Milestones (Amy's diary)

I love your milestone strategy. Best of luck for the buffet, do you have a strategy in place? (Small plates, walking around the whole thing before starting to put things on your plate, maybe checking their website for nutrition info beforehand?)
 
every milestone counts! :)
Yes it does, making the small milestones is what eventually adds up to big progress.

One thing I do at buffets is to try and fill my plate with salad but no dressing. It doesn't have many calories, I eat it slowly, and it fills the plate. Given the time difference you will probably have already faced the buffet by now. Hope it went well..
 
The weekend! and a bit of concern rising, because of social stuff --> eating. That's tomorrow lunchtime, as so far planned, at a buffet-style restaurant but could tip over into evening as well. Wish me luck!

That is the worst thing about wanting to lose weight - you lose the desire to socialise also. God dammit, why is everything nice connected with food?
 
Yeah I agree with Em . Socialising now I get pretty anxious but I am learning this. And maybe it's an age thing . One meal is not sabotage. We have to live and fit in with other people and socialise on occasions. There will always ( hopefully) be a healthier option on the menu. It's a social meal so not an excuse to have to ruin the diet for the day , the weekend or the week . ( I try anyway lol )
 
Thank you all for pitching in with support! I didn't say, but the buffet was an Asian buffet, with no actual salads, though there were cooked greens and stir-fried veg, and fruit for dessert. (There was also coconut sticky rice and little finger-food sized spring rolls. :jump:)
As suspected, things went on afterwards - I didn't expect it to be being taken off to a goat-milk specialty dairy bar, but so it was, which meant having virtually an extra dessert of a goat-milk yoghurt concoction and coffee. So I ate a fair amount, but managed not to turn that into a reason to eat more when I got home.
It was a close call - I actually got out a packet of crackers, just to eat something simple and ordinary, by way of contrast, but then stopped, and won't eat again till breakfast (post-weigh) tomorrow morning.

...the worst thing about wanting to lose weight - you lose the desire to socialise...
It's a real problem. This was a really nice family, who want to be friends, and I need friends as much as everyone else, so it's horrible that when the date for lunch was set part of me was thinking "oh no! there goes September!". :(
But ... it's like Petal said!
One meal is not sabotage. We have to live and fit in with other people and socialise on occasions.
We do! I hope I'm learning. :) Anyway, I went, and the scales now are up, of course, but should be down a bit tomorrow, even if not down to Friday morning's cheerful mark.
 
Sounds like you did fine Amy, the occasional higher calorie eating out isn't a diet breaker, not if you handle it right and I think you did.
Yes, indeed - a wonderful city, with fascinating history. I've read heaps about it - never seen it, and don't suppose I ever will, partly because of the local feeling about being overrun by tourists - which is becoming a problem in lots of places, unhappily.
I understand, but if you get the chance I would suggest you consider making an exception for Venice. If you go in the off season you can avoid the tourist mob. My favorite season there is fall, the weather is usually still tolerable, and very few tourists. Actually Venice has a relatively mild winter climate, with a coat you can walk and ride the boats all winter. As to the locals, I am sure there are some who don't like the tourists, but there is almost no other industry in town, the locals are very dependent on the money tourism brings in. And finally Venice is doomed, sad to say but true. The water is rising and will eventually take Venice, it's unavoidable tourists or not. This has always been true, in the past as the City sank new buildings were just built on top of old, but now we value the old buildings and are trying (ultimately in vain) to save them. Sea level rise associated with global warming is accelerating the process. So my thought is go if you can, its a wonderful place, but won't be forever. Don't go by cruise ship however, the prop wash from the large ships is very damaging.
 
