Okay – not really – I’m still doing really well, given that we just completed the worst time of the year to be on a diet.  I have lost an additional 4 lbs over the Christmas/New Years break.  Granted, I’ve also had a heck of a head cold to make food taste like cardboard, and have no smell whatsoever, so that did have a lot to do with it. 

This particular season gets on my nerves.  This being the post-holiday, resolution season.  I can’t get the machines I enjoy at the gym because every other middle-aged, over-weight, fad diet lover is pouring sweat and whatever other bodily fluids they can all over them.  I can’t work the treadmill because Suzy Homemaker who has lost the allure her hubby loves so much is busy jogging herself into a heart attack on every last one of them.

SERIOUSLY – why do people think that the passing of another year is what’s going to save their arteries and cholesterol against their own bad eating habits and workout routines?  This is an ongoing thing.  Every year, without fail, millions of people resolve to lose weight, eat right, get in shape, etc, etc….  I’m no amazing person myself, but I don’t wait til January 1st rolls around to realize that I need to take action and get my ass to work in order to live a longer life.

These fad diets, Sugar Busters, Nutrasystem, Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Hollywood - may work for some, and have on many occassions, but if people don’t actually take the time to learn about nutrition and that magical mathematical equation that results in more calories burned than consumed, they are never gonna get it off and keep it off.  It’s a sad state of affairs. 

We are so incredibly stupid sometimes.  A pill is not gonna make me Pamela Anderson.  It’s just not.  And why would I want to be?  Why are we so caught up with being SKINNY?  Can’t we just be healthy?  There’s nothing wrong with a little meat on your bones – as long as you are healthy.  Go to the doctor – see what they say.  How’z your blood work?  How’z your cholesterol?  Seriously – most of what we see on the television is severely under-nourished.  I don’t want my daughter to emulate those idiots. 

Be yourself, be healthy, enjoy life and don’t freakin’ starve yourself.  If I catch you with a diet pill and not doing any freakin’ work, I’m talking big shit, and I hope you throw them out.  Just sayin’.  Love ya!!! 

For those of you who didn’t understand my reference to “muffin top”….  Note how the top of the pants cut into this poor woman’s stomach/waist area and cause an overflow of chub… That, my dear friends, is the muffin top.  That, my dear readers, is what we DONT want to have happen – ever again.

There are 2 ways of rectifying this situation – 1) buy bigger pants that do NOT cause the muffin top phenomena or 2) lose weight.

We have opted for #2.  Enjoy the journey.

Jenn is absolutely right. We have seriously fallen off the wagon with sharing our stories…and taking this dieting thing seriously. Yeah, I watch what I eat a little but the weekends totally run my diet off the tracks. Yeah, I make it to the gym sometimes, but not nearly enough.

Life gets busy, time gets scarce…but we are given but only one body and we need to treat it the right way. I always use my stress level as an excuse for eating more/worse and not exercising. That is not a good habit to get into…and all the more reason to hit the gym and eat right.

I sat on the couch last night and looked over at my boyfriend. I looked down at myself. We are getting soft, I said. Not good. Today I have my workout bag and iPod in my car and will be taking full advantage of the gym at lunch. I hope to do some interval training to get my heart rate up and blast this fat off my gnarly body.

I’m getting really discouraged in my will power and disappointed in us for not taking this seriously. I laid in bed last night on my back and my saddle bags puffed out from underneath my legs. My soft belly muffined over my sleep shorts. Something has got to give. I need something to work towards, a reason to lose weight, other than, I look a little puffy naked.

This morning, I had a cup of coffee, some dried mangoes and some oatmeal. I’m doing everything in my power to save my Ravioli Lean Cuisine and carrot sticks for lunch time…not 10:15. I’ve been chugging water like a fiend too. I really hope this can be the start of a much longer stint of caring about my health.