Summer in San Francisco

I am wearing a scarf today. It is the middle of August.

Even though us San Franciscans get tired of hearing it, the old Mark Twain quote rings all too true: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

How does this relate to weight loss? Well, I mentioned the scarf. But add to that the fact that I wear a fleece everywhere I go because it's been too cold not to. My daily outfit all summer has consisted of a fleece or vest, and a different colored scarf. Welcome to Summer in San Francisco.

Let the below picture from Wino JWHA's birthday last week serve as proof of that.

Sure, we all had a great time... but notice how everyone's in winter clothes? Turtlenecks, scarves, sweaters... even a wool coat! It just ain't right.

When I lived in places that had hot summers—L.A., Boston, D.C.—I had more motivation to lose weight, because I knew summer's arrival meant the donning of summer apparel: shorts, skirts, tanks, bikinis. Because San Francisco summers are an exception to the "hurry-and-lose-weight-so-you-will-look-decent-in-that-bikini" rule, I have lagged this summer, and have sort of fallen off the Weight Watchers wagon. I guess I have gotten a little too comfortable in my fleece and scarf.

But I leave for Kaua'i two weeks from today. The fleece is coming off, and the bikini's going on. And when I get back, it will be Fall in San Francisco—which means warmth and sun.

So it's on. No more lagging. Back to tracking, tracking, tracking. Because my scarf and fleece won't be there to save me in Hawaii—and they shouldn't have to save me now, either.

Say Yes To (zipping up) The Dress!

Now that Wino Tristan's wedding is complete (see post below), it is on to the next one. T-minus 4 weeks til showtime for me and plenty still to do. After a grueling 16 week order time, I was finally able to pick up my wedding dress this weekend. The wedding dress I started this whole Weight Watchers thing for in the first place.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with the whole wedding dress process. First, it's a lot of work getting those things over your head and back off again, not only for you but for the salesperson helping. By the time you try on a dozen, it is practically a workout. Then, most if not all of them were 2 sizes down from what I wound up ordering. So instead of stealthily slipping up the zipper of them, the helper girl would have to pull the sides back to give me a better look of how a more appropriate size might fit. Not exactly an ideal way to get excited about the thousands of dollars you are about to spend when one is pouring out of satin and lace. Hmph.

Sixteen weeks is a long time to wait for something. When I plopped down my credit card for the most expensive garment I have ever bought, it was early April. I looked back at my progress on the Weight Watchers weight tracker since that time and was surprised to discover I have, overall, only dropped about 6 pounds since then. Talk about some yo-yo dieting! The strange thing is, my body now is noticeably slimmer. I don't know if I've gained muscle or what, but even with only a 6 lb total difference since then, I walked into that bridal shop in better shape than when I placed the order.

Not really knowing what to expect when it was time to see how my dress would fit, the sales chick and I did the shimmy once again to get the thing over my head. Then, time to zip. Expecting some sort of a struggle, I literally had to ask her -- is it all zipped up? "YES!," she said. Whew! I thought. I looked at the front and back in the three-way mirror and was relieved to see that I was pretty happy with the way all body parts were being displayed inside and out of the thing. Granted, it is built to hold your junk in place and make it look good. But, hey, I was holding up my end of the bargain too!

So, the stress is over, right?! Wrong. Now time to find a decent tailor that won't cost me another grand to make a few final adjustments. At least I'm not worrying about them having to somehow let the thing out though. If that were the case I'd be seriously contemplating pulling a Bridezilla!

(Please pardon the wrinkles in the dress picture; it has not been presssed for wear yet.)

To Have and to Hold...On to Pounds!

It is exactly one week until my father walks me down the aisle. It has been a blur of activities, mostly fun, but some stressful. I had heard that in the weeks prior to your wedding, pounds magically fall off! “Don’t worry, Tristan, you will drop, like tons of weight right before the wedding.” Well guess what, that DOESN’T happen. It is true that I am just three little pounds away from my goal weight, but I am here to report that it was done through good, old fashioned weight watchers hard work. After the famous nacho blow out (with fellow bride and wino, Erika), I knew something had to change. I began watching portions and counting points- something, I confess, I hadn’t done in months. With all of the wedding activities, I was able to maintain, but not lose. So two weeks ago, I made a few small changes: more protein, less quantity, and fewer sips of wine. The result: 5 pounds and more nipping in of the wedding dress.

