Diet

Here are just a few ways to tell that you might need to go on a diet.

• When your dream beach vacation with your hubby is less than 2 months away and you find yourself praying that it gets cancelled, simply because you can't bear the thought of getting into a swimsuit.


• When your fat clothes are too tight.


• When you realize your favorite pair of lounge pants are actually maternity pants--and you aren't pregnant nor have you been pregnant for nearly 2 years.


• When the amount of calories you consume in a single day by drinking Cokes equals roughly that of 3 entire Snickers candy bars.


• When you are filled with anxiety about yet another summer looming because you hate the way you look in shorts and tank tops.


• When you drive through McDonalds and your 4-year-old says, "Mom, I bet they are saying, here comes the crazy Coke lady again!"


• When your wedding rings are too tight and you keep blaming it on swollen fingers from the heat. Even in the dead of winter.


• When your 4 basic food groups have become: fast food, pizza, Mexican food, and Coke.

For these and many more reasons, I finally broke down and realized the need for my own diet intervention. It has been a miserable few weeks -- I am NOT accustomed to denying myself food that I love (and don't even get me started on Cokes!) -- but I'm pleased to say I'm down about 20 pounds or so, just in time for that dream vacation with my hubby next week. Yay! I still have about 10-15 more pounds I want to lose, but I'm certainly not going to worry about it while I'm on vacation.

A funny thing about this diet stuff is how it has really impacted the kids. I had developed SUCH bad habits with eating fast food, drinking Cokes, donuts before church, etc. Now that Jeff and I are abstaining from these things, Connor has been quite confused. I try not to tell him I'm "on a diet" but that we're trying to eat and be healthier. Occasionally the D word (diet) slips out and the other day Connor was asking Jeff about it. Connor mentioned to him that "Mommy is on a really bad diet." And the day before that, he was watching a program where the kids on TV were laughing really hard and he turned to me and asked, "Mom, do YOU ever laugh?" Ouch. Shows how miserable I am on a diet.

But probably the funniest thing that happened recently was after we went to church and made our usual stop at the donut shop. All the kids made their usual donut orders while Jeff and I looked on and salivated. The next day, Connor was going on and on about how yummy his sprinkled donut tasted. I said, "Yum, I wish I could have a donut." That made Connor ask a couple of questions about why we didn't eat donuts, and again I explained we were trying to eat healthier. To which he responded, exasperated, "WHAT is going ON with you guys????" I cracked up so hard, because I've been wondering the same thing myself!