12.17.10 — Son of Gift Basket

Another cracker/chocolate/cookie/pretzel-laden gift basket showed up. None of it even really got my temptation meter to even flicker.

12.15.10 — Brittlegeddon

It came today, my kryptonite, my nemesis, my favorite coworker-supplied food item — LJ's father's peanut brittle.

Just look at it. How can you resist that? It's beautiful. It's flavorful. It's thick with sweetness and crunch. It's got great color and texture. It demands that you take a big slab in your hand and crack off a chunk with your teeth.

The brittle owns your sorry ass.

It's also got something like 140 calories per ounce.

Not per chunk or piece or handful. Per. Ounce.

Just one of those slabs is going to run you 3 or 4 ounces. That's nearly 500 calories for one piece. Imagine, if you will, a gallon-sized zip lock back lying near you, beckoning all day long. So easy to reach in a grab a piece as you walk by. So convenient if you are an hour or so away from lunch and feeling a little peckish. Did you have 2 or 3 pieces? When it got down to crumbs did you take a handful? Do you know how easy it would be to eat a couple thousand calories of this stuff and not even really notice?

Several people, knowing the deep relationship I have with the brittle, reassured me that given my exercise frequency I should be able to have a small piece or two. Surely this is one I could eat.

Too tempting. Too easy to get dragged into to that amber heaven. There is no having just one piece of brittle. And besides — I'm losing weight. I've lost 210 pounds and nearing a gigantic milestone. I don't work out so I can eat more, I work out to crank up my weight loss. Why would I slow myself down for even a day just to have some candy even if it is crystalized, peanut-infused, molasses-colored love?

No, not today my dear peanut brittle. Not today.

12.14.10 — Gift Basket, Ho!

The first gift basket of the season. I honestly expected more of them to have shown up already. This one didn't disappoint as it was loaded with cookies, cheese sticks, kettle corn and two kinds of peppermint bark. It was attacked mere moments from the email announcing its arrival went out.

I'm sure there will be more to come, each more elaborate and overflowing with high calorie tidbits. They will be conveniently placed nearby where the urge to graze will be strong. A nibble here, a chunk there, a handful of this and that — before you know it you've eaten the equivalent of a damn Big Mac.

That isn't the worst news, however. A coworker's father sends us a big batch of peanut brittle each year. She posted a photo of the brittle as it cooled in the snow outside her father's house with the promise that it was on its way.

The brittle may break me. More to come...

12.13.10 — Cupcakes

More Cupcake Royale cupcakes. Yawn.

12.11.10 — Poker Food

Not at work, but food that needed to be resisted nonetheless.

Our monthly poker game potluck – lots of dips, fried food, crackers and sweets. That bowl in the lower right has deep fried mac & cheese balls. The cherry covered things in the upper left are mini cheesecakes. Of course, there was beer, whiskey and all sorts of alcohol to be had.

I brought a couple diced melon trays and probably had about 150 calories worth — which if you track that kind of stuff means I had nearly a pound of watermelon and cantaloupe. Not as satisfying as fried mac & cheese perhaps, but I had a clear conscience.

12.9.10 — Pizza and Balls

Another agency meeting of some sort, another stack of leftover Zeek's pizza. There was maybe a full pizza between two boxes. 10 minutes after it hit the table in the kitchen, gone. I almost had to run back to my desk to get my iPhone. Seriously.



And then late in the afternoon, a tub of Hawaiian chocolate covered macadamia nuts showed up. They smelled good, but I was told that they weren't that good. "They're not worth it," was the instant review.

My coworkers, making my weight loss more difficult and easier all at the same time.

12.8.10 — Cheap Bastards

I didn't even have any and I was irritated.

A client sent this paltry collection of chocolates to the agency today as some sort of seasonal gift. Pah. Wait until the real gift baskets start rolling in from some of our vendors. Now that's a party. This was a poor excuse for holiday cheer.