Weigh-in Wednesday: 4-15-15

Last week, I had an encouraging weigh-in, but I thought my progress would be short-lived.  This week, I’m breathing a sigh of relief.  This morning I weighed 120.0.  While that’s up slightly from the 119.4 I weighed last Wednesday, I expected the news to be much worse.

Most weekends, I’m only out of town for two nights.  This week, I was out of town for five nights on a trip to Vienna.  That’s no place to stick to a diet.

I had a few large meals, and I usually had dessert, so I was surprised that I didn’t gain two or three pounds.  Thinking back, however, I don’t think there were any days that I ate three meals.  I usually ate a breakfast that was satisfying, but not huge.  During the day, I’d be on the go, so I generally skipped lunch in favor of an early dinner.  Yes, my dinners were indulgent, but apparently not much worse than eating two restrained meals.

I was also fairly active.  Besides my marathon and a seven mile training run, I did about two miles of walking each day.  I may have also burned extra calories by spending more hours awake.  That wasn’t by choice.  In five nights, I managed a grand total of 19 hours sleep.

Somewhere during the weekend, I made a decision about my diet.  Regardless of what changes I make to my eating habits at home, I’ll always allow myself exceptions when I’m on the road.  In particular, if I’m traveling to someplace new and different, I want to experience the local foods – even if it’s something I would never eat at home.

A few friends have noticed that my eating habits have changed in the last year.  I’ve been asked if I’m vegan or vegetarian or something else.  Six months ago, I described my diet as being in transition, but I didn’t know where I was going.  Now, I have a better idea.

At home, I’ve eliminated meat and dairy products from my diet, but I sometimes eat eggs.  I’ve found that a three-egg omelet is a great way to get 30 grams of protein, without eating a high-calorie meal.  You might say that eggs have a high protein density.  An omelet is also a nice way to use leftover vegetables.  I’m also gradually reducing the amount of refined sugars and flour in my diet, but that’s a long-term project.

As I said, I make exceptions while I’m on the road.  How many exceptions depends on the circumstances.  If I’m at a restaurant with an appealing vegan entrée, I’ll probably order that.  If not, I’ll get something with cheese.  If there aren’t many options, I’ll consider an entrée with meat.

I have a passion for pizza.  In Vienna, there’s no shortage of Italian restaurants, so I had pizza twice.  That said, I also had no trouble finding tasty pizzas without meat.

I don’t usually eat meat with breakfast, but in Austria, veal sausages are a big part of the local cuisine.  When I saw that they were part of the breakfast buffet, I decided to include a sausage or two with breakfast each day.  When in Rome, …

This weekend, I’ll face another dietary time bomb.  I’ll be in Boston for three nights for the Boston Marathon.  I’ll be meeting a few different groups of friends for dinner over the course of the weekend, so I’ll be hard-pressed to keep from gaining weight.  The good news is that after this weekend, my schedule looks more favorable for controlling my intake.