The Smackdown from Dr. B

I saw my doc this morning for my routine checkup. He diplomatically asked me what my exercise routine was and I diplomatically told him it was "sporadical." Okay, no, I didn't really reply with a Clueless quote, but I did pathetically tell him, "I climb the stairs at work..."

Needless to say, he was not impressed. He continued on that at my age my metabolism is slowing and for all intents and purposes I need to get off my ass and move more. I agreed with him, saying I couldn't get by on eating the way I always have and not exercising.

Getting older sucks. Trying to look 21 when you haven't felt 21 in, oh nine years, is tough. I guess the notion of entering my 30s hadn't really hit me yet. It's hit me now, friends.

Sigh.

So, I guess I should have gone to aerobics last night and I should probably eat more of those veggies I posted pics of earlier this week. But I have to be honest here -- it's much more fun (and tasty!) to order a pizza and watch Top Chef than it is to hop on a bike and hit the pavement in the Austin heat and pollinated air. Yeesh. Let's just hope my cholesterol level comes back as "normal." I don't even want to know my liver results.

Dormez-vous?

It feels like I've been sleeping, yes. I admit I've been very slack lately in my food writing. I have to confess that I've been eating a lot of junk food lately and have been too embarrassed to write. For example, last night I ate fried chicken. Lots of it. And I washed it down with a couple beers and finished the meal with a slice of chocolate silk pie. As nutritionists say, "The are no bad foods, only bad choices." As I say, "There are no bad choices, only easy ones."

That is, I haven't touched an organic this or that in a while and I'm feeling the consequences and they're not pretty. I feel fat. I feel sluggish. I have trouble buttoning my pants. I'm cranky and irregular. TMI, I know. But I'm just laying all on the line here. Yes, we're still getting bi-weekly deliveries of fresh delicious veggies at the house and yes, I've eaten some of them, but I've also given in to sodas, beer, and sugary snacks. Oh god, I'm drinking Dr Pepper right now. Sigh.

But I know the power of food is purely psychological. I have the ability to make choices that are not only good for me, but tasty and filling as well. I've made these choices before. Intellectually I know what choice to make. Emotionally, I ignore that choice in favor of a quick sugar buzz or a fix of salty snakins.

Leunz lent me her copy of YOU: on a diet and I've been reading it for a week now. It's full of factual biological processes that really illustrate exactly how/why we eat. It's quite fascinating to see how food goes through your system, where it stops, what gets taken out, what hangs around as fat, and what leaves through your poop chute.

It's also interesting to read up on what triggers hunger and why we crave certain foods. Overall it's a postitive book that avoids preaching and dieting scams. It gives you the info you need to plan meals so you're never in starvation mode, and plan exercises so you're fit and healthy, not sluggish and reaching for a coke.

I did NOT make a new year's resolution to lose weight. I don't believe in resolutions. Nor did I set out to do this simply because it's January. I have been feeling physically off-track for months now. It's just time I woke up and took the reins back in my hands. It may be winter, but dammit, it will not be the winter of my discontent.