Diet Wars: Sisterhood of the Fat Pants

In Search of..... Fun Foods to Eat Under 300 Calories

Pizza - Who would have thought that you could still eat pizza on a diet? A normal slice of pizza (1/8 of the whole pizza) is roughly 140 to 196 calories, depending on the size of the pizza and what other stuff will on there. I would stick to the thin crust cheese pizza, with maybe one additional topping of mushrooms, chicken, veggies, maybe pepperoni. A slice of pizza and a small tossed salad with fat free dressing can make a great meal.

Grilled Chicken Salads - The BK Garden Salad with Tendergrilled Chicken is your best bet. The whole salad along with the packet of Fat Free Ranch Dressing is exactly 300 calories. A perfect lunch. I never add the croutons to the salad and they probably add a little more. Shoney's has a similar salad along with a side of fruit. A cursory look at several regular restaurants and fast food restaurants shows that in many places you have to be REALLY careful with the salads. You can easily be fooled into thinking you're eating healthfully (which in theory you are) but especially the restaurant salads like you get at O'Charleys, Logans, etc., are going to be anywhere from 500 to 1,000 calories! Yikes! (Thanks to Hungry Girl for that tip)

A Filling Breakfast - I've never been a good breakfast eater and tend to wait until late in the morning, and then stop off at McDonald's for a sausage and biscuit. I've discovered a very filling breakfast for just below 300 calories is a toasted English Muffin with a tbsp. of jam (preferably sugar free), and two boiled eggs. That's more that I would ordinarily eat, but since I'm having to make do until lunch, I figure I should get that protein from the eggs. You could also make your own Egg McMuffins and stay well within range.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Sisterhood of the Fat Pants

Okay - I know it's a bad pun, but I bet every woman I know who read that title knew immediately what I was talking about! We all have a closet full of clothes ranging in sizes from when we were a good healthy weight to when we were at our most heavy. When we lose weight, we're terrified to get rid of the "fat" clothes for fear that we'll need them later (and no doubt - creating a "self-fulfilling prophecy" in which we do eventually need them again), and when we gain weight, we hold on to the smaller sized clothing in the hopes of "one day" getting back into them. For years I somewhat unrealistically held on to a couple of pair of jeans that I probably hadn't worn since I was 20 years old, but....you never know!

However, you know it's time to "man up" (or "woman up") when it comes to weight loss when even the largest of your fat pants begin to feel a little tight. That's what scared me into this new regime. My khaki slacks that I'm required to wear for work come in a range of sizes, and a mere six months ago, most of them felt somewhat loose on me when I put them on. When I found that I was having increasing difficulty buttoning or zipping those slacks, I took a good hard look at myself. This summer I also had a wake up call with my two pair of crop pants that I wear most of the time - I bought them a little over two years ago - identical slacks, one black and one white. In the spring and summer they're great because they go with everything - I can put any color blouse with either one of them and I've got a great outfit. In the fall and winter of 2006-2007 I had lost close to 40 pounds and I was getting a great aerobic workout every week by going contra dancing. There was a point that I had to be careful wearing my crop pants because they had gotten so loose that I worried that they would fall off when I was being whirled around the dance floor!

No so much a worry today. This summer both of those pairs of pants became increasingly difficult to button - to the point that in their design - they have both a button and a hook closure - and I kept tearing the hook closure and having to sew it back on! Think it's a "sign"?

And now I'm determined to not buy any more clothes that are a larger size. Partially because I'm cheap, but mostly because I just will no longer accept that my larger size is my life now. If I don't buy larger clothes, then I'm forced to do something about my weight in order to fit my current clothing more comfortably. So I might look a little "tatty" for a while until the weight comes off - but hopefully everyone will understand.

However....the Good News
Today is "casual day" at work and I was thrilled when I put on my black crop pants to find them quite easy to zip and button and with even a little "give" in the waist band! Not bad for two weeks huh?