Fat Tuesday

Yes, I know it’s Wednesday. But today is the first of many no fun days. It’s really just a coincidence that my diet plan lined up with Lent. In actuality, the plan was simply for March 1. Because according to Kurt Vonnegut, this is the first day of the unlocking.

The unlocking isn’t to be confused with spring. Spring comes later. The unlocking is simply an acknowledgement that the coldest part of winter is over. And as such, I thought that would be a perfect time to give up my comfort eating.

Just in time too. I’m about ten pounds overweight, which isn’t the end of the world. But I wouldn’t want to keep eating the way I’ve been eating.

Yesterday was both a day of decadence and restraint. Restraint on Fat Tuesday? That doesn’t sound right. Well, I’ll tell you what I didn’t do.

Second lunch. That was nearly avoided. First lunch was grilled cheese and tomato soup at Mab’s Kitchen in Troy. It’s the concept that has taken over Sweet Sue’s while Sue is working on building out a bigger version of her dream. I’ve only heard the rough outlines of the plan, but I’m encouraged.

The soup and sandwich combo was tasty and filling. But I had bumped into Vic on the way to lunch and he put a little worm in my ear about the egg and biscuit sandwich with a pickle at little pecks. I’ve been wanting to snag one of those for the longest time. But alas, I held firm. No second lunch. I had more eating to do.

Like finishing the braunschweiger. Let’s call that my afternoon snack, but really it was more like an early dinner. That last remaining nub went much further than expected.

There were other delicious odds and ends in the refrigerator that wouldn’t fit into the new diet either, you know like a little piece of smoked blue cheese from Chester’s and a bit of the shop’s smoked butter. Plus there were a few more ounces of sour cream I really didn’t want to throw away. Fortunately, I was also sitting on a few boiled potatoes and some of the kids’ leftover macaroni and cheese.

So using all of those ingredients, I had one final late night buffalo sauce feast, which I followed by the very last of the Stewart’s Philly Vanilla ice cream from the freezer.

But there were some things I just never made it around to eat before Fat Tuesday came to an end. Mostly, I regret not making it to The Ruck for one of its Fat Kid Style burgers. But I’m sure there are other delicious treats I’ll have to wait another few months before I can enjoy.

As much as I’ll miss the dietary freedom, I’m not going to miss the flabbiness of my growing midsection. It’s still well hidden under sweaters and jackets, but soon those will be packed away for summer.

And of course, there will always be occasional opportunities to indulge, like my monthly Tavern Time outings with the Yelp gang. I’ve proven before that even these nights filled with deep fried chicken wings and cheese drenched pizza can be worked into a healthful diet. I just have to make sure that everything else is locked down.

So it’s back to yogurt and granola. Whole grains. Avocado toast. Good fats. Less meat. More beans. Whole foods. It’s bye bye butter. Farewell to fried foods. Time the chuck the chips.

I figure the first few weeks of the transition will be the hardest. But I’ll have all of these great food memories from the past few months to recall when things get rough. And right now, after the eating from just last night, I have little desire to indulge in anything at all.

Plus, I’ve eaten all the “bad” stuff from around the house. So unless I started going on a butter bender, I’m safe.