One of the "best" things I did was give myself about two weeks between the HMR info class and the day I started the diet. The primary reason I did that was so I could adjust my work schedule around the first week medical visit and class requirements, but I think I also got a psychological boost by being able to eat "real food" for that much longer. I did splurge, and though I know that wasn't exactly healthy for me, I did not really eat more than I was eating lately anyway (which is why I had to go on a diet, of course). The time just helped my mind adjust. I got to have my last McDonalds quarter pounder value meal and my last Taco Bell crunchwrap supreme. I think I had Donato's Pizza somewhere in there, but that might have been before the info meeting. (I avoided Papa John's, though, because it is so salty -- I didn't want my weight to rocket up that high.) I got to have tortellini a final time at home. The worst thing I ate was probably a whole bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish per day, four days in a row. Yeah, that sounds even worse when I see it in writing.
The timing also worked out so that I got to enjoy two professional lunches just before I started the diet -- one of the lunches was very nice and formal and I was glad I did not have to make a fuss over special diet food. (The other one was just a big deli sandwich, though it was tasty.)
I saved my best "last meal" for last -- the night before my diet started, I went to Bonefish and had grilled salmon with that lime tomato sauce I really like, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and bread dipped in olive oil. Yum.
And you know, the only thing I've really missed since starting the diet is the salmon.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Yes, I really have been dieting this time! -- Here's what I picked and why
I thought I was going to blog more before I started my new plan, but I guess I got too busy. I definitely have busy since I started the diet a little over three weeks ago.
So here's the deal -- I decided to do the HMR program associated with the University of Kentucky. A few months ago I wrote that I wasn't sure I could do that, but my utter inability to get myself on any kind of plan changed my mind. In other words, I was getting desperate. :-)
I had explored a few other options -- I thought about ordering Nutrisystem food -- I knew there'd be no difference between that and what I had done on Jenny Craig, but I thought I might enjoy slightly different entree choices. I also explored a new program at a Georgetown, Kentucky, hospital called HALT -- it offered medical monitoring and meetings with a dietician, but it did not appear to have a hard and fast food program, and I wasn't sure I was going to be disciplined enough to make healthy food choices without someone handing the food to me. (At first I was also annoyed when they seemed oblivious to the schedules of all the working women in the room -- they said the class would be Thursday afternoons, but were not sure of the time. They did eventually decide to make the class at 5pm to accommodate people.)
Meanwhile, my mother had encouraged me to go to the HMR program's informational meeting on Thursday evenings, but I could not find time to leave my office in time to make any of those held in September. I finally got to go, however, on the second Thursday in October -- I had had a long week of getting up earlier than I used to in order to adjust to my new boss's schedule and preparing for a big meeting I had that Thursday morning. But the meeting went well and my new boss complimented me and I found myself with time to make it to Lexington for a 6:30pm meeting, though just barely. My mother met me there.
I missed a few minutes, but it felt like the program coordinator just jumped into describing what the program was -- no great platitudes or promises, just a description of the different variations of the program: all shakes, shakes and entrees (which I had not really realized you could do), or shakes and entrees and fruits and vegetables (what they call "Healthy Solutions"). She described the medical monitoring levels, etc. She described the class attendance requirement. In other words, she was pretty straightforward. Her style acknowledged that losing weight is tough, and keeping weight off is hard. I liked the approach.
Then she announced what time the current "core" class was: 4:30pm on Wednesdays. My heart sank. Given the late time for the info session, I had really hoped it would be a true evening class that would not require me to miss work. Why, I asked myself, do these programs not realize how busy a working woman is? Who are these classes for anyway?
After she finished speaking, she announced that the staff would be making appointments for those still interested in the order we arrived. Since Mom and me were the last ones there, we stayed in the conference room after everyone went to another room. I told Mom I was disappointed about the 4:30 time, and Mom agreed. But I started to discuss aloud that my new boss might understand and would let me take the time once a week, based on what I had observed of her so far -- I was thinking particularly about how my boss had gone out of her way to compliment me about the meeting. Before I completed the whole thought, I let the stress that had been building inside me out and began crying a little. Mom understood, and then we laughed a little, too. The coordinator came by during this time and gave me a tissue. I discussed my dilemna with her a little too. She listened, and I liked her even more.
