A Tortoise With A Plan

Well, we're still a bit stinky. It's pretty much confined to our laundry room - where I bathed my poor Sophie, but I'll get a whiff every now and again. My leather purse is skunky. I'm going to try leaving it in the sun and see if that helps. And weird things stink - like clothes in a drawer in a room where the dog didn't even get. I'm re-washing a lot. Lobster left for Atlanta for work this afternoon and he has spent a tremendous amount of time de-skunking the suitcase, his leather shoes and so on. He's been asking me to smell something about 10 times a day since Wednesday. It's gotten to the point that I don't think I even care if I stink any more. I'm tired of sniffing and smelling. My smeller may be out of commission for a while from over-use.

I met with a dietitian on Tuesday. Sandy was a petite woman, but I won't hold that against her. But that's probably better for business than if she looked like me. She was very nice and we got right down to business. I was asked to bring in a written summary of what and how much I eat in a typical day. I just wrote down everything I ate the previous day.  I didn't get any new, earth-shattering information. I had a lot of good choices, a lot of healthy food. But that is the problem. There was a lot of food. It was obvious, to both of us, what my problem is - what it has been  - and what I will struggle with for a long time.

PORTION CONTROL

She had all this rubber food to illustrate proper serving sizes. So we looked at that and the importance of reading labels. She had several empty containers of different brands of Greek yogurt and I was amazed at the differences in fat, sugar and protein. I kind of thought Greek yogurt was Greek yogurt. So, I'm back to reading labels and measuring my food. I don't know why I keep thinking I can eyeball it. I SO can't. 

Measuring cups are my friend. Measuring cups are my friend. Measuring cups are my friend.......

I received this place mat.

And on the other side...

Proper serving sizes. Just what I need! Really, it is just what I need. Avocados are listed under fat. That's a bummer. So is bacon. I know - I can't delude myself anymore that it's protein. And nut butters are a protein, but I have to count a 1/2 TBS of my 2 TBS serving as one of my fats for the day. Oh, the details. All in all, I think we've come up with a plan that I can stick with long term. It's roughly 2000 calories a day. I can do that without feeling deprived. 

I have to admit that I kind of wanted her to hand me a packet and tell me, "Eat this." Although that's basically what she did, I have to do the work and the meal planning. The positive is that can make the food my family likes. But I'm going to have to do a lot of planning. I'm not so good at that. I may have mentioned my lack of skills in the organizational department.

Sandy, in response to my complaint that it will take forever to lose the weight I want to lose, told me to remember that I need to be the tortoise - not the hare. Slow is better and more apt to bring about a life change. So, here I am , a tortoise. A tortoise with a plan.