As I stood in the fancy-pants bridal salon and took a look at my arms, I realized that I have lost 28 pounds. It took a whole year to get it off and I am still not at the finish line. However, I am ready to take my fathers arm and to smile, knowing that I worked hard to get where I am. Just because I am getting married, doesn’t mean that the barn door is open for cheese and bread fest. Instead, I will continue to strive for the balance weight watchers has helped me achieve. When I started at weight watchers, my motto was “Slow and steady wins the race.” Instead of thinking that I had to lose 30 pounds (sounds scary, doesn’t it!), I just took it day by day and bottle of wine by bottle of wine. And now, I am the bride I want to be. Thanks to all of my fellow winos & to my fabulous fiancé for supporting me and for tell me to slowly back away from the gummy worms.

Signed, The Future Mrs. Margetson

Three Words: Dulce....de....Leche

It means "milk caramel" in Spanish and its DELICIOUS. It is said that dulce de leche originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1829. I'm sure everyone has heard of it by now. In 1997, Häagen-Dazs introduced a dulce de leche flavored ice cream; in the same year, Starbucks began offering dulce de leche flavored coffee products. And in 2009, the Girl Scouts introduced a dulce de leche flavored cookie.

A few months back I blogged about wanting to slim down for an upcoming wedding I was going to in Buenos Aires. My goal was to lose 10 - 15 lbs. Well, I didn't quite make my goal, but I was down about 9 lbs by the time I left. I got home on Wednesday morning after an awesome week of visiting with friends, exploring a beautiful city, drinking incredible Malbec wine and indulging in...you guessed it, copious amounts of dulce de leche.

I think we can all agree that its pretty difficult to count points while on vacation, especially in a foreign country where the nutritional information, if its even listed, is in a different language and usually a different unit of measure! Anyway, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

How many points do you think this would be?


Yes, that's what homemade flan is supposed to look like. And because flan isn't rich enough, you simply must add about a 1/2 cup of dulce de leche on the side...and you MUST eat it ALL. It would be rude not to.

Or what about a portion of one of these dulce de leche flavored desserts?


I don't know either...but let me tell you, it was worth it!



I think that crazed look in my eyes says it all.

Skinny Bitch

I recently started working more closely with someone in my department at work on a new project. Lets call this person Skinny Bitch. Skinny Bitch is funny, nice, super cute, a great dresser, and, you guessed it….skinny!

This week, Skinny Bitch and I happened to be walking out of the office for lunch around the same time. Skinny Bitch asked me where I was headed. I paused in my head for a second, wondering if I should tell her I was walking down to Weight Watchers to do my weekly weigh-in. But I then immediately told Skinny Bitch this info, because hey, I'm telling the freakin world about it on my blog, I can let this co-worker know what I'm up to. She's a Skinny Bitch, so she probably won't understand, but whatever.

As I blurted out my lunchtime errand, she mumbled something about knowing about that. I shrugged it off and went about my merry way, wondering what indulgent lunch she would come back with. Because as we all know, or assume anyway, Skinny Bitches can eat whatever they feel like and it NEVER comes back to haunt them.

Later that day, Skinny Bitch and I were standing around the same post-work happy hour. She was nibbling on a cheese plate, one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Figures! As we sipped out drinks and chatted, she asked how my trip to WW went. "Oh great," I responded. "Down a little more than a pound this week!"

Skinny Bitch then proceeded to tell me how much she digs WW and had previously lost 35 lbs, yes THIRTY-FIVE pounds, on the program. My mind was spinning! How could this be?! She's so…….SKINNY. She shared with me how she used to be a bit chunkier and I listened in awe. Though she no longer does the weekly WW thing, she still abides by what she learned from the program. The big things she did to achieve success: 1) add veggies to everything, and 2) cut all portions in half.

