One of the rules widely touted out there by dieters these days is that you're not supposed to weigh yourself very often. Once a week, tops. This is one rule I've been breaking regularly. In fact, these days, I weigh myself each and every morning. Is it a roller coaster? Yes. Up an ounce, one day. Down seven ounces, the next. Up three ounces, the day after that. Down 1 lb. the next day. My weight fluctuates on a daily basis --- it could make me dizzy if I let it. But it also allows me to see instantaneous feedback.
There are times of the month (*ahem*) when I have to read the scale without letting myself react to it. Water retention throws everything off. For the most part, though, what I see on the scale in the morning directly correlates to my behavior the day before. (Oddly enough, I've learned that I tend to see more ounces fall off during the week - when I'm only getting 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day - than on the weekends - when I'm getting 65 minutes of aerobic exercise per day. This isn't what I would've expected, but it's an interesting pattern.) If I indulge in a less than ideal evening snack, it's right there in those numbers the next morning. Knowing that I have to face the music in just a matter of hours can sometimes be all the incentive I need not to do that snacking. And if I'm disappointed by the morning's numbers, it gives me that much more of a push to do the very best job I can do at reducing during the day ahead.
Are there any diet "rules" you've broken with successful results?
Did I ever tell y'all about the Jelly Omelet I tried making a few months ago? I was eating an Omelet the other day for breakfast and remembered the disaster. Well, I don't know if it was exactly a disaster, just not a very appetizing dish. Jelly Omelets were all over the place during the '40s. If a restaurant or diner served breakfast, you'd be hard pressed not to find a Jelly Omelet on the menu. I guess they've been replaced today with dishes like Denver Omelets and Stuffed French Toast. They were one of the culinary fads of the time. At any rate, I was dying to find out what they tasted like. So when I came across a recipe in my 1945 cookbook... I had to try! It's actually just a variation on the basic recipe for a Plain Omelet:
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JELLY OMELET - Spread any jelly or jam over the omelet just before folding.
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Maybe my omelet wasn't quite set enough when I added the jelly. The grape jelly I used just soaked itself into the eggs and I ended up with, well, a purple omelet. Let me clarify: a sweet, purple omelet. I lost all of that lovely egg-y, peppery flavor that I'm looking for in an omelet. Ah well, I had to give it a shot.
It's been a busy week. My supervisor is on vacation through September 21, so I'm going to be one tired little Jitterbug while I'm covering for her. I remember feeling panicked last winter when she was on vacation. Worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my new household chores --- and it was quite a short list at the time! Seeing her off on vacation again has been a kind of yardstick for me. I know it's going to be a tiring couple of weeks - and I might not have the energy to blog as frequently - but it's not going to impact my housekeeping or my vintage beauty regimen. These routines have become just that: routine. I may have to shuffle some chores around sometimes, but the work gets done. It's kind of neat to be able to look back and see how things have changed. Once things get back to normal at work, I've got some exciting new fall projects in the works. I'm looking forward to tightening up that kitchen routine a bit more, adding a weekly cleaning of the living room to my list of chores, and doing some long overdue decorating. (My apartment is sorely in need!) And plenty of weight left to lose. That's for sure.
5 comments:
Hmm, I've had a piece of omelet or scrambled eggs with jelly on biscuit or toast before, but never an omelet with just jelly.
Good luck with this week with your boss on vacation!!!
lpm
Deliberately putting jelly on eggs sounds just plain awful.
One diet rule that I always broke was that I drank "real" milk. Lots of it. Maybe I need to start drinking more milk and eating less?
It is interesting that you seem to lose more during the week. However, if you cut out the weekend exercising, I think you'd find that you'd have a more difficult time taking off the weight.
Snacks - sometimes you do need them. Just try to eat healthy ones. :)
The jelly + eggs thing just doesn't seem like a logical equation, does it? That's one dish I won't be trying again!
Packrat, I know you're right about the weekend exercising. It's building the muscle tone that I burn calories with all week long. I'm definitely sticking with it...
lpm, thanks for the well wishes! Just 8 days to go.
Oh, I'm sorry, but egg + jelly just sounds like a really bad idea. (Confess I don't like grape jelly, though.)
I mean, I guess if people can like maple syrup on their sausage, it theoretically could work. Maybe I'd be more open to it if it involved a different type of jelly. Tart red plum? Mayhaw?
Maybe some of that sweet red pepper jelly? A coworker of mine used to eat that with cream cheese and crackers. I won't be trying a Jelly Omelet again anytime soon to find out, though.
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