All "choked" up on Bridget Jones

One thing irking me since beginning the Colin Firth Diet Club (CFDC) is when people tell me to forget about my 'diet' for a meal, evening or weekend.  I fear the term 'diet' has come to take on erroneous meanings.  Let's be clear - we are all on a diet!  If we eat food and drink water, we are on a diet.  A diet is simply food and drink we consume.  When did 'diet' come to mean starving yourself or denying sustenance?  Yet, clearly there are people who need to make dietary changes - myself included.  So yes, I am on a diet - just as all of you are, and yes, I have lost about 13 lbs so far.  But...I still have the occasional chocolate bar, cupcake and hamburger (hopefully not at the same time!).  If I were to name one thing that has led to my successful 'diet' and subsequent weight-loss, it would be that I am cooking my own meals now.  Simple as that.  Secondly, I am making wiser choices when purchasing food by buying fresh, avoiding prepackaged items and trans fats.

As mentioned in my last entry I weighed in at 142.25 lbs.  Last Monday was also my monthly weigh-in and I forgot to mention those results.  I have also lost an inch in the hips and another inch in the arms (1/2" each).  BMI went down from 26.86 to 26.44 and % of body fat went down from 34.2 to 33.3.

Speaking of weight, why do people, particularly women, insist on lying about their weight, age, even hair colour - do you think people can't tell?  This is a visual reality.  Granted, I did lie about my hair colour when I was in high school.  My natural colour is brown with some natural blondish highlights during the summer.  But the summer after Grade 9, my friend Brie and I discovered this wonderful product called Sun-In!  It came in a little spray container akin to hairspray.  Which is essentially what it was.  You spray a little here and there and then go bask in the sun and voila!  Blond bombshell!  OK, that's probably taking things to an extreme - it actually gave my hair an orangish hue.  Seriously, I have fair skin and burn easily - so what I claimed to be natural colouring should have been accompanied by a corresponding cooked lobster look covering my face and limbs - "A lobster.  In the nativity play?"  (Love Actually)  Oops, I did it again!  LOL Nevertheless, I now entrust my highlights to the professionalism of my hairdresser Emily.  Damn, that reminds me - my one lone gray hair is getting longer...should I embrace this lone lock after what I just preached to you?  I think I'll keep it for now.  It reminds me of my grandmother.  She had this little wispy curl of gray hair in about the same spot.

A couple of weeks ago John came home from work excited about a present he bought for me.  I gave him a suspicious smirk as he pulled it out of his work bag.  It was The Looneyspoons Cookbook.  The suspicious smirk because...I think he bought it more for himself than for me, and was pretending he did something sweet.  He got a kick out of reading the names of the recipes.  Shrimply Irresistible, One Flew Over the Couscous Nest, Darth Tater (this also incidentally has made the product line of Mr. Potato Head for Star Wars geeks like my husband!), and Obi Wonton Kenobi (our first email address after we married was obi1mckenzie@sympatico.ca because ObiWon was already taken - as you can imagine this caused great embarrassment on my part when I felt obligated to disclose John's empire of Geekdom.  Thankfully I now have my own email address!

Despite my mixed feelings of this'gift', I'm more excited about reading the extra stuff than the actual recipes.  In fact, what drew me from the beginning was the beginning.  The first page of the introduction states, "Ironically, the low-fat frenzy seemed to make people fatter!  Yup, as a continent, we were puffing up along with the fat-free puffed rice cakes we were "hoovering" down".  Reading this a second time reminds me of my dear friend Melissa who has a rare addiction to popcorn flavoured rice cakes!  Last week she sent me an article relating to arsenic levels found in these cakes (and other rice products).  Now, getting back to that quote - kind of makes you think doesn't it?  In a society that appears to be inundated with information about healthy diet, we are concurrently faced with the contradiction of larger portion sizes and food fillers.  Deep breath Rebecca...I sense the fury building within again.....hummm....... hummm.  I was faced with just such a dilemma on Thursday in fact.  I had to go to the postal outlet at Shopper's Drug Mart to pick up a package.  I had weighed myself at Curves and was down to 141.75 lbs and my stomach was screaming at me to feed it.  So I thought I would treat myself to a snack and couldn't decide between Doritos (which yes, does contain trans fat) or a Kit Kat (which also contains trans fat).  See!  I still cave to the crave!  I also thirsted for a Coke - but I only really want a sip or two.  The bag of Doritos was on sale for $.99.  A small bottle of Coke was selling for I think $2.49 but the large 1L bottle was on sale for $2.19 so I opted for that one since more was less and I brought it home and let the boys share what was left.  Kit Kat's were on for 2 for $1.99.  I ended up buying the Doritos because I knew that if I bought the Kit Kat's I would likely eat them both.  I tell you this to let it be known that I do cheat the odd time - and I am still losing weight because overall I am eating better and exercising.  It's also because I value honesty.  Truth be known, I didn't even really like the taste of Coke anymore.  John has gone caffeine-free for a few weeks now.  I am very proud of him - if you only knew how much Diet Coke he consumed to get through the day at work...Bravo John!  Looneyspoons talks about the soft drink dilemma and how diet soda can actually increase the likelihood of weight gain.  Artificial sweeteners rapidly increase insulin levels (a fat-storage hormone).  When your blood sugars are low, you crave sweets, thereby overeating and storing more fat.  Today, my friend Lisa posted something on Facebook which I am going to share with you since some of you learn better from a visual apparatus than the written word.  This pretty much sums up what I've been trying to tell you...

