oy! (m)

Bar Mitzvah today.  My friend Mary's nephew.  I called Mary (WW veteran of many "campaigns") and asked for advice as to how best to manage my points today.  I told her that someone suggested that I save my points all day and eat them tonight.

"No, no...you do NOT want to do that" she said.  She told me to eat dinner right before I went to temple so I wouldn't be hungry.  Good one.  Do you honestly think I got where I am because I ate only when I was hungry?  If I ate dinner at 4 pm, I'd be good for a second one at 8 p.m.  Too risky, I thought.  I'll compromise and eat as little as possible and then concentrate my points later in the day at the event.

Breakfast was Greek yogurt with some moldy strawberries from Costco (not their fault, I forgot about them in my Sub-Zero drawer in the island).  I would have pitched them but my mother was standing next to me saying what a sin you are not going to throw those out are you?  I guess not.  I ate them and will never need penicillin again.

Lunch was a cucumber with balsamic vinegar.

By 3:30 I was so hungry I could eat my husband's cooking.  Instead, I splurged on a cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts with a low fat honey graham cracker.  Not to digress, but what is a single serving of a graham cracker?  Each sheet comes with perforations both vertically and horizontally.  There is one vertical perf at the top and one at the bottom with a horizontal one in the middle.   I've read that a single serving is anywhere from a "square" --which geometrically speaking has to be two of the smaller rectangles (or the top half) --to one whole sheet.  Screw it. I ate the whole sheet and counted it as two points.

It did the trick and held me until after the service.

The after party was at the temple.  Good, we'll eat sooner I thought.  I skipped the nuts and free alcohol.  That'd be the day I wasted a point on wine.  There were baby racks of lamb, crusted tuna in wasabi sauce, mushroom risotto (my knees were weak for this) and some cheese and garlic thingie in dough.  I had one lamb and one risotto.

Dinner was kid-friendly....a barbecue!  Mary may have pioneered this concept at her son's Bar Mitzvah.  It was pulled pork, grilled chicken, barbecue beef, cornbread, cucumber salad, coleslaw and to really bust my chops....a french fry station with cheeseburgers and hotdogs.  I felt like an alcoholic at an open bar Happy Hour.

I had one grilled chicken breast, a sliced tomato and some cucumber salad.  Mary brought over one of those soft pretzels and I had half. My carbs for the day (yes, along with the graham cracker).

There was a ten-piece band named Beantown and they were absolutely phenomenal.  I was supposed to rest my left knee (more on that in the next few days) but couldn't help myself when they played Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Till You Get Enough.  I may have torn the cartilage in my knee, but it was worth it.  I'll be conservative and not count it as an activity point.

Weight Watchers says that when you are at a social gathering you should focus less on the food and more on the people around you.  I turned to my right and there was the maternal grandmother of the bar mitzvah boy.  She is a PETA activist and is still on my ass about my company's animal testing policy from the 1980's.  I quickly turned around before she could recognize me.

After the video (which was lovely), Mary and I calculated my points for today on a dinner napkin.  It was 10:30 pm and I had hit my total for the day.

My husband and I left before the dessert was served.  I know when to quit.

PS.  Mary and her husband noticed my weight loss as did --are you sitting down?--my mother.  I noticed that my Spanx did not roll down all evening.