off the bike, I crashed!

The meal in the picture contains Nutrisystem approved foodstuffs! My hot-water cornbread may stretch the carbohydrate profile a tad bit BUT it is corn AND it's about a fourth of the volume of corn that I can have in a serving! Anyway, it's Sunday.

I'm finding that I need to make some compromises in my diet plan in order to stick to it and I'm loving the results. I wore a new suit to church today that is 2 full sizes smaller than the rest of the suits in my closet. My goal is to be able to buy a new wardrobe by the fall. In order for me to keep on schedule, I'm working on lifestyle changes that will allow me to curb my appetite. I find that I am hungry almost all of the time on the Nutrisystem program. The fat-boy in me gets a little crazed when hungry, so I am teaching myself to eat a piece of fruit or have a bottle of water when I get cravings.

My goal is to be healthier as I move forward. I eat better and exercise more now than at any other time in my life. I am making lifestyle changes as opposed to doing temporary things to alter my physiology. I am makpmg reasonable changes in ways that ensure that the changes I are permanent. I've lost a hundred pounds, over the past 15 years or so. I've still got a ways to go, so I'm trying to be creative about I.  My challenge over the next few months is to move past this current plateau.  I'm presently at a weight that I maintained for most of my late teen and early twenties.  My goal is to be about the weight I was when I graduated from Michigan State.  I need to get back to my Spartan ideal!

If you have some suggestions that don't require that I buy something from you, please feel free to send them my way.

Love, peace and hair grease!