That Battle of the Bulge...

I grew up on dingdongs and hostess pies for breakfast and chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies for an after school snack. I remember distinctly going to my cousin Lisa's for the summer and being disgusted by the broccoli that always accompanied our spaghetti and meatballs. Green things were simply foreign to me. The "good stuff" was laced with sugar, came in tin cans, could be dunked in milk...anything else fell short of my satisfaction. As a kid, I could get away with madness because chub was cute and elastic pants were acceptable. I can't blame my mom for the fact that Little Debbie was my best friend growing up. She was my sister's too, but she somehow grew out of the madness. Her son is ten and has NEVER eaten a twinkie in his life. To me, that's child abuse...to her, it's proper parenting. I swear if you cut me, coke would come pouring from my veins...this is how much I love it. I say, Give me Coke or give me death! I picture Heaven to be a place where coke falls freely from magnificent fountains.

A few weeks ago...I awoke suddenly and realized that this insanity MUST stop. My cousin Mikey...ever the fat-hater...reminds me constantly of all the naked, fat people he sees laying on stretchers on operating table with clogged arteries. Years of this message had no affect on me. What did? The inability to wear some of my cuter clothes! I mean really...were my clothes shrinking in the dryer? HAD to be the case...not so much. In hopes of fitting into cute capris and Bermuda shorts (now that they are FINALLY back in style)...I began this battle of the bulge.

Coke is no longer in my vocabulary...it has been a hard part of my life to let go. When I think about how it pops and sizzles as it hits the ice...I simply get chills. No more Johnny Carino's chocolate cake runs...no more pepperoni pizza (unless it's turkey pepperoni with low fat cheese on a reduced fat crust). I've learned to accept alternatives, drink water, eat fruit...and oddly enough, it makes me feel great. It's crazy...my insides feel clean and not so toxic and clogged. My friends always tell me I don't eat a lot...but I guess with me it's not about quantity...it's about quality...and that's what I concentrate on as I battle my bulge..s. =)