14 "Glorious" Years

I just got back from seeing Sex and the City 2 with a group of girlfriends (thus the very late time of this blog post). The movie continues the story of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha as they struggle to manage their love lives, friendships and careers in New York City. As always, Samantha was a hoot. Charlotte attempted to juggle the challenges of motherhood with the help of her hot nanny. Miranda tried to find the perfect balance between career woman and mommy. And Carrie and Mr. Big struggled with how to keep their relationship from getting stale after two years of marriage. (Turns out, a black diamond ring may just do the trick.)

The ladies of Sex and the City 2 get a chance to visit one of the most extravagant

vacation destinations on the planet.

Before the movie, we decided to get a drink, something I anticipated so I fit in a workout at the gym and quick shower before we left. I knew the 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer would be enough for me to earn two additional Weight Watchers points, which just so happens is the points value of a glass of Chardonnay. For fun, I decided to try on some of the blue jeans that were folded on the top shelf of my closet to see if they would fit well enough to wear to the movies. The jeans had been perched there for a couple of years, just waiting for me to shed some weight so I can fit into them again. My size 14 jeans are pretty baggy now, so I weeded through the Size 8 and 10 jeans and settled on the Size 12 ones, which fit just about right after a couple of deep knee bends. 

I skipped dinner so I could save enough points to enjoy a small bag of Hot Tamales candy at the movie. I sneaked the store-bought candy in my purse because I didn't want to be tempted to buy the super jumbo box at the theater. Pre-diet, I could easily consume the super large box of Hot Tamales and a small box of buttered popcorn, which, next to Mexican Food and a margarita, is definitely a weakness for me.

But tonight, instead of movie theater popcorn, I ordered soft pretzel nuggets, without the cheese dipping sauce. At first I thought it was a good choice, until I realized all of the butter the nuggets were soaked in, much of which leaked out of the box and onto my Size 12 jeans. After this blog post, I'll be soaking them overnight and sleeping with my fingers crossed that the butter will wash out because, after all, a lot of work went into me fitting into those jeans again.

Me at the theater in my Size 12 jeans, complete with the butter stains on both legs.

On Tuesday of this week my husband Christian and I celebrated a milestone -- 14 years of marriage. Woops, I should say 14 "glorious" years, as my husband likes to sarcastically point out. Carrie and Mr. Big have nothing on us! As I mentioned in last week's post, I'm a social eater so celebrations are typically a challenge for me to enjoy in moderation. We decided that we will celebrate our anniversary with a date night this weekend, so this week I'm banking all my bonus points for that meal. However, we still wanted to do something to celebrate with the kids on Tuesday, and I worried how I'd be able to do that and stick within my 21 daily points allowance.

Christian made a delicious Seared Scallops with White Beans and Bacon recipe from his Men's Health Magazine, a surprisingly low-point recipe he's been wanting to try for a while. It was delicious -- and so elegant!

Seared Scallops with White Beans and Bacon....so yummy!

While we feasted on our meal, the kids enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches. We ate by candlelight illuminating the table from the tin can lantern Will had brought home that day from school.

 Will's tin can lantern was the perfect finishing touch to our anniversary dinner table.

The morning of our anniversary, Christian had left out a chilled can of Diet Pepsi with a note saying "Enjoy Now" next to a bottle of champagne that said, "Enjoy Later." I decided to surprise him by making Chocolate Covered Strawberries and dipped Madeline cookies for dessert, something I knew he and the kids would enjoy. I bought some fat free Cool Whip for me that I could dip plain strawberries in, which was actually a really nice low-point treat along with the champagne. I did treat myself to one chocolate dipped strawberry and some champagne.

Isn't this just beautiful? I was pretty darned impressed with my display that I just had to take a picture.

I was thrilled when I entered my points to my Weight Watchers online tracker that between dinner, dessert, champagne, and my modest breakfast and lunch, I used exactly 21 points that day.  I was able to stay within my daily allowance, even with a little bit of indulgence. That is definitely worth celebrating!

This week's weight loss was more modest than last week's 3-pound loss. I lost .5 pounds this week, bringing my total weight loss to 20.5 pounds.  This week, my goal is to "kick it up a notch" with extra exercise, something I haven't been able to fit in as much as I'd like in the last couple of weeks.

I'm going to have to let these jeans loosen up a bit more before I can kick like the Karate Kid.