I was having trouble accessing my posting interface, and I finally figured out why. It turns out there are problems with the site and the Blogsome tech support people are on vacation until January 4th! Fortunately somebody in the forum thread suggested BlogJet, a desktop posting client. I checked it out and it turns out to be pretty cool, but it’s $20 after the first 30 days. I downloaded w.bloggar instead and I’m using that to make this post; it also works with LiveJournal and Movable Type. I’ve tried various posting clients before, but they never worked with all my websites; now that they do I may very well start using one on a regular basis!

Anyway, I have been eating rather irresponsibly…but hey, that’s what one does on vacation. Unfortunately I’ve had two vacations very close together! I weighed in at 170 this morning, though, which isn’t too bad.

After seeing The Life Aquatic this afternoon, we went to the Ben & Jerry’s place that’s right across from the theater. I allowed myself a little cup of Dublin Mudslide with chocolate sprinkles…and it was good. I think I might allow myself a tiny bit of premium ice cream every so often. I love any kind of ice cream, but I’d forgotten how good the real stuff is.

I haven’t been counting calories for the past couple of days. I weighed myself this morning and I was 170.5, but I’m arbitrarily choosing not to record that one even though I’ve recorded other weights in the past week. Candy is yummy. A bit of Bailey’s is yummy. $9 worth of grapes was yummy, but I ate it all! My gf was awesome and bought some diet-type snacks at the grocery store, like meringue cookies and fat free pudding. We are going to be eating out a lot this week, but I’ll try to get along without consuming too many calories. I’ve also been thinking about what kind of goals - resolutions, if you will - I should set for the new year.

I’m having plenty of snacks - chips and dip, mixed nuts, clementines - but I don’t feel bad about it. I had some chocolate this morning (my mom was very thoughtful and mostly gave me Three Musketeers bites, plus some other yummy stuff she knew I’d want) but I am not stressing over it. It’s Christmas, dammit, and I’m eating what I want to. I was 167.5 yesterday morning and that’s darn well good enough for me. I’m feeling good about myself right now. (Then again, we haven’t actually sat down to dinner yet! I’m sure I’ll feel stuffed - and therefore fat - when it’s over, but I’ll live through it.)

Thanks to Lee over at FitQuest I (re)discovered My Virtual Model. I’d signed up for it aaaaages ago when it first debuted on the Lands’ End website, and I was able to log back in and edit the model to how I look today.

It’s surprisingly accurate in its depiction of me given that the information they request is so vague. I gave my height, weight, medium-to-large chest, well-defined waist…and that was it. You’ll notice that the model looks pretty standard from the front, but from the side you can tell she’s packing a few extra pounds. This is almost exactly how pictures of me in a bikini would look! I think my thighs might be a little chunkier than the model’s, but that’s it. Now for my goal model:

The only thing I changed was the weight (down to 120) and the chest (small-to-medium). That’s pretty much how I looked in college, and that’s how I want to look again. I still have most of my clothes from then - in fact, I still have clothes from high school even though they are way too tiny for me at the moment! (Oh, and by the way, that was the longest hairstyle available. Mine is straight and center-parted like hers, but it’s down to the top of my butt.)

I just spent 90¢ on a Carborite cookie rather than having one of the cookies somebody brought in and left on the receptionist’s desk. It’s bigger and probably lower in calories than a Real Cookie. The issue of taste comparison, though…well, we just won’t go there.

I just ate three pieces of chocolate that I snagged out of a basket on the receptionist’s desk as I left work. I initially just picked up two - one for me, one for my partner - but then I spotted a Reese’s bell and I grabbed that too. I ate the bell (low on peanut butter, bah) and put the other two in my pocket. Then, on the way to my car, I ate both of them.

And y’know what? I’m okay with that. They were all bite-sized pieces, and it’s the holidays. My diet is not ruined because I had a few bites of chocolate. Even though I will doubtless have a lot more chocolate over the next several days, it’s okay to have some now. I refuse to beat myself up over a little thing like that…as long as I don’t make a habit of it.

I decided to try a meal replacement shake for breakfast this morning, just for kicks. To my surprise, it’s pretty good! The snack bar here at work had both Slim-Fast and Costco brand shakes, and the Costco brand was only $1 and said “Compare to Slim-Fast” on the label so I got that one. It’s milk chocolate flavored and it actually does taste very good. It has more calories than I would normally eat for breakfast, but it might work out to have one every so often…maybe once a week. I also got an apple because I was afraid it wouldn’t feel like breakfast if I don’t eat something, but I might hold off on that until later in the morning.

I am managing not to attend a holiday breakfast. Fortunately nobody is making any speeches, so I don’t have to go interpret for my deaf client. I went over and told him they announced the breakfast was beginning, and he said “okay, thanks” but didn’t make any move to get up. I assume he’ll go when he’s ready, and if he needs me he’ll come get me, but I don’t think he will. I am avoiding temptation by not going over to the breakfast at all; the only thing I saw when I walked by earlier was deviled eggs and it’s a bit early in the morning for those for me. So even though there are probably lots of other nummies, I am ignoring them. If I don’t go over there, I won’t want anything! It’s working great.

My mom e-mailed me a link to a Washington Post article I’d missed: Rough It is about the benefits of a high-fiber diet. The article mentions something WW already teaches:

So, with foods high in fiber, only a portion of the calories that you eat actually count, which means high-fiber diets tend to be somewhat lower in calories than their low-fiber counterparts.

Part of the formula for calculating points is fiber. There are three numbers used when calculating points: calories, fat, and fiber. Fiber is weighted more than fat, so a few grams of fiber can totally outweigh a few grams of fat. (I’m talking about weight as in importance, not as in pounds!)

The article also discusses how fiber is important in preventing heart disease and reducing the risk of diabetes.