What have I done?

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Source: allrecipes

Source: allrecipes

I’m a nice person. No, really! I’m not judgmental. Mostly. Ok, only when absolutely necessary. But I can be honest. That kind of honest most people hate. The kind that says, “Yep, that makes your butt look big.” (I’m not talking about you here. You are gorgeous!)

A couple of years back when the beloved husband announced he wanted to lose weight I gave him some tips. Not that I thought he needed to lose weight. He wasn’t really overweight but he carried some extra pounds in his stomach area.

The first tip was easy, eat one bagel instead of two for breakfast. He did it cold turkey. (No, he didn’t eat turkey, he eliminated one bagel starting the next day. There was no easing into it.)

Then he went from two pork chops to one. Downsizing portions slightly. Nothing like I have seen my good friends do. There were no visits to Weight Watchers or agonizing over meals. He always exercised so there was no change there. He lost 20 pounds. He went down a pant size. All good.

As I said, that was years ago. I didn’t know how he was regulating his loss but it didn’t seem to be a problem. There were no ups and downs. No discussions. No complaints. He stayed steady at his new weight. He was satisfied with smaller portions.

I didn’t hear a word until the day after Thanksgiving. That’s a really hard day to watch what you eat. There are all those side dishes, most of which only appear once a year. Then there is the bread. During “normal times” we only serve bread when it’s the starch of the meal, not the fifth starch of the meal.

So on Thanksgiving we had multiple starches and no healthy veggies (vegetables smothered in anything are not healthy ones).

Yes, it’s pathetic but you did the same thing.

One year I made a nice green salad but no one ate it. Why waste precious room on healthy dishes when there is stuffing to be eaten? With gravy! Then pie with whipped cream! Gotta save room! Something’s gotta go!

Back to the day after this gluttonous holiday – The beloved husband stepped on the scale. “I gained two pounds!” he announced (not at all happy).

My husband is like any other man. If he waits two hours, he loses weight whereas a woman will cut back on eating for a week, exercise her butt off and lose two ounces.

I hadn’t realized he was so tuned in.

He forced me to finish off the brownies that I HAD to bake so the house wouldn’t smell like day-old turkey. (How unfair is that?)

I’m pleased to announce that the next day all was well. He either had a major movement or whatever it is that makes men drop weight fast.

Tranquility has been restored but the brownies are gone.

 

50 thoughts on “What have I done?”

  1. It just doesn’t seem fair, Kate. Men can get rid of the excess weight much faster. Several years ago, Dave and I did cut down on the portions we ate. But I’ve regained more than he has. With all the goodies available at home and at work, that will really be a herculean task to lose the weight. 😉

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  2. You got great comments on this. I didn’t participate in Thanksgiving till the day after where I bought a silo of stuffing at Dean and Deluca thinking it would taste like my mom’s. Was I disappointed. Weight’s a funny thing. Men do have it easier than we do. But we have our advantages, like more hair 🙂

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    • I haven’t found stuffing like my mother made. I have to make it myself. She made a German version that was half bread and half potato with lots of tasty stuff. I only make it at Thanksgiving. And yes, we do mostly have more hair.

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    • It seems to be that way with most men although I know a few that had to have the bypass surgery to lose it. Mostly not though. Maybe if you aren’t responsible for cooking/food chores you are less susceptible to eating snacks.

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    • When I met him I couldn’t believe anyone could eat 2 bagels for breakfast! He wasn’t overly large either but a very active person. Nowadays I can make dinner in an 8″ pan instead of 12″. Scales and holidays do not go together.

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  6. “Yes, it’s pathetic but you did the same thing.” Ahhh – this made me laugh!

    This year my husband – who is just like your husband – planned and executed Thanksgiving dinner. My contribution was dessert (a spice cake with maple buttercream … mmmm …). His beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving dinner was the bird, the best stuffing in the world, potatoes, gravy, dinner rolls. He ran out of time to make veggies, but he did find time to make a pumpkin pie, from scratch. Bird + 5 carbs if you include my cake.

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  7. Dang Kate, I know I picked up a ton of pounds this past Thanksgiving. But, after reading how your husband has lost the pounds, I’m beginning to think that maybe I’m not the man I thought I was. Maybe I’m a woman! Well, at least that would explain why I only lost a few ounces since the Big Bird Day. 😀

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  8. I see we’re all expressing the same heartfelt (maybe angry) complaint. Why is it so easy for men to lose weight and so hard for women? It just isn’t fair.

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    • I don’t know. Maybe hormonal or maybe women are more troubled by it. Other than being healthy I’m never sure what motivates men. My butt-less husband never worries about getting into jeans. In fact I recommended some “assets” from a Fredericks of Hollywood catalog.

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  9. My husband doesn’t even gain the weight in the first place! He can eat twice as much as me, plus gobble down anything left on my plate and he is still slim and trim. He is currently making his way through one of those giant Costco pumpkin pies (which, fortunately, I don’t care for). Good thing he is handy to have around the house.

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    • Back in the old days, my husband used to finish my plate when we went out for dinner. He doesn’t do that anymore. Since he started eating smaller portions he doesn’t have the appetite either. Your husband is one lucky man. I have some girl friends who would kill for his metabolism.

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  10. Oh man, it’s so unfair. A couple weeks ago hubby said, “Do you know what these jeans are?” and he tugged at the waist of his jeans. Yeah, you guessed it. The jeans he wore in college. I could hate him sometimes!!!

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  11. It is so unfair ~ the darn men! When I was a kid, my dad could drop five pounds just mowing the lawn ~ and we had a little yard. Glad you enjoyed the brownies, anyway.

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  12. Daily fluctuations in weight are normal, especially after consuming a B~I~G meal or lots of extra salty snacks. Glad you took advantage of his “peak” to eat his share of the brownies!

    Thought to ponder: If men lose weight so easily . . . why do they often have kegs where their 6-packs abs should be? :mrgreen:

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  13. Apres menopause I lost all muscle tone and blew up like a balloon. On top of not having to deal with menopause (why is “men” in that word?) they don’t have to deal with the weight gain. In my experience men can “think” their weight away. I “think” I’ll lose five pounds tomorrow, poof, it’s gone overnight! But these days I have decided not to worry so much about weight and focus on health…. exercising every day and eating my fruits and veggies! But those brownies do sound good!

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    • They were good and I don’t make them very often. I have to learn to restrict my carbs on T-day. Other than a resettling of weight to places where I don’t want it my weight didn’t change after menopause. My only issue was when I was taking the estrogen blocker after breast cancer. I did lose my sweet tooth which I never really had.

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  16. It is unfair about the *general* differences in males and females about weight. I was like your husband right after Thanksgiving with a three pound gain, and like him I verbalized it with great angst and sorrow. Three days later I right back where I was before the holiday. My wife just rolled her eyes and bemoaned her own six pound rise from the year before. My new year’s resolution is not to mention weight anymore.

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    • That is a good resolution! My husband never talks about weight even at other Thanksgivings when I’m sure the same thing happened. Perhaps he just happened to weigh himself the day after. I haven’t done the post-T-day weigh-in yet. There was that issue with the brownies so I’m giving it a few days.

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  17. You’re right about men being able to wait a day or two and lose weight. Women have it more difficulty losing a pound while a man can lose three times as much in half the time. If I were a woman, I’d be very bitter..:)
    And yes, it’s amazing how you can lose weight by somu reducing the size of your portions, which is the basis of what weight watchers preachers.

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    • Many years ago after my round of breast cancer I was put on a cancer drug that caused me to gain 12 lbs. Doesn’t sound like a lot, does it? I’ve always been a thin person. After I got off the drug it took 9 months of painful deprivation before I lost the weight. The weight wasn’t from overeating. I have seen the gender thing with so many of my friends. Yes we are all bitter! Losing weight is a way of life, not a temporary imposition. It’s really all in your head and not your waistline!

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  18. Men! So unfair. When Andy and I were dancing 15 hours a week, lifting weights, and running, I STILL had to watch everything that went into my mouth. Meanwhile, Andy would go to Denny’s at midnight after dancing and have one of their massive breakfasts. He’d have breakfast burritos at work. And still he would lift up his shirt and moan, “Oh, look at this! I just keep losing weight. My jeans are falling off me!”

    And I, living the life of veggies, skinless chicken, edamame, and oatmeal with protein powder, would try VERY HARD not to hit him.

    I was mostly successful.

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    • Very good point. Our plates are normal sized. I won’t buy dishes that look huge and that goes for coffee mugs too. Our soup bowls are modest. Better to go back for another serving than to force down more than you need.

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      • You have a very good “handle” on how to stay healthy. Moderation in all things throw in some exercise, and all is good. The “problem”..as I see it, is that women have to cook to please their man…mif you have one. lol…So the moral of this story is…don’t live with a man. lol! Just visit them…for a little romance once in awhile. 😉

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