When I was growing up I was 'stick thin' as they used to say. Or maybe they still do but whatever, I was skinny. Really really skinny... there was not an ounce of body fat on me anywhere. My stomach was oh so very flat and perfect. Sigh. I remember being kind of excited to reach the 100 pound mark. (Whyyyyyy????) I was in the 10th grade. Big sigh. When I went off to college everyone said, "Beware the freshman fifteen"..blah blah blah. No worries... I was the girl who could eat pizza at 3 o'clock in the morning and not gain a pound. I bought clothes because I liked them. I wore a bikini. I was active but not purposefully 'working out'. I didn't need to because no matter how much or how little I ate, how often or how seldom I exercised, I never gained weight. I was the woman who gained only 17 pounds while pregnant. Both times. And I was 30 years old when my youngest arrived. I didn't have to work to lose 'baby weight'...those few leftover pounds dropped off while nursing and caring for a newborn and a toddler.
Fast forward a decade and a half...I woke up one day to discover I was in my mid forties. And it was about that point in time that my metabolism said, 'hey let's slow this party right on down'. Honestly that is exactly how it felt. Like I went to sleep one night and woke up in someone else's body. Now, keep in mind that at the time I was living in the land of the world's best cream (England). Their motto is 'dessert is good but wouldn't it be even better with a little cream or custard poured on top?' By the way, yes it would. Anyway, we used to tell newcomers to the UK that they needed to beware the "ex-pat 15" because essentially you're living in a very social environment where you are attending breakfasts and luncheons and dinners full of fabulous food several times each week. We won't even mention the wine.
However, I was walking everywhere....into town several times each week, big hilly hikes out into the countryside each week, I joined a local gym, and I was on the go a lot. Still, something had changed. And I like to call that something hormones. They wreak havoc with your metabolism and create all sorts of other fun issues too...almost every woman I know has a metabolism malfunction when they hit their mid-late forties.
I am well within the normal weight range for my height but for me its more an issue of where the weight lies. Why isn't it a little bit here and a little bit there instead of congregating in my middle? These days I eat less of the foods I enjoy and I pay attention to what I'm consuming. I think about menus and foods to prepare that are satisfying but lower in fat. I use skim milk, very little butter, make sweet treats only when we have house guests or dinner guests or 'stick thin' grown up daughters home to visit....I resist my biggest craving of all which is salt. Because in addition to a few pounds that refuse to budge my blood pressure borders on high along with its ugly obnoxious twin sister, cholesterol. Ugh.
I know some people have spent their entire lives watching what they eat and counting calories and depriving themselves of some food or other. But that has not been me. I have spent most of my life eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and to be honest that was way, way more fun. Now I work out several times a week, skip the after dinner snacks, omit the bacon and the cheese from the bacon cheeseburger, limit my pasta and bread intake, and indulge in dessert only on very special occasions. And still...those few pounds linger. What is up with that???
I figure I'll take on Taylor's challenge and try to kick things up a notch. I'm taking a couple of mini trips here and there in the next couple of weeks which always means less control over my food options but I'll do my best. Let me know if you join in too...a little moral support can go a long way.
I have a BIG birthday coming up in a little less than two months. That's my first marker. I'd like to get a glimpse of my 30 year old self on that day but will happily settle for a glimpse of my 40 year old self, before the body snatcher invasion of course. And I think Taylor is calling this Torturous Tuesdays but I am all about thinking positive so how about we call it Triumphant Tuesdays instead?
