The Sun News Skinny

Summertime and the living's easy

My fellow blogger Vicki is right: summer's here. It's time to celebrate.

I'd like to offer up a toast to this glorious season for three reasons:

1 - The College World Series. Go Heels!

2 - Bicycles. The husband and I just got two new shiny Schwinns that we plan on using to cruise around the neighborhood (thank God for those water bottles).

3 - Losing weight. That sound you heard over the weekend? My sheer shouts of joy at clocking in at 148.5 pounds, only 8.5 away from my ultimate goal of 140.

Here's hoping you've got your own reasons, or maybe find some new ones, for celebrating summer.

Tricks to sweet treats

In my first blog entry, I talked about learning a few tricks along my now 50-pound weight loss journey over the past year and a half. Recently, I added another one to my repertoire, just in time for summer and in celebration of losing a pound and a half since last week.

You know how the suggested serving size on a pint of ice cream is about a half a cup, something that sounds both insane and inhumane? I'd never actually taken the fine folks at Ben & Jerry's up on that offer until this week. I diligently scooped out my half a cup and instead of putting it in one of our bowls (which now seemed monstrous in comparison to my ice cream), I put it in a coffee mug.

Voila! I still got to enjoy my ice cream, and I didn't even notice the difference in portion size.

Well, that's not entirely true; I did notice that following the serving size meant I'd managed not to down the whole pint. That means more ice cream to go around and more sweet end-of-the-day indulgences for me.

Pounds well-earned

Sometimes, friends, it's better to wear those newly-acquired extra pounds like a road map of our lives.

Take, for instance, the 2.5 pounds I've accumulated over the past few weeks. When I looked down at the scale this morning, I saw the big honkin' biscuits from my hometown grill, the barbecue restaurant I proudly showed off to my best friend visiting from Boston, the delicious Mexican food we ate (and always eat) during our annual pilgrimage to western North Carolina.

This way, it's a little easier to face the fact that I've been a slacker. I'm still motivated to shed these last 12.5 pounds (or those new pesky 2.5 pounds, at least; I've got a bridesmaid dress to fit into soon, ya know), but I'm not kicking myself for eating awesome treats I only get once in awhile.

Here's to looking forward to success and to eating my favorite college-town burritos sometime this summer.

So close I can almost taste it

Step right up and fill in your cliche here: I can see the light at the end of the tunnel; the end is almost  near; all's well that ends well, etc.

Folks, you just may be witness to a modern miracle: I'm only 10 pounds away from reaching my goal of 140 pounds, something I haven't seen since the bangs-and-braces days of middle school.

I'm a competitive person, mostly just with myself, and I refuse to let anything, even a bachelorette party this weekend, get in between me and my more-reachable-than-ever goal.

What about you? What's your goal?

All in the family

The women in my family have a long history with chocolate, ya'll.

We don't so much keep green, leafy stuff in the vegetable crisper. If you wandered into my late grandmother's house, and opened the bottom left refrigerator drawer, you knew you were in for a handful of mini Kit Kats, Reese's Cups and Three Musketeers. My mom's house? Same thing. My sister's house? You got it. My house? Like clockwork. We even managed to nudge my brother's wife into following along.

What about you? What eating quirks or rituals did you inherit from your kinfolk?

The rules of weight-loss etiquette

"Well, look at you! You're just wasting away!" said my childhood best friend before she swooped in for a hug this weekend at a friend's bridal shower.

I grimaced, shot her a look, and replied, "I'm pretty sure that's scientifically impossible for me, but thanks anyway."

"Oh, I didn't mean anything bad by that," she quickly said.

What, my fair readers, do folks actually mean when they say these awkward intended-as-compliments-but-sound-horrific things?

First time for everything

I crossed two first-time experiences off my list this weekend:

1) I finally saw "The Never Ending Story." Yes, you read that right. We're talking about the movie that was made in 1984. Don't ask me how I managed to have a childhood without seeing it.

2) I read my first copy of Shape magazine from cover to cover. My college roommate (Hi, Alison!) loved that thing, but I always thought it was just for health nuts and exercise/sports medicine majors (no offense, Alison).

It turns out the mag isn't just for fitness buffs; you can actually be a somewhat normal person (and I use that description loosely) and pick up helpful tips for the kitchen, the gym and the closet.

Yup, there's style pointers in Shape. How can you not love a publication that both tells you how to get better abs and better shoes? 

Put me in, coach, I'm ready to eat

There's only one thing I love better than an opening day baseball game: a big ole Sonic Extra-Long Chili Cheese Coney Dog before the game.

As I've been scaling back my bad eating habits, I've realized there's a time and a place for everything. My penchant for Little Pigs onion rings? Fine, as long as it's a once a month or every couple of months kind of thing. My addiction to coffee-flavored ice cream? Awesome, thanks to the fine folks at Weight Watchers who have crafted Giant Latte Ice Cream bars. My devotion to River City Cafe's fried bologna sandwich post-church on Sundays? Heavenly, as long as we're not there every single Sunday (even that sort of fried goodness can get old after awhile).

The beauty in all this? I don't feel one bit guilty about devouring some of my favorite food.

The tune of toning up

What exactly does losing weight sound like?

Over the past few days, my husband and I started talking about which music fits where. We talked about our taste in breakup songs; my post-romance selection ran the gamut from old school No Doubt to screamo bands to Aretha Franklin.

Last night at House of Blues, we checked out the straight-from-San-Diego sound of surfer-friendly Switchfoot, which my husband said made him want to hit the water this morning.

All of which brings me to my initial question: what music makes me pumped about these healthier choices I'm making? Upon first glance at my iPod, I'll tell you Kanye West, Mute Math and Vampire Weekend get me moving. What about you? What are you listening to?

Triple whammy

This weekend, I'm heading home to North Carolina for what is most likely going to be a triple whammy of tasty temptations.

First, I'm swinging by to see good ol' Mom, who asked me last night, "Now, when did you want me to fix you dinner?" The answer, of course, is as often as possible with as many helpings of her legendary noodly stuff (read: pasta, cheese and chicken) as humanly possible.

Secondly, I'm traveling to Raleigh for a friend's bridal shower. You know what showers are famous for, other than a big fat pile of gifts? Those trays of tiny sandwiches, veggies, fruit, cake and mints. I am, I admit, a sucker for tiny food.

Last but not least, I'll be hitting our favorite pitas-and-tater-tots hot spot with my best friend, Josh. Best friends, especially male ones, don't necessarily encourage small portions. They seem to inspire extra-large servings of Cherry Coke and couch potato sessions set to the sights and sounds of surf movies.

Here's crossing my fingers and hoping I find some middle ground in the face of an overwhelmingly yummy weekend. Anyone have any tips?