I'm a bit bummed this morning. I know its all water weight, and I'm probably just deflecting my mood because it is a gorgeous Saturday morning and I have to work today - I'm waiting for a remote tech support call, so I'm basically babysitting my office waiting on someone else to do the actual work.
Anyhow - Hubby and I had date night last night and he wanted to take me out to dinner. Honestly, I couldn't find the enjoyment. I needed to eat, but didn't want to go anywhere that was going to be calorie dense and cause me to faulter.
After going thru some options we settled on Sweet Tomatoes and even though I controlled my portions, and based on my judgement of what I had, I'm still under on my calorie count for the day, the scale is up 2lbs this morning. I KNOW its water weight, as by the end of the evening I already felt it in my fingers and ankles. And this morning I'm bloated, and feeling a bit constipated. I'm tired and grumpy.
I had my plate of salad greens and veggies, a small bowl of broth based soup and a small portion of cobbler dessert. I stayed away from the pre-made salads, and had 1/2 of the serving of dressing. (they provide the little paper cups that are about 2tbls sizes, so I get one and dip, only consuming 1/2).
I can't believe how much the soup and cobbler made me bloat and feel so crappy this morning. I can't imagine it was the salad, unless they wash their veggies in salt water or something.
And then this morning hubby is complementing me on my clothing fitting again, and asked if I noticed his belly shrinking too. (he barely has a belly! He weighs 10lbs more than me, and he's 5'11", he works out 5 days a week and is very active). He's lost the belly fat simply because I have been cooking leaner meals that serve 4, I have one serving, he has 2 and then one is for leftovers that one of us will take for lunch the next day. And, since he knows I'm trying hard, he hasn't been hitting the sweets and desserts as hard either. Argh! Why is it so easy for men.
The experience just takes the joy out of the evening.
There have been times when we've just quit going out at all. Date night then becomes a fancy dinner we cook at home or a "date afternoon" with a hike at a park.
Since we're going out less, we've begun to discover that if we upgrade the restaurant we can enjoy it more. Fancier, more expensive, restaurants have smaller servings and use more interesting flavorings than salt. We've been trying the ones that boast of using local foods. Last week, I had paella with an assortment of sauteed spring vegetables and smoked tofu. Yum! And, no water weight gain the next day.
The past few weekends I've been doing alot more cooking at home. But, it was Friday night after a long week and I didn't feel like cooking and didn't have anything prepared to cook. Friday nights are usually my night off and we go out. Sometimes its simply going to the grocery store and picking up something from the deli or sushi bar and going home or to the beach.
With alot of travel in my near future, for almost the whole month of July, I know I will be dining out alot.
Since losing weight, I have lost interest in restaurants and try to center my dating around activities like dancing, art openings, music in the park, plays, etc, etc.
You guys could eat at home & then go out and do stuff. You can hold hands while taking a walk or go dancing. There is so much to do in the summer. Even going to a bookstore and browsing is fun. You could people watch in the park.
Then later you could have coffee or decaf later at a diner or something and have a flirty chat. And then...um...finish the evening with pillow talk.
Usually we vacation in our camper, and eat healthy. Last two summers I lost 4lbs on vacation because we are so active. (of course I gained it back when I went back into my old routine at home).
This year our plans are different as DS is college visiting and I'm hitting my class reunions. We aren't "camping" but still plan to be active.
My plan of action is to stay in hotels or timeshare rentals with mini-suites or at least a fridge and microwave in the room. My long weekend reunion coming up I have the rooms planned, but I also have lots of activities planned. I will get one day of hiking in at least. And will likely eat breakfast in my room. The lunches out with friends will try to stick to lighter fare and salads. I know one night will be the dinner at the reunion and another out with a friend. But I'll also have 3 nights with no dinner plans so I can do grocery store deli salads or something simple that I can control.
As for my vacation and college visits - my son is off for a camp for 5 days at one of the schools, so we drop him off then head to the mountains for the time. I'm looking to either get a timeshare rental or suite type hotel w/ fridge. I'm bringing my electric skillet with me and we might bring our small camp stove. It will be more like camping out of a hotel room. We will have our mountain bikes and the goal will be our typical vacation goal - 10 - 15mile mountain bike treks each morning and a hike in the afternoon. Healthy meals in between. Cooler in the car with drinks and healthy snacks, fridge at the room with healthy foods and try not to eat out much. Even if that means a daily trip to the grocery to pick up meat and salad for the nightly meal.
Its certainly do-able. Hubby was just asking me this morning what the plan is since we won't have the camper. But essentially we will have everything but the camper to tow. Even a hotel with a fridge has the same ammenites as the camper would. Actually, even better since the long-term cooler can stay inside the airconditioned hotel room. When camping its stored outside in the heat. Inside means the ice lasts longer.
The scale can be so de-motivating for me, and it's what caused me to give up on every "diet" in the past. So now I only weigh once in awhile. And I follow these rules:
- NEVER weigh for 2-3 days after a restaurant or off-plan meal (the scale is not going to be accurate anyway, all water retention)
- NEVER weigh when I'm already in a bad mood
- NEVER weigh when I can tell I'm bloated (how my rings fit etc)
This works so well for me. For the first time in my life I am not giving the scale any power or letting it control my moods. Some people though, seem to need the accountability aspect of daily weigh-ins. I suspect you know which approach would be better for you; you know yourself best!
Dh and I had date night a couple weeks ago, and I didn't eat off=plan and didn't miss a bit. I was too busy trying on (and buying) a pair of Roots capris in a size MEDIUM!!!!!!! Normally I take XL but I'll take the medium, LOL So you can have a totally rockin' time, just don't centre the "date" on food. Have some sweet lovin' instead lol
PS you know you didn't gain any fat so the number on the scale is irrelevant. DOn't worry!!
chnkymonkey, that sounds like an excellent plan for your vacation. You are going to do great! You should give yourself tons of credit for being so well-prepared for a time that, for many of us, is especially difficult. Go you!
dieting takes the joy out of date night....
lol
