Nice milestone...

I was going through the closet over the weekend, looking for any spring-weight and summer-weight clothes to possibly take on vacation to Florida next month. And I ran across an old pair of jeans -- size 54, which was my lowest point on the first time 'round, before our first son was born. Since I've been wearing slacks in a size 58, and they've been quite loose, I thought I 'd check to see how close I was to wearing the jeans.

And they fit.

As did another pair right beneath them on the shelf. Now, to be fair, these are "relaxed fit" jeans that have already been broken in, but hey, it means I must be getting reasonably close to my low point, and I still seem to be dropping size steadily. In 13 months (to the day), I've dropped from a 66 to a 54.

That said, a very nice sports coat/slacks combo in the same size is still too tight to wear (I could get away with it in a pinch, but I'd look like someone who was squeezing into his clothes after putting on 15 or so pounds), and the dress shirts have a way to go -- they were always a bit snug, being "tall" sizes, which taper in the middle, and they're quite snug at size 18 1/2, whereas my "big" size 19 shirts fit quite nicely at the moment.

So, given that my low was about 330, and I was pushing 500 last January, I'm going to estimate a total weight loss of about 140 pounds in 13 months. It'll be nice when I drop down to the point I can actually track my weight with a normal bathroom scale, but for now, I'll let the fit tell the story.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Okay, it may be a little late for Valentine's Day planners looking for something to do, but this can still give a good idea of how to make a special, even somewhat fancy, special occasion meal without breaking the carb budget.

Last night's special dinner included:

• Appetizer: low-carb cheese pizza; cutting the tortillas into heart shapes before topping and cooking
  
• Main course: Grilled ribeye steak, seasoned with salt and pepper; with horseradish dipping sauce
• Side: Mushrooms sauteed in butter, salt, pepper, and a splash of white wine
• Side: Asparagus sauteed in butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; with a Dijon hollandaise sauce
• Dessert: Homemade, sugar-free chocolate truffles

All things considered, the hollandaise sauce didn't work too well (though it was very naturally low-carb), but everything else came out very nicely. Watch this space for the dipping sauce and truffle recipes.