Day 81 Eating Pie and Losing Weight

Day 81

Eating Pie and Losing Weight

As I write this evenings blog, I'm enjoying the very last piece of pumpkin pie in the house. We brought that leftover pie home a week ago! That's got to be a family record. Pumpkin Pie and Cool Whip is lucky to last two days around here, OK, around me. I think I'm also setting a record for time it takes to eat it...I've been at it for twenty minutes already and I still have half a piece! There's still some leftover pecan pie in there, but none of us can bring ourselves to spend that many calories. The leftover pecan will probably find it's way into the trash can soon. And that would be another record! First ever pecan pie thrown away in our household! Except for that rancid tasting one we bought last year, we tossed it that day, it was bad, pecan pie isn't suppose to taste like rotten fish. But throwing away perfectly good pecan pie? Never. I'm sure it will happen this time eventually, after all we're really upset with pecan pie for being so calorie laden. This piece of pumpkin with Cool Whip is so darn tasty and cold. I love cold pumpkin pie, and since I had 300 calories left, I figured why not use it on pie! And I still have 60 calories to spare!

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. He was in Tulsa with his wife and son and they were just leaving Casa Bonita. I thought Casa Bonita was closed down forever, but no! They're back. And according to my friend, they've reclaimed the original atmosphere and quality they had thirty years ago. As soon as the words “Casa Bonita” left his lips, I was licking mine. Casa Bonita, when I was a kid, was the kind of restaurant you would gladly drive eighty miles to enjoy. It's a big mexican restaurant and the inside is like a little Mexican village. They even had a working waterfall and a roaming mariachi band. The décor was amazing, and the food, oh wow. I feel guilty just talking about it. The “deluxe” mexican dinner was a plate full of enchiladas, tamales, a taco, rice and beans. They would bring fresh chips, salsa, and queso to your table, and when you wanted more food, you just raised your flag. The evil Sean wanted to hear all the details from my friend. Evil Sean: “So, uh, do they have the warm fresh fried complimentary sopapias?” “they do? Oh wow, they were the best!” The good Sean had to intervene before I fueled up and drove two hours for a Mexican meltdown! So I changed the subject... Good Sean: “uh, I'm at the Y working out.” “Eye of the Tiger Sean, let's move!” “Stop asking questions about Casa Bonita, there ya go, it's gonna be alright.” Evil Sean: “And you would think the complimentary queso would be the cheap runny stuff, no! It's thick and creamy!” Good Sean: “Stop it already!!!!” New paragraph!!!

It's completely normal to get excited over a great dish or restaurant. And I'm not saying that I'll never enjoy Casa Bonita again. But if and when that time ever comes, I'll enjoy it responsibly, in moderation. No raising of the flag for me! Part of this process is learning how to handle everyday food situations without going completely nuts. Recognizing a level of fullness that's satisfying not sickening, that's what it's all about. I guess I've been in denial about how much of a food addict I've been. And my overeating has never really been about stuffing myself, with me it's all about taste. I love the taste of things. When I tried Nutri-System nearly 18 years ago, they told me I had a “High Flavor Set-Point.” If that means I like things that taste really good, then I agree. I think that's why I've never been a salad person. There's not much tasty fat in a salad. Instead of a salad before dinner, I'll take cottage cheese please, and not the fat free kind, the 4% milk-fat kind. See? All about the flavor. And usually flavor means fat. Not always, but have you ever noticed on the cooking shows they sometimes say “leave a little fat in for flavor.” I honestly didn't realize how much I would have to dissect my “fat” thoughts and desires along the way. To truly learn, I have to first understand. Some might say I'm over-analyzing things, which is funny considering I'm all about “keeping it simple”, But understanding why I've been over 500 pounds for so long is a very important study. And it's sometimes the furthest thing from simple.

I've gone back and read some of the early days of this journey, and I noticed some spelling errors, just a few, but enough to drive me nuts. I also noticed some incorrect grammar that makes me crazy. I'm not perfect, I make grammatical errors like most, but I know the difference between two, to, and too. I almost started editing and correcting a few post, but I decided not to worry about that. If I leave an “o” off of a “to” that should have been a “too”, then you know I must have been typing fast and missed it. As long as nobody alerts Mrs. Cook from my high school English 2 class, we'll be ok. She was a tough one! She must have rubbed off a little, because I'm discovering some pretty nit-picking annoying stuff about myself! I go back to read and re-absorb my message, and all I'm thinking about is a few bad grammar moments and a couple of spelling mistakes. I'm going to allow myself to let it go. I don't care! I'm pretty sure I'm effective in communicating what I want to communicate and really that's all that matters. If I'm lucky enough to publish a book someday, the editors and proofreaders will certainly earn their money!

I just finished that pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. It sounds crazy, I'm writing a blog about my weight loss journey while eating pie! It was only 240 calories. It wasn't a bad thing! I had 300 left to use. I chose pie. Good choice? One small piece, yes. Still within my calorie limit? Yes. It's all good! Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean