Day Three - Noodle Bar

I decided this morning that I am not going to step on a scale every single day and monitor my progress. Perhaps that creates a lack of accountability on my end, I don't know. There will be some day-to-day fluctuations though, so better not to get all concerned about them. Because stress my cause one to eat. Eat more.

Since I did not get on the scale this morning, it is still safe to assume that I'm right at 231. And that because I already lost 6 pounds since I started, I could reward myself with a nice, yet healthy lunch. Tai (she is still around, and perhaps a bad influence) and I went puppy shopping over the lunch break (the dog is for Tai's mom, as a pet Tai assured me), and ended up at the Noodle Bar in West Village. Heavenly. We both had BBQ pork broth noodles, watercress soup, taro rolls (which are so crispy and delicious that we had them at the end as a desert). Truly good lunch. And almost consistent with my weight loss goals.

Speaking of weight-loss goals... While I indulged in my last taro roll, which I smothered in a sweet-sour dipping sauce, I wondered about sacrifices one needed to make for the sake of getting lean. Should I really quit places like Noodle Bar (Momofuku Ko, Gramercy Tavern, we could go on and on, we are in NYC after all!) in order to lose weight? I don't eat in McDonald. Or Taco Bell. None of the items (all fairly unappetizing) from the Biggest Loser glass cabinets (that so poetically fade out as their still enormous victim is voted off the show) really appeals to my sophisticated pallet (popcorn perhaps). I sense doubt. And hunger.

Going strong!

I knew the day two would be a challenge. It started well - naked and relieved, I lost 6 pounds overnight and was at 231 at 6:45 AM! Overnight! The daily portion of the diet did not go poorly either:

- I worked out - did 20 minutes of cardio even, plus some during my workout with Humberto. (Ai Papito!)
- Had a protein shake for my second breakfast (I had an instant oatmeal for my first breakfast, not very good. More on instant oatmeal in FN1)
- A salad for lunch, with no cheese, only steak and egg whites and walnuts and olives and red peppers, all served over a generous bed of crispy romaine.
- Then Tai called...

Now, how does one reject an old friend back from a 7 months long camping trip who would like to have a drink? Since we were both dressed inappropriately for Campbell Apartments at Grand Central (she more so than I, practically still in her camping gear), we opted for far less fabulous but equally pretentious Osteria Laguna. Where we both had a carb conscious serving of a vodka martini. Dirty, with olives. I ordered it dry so to avoid the extra calories. Then we had some fairly healthy and forgettable fairs, grilled sea food, salad, blah blah. Three christinis...

This should be a footnote, but then you'd maybe miss it, and it it really important to set the record straight. Tai seems to believe, and she is wrong, that I started this blog only to show off my 195 pounds headless photo. Which is not true. Not entirely, at least. The support I get from friends is just touching. (FN2)

We had a nice visit to Bill (who does not want to be mentioned in this blog, or any other Internet vehicle) and Joe (who does not care), and we had a glass or 2 1/2 of health promoting red (Beaurdoux, if you must know). And a sweet potato sour from Zarela. With only one third of a flauta and one chip.

Tai and I then laughed our behinds off watching Tropic Thunder, and all that laughter made me hungry again (plus, Top Chef was on) so I finished my dieting effort with a piece of high-end dark chocolate. Because it was in my fridge. (FN3) And could one piece of chocolate, 2 1/2 glasses of Beardoux, one dirty (but dry) vodka martini and three christinis ruin my otherwise exemplary day two (add to that that I did complete 20 minutes of grueling cardio!)? No, right?

Regardless, this morning (I was again procrastinating, but you would not have known since I started this post yesterday) I found some encouraging news - the Giorgio Armani suits, it is reported from Milan fashion week, have trousers cut to flatter a man with muscular thighs and a rear. Me! I find comfort that there will be a fashionable item waiting for me at the end of this road that would flatter my new (and in terms of thighs and rear even existing) figure.

FN1 Ok, so during the last season of the Biggest Loser, the motivational aspect of which I already questioned, Bob the trainer, who is NEVER shirtless, although he is the only person there who in fact should be shirtless, and often, claimed, while millions were watching, that he had protein-enhanced instant oatmeal for breakfast every morning. Every morning! This season, you guessed, he did not make any such claim! So, what does he have for breakfast?? And why is he not shirtless (not even in his exercise book which I reviewed with great interest at Borders, after my Nougatine lunch with Paul --djpaulferrer.blogspot.com, and which I would have bought since it was 1/2 off if only Bob took his shirt off in one photo. One!)