Well, what I learned that day was that WW works! And that you never know who around you might have gotten their skinny-on by counting points. Just look at Skinny Bitch! She is proof positive that someday, someone just might, if I'm lucky, call me Skinny Bitch too.

It Takes Two

In May, after about three months of Weight Watchers, I decided to take my weight loss journey to the next level: I signed up to run the Kauai Half Marathon.

My event is in September, and for the past six weeks, I have been wrapped up in hard, intense training. Short runs. Long runs. Sprints. Intervals. Sit-ups. Push-ups. Boot camps. All of it.

I am not a runner. In fact, when I went on my first run after signing up for the marathon, I couldn't even make it to the end of my block without stopping to walk. So I obviously felt a huge sense of accomplishment last weekend when I ran eight miles without stopping. A five- or six-mile run is no sweat for me, now. Amazing, right?

However, I got on the scale last night and came to realize that despite all of this intense training, I haven't lost a single pound. Despite running 25-30 miles per week, despite giving up my Wednesday sushi nights to track workouts, despite the sit-ups that keep my abs sore for days and the hard runs that cause my knees to nearly buckle when I get out of bed in the morning... I still weigh exactly as much as I did before I started running.

Why? Because Weight Watchers isn't just about eating right. And it's not just about moving more. It's about doing both. And I realized that since I've kicked up the workouts, I've also kicked up the calorie consumption.

"Oh, it's fine if I eat these two oatmeal raisin cookies—I ran 6.5 miles this morning!" As it turns out, this is not true. (It's also not true that it's okay to drink strawberry milkshakes after a workout, or that a chocolate croissant is fine to have with coffee in the morning if I'll be working it off later that day, or that I no longer need to track my wine intake now that I work out regularly.)


So it's back to tracking and healthy eating—but without giving up the hard workouts. Because my goal weight is just as attainable as that marathon finish line. Even if, in the meantime, both of them are kicking my ass.

Divine Deliciousness - Sea Bass with Fennel Rice

My roommate and I cooked an amazingly delicious dinner the other night and I just had to share the recipe.  The ingredients aren't cheap, but this may possibly be the best meal I've had in months!

Roasted Sea Bass with Tomato and Green Bean salad

Makes 4 servings
6 pts/serving

Salad
Saute 1/2 lb of green beans in a medium saute pan just spray pan with 0 calorie olive oil cooking spray for about 10 minutes until tender.

Mince 1 garlic glove and mash to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt.  In a bowl, whisk together garlic with 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Whisk in 2 tbsp olive oil.  Toss with green beans and 1/2 lb grape tomatoes (mixed colors if possible), 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes (mixed colors if possible) and 2 tbsp of capers.  Cut large tomatoes in half if necessary.  Let stand and stir occasionally while fish cooks.

Fish
Preheat oven to 425 with rack in the middle.  Spray a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish with olive oil spray.

Rub flesh sides of 4 6-oz fillets of sea bass with 1 tablespoon of oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper total.  Slice 1/2 of a red onion in thin slices and divide into 2 portions.  Sandwich each portion and 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh oregano between 2 fillets of fish.  Tie the fillets together with kitchen string and transfer to the baking dish.  Roast fish in oven until just cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Cut strings and serve 1 fillet per person topped with salad.

Fennel and Golden Raisin Rice

Makes 4 servings
4 pts/serving

Cook 1 medium onion (diced) and 1 large fennel bulb (stalks discarded, also chopped) with 1/3 cup golden raisin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally.  Look for the onions to become translucent but not caramelized to determine when the mixture is cooked to perfection.  Add 1 cup long grain white rice and cook for about a minute.  Add 2 cups of water and bring to a strong boil.  Thightly cover and cook on low heat, undisturbed, until water is absorbed, about 22 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Let stand for about 10 minutes, then serve with the fish dish above and a glass of French Chardonnay if you so choose!