During high school I was chubby. My parents owned a convenience store and boy was it ever convenient to snag a chips, candy bars and sodas whenever the hell I wanted. To make matters worse, I had 6 hours of piano practice a day preparing for my final grade at The Royal Conservatory of Canada, weekend tutorials, band practice (I was a band geek) and cramming 5 years of high school into 4 (Canadians stupidly used to have high school that was 5 years long, and no I'm not a dummy). So exercise was not on my to-do list.
College was different- I started joining aerobics classes because I gained the dreaded Freshman 15. I managed to maintain my weight but studying was not conducive to weight control! When I started with my doctorate...that was pure hell. Eating and studying with very little sleeping started my chub factor to climb. And after I got my first job, all I ever wanted to do was eat! Living in NYC was absolutely to blame- sooo many great restaraunts to sample every day, SOOO many calories! I got pretty damn chunky and I hated it.
When I became engaged, I found my perfect dress and you know what my frickin' size was? TWELVE. I ordered an eight because damned if I'm going to be married in a bloody size twelve. I started the Atkin's Diet, lost 20 lbs in 2 wks (I don't recommend anyone do that BTW) and started practicing yoga. I got married in a size 6 thankyouverymuch -they had to keep taking it in and the seamstress started to cry everytime I came in for a fitting.
There was a Bloom County cartoon where Opus the penguin and Milo discussed various different fad diets to try while a cockroach kept screaming "eat less and exercise more!" - he was ultimately squashed by an irate Opus. But its true- the oldy but goody actually works! Every time I eat, I only eat about 3/4 to half my meal. When I go out and they serve those stupid ginormous portions, I halve it, then eat half of that. Believe me, I'm full. I try to practice yoga 2 -3 times a week and chasing 2 toddlers all day definitely counts as my cardio! But the most important thing is portion control. I still eat chips and sweets but in moderation! And I NEVER FINISH MY MEALS.
Here's where everyone is now crying "people are starving in Africa!!!" I don't think anyone should be offended if I throw out a portion of my food. No one else is gonna want it so let it GO. Early in our relationship Hubby hated seeing it go to waste and usually finished my meal off with his...he gained 25 lbs in 3 months when we started dating. Now he gladly watches it go to the garbage. If wasting a little food means I get to stay at my ideal weight, then pitch baby pitch!
I don't barf. I don't abuse x-lax. I don't skip meals or go on banana-and-melba-toast fad diets. I just eat less and exercise more when I start to gain weight. So let's STOP talking about my weight at dinners, let STOP screaming at my pictures, and please for God's sake STOP asking if I have an eating disorder!!!
Ahhh....I feel better now. :D
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