drop the fork: Oh, Yeah, Now I Remember . . .

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February 27, 2006

Oh, Yeah, Now I Remember . . .

One cardinal rule of life is, "nothing ever stays the same." This applies to everything, including keeping your weight down. Life has a way of throwing curves at you, when you least expect it. And even the most benign of circumstances can lead to big changes in your maintenance routine. Follow along with me whilst I sketch out my latest challenge.

Our second house is pretty much finished. Renovations are largely done, and hubby and I have been spending most of our weekends there . . . .dragging belongings up from the basement (and cleaning off the construction dust), taking furniture deliveries, and enjoying the splendid new kitchen. This kitchen is a DREAM . . . I designed it that way. Tons of counter space, porcelain tile floors, monorail and bulkhead task lighting, counter seating. No, I don't have a Viking stove, or a SubZero fridge, but the appliances are new, the stove has a power burner, and the whole space "works." And it's cheerful as any space can possibly be: white walls, blond wood, and primary color accents (red, blue, yellow), down to the counter appliances (fire engine red) and the wall phone, clock, and miniblinds (bright yellow).

Who wouldn't want to cook there? It's better than the kitchen in my main house. Seriously. I’m sure I'll be doing more cooking here, than there. More entertaining, too.

So, as you might guess, I've already put the kitchen to good use. Though I have tried to stock the freezer with lots of frozen veggies, as well as frozen fish and fruit, the city markets have been singing their siren song. Cat-head crabcakes. Fabulous fried chicken. Take-home Italian specialties. Mmmmmmm.

In addition, the city where this house is located is one of our favorite places to play. Tons of good restaurants, with new ones coming on line all the time. We eat out about half the time, and cook the other half.

And did I mention the wine bars? And the wine collection we're accumulating at the new place?

Oh, and I don't have any bikes at the new house, not yet. Too cold, and the basement is still a construction mess. I have no gym membership in this city, either.

Are you getting the picture?

Too much food, too little exercise. A place I definitely don't want to go . . . but could, if I'm not careful.

Take last night, for example. We spent the day out, and ended up at one of our favorite wine bars. I had 2 glasses of white, the caribbean catfish entrée, and (yes, oh yes) a fabulous dessert: grilled pineapple atop fried dough, covered with a chocolate ganache.

I was a bit stuffed by the time I left the restaurant.

Not only that, but an old, old friend visited me during the night . . . indigestion.

I have GERD, and if I eat too much, too late, I can get sick. It's one of the reasons I finally joined WW . . . I actually do not enjoy that overstuffed feeling, knowing what it can lead to.

Last night, I must have forgotten. (Two glasses of wine may have had something to do with it.) I got a pretty good reminder, though. "Oh, yeah," I thought to myself, while sitting up in bed, trying not to moan, "THIS is why I don't like to overeat."

Sometimes a little kick in the pants is a good thing. I think I won't be doing that again for a while. (And yeah, I DID enjoy the evening out. No regrets there.)

In the meantime, spring is coming, I'll get a couple of my bikes over to the new house, and I'll explore ways to use a gym in my "second city." I've already bought an exercise mat and more Therabands . . . it's only a matter of time before I'll be able to set up a bike trainer.

Maintenance doesn't just happen . . . you have to work at it. And it requires more than a little flexibility, as well as the ability to adapt with changing circumstances. This is a change I actually didn't anticipate, but I'm working on getting through it.