HYC and Comfort Foods

Hello fellow challengers,

After doing my new workout, I dragged my very sore ass into Weight Watchers last night. (Ok, my ass is actually sore. We did glute work, as well as reverse lunges, which absolutely TORE UP the front of my thighs...)

My leader, Beth, eyed me dubiously while I was (very slowly) taking off my pocketbook (I have one of those backpack type model purses. Made of leather. From Italy. My dad gave it to me for Christmas and I love it. So does my stepmother. She made a habit of offering me money for it, for about the first eight months I had it... No can do, I love this purse. It's the best one I've ever, ever had.)

"New workout," I said, wincing slightly. "I'm a bit sore."

"So I see," Beth said. "Well, you've probably gained, then, just to warn you. Your body tends to cling desperately to its fat when it's sick or in pain."

"Greeeeeeeeeeeeat," I said, stepping up onto the scale.

"Oh, this stupid machine," Beth mutters, pushing buttons and grumbling to herself. "I never understand this, look at all these little lines? Oh, there, it's cleared up. Hang on, now it's looking at someone else - oh, I think you're going to like this... what? Hang on. Click here, drag that, swipe the card. Ah! Here we go."

The little tag prints out, and she sticks it into my wallet folder. "Very good job."

I start putting my things together and then open the folder. "205. -3.6"

"Cool," I said. "Oh, guess what? Darcy, show Miss Beth your dollie."

Darcy turned around in her seat and displayed her baby doll (currently wearing a purple cap from one outfit and the bright orange set of pajamas.)

"Oh, what a nice doll, sweetie," Beth said. "What's her name?" I grin. She's setting the question up just the way I want. People always ask that question about dollbabies.

"Beff!" says Darcy.

"To be fair," I said, leaning over the counter while Thomas got weighed, "the doll's name's been Beth for about a year, but I thought it was cute."

[Thomas was up .6 pounds this week... of course, he also decided he could journal in his head. And he's gone to bed 2 days now, low on points by 6 - 8 points. Learning experience: He cannot skip points, no matter what. And it's pissing me off because I'm trying not to nag him to eat, or nag him to journal... and I'm trying to keep higher calorie foods on hand so he doesn't have to eat so MUCH in order to get his points in, but it is hard.]

[Additional side note: I did my measurements again yesterday, since it was now 2 months into WWs, so here are my new numbers

Upper Arm: 12 1/4 (down 1 3/4)
Waist: 42 (down 4)
Hips: 48 (down 4)
Upper Thigh: 24 1/4 (down 2 3/4)]

The meeting was fun. It's National Nutrition Month (who cares? We all should. We don't. But we should.) so we went back over the 8 HGs (healthy guidelines):

1. 6 waters per day (not having a problem with this, but I always, always drink a lot. It wasn't hard to sub the water in for soda.)
   
2. 2 (or 3) milks (8oz of milk, or 1 1/2 oz of cheese. I eat loads of cheese, so this is easy.)
   
3. 2 oils (here's my big problem, because I'd much rather eat those 2 points. An oil to me is just empty calories. I'm not less hungry after oils. On the other hand, I don't want my hair to fall out.)
   
4. 5 fruits and veggies (Not a problem. I eat berries and tomatoes regularly)
   
5. Some protein (I usually eat a protein with all meals. Eggs in the morning, tuna with lunch, chicken or beef in the evening.)
   
6. whole grain over white (YUCK. But it just means get your fiber in, and I'm doing that with beans and yogurt, so there.)
   
7. limit sugar and alcohol (I haven't had an alcoholic beverage in months, but that's normal for me, I haven't been a heavy drinker in a long time)
8. take a multivitamin (I take a child's multivitamin because adult vitamins give me a massive upset stomach. Altho I must say that taking a multivitamin as a requirement seems a bit odd to me. I mean, if you're following the other 7 guidelines, shouldn't you be getting in all the vitamins you need? If you're not, doesn't that mean something's wrong? Or maybe I just think too much.)

Anyway, we got home after the meeting and I went to the kitchen to make dinner.

My great grandmother (mom's mom's mom, whom we all called Mimi) used to cook for me and my cousins from time to time. And she always made the same three dishes when she cooked. Goldenrod Eggs on Toast (my mother hates this dish, and always called it Rotten Gold Eggs on Toast, which is actually what most of us call it now, as a joke), Ground Beef a la Mimi, and Kidney Beans and Bacon.

Goldenrod eggs and Ground Beef are pretty much the same recipe: it's a simple flour, butter and spice roux over cooked eggs (or ground beef) served over toast. I'm still fond of both, but Thomas absolutely refuses to eat either (he agrees with my mom on this particular issue), so I haven't cooked them in a long, long time. But Kidney Beans and Bacon is something that he'll eat, and I love it. Kidney Beans and Bacon is right up there with Macaroni and Cheese and Tomato Soup for comfort foods. And I like to eat it because my Mimi liked to cook it, and I loved my Mimi. (She died when I was 13... the summer before she died, she had cataracts and couldn't read anymore. She loved to read. So that summer, in the evenings, we'd go out on the back porch and I'd read to her. I read Wuthering Heights to her. I vividly remember reading the "I am Heathcliff" speech and both of us were crying through it, and I kept having to stop to blow my nose. She put her hand on my shoulder while I read and I felt comfort and strength and love in her gnarled fingers. Anyway, it's one of my favorite books, and it's one of my favorite memories. And if having an old Depression Era recipe for dinner once in a while makes me feel mentally and emotionally closer to a woman who died over 20 years ago, so be it.)

Anyway, the recipe as it was is fairly simple. 1 onion, 1 side of bacon, several cans of kidney beans. Cut the bacon into bite sized bits and fry with the onions. Once the bacon is cooked through and the onions are translucent, drain the kidney beans, add them, and cook covered for about 30 minutes. Serve with buttered bread.

(You can see where this isn't quite Weight Watchers friendly, right? I mean, we're talking about 15-20 slices of bacon.)

I decided to make the recipe yesterday using the turkey bacon that I'd gotten. It turned out quite well, and was 5 points per cup (plus 1 point for 2 slices of bread.) It's still pretty high in sodium, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get around that. Too much stuff has too much salt in it.

It was nice, eating my dinner last night, and thinking back to that long-ago pair, reading a book, as the sun set over the lake, sending spangles of orange darts of light dancing along the walls... I'm glad I can still have it.

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it...Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.

- Cathy, Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë