Food For Thought

Greetings, fellow Fat Chance Fans.

Heavens, it's EXACTLY a year since I posted here!

I note a lot of you are discussing weight, food and health issues in your own journals, and I'd like to invite you to post, or re-post here.

Tell us what's going on, how the new year finds you, health-wise, if you have any plans to change things up, or any new discoveries you've made.

Share your successes - I know from RL that a number of you have made some astounding changes, and I'm sure others here would love to hear about them as well.

As for me, I had a little laparascopic surgery in the fall to cure my eternal (not kidding) acid reflux, and it's been a mixed blessing. One one hand, I feel great, and can eat again, after many months of fearing that anything I put in my mouth would result in horrendous heartburn within minutes. And let me tell you - that was a hell of a way to lose 8 lbs.

On the other hand, now I CAN eat virtually anything - and that seems to have opened up a floodgate of "MMMMMM, let me eat that, since I haven't had it in years!" So this winter has been a blur of barbecued ribs, pate and pasta alfredo, since there's been no physical reason not to eat them. What I'm trying to do is recapture the mental reason not to eat them, to reestablish the good habits that have kept my weight stable since 2006.

Wow. Since 2006 - that's a good place to start, remembering what I've achieved. And I invite you to revel in your successes and make plans for changes you believe you need or that you want. And in the meantime, let's stay in touch!

As we head into the holidays, just wanted to say a few encouraging words about this time of year and the onslaught of food we're all about to be assailed with. I'm off to Florida this week, to have Thanksgiving with my family, and the uncertainty of the coming week is making me nervous. But I have decided to take the following steps: 1) to exercise every day, even if it's just a long walk (and there are many parks and wetlands walks I can go to) and 2)to do the shopping for my mother, so I can stock the house with vegetables and fruits, because my mom thinks coleslaw is a green vegetable, and applesauce with sugar is an acceptable fruit. Also, her pot roast is legendary, and accordingly contains legendary amounts of fat. So at least for the five days I'll be there, I will have some control. Sadly, I can't do anything about the candy and munchies she keeps around for her mah jongg/canasta buddies. That will be a challenge for me, because I love all that bad stuff. But 3)I am going to bring power bars and healthy snacks with me, and keep them in my bedroom for when the evening crunch attack happens.

The good news is that although it's less homey to do things this way, nobody's cooking this Turkey Day - we're going to a terrific restaurant on the beach. I've been there for Thanksgiving before, and the menu is available on line, so I'll be making my decisions before I leave New York.

So - how do you plan to manage Thanksgiving (sweet potatoes? stuffing?), Christmas (plum pudding? ham?), Hanukkah (oh, those latkes!) Kwanzaa (are there special foods for this holiday? I'd love to know) Boxing Day (ditto, not a clue), New Year's Eve (champagne?) -- well, whatever is on the horizon for you at all the big meals and parties you may attend. If you have a plan, share it here.

Inquiring minds want to know.

P.S. - I don't recommend this, but over the last week I've attended 2 kids birthday parties and eaten a whole lotta cake, cookies and cupcakes, PLUS ate extra cupcakes that wound up in my office (I dunno, I think they sneaked in after dark). I slunk into my nutritionist's office yesterday, afraid of the worst. To my surprise I lost two pounds. I'm thinking of trademarking the cupcake diet.

So "The Biggest Loser" turned out the way I wanted it to end, with the person winning I was rooting for...( spoilers, if anyone cares )