Still holding at 180. I don't contribute to this thread very often (
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/showpost.php?p=791325&postcount=1409), but last post I'd stopped eating daily ice cream and was wondering if I'd ever be able to stop a daily chocolate-chip habit.
Our kid has been on the Mainland for a month, leaving us apparently responsible parents free rein of our wild-eyed hard-partyin' empty-nester inner juvenile delinquents. Fortunately (unfortunately?) this began shortly after spouse visited a longtime shipmate who used to look like Gabby Reece-- literally a nationally-ranked NCAA volleyball player who stayed in shape into her late 40s-- but who in one year has [-]stress and alcohol[/-] morphed into a body shape more like Roseanne. Spouse has become highly [-]traumatized[/-] motivated to avoid the same fate.
That started a spouse discussion on how we "know" what we should do, yet rarely take the time or discipline to put it into action. Reading a book about healthy lifestyles doesn't usually translate well into how you actually exercise or shop or shovel the food onto your plate. But if you can pursue ER then you have the skills to make the changes stick.
So instead of spending the last month drinking heavily all afternoon and dining out every night on extra desserts, we've been working out just about every morning (Bill Phillips of "Body For Life" or Chris Crowley of "Younger Next Year"). We feel that cooking is an unwelcome chore, but instead of takeout or microwave burritos we've been eating (*gasp*) frozen dinners. And we've finally started putting into practice some of the things that we've always "known".
First, kids attract junk food like dead horses attract flies. It's hopeless. We're pretty vigilant about eating healthy and limiting the crap intake, but it's still amazing what crap accumulates in the pantry through the teen social network. When the kids are out of the house, it's a lot easier to stick to a healthy diet. When ours returns home next week, we only have to endure this for another 399 days before she's off to college.
Second, frozen dinners have come a long way. We've been dealing mainly with Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice but there are easily 3-4 brands and a dozen menu choices. They're high in sodium (although not exorbitantly so) but their best feature is portion control. I know about portion control intellectually but there's a big difference between what I think of as a "handful" of food and what's actually in that little container. After nearly a month of frozen-dinner practice, we're going to start eating dinner on a smaller size of plate and I won't feel obligated to fill it up anymore.
Third, it's hard to stop eating short of satiety. I made an entire Navy career out of eating on the run, and you learn to really load up on food before you stand a six-hour watch. Today, eating a frozen dinner (with a side salad) takes about 30 seconds and leaves me with the opinion of "That was yummy. Now let's go out for dinner." But after a couple weeks of practice I think I can actually adapt to eating smaller meals. Just delaying dessert for 30 minutes after dinner makes a huge difference.
Fourth, it's amazing how cereal can sneak up on you. Oprah's Dr. Oz advises eating cereals with less than 3g of sugar per serving. Go ahead and try to find that in your local grocery store, but give yourself at least 15 minutes to find something you'd consider edible. Believe it or not, All Bran is evil. Our cereal cabinet has changed over to names like Fiber One and, surprisingly, Kix & Cheerios.
Dr. Oz brings me around to my final point. When you find yourself counting to three in the cereal aisle, it seems pretty silly to eat a couple ounces of dark chocolate every day. So after several years of eating a 12-oz bag a week, I've let the bag of chocolate chips run out without replacing it. (Don't try this with a teenager at home-- they'll mutiny.) I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would, but it's only the second week. I'm not a total zealot; I still haven't given up a weekly Costco chocolate frozen yogurt-- but I can make it last for three separate snacks. We'll see how it goes…
