A Weighty Issue

Anyone who has read this blog in the past knows that I obsess daily over my weight. I weigh myself every morning when I get up and every night when I go to bed. I am constantly watching what I eat, how much I eat, when I eat and why I eat. I don't always make the right choices and fret over them when I do falter. And trust me, I falter more than I'd like to admit. But I do try to maintain control over my diet.

Last summer we went to DisneyWorld (shocker!!) for vacation. It was a couple of weeks after I hit my goal weight of 190 lbs. I was adamant that I was going to keep my eating under control, make sure my exercise was increased to make up for whatever extra stuff I was going to eat (Barefoot Contessa Brownies... Damn you Kevin!!!) and just not over do it. I came home from that vacation six pounds heavier, which in the grand scheme of things isn't any big deal, but I was crushed. I mean, I'd just hit my ultimate goal and now I was back up. And for some reason, my body stopped listening to me. It took me six or seven weeks to drop those six pounds.

Now it's one year later and I've managed to maintain my goal weight. I'm up a pound or two one week, down a pound or two the next, but I'm there still. With the Florida vacation still in mind, and the Austin vacation coming up, I decided to pull a pre-emptive strike. I tried to lose five or six more pounds to give me a little wiggle room, knowing full well that I was going to eat like a king. And I lost the weight. But because I can't do anything right, I managed to set off my sciatic nerve during this. To the point that going out for extended walks like I do every day became impossible. About three or four weeks prior to the trip, I had to stop walking. Naturally, the panic set in, but I kept it under control. The extra weight I dropped slowly came back and I was back to square one, but without the exercise.

As I said before, going to Austin, I knew I was going to be eating and eating well. I weighed myself the morning I left for Texas and I was at 192.7 lbs. I was hoping and praying that I would come home under 200 lbs. If I made good choices, I could do it.

My diet in Austin differed completely from my diet at home. I think the only time I actually thought about what I was going to eat was my first lunch there. I got a chicken sandwich with fries.

So what that it had bacon on it, too. It's chicken, dammit. Healthy, right? But from there on out, I really stopped thinking about what I was going to eat. It's vacation, after all, and I should enjoy myself. And once I get home, it gives me two weeks to drop however much of the weight I gained that I can before the next vacation. (Okay, this had me in a panic. Two weeks is no time at all, especially considering it took a month and a half to recover from the last vacation.) But I did enjoy myself.

I had some Italian Ice at the ice cream festival.

I had the most delicious dark chocolate muffin with dark chocolate chip from the Taste No Evil Muffin Company.

Cherry Chocolate Chip pancakes for breakfast, though to tell the truth, they could have used more chocolate chips. Yes, I'm a filthy, dirty chocolate whore. Sue me!

Freddy makes awesome sausage, biscuits and gravy.

I discovered a whole new way to eat breakfast while in Texas. Breakfast tacos aren't really that well known in these parts. It's a great new way (for me, at least) to enjoy breakfast. I had a couple different variations, but this, The Don Juan from Juan In A Million, was by far the best.

I was unfamiliar with Migas before my visit. Even reading the menu, I was frightened. But talk about delicious. I really need to get over my irrational food issues. I'm missing out on a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally eat because of them.

Turkey from The Shady Grove.

The Yoga Instructor from Chedd's. It's turkey, provolone, avocado, spinach and Italian dressing on a multi-grain bread. Damn, that was good. I wish we had a Chedd's here. Gourmet grilled cheese? Yes please.

One of the burgers I enjoyed while in Austin. This one was from a place called Hut's. Two patties, two strips of bacon and lots and lots of cheese. The other place we got burgers at was called Chris Madrid's. I got the burger called the Cheddar Cheezy (Macho size). For $6.69, I got a burger the size of a plate. The bitch was so big that it was the last thing I ate that day and still didn't feel hungry.

I had a Mighty Cone. It's chicken, slaw and a deep fried avocado served in a tortilla wrap. So, so good.

My favorite meal in Austin was this. It's a chicken stuffed, deep fried avocado. It was AMAZING! I haven't stopped thinking about it all week.

Of course there was chocolate. This was a chocolate covered piece of bacon. I had to try it. It tasted really good, but to be honest, the chocolate kind of hid the flavor of the bacon. I could taste it in there, but it was so subtle.

There was so much more food, but I failed to get photographic evidence of it all. There were shrimp tacos, enchiladas, homemade milkshakes, homemade ice cream (two kinds!), BBQ....
And let's not forget about the boozing. I drank a lot. I'm not a drinker anymore, so it didn't take much for me to start feeling it, but that's not where I stopped. I'm still pretty much a lightweight and couldn't keep up with the others, but dammit, I tried. And tried. And tried. The calories from the beer alone should have been enough to make me fear stepping on the scale once I got home.

Even though I weigh myself when I get up and when I go to bed, I was too afraid to step on the scale the night I got home. I wasn't looking forward to the number I was going to see and wanted to at least have a good night of sleep before letting the depression set in. I tried to guess what my weight was going to be before I got on the scale. I was convinced it was going to be 205 to 207 lbs. That's how big my stomach felt. I would have been thrilled to see ANY number in the 100s, even 199.9. Tuesday morning I stepped on the scale. And my weight was.....

195.8

I had only gained 3.1 lbs during my entire trip. How that happened, I can't even begin to guess. I was constantly full the entire trip. I denied myself nothing. In fact, I had candy waiting for me when I got there and I never had the chance to open it up because I was full. I'm making up for it now by munching at work, though. Now that I've gotten back into my regular eating habits, I've been watching that number get smaller. On Saturday morning, I was actually 192.6, bringing me down (just barely) below my pre-Austin weight. But today I was back up to 193.3, which is still great considering I said my final farewell to my vacation by drinking the better part of a six pack last night. At the rate I'm going, I should hopefully be back down to 190 by the time my Disney vacation hits. And hopefully rebound from it as quickly as I did from Texas.