A Few Very Expensive Bites. .

(This photo of my friend Nadia & me was taken last weekend at The Silver Spur in Soho)

Last night, I went out to a very nice restaurant -- The Modern, which is the restaurant in the MOMA (www.themodernnyc.com) with my friend Erika. Unfortunately, my band was pretty tight, and I was having trouble eating all day. AND they only have prix fixe menus, so I wound up having to order a 3 course meal and only being able to eat very little of it. I did, however, have them wrap up my (basically untouched, gorgeous & delicious) dinner for me, despite that I wouldn't normally ask in such a nice restaurant. So, between dinner and wine, I wound up spending nearly $200 (we split the bill, which was almost $400. . . ) to barely eat anything. That's the last time I will do that, barring a special occasion where someone else picks the restaurant.

One of my friends asked me some very thought provoking questions in an e-mail recently, and I thought that this might be interesting to post. Here goes:

Q: Now, that you changed your eating habits thanks to band, do you think you will be able to keep these habits after the band is taken out?

A: Even though it is possible to take out the band, it is not intended to be temporary. I'll leave it in indefinitely, assuming there are no problems that can't be fixed without removing it. Most people who have their bands out gain weight again.

Q: I never realised that you were unhappy when the scale went up. Did you ever talk about it with anyone?

A: Not really -- my philosophy is that my weight was in my control and that, as long as I wasn't going to take the steps necessary to lose what I wanted to lose, I had no business complaining about it. I definitely felt bad about it, but had such a hard time finding the will power needed to take off a significant amount.

If you think about it, I've been on this "diet" for about 5 months, and it will probably take about 10 more months for me to get to my goal (I'm not really sure about that -- I'm trying to be conservative in projecting my progress). To stay on a strict diet for 15 months without ever messing up would not have been possible without the band. I just do not have that kind of iron will power to be perfect for so long.

Q: What do you think were your eating habits that made you gain?

I'm generally a very healthy eater -- lots of fruits, vegetables, fish, etc. I've thought about how I gained this weight and realized that there are a few reasons. I basically put on 10 lbs a year by eating just a bit too much for my (sh*tty) metabolism on a regular basis. Part of how I did that was by drinking wine with dinner more often than not, and then going for a snack around 9 or 10 at night -- despite that I didn't need it. So, in addition to the wine, I'd also have the extra calories from the snack. I also would "splurge" here and there and have dessert once in a while, or even the occasional (but very rarely) hamburger & fries.

To make sure that I succeed with the band, I've stopped having wine at home, unless it's a special occasion. That cuts down on calories, as well as the urge to eat late at night. Of course, if I go out, I can have wine or a cocktail -- the idea was just to make it so that those extra calories are the exception, rather than the norm.
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Must get running -- going to get my hair done today, then am going to a St. Patrick's Day party tonight!