FN2 Natasha, Ginger, Paul the Australian, you know who you are! Some friends. Some support. Shame... The fact that you did not manage has no implications on my almost certain success. Perhaps you too should get a pair of skimpy leather pants.

FN 3 "Am I not human? Do I not bleed?" And I was out of gum, but I should really save this one for another post.

Heavier than expected

Holly smoke! I just stepped off the scale (a really nice digital one) and realized that:
1. I weigh 237 pounds! Granted, I was wearing socks, underwear, a tshirt, a shirt, a pair of (thick) pants, and a pair of cufflinks, but still...;
2. Since I only wrote one sentence of my fist post yesterday, it is dated January 19, and it appears that I am not a procrastinator after all, even though I just finished the post 5 minutes ago; and
3. Because it shows January 19 as the posting date, my previous post makes no sense, because I go on and on about procrastinating.

So, change of plan people, 38 pounds to drop!

The First Day - Nougatine

Clearly, I've been procrastinating... I was supposed to start my Weight Loss Diaries yesterday, but instead of finalizing my preparation for the "before" picture with a Nougatine lunch with Paul (where we had an entirely sublime fois gras brule, plus the lunch menu with a more weight-loss sensitive choice of steamed skate on a bed of spaghetti squash), I opted for skipping my Nu-kitchen meal for Bill's meatballs in gravy, served over creamy polenta. It is very hard to write about one's weight loss goals once one is stuffed, I find. Thus delay.

I was born June 19, 1969. I will be, with some luck, turning 40 in 1/2 year exactly. With some more luck, hard work, and by avoiding Bill's cooking, I hope to throw my 40th birthday bash 30 pounds lighter than I currently am. (FN1)

Although I was not always fat, I've been preparing for the "before" picture for some time now... (Above is a flattering shot of my belly exposed to the gentle January sun of the Caribbean.) Looking back, my preparation seem to have commenced weeks after a burst appendix brought me to my dream weight of 195 pounds. (FN2) Which was five years ago. Since then, I've been gaining weight steadily. There are several reasons for this:

1. Bill's cooking;
2. My social life is no longer centered around Results the Gym;
3. I moved to NYC where
   a) Social life evolved around fork and a martini glass, and not Results the Gym;
   b) One needs to work hard and long;
   c) There is no Results the Gym (FN3); and
   
4. I don't mean to use this as an excuse, but I have a bad back.

You may wonder what would I look like after I shed all those pounds. Here we go:
Paul will confirm the authenticity of this shot - plus see the appendectomy scar, and the leather pants I mention in the footnote 2 below. Not bad, eh?

Although I've been contemplating going on a diet for some time, my recent trip back to Belgrade really convinced me that the time was right. For the first time since I was a small child, I was greeted by various people squeezing my cheeks and admiring how round they were (we are talking above waist line here). And, my mother did not comment on my weight this time around, a sure sign she considered it a lost cause. (FN4)

I start this diary a day late, but determined to drop to 199 pounds for the night of my birthday party. I hope you will follow my progress and support me all the way through.



FN1: I love footnotes. They do allow one to go on and on about something not entirely important. Like the fact that I just saw The Biggest Loser, which should, I know, be an inspiration, but for me it just does not work because most of these people end up being more fat that I currently am even when they are done with the grueling program. If I was to work out 4-8 hours a day and ear lettuce, it seems that losing 30 pounds would be a two weeks job!

FN2: Naively, I celebrated the occasion by purchasing a custom made Carneliani suit and a pair of custom made leather pants, neither of which I can get into at the moment.

FN 3: Although it may appear that all my weight problems would disappear if I would only move back to DC, that is not the case. Results the Gym, I hear, at least the one on the corner of 17th and U, is now gone.

FN4: It would have been silly going on a diet there and then - I would have missed an amazing pickled cabbage cooked with smoked meet at Vucko and Stasa's place, the meal I intend to make here in NYC as soon as I find time and patience to go to Queens and by the whole pickled cabbage.