OK, so it's still the written word, but it may get the point across better with it standing out like that for you.
On Friday we had the biggest snow storm in over 4 years!  As the snow accumulated outdoors, the dust and debris from our renovation accumulated indoors.  Even poor Rocket (my dog) was dusty.  I feel like I'm choking on saw dust - does anyone know the nutritional values of that??  While ensconced (or trapped) in my kitchen I decided to make a Beef Barley Stew for dinner.  Perfect meal to have on a cold winters' night.  Unfortunately, when you ask kids to put groceries away for you things disappear and the barley must have escaped in Brad's pickup truck along with the old flooring.  So we had just Beef Stew!  There was even enough left over for dinner the next night! 

I am now paying for my plight with the Doritos.  On Saturday at Curves, I was back up to 143 lbs.  John picked me up when I was done to go look at lighting and had bought me a doughnut.  This is what I refer to as an 'Enabler' - and I really didn't need that - but again, I was hungry and it was lunch time.  After dinner I went across the street to Carla's to hang out with her, Melissa, Brenda and Cama.  What a riot!  There is something really refreshing about being surrounded with brutally honest women!  Love it!  Cama opened up about her gaseous reactions to coleslaw and politely backed up to let it rip when needed! LOL!    I tried artichoke for the first time!!!  This was exciting for me since I had just read in Looneyspoons that artichokes are good for lowering cholesterol and blood sugar levels!  Funny name - artichoke...the word itself gives you a gag reflex.  But seriously, it wasn't all that bad, and it wasn't delicious either.  I'll just say I am indifferent to the artichoke and relieved that I did not 'choke' on it (or Cama's flatulence)!  I think I ate too many other goodies though!  Cama's brownies were divine!

Sunday, after my soccer game (which we lost, but we did play well!), we went out for dinner as Kristen was whining about how long it's been since we've eaten in a restaurant.  We went to Kelsey's and I ordered a delicious Asian Sesame Chicken Salad!  Yummy!  John and I split a slice of cheesecake for dessert.  OK, I know things aren't looking promising to get my next movie by Valentine's Day - but it won't be much longer!  I'm hoping that all the work I've done wiping dust and dirt off the walls and floors in an attempt to restore some order around here burned off enough calories to make up for my caloric demise! 

Since comparing the ending of Silver Linings Playbook to the final scene of Bridget Jones's Diary, I've had the urge to watch Mr. Darcy again!  Afterall, one can never get enough of Colin Firth.  After everyone went to bed I made myself cozy on the couch and prepared to soak in all that is Mark Darcy!  It got me thinking of having another girl's movie night  - this time Bridget Jones's Diary accompanied with a turkey curry buffet - I'll just have to develop a taste for curry I suppose!  Bridget and I have a lot in common.  We are both on the chubby side and in want of losing 20 lbs.  We are both in our 30's (although mine are certainly closing in on me) and value self-improvement.  I do not however, smoke like a chimney or drink like a fish - unless we are talking water with lemon!  Still, I envy her in that last scene in the street albeit in her "genuinely tiny knickers'!

Yesterday after Kristen got home from gymnastics, she asked if she could watch Bridget Jones's!!!  Hell yes!!  This is one of my proudest moments being a mom - sharing my love for Colin Firth with my daughter!!  She loved it!!  She thought Bridget was funny and had to agree with me that the final scene is one of the most romantic sequences ever seen on film!  Ahh, the joy of having a legacy to hand down to your child!!  I think we'll watch the sequel together tonight!

Last night for dinner I made a new dish.   Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Barley.  Except as aforementioned, my barley disappeared, so it became Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Quinoa without Gorgonzola (as aforementioned in my previous entry this is blue cheese - ewww!).  I found the recipe on Pinterest and altered a wee bit.

Aren't the colours beautiful?  There are some roasted pecans in there as well balsalmic vinegar and maple syrup.  Delicious!!  Admittedly, it proved difficult to get everyone else to eat it - but eat it they did!  The most common complaint was "Where's the beef?".  Since there was protein in the quinoa and pecans I felt this would suffice for a full meal.  Those who ate most of it were able to watch "The Next Great Baker" finale with no dessert, and those who ate it all could have a scoop of ice cream for dessert as well.  Matthew got his ice cream!

Crikey!  I weighed in at Curves again today and was at 143.25!  Still paying the price for the Doritos, doughnut and cheesecake.  Lesson learned!  As I may not achieve my next goal by Valentine's Day, being 

only 2 days away, I have decided to postpone my personal deadline to the end of the month - but keep trodding along in the hopes that I can indeed get there by Thursday!

My current blip could be related to the scene where Bridget tells Daniel Cleaver she is quitting and that she would "Rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse" than continue working for him.  Cleaver is the summation of Doritos, doughnuts, cheesecake etc. - and if I can maintain the visual just mentioned I should be able to abstain from these bad "Cleaver-ist" foods that tempt one like the apple in the Garden of Eden.  The advertising gimmicks being the snake!

...oh, and Colin - will you still be my Valentine?