July 25, 2007
Pigs No More
Like me, New Boss (NewBo?) has added some extra pounds to his near-middle-aged self, like cream cheese to a bagel. He's not in any danger of having to be removed from his own home with a crane, mind you, but he's not happy. Like so many of us, he'd like to scrape a little off the middle, ya know?
As my efforts to organize his office continue, I went on an electronic file purging hunt. Like a territorial animal, I got rid of all my predecessor's files, while resisting the urge to just squat on the computer.
In doing so, I noticed a lot of documents that belonged to NewBo, and yet weren't business-related. So I made him a Personal file and dragged them all into there.
Most of them were traveling league baseball schedules, batting line-ups and such. But one jumped out at me. It was called "Pigs No More." C'mon, I had to read that one! I mean, it's not like he was trying to hide it, after all!
It was... like a menu. A spreadsheet of three meals a day plus a snack. I assumed it was diet-related and put it in his Personal file. And I'm not one to discuss peoples' weight unbidden (this post being the exception, apparently), so I certainly had no intention of mentioning it to him.
In fact, it was all but forgotten when I told him how I had arranged his files, and he's like, "Did you see Pigs No More?"
He sounded quite excited about it, so I told him I'd glanced at it briefly. Then he told me about this diet plan he had going with his friend last year. The whole jist of it was that they had to email to each other a list of everything they ate. And apparently, shame is a great incentive because NewBo lost 12 lbs. rather than admit to Big Macs for lunch.
In my relentless search to shave off a few pounds, I have never come across this method. Sure, I've heard you're supposed to write down everything you eat. But I will tell myself out-and-out bald-faced lies -- and believe them -- so that never worked.
But having someone else hold you accountable... hmmmm, that's an idea worth looking into. So I emailed Billi and bounced it off her. Her reply?
"That's a good idea. Only I'm not ashamed to tell you I just had potato chips and french onion dip for dinner, then a bowl of choc. chip ice cream for desert. No fruit or veggies passed these lips today!"
And therein lies the rub. Neither of us have any shame. I could have an entire tube of Pringles and some Twizzlers for lunch, then a Coldstone Creamery All Lovin' No Oven for dinner, and not only would I have no qualms about admitting that to her, I'd be bragging about it!
I wrote back to her:
"Please. The closest thing I had to a veggie today was the salsa and chips at 4:00. Right after the Chips Ahoy and before the Blizzard."
I guess it's some weird frat-boy-esque thing. Guess what I can eat and still not throw up! So lady-like. I'm sure my mother is beaming.
Well, I'd sure love to hear any other ka-ka-may-mee weight-loss gimics that have worked for others! And don't gimme that "eat less, move more" crap -- that's just crazy talk!
Comments
Dude. I don't even konw what half of those foods are. not that I'm judging - I had a francheezie for lunch today (no breakfast, no snacks, so, there's that...)
Posted by: heather at July 25, 2007 02:34 PM
Oddly enough, I have been doing this exact thing with a friend for the past three weeks. And over the past three weeks, I have lost seven pounds.
I feel totally ashamed on those days that I "cheat". And if I know in advance that I'm going to have a bad day, like when I'm going to the ballpark or something, I'll tell them in advance that I am going to be bad, and they'll berate be in advance, but I'll be able to enjoy the day, and then get back to it the next day. Oh, and I kinda take the weekends off. I don't go crazy, but I'm not nearly as strict.
Oh, and Heather? Damn you for making me want a francheezie!
Posted by: Marty at July 25, 2007 03:40 PM
OK. I just lost 30 lbs lying in the couch for 4 months. Try that. Or, my friend lost 25 this way: she picked out two of her existing outfits, and kept those. Everything else she lugged over to a friends house who lives far enough away to make it extremely inconvienient. Then she went out and bought an ENTIRE new wardrobe in the size she wanted to be. She only had 2 outfits to wear until she was the size of all those lovely new clothes. It worked for her in about 2 months. And it cut down on the laundry.
Posted by: elle at July 25, 2007 05:09 PM
I lost 30 pounds in the spring by posting my daily eating and excercise on my myspace page. All of my friends knew I was doing it and they checked in everyday to monitor my progress. Sure, you may have that one friend that your pigging out with may not lead to opprobrium, but you would not want to give your whole readership the satisfaction or your failure.
Posted by: Kelly Garrett at July 26, 2007 12:13 AM
Turn it into a competition. Figure out who your nemesis is (hopefully you have one that could stand to lose a few pounds), and e-mail each other what you've eaten every day. You'll be so busy trying to lose more weight than him/her, the pounds will fly off.
Posted by: Shannon at July 26, 2007 03:44 PM