Cupcakes and Cleaning

In spite of some very pesky snow a week or so ago (wow, say that five times fast), spring seems to be coming along as expected.  The trees are swelling with buds.  The robins are swarming the muddy yard looking for tasty worms.  And I’m starting to feel restless.  I did not get hit with that usual bout of spring cleaning in February as I usually do, but that may be a sign of my adjusting to a new diet. 

            Well, actually it’s an old diet.  Joseph and I have been on Weight Watchers before.  We use the old point system, because it really does work for us.  Portion sizes are metered out with the new kitchen scale Joseph bought, and the Nutrition Facts are read religiously.  And for those of you who know me and are quick to flatter me by saying that I don’t need to be on Weight Watchers, I will say this: men’s metabolisms slow down after thirty, and it sneaks up on us until suddenly we are overweight forty-somethings looking in the mirror.  I have noticed those unwanted pounds sneaking up on me, and I don’t want to sink into middle-aged obesity without a fight. 

            And here’s a tip for a happy home: if you can healthfully be on the same diet as everyone in the house, then by all means do be on the same diet.  Joseph can use the high-fiber, low-fat sentiments that Weight Watchers instills on its adherents.  I certainly can, too.  High-fiber and low-fat fits almost everyone except for those with wasting illnesses and malnutrition issues.  So, I follow it.  Eating together, planning meals together, and being on the same nutrition page, even if you don’t have to be, makes a family tighter in my opinion.  Joseph and I tried eating separate meals, once, when we were a new couple.  That resulted in a disjointed household and an unsuccessful completion of a diet or two. 

            So Joseph and I have been “dieting.”  But last night didn’t feel like a diet.  Joseph made a homemade pasta sauce, threw it together with some whole wheat lasagna noodles, added low-fat ricotta cheese and a moderate amount of shredded mozzarella and lean ground turkey and put it all into a few ramekins.  He diligently weighed every noodle and measured every scoop of ricotta.  This resulted in a handful of frozen ramekins of lasagna we have cooked at our leisure.  We finished off the last two little lasagnas last night with a cabernet-sauvignon, some whole wheat bread toasted with butter, and a movie.  Meals like that don’t feel like diets.  They feel absolutely delicious! 

            Even so, we have our weaknesses.  So we decided that once a month we will have a cheat day when we can go out to eat or make our favorite foods and just not count it.  The results will show up on the scale, but the day feels like a happy little light at the end of a tunnel.  And if we put on a quick pound, it will only give us encouragement to stick to the plan. 

            Maybe next time I will have a cupcake for breakfast.  Those are the best breakfasts.