Cold Turkey (and Mashed Potatoes)

At a BBQ this summer, solo cup of keg beer in one hand, cheeseburger in the other, I was talking to someone at the party who stopped mid-conversation and said: (get this) "so...how's that going?", pointing to my stomach. Looking down, I cheerfully replied: "my beer? it's good!" and gave him a look of poignant confusion. Red faced, we both realized what he meant at the same time. And while this hilariously humiliating experience is good for an LOL, I'm hoping it is the motivating factor I need to kick myself into gear.

Normally, I don't go with the stereotypical New Years resolutions; they seem doomed to failure. But with New Years and my 27th birthday right around the corner, it makes me think about my goals. Last year, right before my 26th birthday, I quit smoking cold turkey. I haven't bragged about it, the biggest reason being I didn't want to set myself up for failure if I caved and had a smoke or two while out with friends. But somehow, (and I'm not saying it isn't without its urges!) I have managed to make it almost a year and haven't touched one. And since that was so successful, I feel like I should do something else big.

Why is losing weight so hard? I think it's because of my undying affection for food. Food and I have a love-hate relationship. I can always count on a McDonald's #1 meal to cheer me up when I'm feeling blue. You will almost always find me with some kind of food article in my purse, just in case I need a little "nom". In fact, when I met K out at the bar, we went to get food at the end of the night, and after I stuffed his face with my twice baked potato, I stuffed the other half in my purse... for breakfast the next morning.

Crash diets have never worked for me. Typically, I just eat whatever I want and go to the gym to counterbalance. But with the holidays, and the way I've been stuffing my face these past 6 months, I think I have to change some things around in addition to the working out. My stepdad successfully lost a ton of weight with his new eating habits, and he's an inspiration to my new ambition.

So come January 1st, I'm going to join all of the newly motivated people who got gym memberships in their stockings as a (thoughtful?) present, and wobble myself into that gym. Wish me luck!