Four-Week Weigh-In: 263 (-19.5)

Wow, four weeks down, 19.5 pounds lost, just over 80 to go. If I could keep up this kind of monthly pace, I’d be done before the 4th of July. Of course, if I kept up this kind of pace, it would probably mean I have a tapeworm.

I didn’t exercise as much this week, because of not-so-wonderful weather. On the other hand, I didn’t cheat… yes, no cheats all week. I had opportunities to cheat and I allow myself one weekly cheat, but I didn’t take it.

My biggest opportunities and excuses to cheat were when my dad came into town this weekend. I rarely seem to overeat as much as I do when I’m dining out with him. We went to my kid’s favorite restaurant for dinner (the one with the peanuts). I had a few more peanuts than normal, but avoided the rolls, and just ordered a piece of tri-tip with a dinner-size caesar salad as my appetizer, and some tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms on the side. The tri-tip had a light basting of a sweet sauce that may have added a few carbs, but I only ate about 3/4 of it. The worst thing about the sauce was that it clashed with the mushrooms.

The next morning, at brunch, we went to a Mexican restaurant in Mill Creek that we love for brunch. Their chicken fried steak with jalapeno gravy is to die for and I’ve been known to plow through their chips and salsa. It actually wasn’t that hard to resist the chips and salsa, despite everyone eating them. I ordered a piece of carne asada that came with green beans and fries, but got them to substitute a chopped salad for the fries. I cleaned my plate this time, but there wasn’t nearly as much meat and I love their green beans.

Cut back my insulin by another 5% from where I was before I started this diet, so in 4 weeks that’s been a 70% decrease in insulin usage. I was talking with another diabetic recently about how low my numbers were and he actually thought they were too low. I’ll get the official verdict from my doc when I see him Wednesday.

Probably the biggest thing on my mind right now is why I didn’t cheat last week and why the thought of a lot of the “cheat foods” (like maybe a meal from McDonalds or Taco Bell) are starting to gross me out. I think part of it was seeing how much refined flour and potatoes really impacted my blood sugar after that bowl of soup and slice of toast the other week. I’m just really enjoying taking one small shot a day instead of three small shots and one big one.

I think it’s also the fact that I am re-thinking the way I eat. I’m starting to think “is it really a treat if it hurts me?” When I check my blood sugar two hours after a cheat meal, when I weigh in at the end of a week, is the disappointment at my numbers not being what I wanted going to be less than the “pleasure” I got from that cheat? As well, I’m trying to re-train myself in both how I compose and portion a meal. Should I be using bad foods to reward myself for good eating habits? As long as I see junk food as a reward, I feel it has the potential to be abused.

A lot of what I just wrote sounds like the high-minded bullpop I’ve heard from people I liked to call food fascists. So I’m reminded of the statement “there’s no one so fanatical as an ex-addict.” I’m not trying to tell you how you should think or what the “reality” of the food world is. I’m telling you how my perspective is shifting. Right now the thought of McDonalds or Taco Bell grosses me out, not to the point of nausea, but just an “ugh, I don’t want all that crap in my system.” That’s a HUUUUGE change from just a few weeks ago.

We’ll see how long it lasts, eh?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm and is filed under The Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.