Chubby Mommy

Although I forgot to mention it here, I flew down to Austin on Tuesday to be with my mother following her hernia surgery. Ordinarily, that kind of travel spells disaster for my efforts to diet and exercise. Not this time, however.

First thing I did upon arriving at her house: stand on her scale. (This isn’t as callous as it sounds: she was recovering in the hospital and didn’t feel up to visitors.) Granted, her scale was kinder than mine by a couple of pounds, but I figured it gave me a good baseline by which to weigh myself for the rest of the visit.

Second thing I did: drive to the grocery store. Since I have Celiac disease, and can’t eat gluten in any form, dieting can get extra tricky. If I get too hungry, but don’t have healthy yet gluten-free foods on hand, it’s too tempting to reach for potato chips, cheese or some other calorie-laden quick fix.

To prevent that, I bought a variety of salad fixings and fruit, brown rice and a carton of egg whites. (My one splurge was a small package of tortilla chips just in case I found myself dying for something to crunch besides my own knuckles.) After an hour in the kitchen I had several small salads fixed, wrapped and ready-to-eat in the fridge. Ditto with sliced fruit and brown rice. By the time I got her home, I was confident I’d not only be able to stick to my diet but would be able to feed her something more healthy than the take-out food she usually lives on.

I’ve started both mornings that I’ve been here by exercising for a half-hour in front of her TV. Nothing spectacular, mind you: some jogging in place, push-ups (the girl kind), squats and lunges, some dumbbell work and, of course, crunches. Lots and lots of crunches. So many, in fact, that at one point my mother wondered aloud whether she could’ve avoided hernia surgery had she been better about exercising her abdominals. (Answer: well, duh.)

And, of course, I’ve continued to sprinkle Sensa on all of my food without fail.

So now that I head home tomorrow morning, I figured I’d stand on her scale one more time before bedtime. You know, just to see if I’ve been a good girl on my diet or not.

Baby, I must’ve been extra good, because somehow I’ve lost another 2 pounds while I’ve been here. Sure hope my scale agrees when I get home!

Best thing about my new office space: having plenty of space and my own TV. Now, instead of tripping over the theater seating in our family room, I can lock my door and do aerobics and Pilates.

Not that I am, mind you. But I could.

Come to think of it, I may have to move my treadmill desk upstairs now. Heh, I may never come out!

Weight loss is continuing, albeit at a slower pace. I’ve been exercising quite a bit more lately, so as the scale stops reflecting rapid changes, I’m trying to convince myself that I’m replacing fat with muscle.

One truly good thing for my diet/exercise efforts: we moved my office from the basement (where there was a fridge conveniently located nearby) to the top floor of the house. Now when I want a snack I have to hustle down 26 steps, which isn’t really that big of a problem: going downstairs is easy. It’s the 26 steps to get back to my office that slow me down. Ditto if I want a cigarette (we don’t smoke in the house).

Yesterday, those trips — along with a few extras for doing laundry, moving the remainder of my office upstairs, dragging up the votive candle holders and other stuff necessary to prettify my space — added an additional 1109 steps to my daily average. Today my thighs and butt are definitely feeling that increase.

The bad part of moving my office is that I somehow messed up my right rotator cuff. Seriously messed it up. As in, I had to brush my teeth with my left hand today, and turning the steering wheel while driving my son to school was sheer torture. Rather than let this derail my exercise plan, I’m going to see my doctor this morning and demand painkillers. Good ones this time, too.

Of course, that means I’m going to have to step on the doctor’s scale, a self-esteem crushing machine that inevitably says I weigh 10 lbs. more than my home scale does. (I’m convinced that’s intentional since the stress will either trigger a heart attack which would make my doctor more money, or it’ll trigger depression which will make my doctor more money. See, like I said: intentional.)

This time, though, I won’t have to stand there listening to her cluck while I try levitating. This time — even with the stupid scale intentionally inflating my weight — I’ll still check in weighing 15 lbs. less. I’m just not going to give her the satisfaction of admitting I did it by following her advice to eat less and exercise, and that’s intentiona on my part.

Previously I’d written about tastants, substances which stimulate the taste buds and thus lead to greater satiety but lower calorie consumption. Now, thanks to the folks at Sensa, I’m getting to put that theory to the test.

Sensa, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, may very well be the best thing to happen to dieting. (Read on to find how well it’s been working for me!) Starting from the principle that weight loss involves retraining the biological urge to overeat, the tastants in Sensa turn your nose and tongue into diet aids. Simply put, after you sprinkle the stuff on your food you’ll find yourself feeling full faster. Much faster, in my experience.

So what’s my experience been so far? I’ve lost 11 pounds in the past 13 days. Eleven pounds — gone just like that. Yes, I’ve been exercising but not rigorously: I do the treadmill for 20-30 minutes per day and use free weights every other day.

Have I been dieting? Yes, and no. I’ve been making smart food choices: egg white and veggie omelets for breakfast, salads with vinaigrette for lunch, a small dinner eaten early without snacking later. But — and this is the strange part — they’ve been easy choices to make. A salad actually fills me up so I’m not still hungry (and prone to temptation) afterward.

In fact, for the first time in years I can say that I’m not constantly thinking about food. That’s quite an accomplishment for someone whose previous favorite entertainment was coming up with new recipes for my newsletter (and the forthcoming cookbook).

In other words, I am a BIG fan of this stuff (though one who’s getting smaller every day). Since I have a 2-month supply, you can expect to be reading about my progress. Heck, I’ll even post a before/after photo in December so you can see how well it’s worked (and so I can gloat).

Want to try it yourself? Order yours today and use ROCKETXL as the coupon code to receive 15% off your order (no minumum) and free ground shipping.