CONSUMPTION

I've actually lost weight. This was my first 'diet', though informal, i.e.: no plan. When I was younger I could just think I should lose a little and I would. Don't ask how. I never knew. Ah, but now it apparently involves exercise and restraint. Plus a big assist form Terri who has mastered low calorie wonders.

I feel sorry for what I've done to the ice cream industry. Bakeries too. "Where did that spike in profits go?" they ask.

Can't say how much I've lost, since it could be demoralizing and I don't want to know (That's ALL?) and I prefer to keep going - I figure 10 more pounds will do it. When we lived in San Diego, I exercised for about an hour a day - hard. Never did lose that last roll.

A little late for vanity, but as long as I don't play in the near vicinity of temptation, I think I might make my goal.

They say that most dieters lose, then gain. THAT'S the hard part. I may be reformed - no - controlled now, but I could eat a half gallon of ice cream and a whole cake easily. Well, maybe not a half gallon - but the cake I could do. I believe there's a physiological regulator called the appestat.

ap·pe·stat (ăp'ĭ-stăt')
n.
The area in the brain that is believed to regulate appetite and food intake.

Clearly, mine was blown out some years back. It might have happened with Easter candy, or Halloween (To this day, I can consume gluttonous quantities of candy corn.)

Fudge. Is there a delight in the world more sweet? I actually made some from scratch (I don't cook.) Way beyond edible, it was wonderful. I never went there again, knowing if I did, my explosion would startle the dog.

I'm not too much of a drinker, so it's not what they call "ak-a-haul" here that puts pounds on me. Bet I don't have a whole sixpack in a year. It puts me to sleep. The taste doesn't excite me either.

My folks consumed more than their fair share of 'the hard stuff' so I guess my duty is to even things out. I could chain-drink Mojitos because they are sweet and refreshing.

About once every 5 years I get completely hammered and the pain which follows for a day or two keeps me away from 'steam-blowing' for another 5 years. I also know that I don't always make friends in that state either, as my more 'adventurous' rascallian side is exposed. No, I don't drive drunk. The last trip was two blocks from a neighbor's house to ours (about 17 years ago - god - could it be that long?) VERY late at night/early in the morning with no one on the road. I know I wasn't on much of it either. Our hosts' daughter the next day, "Dad, how many people were here last night?" (beer bottles apparently all over the bottom of the pool and who knows what else?) "Just the Woods."

I can get into some of my 36 inch-waist pants now... not all of them, but I can breathe and even sit down.

Whoops - about time for dinner... gotta go!