Kate:

Okay, so I was watching Oprah again.  (Sometimes it’s hard to admit that because she can be a bit ridiculous.)  However, I was interested in hearing what Michael Pollan had to say.  Oprah had seen Food, Inc. and was talking about how we need to think about what happens to our food before it gets to our tables.

I’ve had The Omnivore’s Dilemma for a few months and have known about it for a few years, though I still haven’t gotten around to reading it.  Now I’ve put it at the top of my to-read pile.  I have, for the last six years or so, eaten more consciously.  It started when I moved to Chicago and a friend made some soup from scratch.  Stupidly, I didn’t realize that it was so easy to make soup.  In my family, we had always eaten canned soup.  These days I eat more homemade foods than ever before in my life.  All of my baked goods are from scratch, and when I eat boxed cake or cookies from a roll at a friend’s house, it just doesn’t taste as good.  Making cookies from scratch is not that hard, and the flavor wins out every time.  And don’t get me started on my love for farmers’ markets!

Now I’m thinking of taking my meat consumption a little more seriously.  I don’t eat a lot of meat at home since it requires a lot of forethought in meal planning.  Thawing takes time!  However, I’m going to start eating antibiotic free meats and milk.  Because of the minimal role meat plays in my diet, I don’t think the increase in expense is going to cripple me.

Another part of Oprah’s program was spent talking to Alicia Silverstone about her new book, The Kind Diet, in which she writes about her vegan lifestyle.  A friend of mine is vegan, and I cannot fathom living like that, but I don’t think being primarily vegetarian is out of the realm of possibility.  I’ll have to get her book from the library and peruse it.  It apparently doesn’t exclusively advocate veganism, just eating better.

As I’ve said before, I’m not on a diet.  This is a permanent change.  I think it would be irresponsible of me not to explore how the way my food is raised affects my body when I consume it.

Kate:

Whew, the holidays are over.  Things did not go well, but I’m excited to get back on track.  I’ve been lax about keeping track of my foods, so that’s where I’m going to begin.  Plus, I’ve spent almost three weeks at my parents’ house, so when I get back to Chicago this week, it’ll be good to have complete control over what food is available in my kitchen.

New Year’s is a tough time of year because it’s a time of reflection.  It doesn’t help that my birthday is right before New Year’s.  That’s a whole lot of reflection.  I always think about the things I want to achieve for my next birthday followed by more thoughts about what I want to happen in the following year.  That’s a lot of pressure.

I’m trying to take it easy this year and make no resolutions.  I want to keep doing what I’ve been doing, that’s all.  Guilt doesn’t work for me.  I feel guilty a lot, so it doesn’t help to heap more on myself.  I know I’d feel guilty if I made resolutions and then didn’t follow through.  Besides, I made my resolution back in May when I decided to improve my health, and that’s coming along pretty nicely overall.  I’ll just stick with that one.

I’ve finally lost 50 pounds.  Slightly bruised from falling off the wagon, I climbed back on with great results.  I’ve been gaining and losing the same 7 or so pounds over the last month, but I’m moving in the right direction now.

Along with the 50 pound mark, I’m back under 300.  It’s been about three years since I was this weight, and it feels good.  I bought a new pair of jeans the other day, and now I’m questioning whether I should have gone down another size.  Regardless, they won’t look quite as baggy as the jeans I wore at 350 pounds!

I’ve been chugging away with this new life for the last 29 weeks, and though my goal was to lose 2 pounds a week, I am completely satifsfied with my progress.  I know that going slow makes weight loss last, and I welcome the setbacks that teach me I can come back from them.  There will come a point when I’m going to have to simply maintain my weight, and I think these setbacks will help me with that.  Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much keeping me from saying, “Okay, I reached my goal and now I don’t have to try any more.”

I’m not even that worried about the holidays.  I know that I can have a day or two where I go a little crazy (not bingeing crazy, but it’s Thanksgiving crazy) and go back to being healthy after that.  After all, it’s what a skinny girl would do, right?

Kate:

I wore my “little” black dress to a theater opening in June.  I looked great!  Two weeks ago and 15 pounds lighter I tried it on again.  When I looked in the mirror, I saw curves like Joan Holloway on Mad Men.  I love that dress.