I the Husband.........

So the wife so kindly lets me now log into her blog to report.
I am now at 362 which is a total loss of 18 pounds. Being the accountant I weighed the clothes, keys, blackberry, and shoes I was wearing at my first weigh in; so you have to subtract about 5 lbs from that total for a net loss of 13 pounds. I am really excited about that; not sure if that is good or bad but for me it feels great! I don't feel as if I am depriving myself; I feel happy; and the choices are not really that hard. Probably the first program that did not add stress to my day worried about how I was going to stay on the diet. I love what I am eating, I like the choices.
Besides my lovely wife working so hard to shop and prepare dinners and lunches; my favorite change has nothing to do with the food but a change in habit. We decided to make sure we had dinner together all gathered at the table at the same time. We play music, we read articles, talk about our day; and compete to see who can eat the slowest. Tonight was really fun when we teased my 8yro son about his crush on Taylor Swift. I have learned that eating slow really does work to make you feel full. I'm 44 and never really knew this. We ate fast and furious as a child. When I first heard Dr. Kalia's talk about eating slow I tried it. It did not seem to have any affect. What I have learned now is it really is sloooooww. I have to put my fork down between every bite. Talk or read something. Its slow eating, not just a delay in eating. Originally I had tried taking 15 minutes to eat my dinner. It takes at least 20 minutes and longer for my body to start feeling the fullness. It works! I always start to feel full before finishing a meal and its a really full satisfied feeling. I notice the taste of every bite; things that I thought I really did not like suddenly take on a whole new flavor and interest. I have to wonder how many other obese folks could do so much better if they just learned to eat slow and pay attention to every bite?

Last week was a huge success for me. When your overweight; every challenge is an excuse to be lazy and eat unhealthy. I had three business meetings over lunch. Two of them were outside the office. The first was at a Mexican restaurant. Not only did I not partake of the chips before the meal; I made a good choice I think in having the ceviche. Just seafood marinated in lime juice with onions, cilantro and tomatoes. It was so good and satisfying that when I had another lunch meeting, I chose the same place knowing there was a dish I would like and be healthy.
Is it really that easy to not eat the torilla chips? Evidently so!

The other big challenge is wanting to "graze" after dinner. That was my previous way of relieving the stress of the work day and entertaining myself. I think it had little to do with actual hunger. So the wife and I have decided to make that habit our project this week; let's just go to bed earlier! So our new goal is to be in bed by 9pm. I'm running a few minutes late tonight so off to bed we go!