Hi Amy! The specialty goat milk bar sounds really interesting. Is goat milk yogurt much different than regular yogurt? At least it was yogurt as second dessert - not as fattening as it could be! I think you did great at not overeating afterward, too! There is a theory out there that it's good to eat some very big meals and some very small meals, that varying calorie intake is good for you. I have no idea if it's true or not, but I use that idea to motivate myself to do a few smaller calorie days after a big calorie day and it helps because I don't freak out about the big one! My friends who I eat out with are really understanding about my diet, so I can just eat a little with them and they are happy. I'm really lucky.

I went to Venice and visited the Peggy Guggenheim Museum which was a very incredibly lovely walk and a beautiful museum. If you look around (or maybe we lucked out and it would be better if you researched in advance) there are take out sandwich shops the locals go to that are reasonably priced, and the cheese is out of this world delicious. I loved my day in Venice so much - will treasure it forever! San Marcos Square was beautiful but it was very touristy, but it's very easy to get off the beaten path there and explore gorgeous places where there is almost no one around.
 
Sounds like you did well. It’s lovely when people make the effort to be friends. Look at them trying to impress you with the goat’s milk dairy bar. Lol.
 
Hi, Amy. An Asian buffet sounds much too tempting but good as does the goats' milk dairy. We bought some delicious goats' milk cheese the other day & it is delicious. G & I had planned on having Asian food today, but we order a smaller lunch special, not the buffet. It horrifies us both how much people stack on their plates & how many times they go back. I'm glad you had a nice time with new friends xo
 
Thanks for the positivity re: Venice, Rob and Marsia - it's good to hear that, to think of the great things (including cheese and a Guggenheim museum, neither of which had been part of my history-architecture-beauty focus!) as well as impact of visiting on local people and the environment. If I do go - this is only possibilities, not planning! - I certainly wouldn't go in a huge cruise ship - reading about the damage of the wash ruled that right out! (I'm a bit surprised it's still allowed, even given economic needs.)

Goat's milk yoghurt tasted a lot like ordinary yoghurt to me, which was strange, because the milk tastes a lot different - thinner and nuttier, and a bit of a different smell. But I liked the idea, and might go back to taste more of the range - and see if there's cheese!

And... not too much damage at this morning's weigh! About half a pound up, and with luck and a bit of a push, I think I can make the September goal! Thank you, encouragers, and fellow-Septembrists! :)
 
I was in Venice once in October when they were have very high tides, they call it aqui alti (I think my Italian isn't good). St Marks square and the Basilica were flooded. They just set up elevated walkways and things continued as normal. It was an interesting way to see St Marks, even if it was a reminder of their problems.

Half a pound is just noise, you'll be down again soon.
 
Slowly, slowly - the big push is still on, but it's not going as quickly or as certainly as I had hoped. But there is progress, even if it's of the two steps forward, one step back variety.
In terms of weight - very slow rate of loss. In terms of dimensions, I can't see any change by the measuring tape, but my navy trousers do up, and they didn't a month ago. :) In terms of general fitness, I think my balance is getting better, thanks to working on exercises, and also thanks to tips from trusylver about deep core muscles, and I stayed a little longer at the morning exercise session this morning, to do the knee-bend ones, which I have been skipping for the last few months, because of having a whingey knee - it felt just a bit less whingey this morning, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Emily - my favourite teas (as well as ordinary green tea and jasmine tea) include ginger tea, (from fresh ginger), ginseng (from dried powder - and I think there's sugar added) and lemongrass (fresh). I've also been drinking Syzygium nervosum - Wikipedia which has a slightly bitter taste, but is meant to be good for the digestion.
I haven't yet trained my palate to enjoy chamomile, but I'd like to, because I think it would be good as a pre-bedtime drink. I'll work on it - I guess the first step would be to buy some!
What teas do you and your workmate enjoy?
 
Fresh lemongrass tea sounds really yummy - do you add anything to it, or have it just by itself? I am really happy you all joined in on this month's part of Em's and my challenge . It's great having even more company - really motivating! We still have most of a week, so I bet you'll make it! I love when pants suddenly will buckle again - that's the best feeling!!! And wonderful about the balance!
 
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