Austerity Measures

Mood: Aggravated. I hate when stuff disappears

Listening to: I Touch Myself – the Divinyls

As I mentioned in a previous blog, India has been extremely good for my waistline and my ass, along with other body parts. I have lost quite a bit of weight since I moved here. As I’ve also mentioned, we took a trip to Sri Lanka.

At home, I’m very, very disciplined about what I’m eating. I have no desire to gain any of the weight back and am very careful about portion size and what food I eat. I remember all too well how easy it was to get where I was when I was heavy. When I go on vacation, I don’t use it as an excuse to totally pig out, but I loosen my standards up quite a bit. For example, at home, I try to eat rice for only 2 – 3 meals a week. On vacation I can eat it every day. My body grabs and holds on to rice (especially when I eat too much of it) like it will never see it again. My skin (oy with the teenage skin!) and my waist line never quite look the same after I eat rice, but that’s why I don’t eat it more than twice a week. I much prefer whole grains/cracked wheat/brown rice. Since we just came back from vacation, I'm feeling a bit icky from all the unhealthy/larger portion eating.

I’ve also been aware of more and more chips/cookies/soda being at home. In the US, I was overweight because my portion sizes were out of control and I drank a lot; alcohol, soda, and sugary coffee drinks. We didn’t usually ever keep potato chips, cookies, or pop at home. In fact, the year before we moved into our house in Bangalore, I wasn’t drinking soda at all because I couldn’t keep it down to 1 – 2 a week and it was making me gain weight.  

Unfortunately, we have a cafeteria here at my apartment complex and it is continually a challenge for me to not go and spend 20 rupees (about 50 cents) on a small bag of chips, a soda or a packet of cookies.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to enforce some austerity measures. Hopefully I’ll be able to stick to them. 1 soda a week, 2 bags of chips a week, and only 2 packets of cookies a week. I’m also REALLY looking forward to going to my complex’s gym after my kids go to school this week. I went with my brother 3 times a week last year while my kids were in school and I haven’t felt that healthy in years, so I’m stoked to go back and help my body get stronger.

I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, but I don’t feel like I am quite where I want to be. I generally know how much weight I have lost, but I’m not a scale or a calorie watcher. I go by portion size, the fit of my clothes, and how my body looks in the mirror.  I’m down to a size 8, but I’m still a bit too jiggly for my taste, which I’m guessing has to do with the above junk that I’m eating. Since my portion sizes are reasonable, it seems to not be a problem of extra calories, but eating the wrong type of foods. I really would like to get rid of some of the jiggle and tone it up a bit.

Any other advice anyone has? 

Becky