Part II of journaling about what I eat

You may recall that I published a post about how I was getting fat and started a daily journal about what I eat. As it turns out, what I eat isn't that interesting, even to me. I dutifully kept the journal for the entire month of April and I learned basically nothing I didn't already know. I can put my weight gain/loss issues into three categories: drinks with calories, desserts, and eating in restaurants.

I did manage to lose about three pounds in April, so that's the good news. I think it was more due to trying to eat less than due to any benefit of writing down what I was eating. So, in confronting May, and what I still wanted to do about my weight, because it really is bikini season here now, I've decided on a couple of things.

First, I'm not going to give up drinks with calories. Every morning I have a little glass of orange juice and a cup of tea with breakfast. I refuse to participate in a diet that says no to orange juice. And I really, really like tea. Every time I try to give it up, it makes me sad. I also drink hot chocolate. I've decided that this doesn't count as a drink because milk is actually digested as if it were food. Which leaves alcohol. As Captain America points out, I don't even drink alcohol that much.

Second, I've decided I'm going to abide by that chef's dessert rule (I wish I could remember his name, but, alas, names don't really stick with me). Anyway, there's a chef who says you can have as much dessert as you want as long as you make it yourself. I think he says from scratch. Which is what I nearly always do anyway, with the exception of Captain America's favorite, the tunnel of fudge cake, which calls for a boxed cake mix and then you dump in a bunch of stuff to make it even better. I could probably figure out how to make it from scratch. I guess the idea is that, first of all, who has time to make desserts from scratch all that often? Secondly, I know if I'm going to go through the trouble of making a dessert, I'm not going to inhale it like I might a pint of Haagen Dazs. And finally, I share my desserts, so I'm not going to eat the whole thing anyway.

So now we're on to eating in restaurants. I'm not a fan of the idea of having to eat "healthy" food in a restaurant. If I wanted a salad with grilled chicken, I'd stay home. That's the kind of meal we're likely to make for dinner. We don't make gigantic greasy cheeseburgers in our house. That's the sort of treat I like to have in a restaurant. I'm not giving up enjoying a meal in a restaurant. The most I can say is that I'm going to make a conscious decision not to eat everything on my plate.

So what am I going to do? What I'd like to do is get back to running 15-20 miles a week. Right now, I'm at just under 10, so I should be there by the fall. Unfortunately, that's not bikini season. I'm already putting in five to six exercise sessions a week, and I fail to see how I can add another one or two without giving up something else I enjoy, like reading or sleeping. So I've decided to add a daily walk. You always read about how walking is a great way to lose weight (although I think if I gave up running and took up walking it would actually be a step backwards). Also, walking is supposed to boost happiness, and create mental peacefulness (or something fluffy like that). Finally, and this is the big thing for me, walking won't be like exercise. Mostly because I don't need to wrangle myself into a sports bra and spandex shorts to do it. Having to change my clothes several times a day is decidedly the most annoying thing about exercising for me. (I'm still not brave enough to wear yoga pants to work, despite not actually having a dress code).

I know you'll all be waiting with bated breath to find out how this walking thing works out for me, so I'll be sure to keep you posted (pun intended!).