How About Them Resolutions

Today is January 31. It’s cold AF. But the first month of the year is almost behind us, and with it, half of winter. We’ll brace ourselves for another four weeks of these brutal brutal snow squalls and single digit temperatures. Then we will be graced with the start of the unlocking.

Give me snow. I’ll take it gladly over a deep freeze paired with wind gusts.

Anyhow, I thought it would make sense to weigh in on how some of those resolutions have been going. Especially since the next few days are full of me doing terrible things to my body.

Tonight isn’t so bad. It’s the Official Yelp Event at Riverside Maple Farms. I’ll probably have more sugar in two hours than I have all month. But it will be good sugar. Plus the chefs from Field Notes have whipped up some savory maple treats to pair with Wolf Hollow Brewing Company beers.

Friday will be our first day with meat back in the home. The vegetarian at home January really wasn’t that hard. I didn’t have to learn any new recipes, but I did pick up that good vegetable soup from Lidia Bastianich. Having those great dried beans from Bella Terra Farm helped. That said, I’m looking forward to the Friday night roast chicken, and some comforting spaghetti with meatballs.

Saturday is the Tour de Wing, so it will be five stops of chicken wings and beers. That’s going to leave a mark. Sunday is the Super Bowl, and I think I will be much much more moderate this year than I have been in the past. And then Monday marks the beginning of Schenectady Beer Week.

For someone who has been dieting, this really sounds like falling off the wagon. Which is another reason why I wanted to check in with how the diet has been going up until now.

It’s been going great.
Thanks for asking.

In all seriousness, I have dropped ten pounds. And I did it the old fashioned way. Expend more calories than I take in. Don’t starve. Eat sensibly. Stick to nutritious food. Drink water. Stay away from the fried stuff. Watch those portion sizes. Eat plenty of veggies. Don’t consider white potatoes vegetables. Minimize refined grains. Avoid liquid calories.

More than anything that last one was the hardest. That meant no beer, wine, or cocktail in the home, unless I weighed in at under my target weight in the evening. And those first few weeks sucked.

As I get older, it feels as if the weight I gain from eating poorly, takes longer to come off.

So my plan is to keep it up. This was probably my first diet in some time that wasn’t intended to game the system. I was feeling uncomfortable in my skin. Largely because parts of my skin that never touched each other when I sat down, had started touching when I sat down. You may be into your own fleshy folds. I’m not going to judge. They just weren’t for me.

These next few days are truly an anomaly. I’ve been doing much better restraining my base impulses at events recently. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I simply have to say no to foods more often than I might like. And that’s hard, because eating is one of my greatest pleasures. But eating also has consequences. It’s not like the pleasures that come from exercise, or reading a book, or napping.

It also means that I may not be able to buy all of the bottles of my favorite beers, wines, and spirits. And I’ve been coming to peace with that too.

Part of me has been considering taking on a new matcha habit, largely because I’m in love with the tools and the ritual. It would bring back those pleasures of taste and aroma, without the calories of alcoholic beverages. But I thought the same thing about Turkish coffee, and that never went anywhere. Speaking of which, anyone want a kickass ibrik?

Now that I’m at my target weight and I have reset my norms regarding portion sizes, I’ll be interested to see how my body might be able to absorb these occasional special events. Nothing like a trial by fire and putting a bunch of them in a row.

If worse comes to worse, I’ll simply get back onto a healthier eating regime. Maybe I will have to cut out that evening beer again for a period of time to right the ship. But I’m confident I can manage the setbacks. At least moderately confident.

You may have some more confidence once you hear my plan for the Super Bowl this Sunday. Mrs. Fussy thinks it’s depressing. I think it’s brilliant. We’ll let you decide tomorrow.