Gah, I haven't posted since the 6th. Sorry. I can't say that things have been especially crazy. Rather, it's been fairly calm in my life as of late. It's just that I can no longer access my blog at work, so updating it during lunch like I had planned just isn't possible anymore. And when I spend all day typing on a computer at work, the last thing I want to be doing when I get home is typing on a computer some more. I have been playing a ton of Final Fantasy 9, though, and doing some sewing, so...that's good. That's helping keep the dragons at bay because it helps me unwind.
The Slow-Carb Diet has been going alright. There have been two difficult sticking points for me--cream in my coffee in the morning, and work lunches. I love my morning coffee, but usually I love it with milk in it. I used to put a ton of sugar into my coffee, but I weaned myself off of that. I haven't been able to wean completely off of milk though. I like the creaminess, because it's, well, creamy, but also because it helps cut the really bitter aftertaste. The diet doesn't allow milk or half-and-half except on cheat day, but it does allow heavy cream. I figured it would be alright. WRONG. Apparently milk and half-and-half have some sweetness to them, and heavy cream does not. GAH. Not so much with the cutting of the bitterness. I've been working on it though. I've gotten to a point where I can drink at least part of my morning cup black before I add cream. It's not ideal, but it's doable. And I'm not doing this diet because it's pleasant, but because I really need to lose the fat around my belly. I'm tired of wondering if people think I'm pregnant.
The past couple of days though, I have been putting a little bit of half and half in my coffee, along with cream. I'll see how that affects my fat loss. I might just need to suck it up and deal, but I'm already denying myself chocolate and crunchy chips and everything else all week, I felt like something needed to give at least a little.
Work lunches are difficult. For instance, today we have a lunch at a local Italian restaurant, and I'm suspecting most of the menu will have carbs front-and-center. *sigh* I'm always the youngest at these lunches, and I know in reality, I am very often one of the last ones at the table that should be concerned about weight, relatively speaking. That fact makes me really self conscious about ordering just a salad and picking the croutons and everything I can't eat off of it. I worry that people are judging me, or worse, think that I am judging them.
It's times like this, when I am giving myself anxiety over what other people are thinking of me that Sasha comes in and says "How self-centered you are, to think you are the focus of everyone else's thoughts all of the time."
People probably don't care what I eat at lunch. They're probably more concerned with what they're eating, and how that may or may not affect their own health goals. Or they're probably paying attention to what my boss is saying about new regulations and how they affect the business. Who gives a damn whether the administrative assistant is eating her hamburger bun or not when they're being told that according to the government, people trying to buy houses can no longer have a Debt-to-Income ratio higher than 43%?
I worry too much about what other people might be thinking. I need to not care.
ANYWAY, cutting out most carbs hasn't really been that difficult. We have discovered that cauliflower can act as a substitute for potatoes, pasta, and rice, and things like meat in tomato sauce or stews or anything like that taste just as good over cauliflower as any carb. I have also found a tasty recipe for roasted cauliflower. This is all good because cauliflower is cheap, and super healthy. We have also been eating a lot of eggs, lentils, beans, and various veggies. Bacon has been a godsend for feeling decadent, even when we're not eating that much of it.
Over all, I've already lost about an inch from my waist, so even with the difficulties of forgoing milk and navigating business lunches, I am willing to continue!