In the end, I went ahead and signed up for my introductory physical -- I put it over a week out in order to give myself time to talk to my boss and adjust my schedule. And I put it on a day I knew I was going to be out of the office and in Lexington anyway. The next day, the coordinator called and told me that if the 4:30 pm was a real burden I could switch to a 6:15 class when that new core class started in a few weeks, even though the program usually didn't encourage that because I'd be sitting through some of the same stuff again. Told you I liked her.
But I didn't need to worry about my boss's reaction -- when I discussed the matter with her a couple of days later, she was fine it, which I figured she would be. I like her, too.
So here's the deal -- I decided to do the HMR program associated with the University of Kentucky. A few months ago I wrote that I wasn't sure I could do that, but my utter inability to get myself on any kind of plan changed my mind. In other words, I was getting desperate. :-)
I had explored a few other options -- I thought about ordering Nutrisystem food -- I knew there'd be no difference between that and what I had done on Jenny Craig, but I thought I might enjoy slightly different entree choices. I also explored a new program at a Georgetown, Kentucky, hospital called HALT -- it offered medical monitoring and meetings with a dietician, but it did not appear to have a hard and fast food program, and I wasn't sure I was going to be disciplined enough to make healthy food choices without someone handing the food to me. (At first I was also annoyed when they seemed oblivious to the schedules of all the working women in the room -- they said the class would be Thursday afternoons, but were not sure of the time. They did eventually decide to make the class at 5pm to accommodate people.)
Meanwhile, my mother had encouraged me to go to the HMR program's informational meeting on Thursday evenings, but I could not find time to leave my office in time to make any of those held in September. I finally got to go, however, on the second Thursday in October -- I had had a long week of getting up earlier than I used to in order to adjust to my new boss's schedule and preparing for a big meeting I had that Thursday morning. But the meeting went well and my new boss complimented me and I found myself with time to make it to Lexington for a 6:30pm meeting, though just barely. My mother met me there.
I missed a few minutes, but it felt like the program coordinator just jumped into describing what the program was -- no great platitudes or promises, just a description of the different variations of the program: all shakes, shakes and entrees (which I had not really realized you could do), or shakes and entrees and fruits and vegetables (what they call "Healthy Solutions"). She described the medical monitoring levels, etc. She described the class attendance requirement. In other words, she was pretty straightforward. Her style acknowledged that losing weight is tough, and keeping weight off is hard. I liked the approach.
Then she announced what time the current "core" class was: 4:30pm on Wednesdays. My heart sank. Given the late time for the info session, I had really hoped it would be a true evening class that would not require me to miss work. Why, I asked myself, do these programs not realize how busy a working woman is? Who are these classes for anyway?
After she finished speaking, she announced that the staff would be making appointments for those still interested in the order we arrived. Since Mom and me were the last ones there, we stayed in the conference room after everyone went to another room. I told Mom I was disappointed about the 4:30 time, and Mom agreed. But I started to discuss aloud that my new boss might understand and would let me take the time once a week, based on what I had observed of her so far -- I was thinking particularly about how my boss had gone out of her way to compliment me about the meeting. Before I completed the whole thought, I let the stress that had been building inside me out and began crying a little. Mom understood, and then we laughed a little, too. The coordinator came by during this time and gave me a tissue. I discussed my dilemna with her a little too. She listened, and I liked her even more.
In the end, I went ahead and signed up for my introductory physical -- I put it over a week out in order to give myself time to talk to my boss and adjust my schedule. And I put it on a day I knew I was going to be out of the office and in Lexington anyway. The next day, the coordinator called and told me that if the 4:30 pm was a real burden I could switch to a 6:15 class when that new core class started in a few weeks, even though the program usually didn't encourage that because I'd be sitting through some of the same stuff again. Told you I liked her.
But I didn't need to worry about my boss's reaction -- when I discussed the matter with her a couple of days later, she was fine it, which I figured she would be. I like her, too.
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