So yeah, losing sixty pounds in a year may have seemed a bit pie in the sky when I planted that flag to begin 2020, but I’m ahead of schedule and seven weeks in I’ve established some new habits that will help me keep lowering the bar.  This week was more stressful than most, yet I resisted stress-eating in all but one situation, and I paid for it.  On Thursday after a 2PM meeting to hear about the Kronos merger with Ultimate software, I walked by a table on our 12th floor “Oasis” covered with food left over from lunch in a nearby conference room.  Now there have been numerous times this year that I’ve walked by a similarly arranged table and kept on walking. Not on this day. I glided in and scanned the offerings… Rolls. Cookies. Some chocolate thingies. All of them would have been instantly inhaled by old me. This time I opted for a half a rollup with veggies and hummus. Yeah, I thought. “That’s a good boy.” While it looked like the best option, to keep on walking would have been much better as it turns out. You see the food probably arrived at 11:30 and it was now approaching 3:30 – that’s 4 hours. I contemplated that a bit during several trips to the bathroom between 9:30 and 10:30 Wednesday night. Sorry to dump that on you. Yeah. It could have been worse.

Anyway, the habits and other things working toward weight loss…

  • Portions – Just make them a little smaller and prioritize greens
  • Seconds – Sometimes they’re tempting so just take a bite or two, not another plate or two
  • Meat – For health and  animal compassion reasons, I’m greatly reducing it in my diet
  • Dairy – Same thing – Have I mentioned how awesome Oat Milk is? I use it in coffee and in oatmeal (worked in quiche, too). I did some research on non-dairy milk options and for a number of environmental, humanitarian and animal compassion reasons, Oat got my vote.  And it tastes great! Hemp milk was gross. Hump your hemp some other way. My favorite is Oatly Barista Edition followed closely by Califia Barista Blend.  It’s a little pricy, but it’s better for the planet, better for cows, and better for the near slave laborers harvesting coconuts. Last Sunday I was at Pie in the Sky Bakery and Cafe in Woods Hole where I ordered a latte. The guy taking my order asked, “what kind of milk do you want?” “What do you have?” “Whole, skim, almond, coconut, soy, uh… Oat.” “Yes, Oat!” I think Beth may have done a slight eye-roll, but it was the best latte I’ve ever had.
  • Sugar – The oat milk has allowed me to eliminate added sugar from my coffee. Doing a little math,  that should save me between 36,400 and 43,680 calories in a year – that’s equivalent to 10.4 to 12.5 pounds.
  • Oatmeal – A wonder food. Sure, it seems boring especially when you’re out for breakfast when it competes against eggs, toast, home fries, hollandaise sauce, and yeah, bacon, but add some raisins and walnuts and one tablespoon of maple syrup… I’ve been doing a single serving (1/4 cup dry) of the steel-cut stuff and it’s very satisfying. My grandson, Luca loves it, too.
  • Quiche – We’ve had one per week for a few weeks now. Yeah, eggs. I do buy the free-range “certified humane” eggs from a local farm, The Country Hen, but it’s not lost on me that I’m eating the unborn…

I mean, I just don’t think I can go “full Vegan,” but I’m trying to do better. My Auntie San put it best when she said, “Yeah, I can be a Vegan as long as I can have a cheeseburger once in a while.” Exactly. Thinking about it, I wonder how far can we possibly take it and still survive? What about “the food chain?” Does a lion consider animal compassion when it pounces on an antelope and rips its neck open for dinner? To take it even further, how do we know plants don’t suffer when we rip them out of the ground to make a Caesar Salad? There are some who believe all matter in the universe has some degree of consciousness. One day as I was contemplating this concept of panpsychism while weeding in my yard, I was momentarily horrified at the feel of tearing roots from the ground and ending the life of a weed. Yeah, I might have been high…

To make a long story short, the elevator continues its slow but steady descent and my aching hips are feeling a bit better.