The last time I was within my ideal weight range was around the first week of September, some two months ago. After that, my weight has been slowly creeping upward. I have been generally following the Cohen guidelines but I think I've been too complacent because people have been congratulating me on my weight loss and I've started eating out again. Also, it's been difficult to resist dessert.
I'm really scared right now. This is Halloween for me. Imagine gaining back all the weight I have lost? No way! It cannot happen! I'll have to reverse this starting with breakfast this morning! But first, I'll have to analyze what I'm doing wrong and then re-program myself to get back into the Eating Plan (EP).
Eating Out
What have I been doing wrong? First of all, I've been eating out a lot. Manila is a food haven. Anytime I have to entertain or whenever I set a meeting, I always think about where we should eat. My default restaurant was Myron's in Greenbelt 5 because this restaurant understands Cohen meals. I used to just give the waitress my meal allowances and they knew what to do (Disclaimer: Please note that I don't know the owner of this restaurant personally and I don't get any special perks from this restaurant). But the past couple of months, I've been exploring new restaurants or revisiting the old ones. This is dangerous because I lose track of my food intake whenever I'm sharing a great meal with family and friends. The chit-chat gets so animated that I forget I'm at a dining table and my hand can't stop reaching out for second, third and fourth servings!!!When setting meetings, I have re-discovered the Makati Sports Club Dining Room. The food isn't great but it is near my office and they serve a lunch buffet which is a great time saver. When I dine here, I help myself to a generous serving of fresh salad greens. I head back to my table and wait for my colleagues before I start eating. After the usual exchange of pleasantries and after they're done with their first course, I invite them to get their main dish. I lead them back to the buffet table and to encourage them to get food and not be shy, I end up setting the pace by helping myself generously!!! Oh the travails of being a good host!
Dessert
When I began the Refeeding Plan (RF), I was in the US. It was a great place and time to start RF because I had access to the fruits that were not readily available or too expensive in Manila such as blueberries, nectarines, strawberries. To celebrate my graduation from RF, I bought myself a small bar of Godiva dark chocolate. I knew I would be allowed to eat dark chocolate after RF and this was my reward for reaching the finish line. Eighteen days later, I graduated with flying colors at 106 lbs! I held my prized chocolate bar, looked hard and thought to myself, "should I?". It only took a few seconds. I put the chocolate bar back in the pantry, ran to the refrigerator and pulled out a nectarine. I had just lost 34 lbs after 3 months of controlled, measured eating and I wasn't going to blow away all that hard work! That was then. Just yesterday, after lunch at the Mall of Asia, I headed straight to Sebastian's and had a serving of their delicious Blue Cheese Ice Cream with Honey and Walnuts! And since it was a long weekend and I was spending the afternoon with my parents, I felt like celebrating some more so I split a Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Dive Bar with my brother, Tonyboy.Over Indulgence
One time, I wanted to dine in Yabu, Megamall. My foodie friends, Bubut and Mike, were with me. Yabu is known for their panko-coated Pork Kurobota Tonkatsu. My friends were quick to order this dish. I, however, was determined to stick to the Cohen guidelines so I ordered the less sinful version of this great dish. I ordered the Chicken Katsu. It came as a set meal with rice and unlimited cabbage salad. I totally did not touch the rice but I must have had 6 refills of the cabbage salad. That couldn't have been a Cohen veggie allowance even on RF! But it just went perfectly well with the panko-crusted chicken!
Battle Plan
Since I pleasurably sinned the past two months, I will now do my penance as follows:
1. I'll stick to my EP for the next week or two until I can bring my weight back to within my ideal weight range.
2. I will limit my dining out to twice a week.
3. Dessert will be limited to weekends.
It's good I have this blog which I can share with my friends. If they happen to read this, I won't have a hard time explaining to them why I'm carrying my baon again and why I'm hibernating at home.
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