Confessions of Notorious Dieter

Yes, I am one of them. You know, one of those New Year's Resolution Dieters. Every year I start out with the best of intentions and I seem to end every year in the same spot I was in at the beginning of the year and in some cases, such as this particular year, I am ending it significantly heavier than the when I began.

I could type up a laundry list of excuses as to what occurred this year and blame my weight gain on all of them and then some, but I would rather not dredge up my inconsistencies and my personal failures and commiserate with you all concerning them. No, let's just let the past lie in the past and learn from our mistakes and make new goals and determine to work on them in the present. That's my plan.

As of January 2nd (I choose that date because January 1st is when you clean everything out and go vegetable shopping), I am going to give The South Beach Diet a whirl. I have tried other diets in the past and have met with a measure of success, but at this juncture I really feel I need to abstain from carbohydrates. Oh I have come to see that I am a massive carb junkie, as much as I hate to admit, I most certainly recognize it and I know that I do much better on lean proteins and vegetables. So, that's what the South Beach Diet is and it lays out weekly eating plans with daily menus and recipes which set up as a first step to cleanse one of the carb addiction. I need structure. This gives it to me.

So, that's Phase 1. That and exercise. I've got that covered, too. We have a Wii fit and I have a slew of exercise videos and I will not sit down to put my hand to a thing until I have gotten in my alloted exercise for the day. I would exercise in the morning, but that just won't happen as I don't see myself getting out of bed any earlier than I already do. Furthermore, fitting it in when the children are awake would be ridiculously futile as even during nap times I am jumping up every ten minutes to put them BACK into nap time. So there it is.

And in spite of my optimism that I conjure every year, the thoughts in my head, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

And my counter thought, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

So, here's hoping my planning pans out for the best.

That's all for now.

Christmas Complaints...

The season is far too short, for one. I mean really! How on earth is one supposed to accomplish all the baking, decorating, shopping, wrapping, festive events, dinners parties, and appreciate all the fun movies and fun times of this time of year all within twenty-five, give or take, days?!!! I can only speak for myself, but I like to sleep. Coffee can only take me so far before I start to get cranky and irritable and let's face it, I need to save my crankiness and irritability for my diet plans for the New Year.

Oh and I had no idea about all the more work is takes when one has children. In my mind, I had the idea, "Kids make the season great and magical and bring back the wonder of it all." Little did I know, while all that may be the case, there are friends and classmates and teachers and class parties and that means more things to prepare for more people. Who knew??!

Every year I think I am making head way. Every year I have plans to get things done and done ahead of time. Somehow my plans never pan out. I don't know why that is. Maybe I am just lazy and like the song goes, "Girls just want to have fun" and I make my fun and forget everything else. If that be the case, then so be it. If it isn't fun, then forget it!

If the wrapping is bit wrinkled and the bow askew, my apologies. If the cookies look crumbly, but taste great, then I have succeeded. If my children are covered in chocolate and are still bouncing off the walls at 9 p.m. then, great. January will come soon enough and there will be no candy, sadly, in sight. Let's determine to enjoy the season while it lasts. It is SUPER short! When I was a child, it felt like it lasted forever until Christmas came and now, as an adult, I have been making my lists and checking them twice since Thanksgiving and this morning, on our little Santa board, I wrote the number five. Five days until Christmas! Whoosh! It goes fast. So, in this short time, I am doing my best to not get overwhelmed and keep enjoying the short moments! So, if my only complaint is that it goes too fast because we are having too much fun, then that's not half bad, is it?

Things That Make One Say, "Hm?"

Braille at the drive up bank tellers.

Signing a receipt and being asked to sign un-signed check card, doing so in front of cashier who proceeds to match the signatures.

Going into the library where no one is in the stacks or in any of the chairs reading books, but everyone in the entire place is sitting in front of a computer.

Toys, puppets and games in the children's room at the library where librarian gets upset and annoyed when children actually play and have a good time there.

Children's room at library where librarian gets upset when children pull books down from the shelves. Do we NOT want to foster a love of Literature?

Being twenty minutes late to a movie and paying an extra fee for a 3D moment that we have already missed in being twenty minutes late.

Children insisting on sitting on your lap and eating the food off of your plate and not on theirs sitting in their own seat even when they have the EXACT SAME THING as you do.

When you try to eat the food off of their plate while they devour what is on yours, they further insist that you do not, as that is THEIRS.

Any idiot can have a child, yet everything that has to be assembled for said child needs an advanced degree in engineering to figure out.

Paying full price for a movie when you can download it for free.

Medical professionals insist on a healthy, low fat lifestyle, but eating healthy costs more than eating junk.

You can gain five pounds in two days, but to lose it takes over two weeks.

That's all for now...