Nothing funny about feldspar

One friend of mine said he lost “10 of the 25 pounds” he’d gained since he last moved. Another friend, rightfully so, trumpeted a milestone upon reaching the halfway point of her weight-loss target. I am impressed and depressed at the same time. I have never dieted; have never felt I could set an appropriate target. What is the right amount someone should weigh? When I was 20, I wanted to weigh what I did at 16. Now I’d be happy to weigh what I did at 20, or even 32!

A person I know mostly online has very simple goals: weigh less, move more, contribute more. She posts her progress monthly. Maybe I should try something like that, except I don’t have a scale.

It would help if I could get Plagioclase to participate. Given a choice between eating anything at home and eating out, he will go out. You think I’m kidding? He leaves on Saturday morning to run errands, and as soon as he leaves the driveway he decides he’s hungry and stops at McDonald’s. It’s not only that he hates leftovers — he prefers other people’s food, the fattier the better.

We are nutritionally bad for each other. When he’s (or I am) away, I lose weight. I go out less often, eat less in the evening, and eat less overall. He had been a picky eater until we started dating, pretty much only eating hamburgers and cheese on crackers (he’s since become more omnivorous than me), but when we’re together we enjoy eating. A lot. And it needs to stop.

We’re currently on the “don’t get sick” insurance plan, and neither of us has been to a doctor for a few years (to avoid getting pre-existing conditions on our records — what you don’t know you can’t tell), yet I know that we’re not exhibiting healthy behaviors. I don’t want either of us to experience the issues our dads faced as a result of crappy eating (both had late-onset insulin-dependent diabetes, which never seemed to be controlled well no matter how strict the diet).

Hmph. So let’s consider this a first pass at recognizing the problem. I suppose I need to buy a scale.