Progress, Comfort, and Not Perfect

I have successfully lived The No Fun Food Life for one month now. While I have not been perfect, it had also never been my intention to be perfect. I make at least one solid exception a week, and look forward to it without guilt. I find that it helps me make all the correct small decisions everyday.

Fall weather is upon us and that introduces two new factors: Football Season and Comfort Food.

My husband asked me to go to Buffalo Wild Wings with him to watch football (he's a Buffalo Bills fan and I'm part of the Who Dat Nation... Geaux Saints!!)... and my first instinct was to turn it down and tell him to just watch TV at home. Then I decided to embrace the opportunity to hang out and have fun together. I ordered some salt & vinegar wings accompanied with carrots, celery, and bell peppers with spinach artichoke dip... washed down with iced tea. (Note: I didn't drink the entire giant iced tea. Too much caffeine can contribute to some of the metabolic issues that people with PCOS face, as well as exacerbate any depression or anxiety symptoms that usually accompany this syndrome.) I ordered water halfway through that tea. I felt those were pretty good choices.

As for comfort food, I wanted to eat a very filling and hearty meal with some hot bubbling broth. I love, love, love ramen - BUT! I obviously can't go running to those delicious noodles whenever I get the hankering. So, I looked up a Shabu  Shabu (Japanese hot pot) restaurant to try to satisfy the craving. I had 4oz. thinly sliced ribeye and a big bowl of veggies. The sauces looked super cute... but I skipped them due to their probable sugar content... opting for extra large heaps of minced garlic and green onions. Yes!

Most importantly in this whole process, I put a lot of attention and anticipation in the exceptions and I allow them to be amazing.

For example, I attend a weekly viewing of Downtown Abbey with a fabulous intimate group of ladies. Our host graciously provide a lovely meal for the event, and even tries to modify it for me! Last week, one of my friends knew it was pasta night so she brought a tupperware of roasted spaghetti squash for me... which freed me up to eat one slice of some very special garlic infused bread slathered with Irish block butter. *drool*

On top of that... earlier that day I went to a Korean bakery I found on Yelp and purchased a few treats for my ladies. I enjoyed a Chocolate Macaron that everyone agreed was amazing and a Pistachio Cookie (that felt more like a soft crumbly scone) that was, once again, seriously slathered in Irish block butter. Top it all off with some Lemon & Ginger Tea... watching TV doesn't get better than that!

Now, I know it may sound like I'm splurging an awful lot... I mean, before I embarked on this journey, Iwould've agreed with that. However, now I know exactly how much food I eat each day and how many opportunities I have to make good choices, the little splurges and treats are really like drops in a bucket. I definitely gained some valuable perspective from this experience.

I've lost 5 pounds this past month since beginning The No Fun Food Life. It's putting me on the right track towards the 10% body weight loss I'm aiming for... as recommended by my docs to put me on the right track for fighting PCOS. And the month before that I had lost a net weight of 5 pounds from a 5 day juice cleanse. So... I'm at a total of 10 pounds in just a few months, woot! Miraculous progress for someone with PCOS... seriously.

If I can keep this up and lose the last 5 pounds to reach my 10% goal, I'll be over half way to my original weight before the PCOS 25lb unstoppable freight train weight gain I experienced last year. After a long struggle of trying to understand what is wrong with me... I feel very positive about my journey right now. Yeah!! :)