Rude Awakening

Whenever someone points out our flaws or inadequacies, we take offense, for though we believe ourselves imperfect, we don't want anyone rubbing it in. Just tonight, my best friend mentioned in a private message sent through Facebook, that she's turning forty very soon. And even though I'd always known that our days as thirty-something were numbered, the reminder still came as a mild surprise. 

I'm not saying being old is a flaw. Nor am I saying that being forty is old. I guess the point of this rant, is that the truth, no matter how benign or amoral, hurts at times. Like when an innocent child makes a guileless remark about someone's weight (my nephew, in our recent trip to Guam, asked my dad "Lolo, how many pounds are you?" - a big improvement from "Lolo, are you pregnant?")

I still have a couple of months as a thirty-eight-year-old, and I will definitely imbibe my thirty-eight-year-oldness for as long as I can.  Next year, though, I will turn forty. It is inevitable. But it doesn't scare me one bit. Yeah, the joints become a bit rusty with each passing year, and I store fat as if my body were anticipating a famine, but my face remains crease-free even without the help of age-defying creams. 

I am still at that age where plastic surgery is not an option. And looking at my youthful mother, I don't think it ever will be one.  Having a much younger husband doesn't hurt either. ;)

I, Sisyphus

It has been almost a month since my lifestyle changed.

McDonald's and Jollibee are right outside our subdivision's gate, so it had become a habit of ours (my husband's and mine) to go to either one of those fast food restaurants (most of the time it was McDonald's) to get a bite to eat. They are called "fast" food restaurants for a reason. The sheer convenience of driving through the narrow drive-through alley, and talking to a box sure beats dicing, and slicing, cooking and then cleaning up after. So let's go back to a month ago.

About a month ago, I started exercising and making healthier eating choices. Three weeks ago, I started measuring my food intake, and just last week, I started walking for an hour, on days when I don't go to the gym. The first two weeks were the hardest. Every time I stepped on that digital weighing scale, it was like I was being judged for being fat. My weight fluctuated during the first two weeks. My husband knows this oh so well, as he sat there smiling just so, as I bitched and moaned to him about the futility of my efforts. "I'm starving myself to death! And for what?" I felt like Sisyphus trying so desperately to roll that boulder up a hill, only to watch it fall all the way down.

Down... that's exactly what I was feeling those first two weeks.  I had to give up sauces, and condiments, salt, sugar, processed foods, etc. And my weight still fluctuated. And then... I started losing weight. All of a sudden, I felt my efforts had not been for naught. I no longer have breathing problems, no more GERD, no more headaches, no colds.

I have my friends, my family and of course my husband to thank for this "newish" lifestyle. Without their love and support, this would have been a more arduous ride.

I have lost a total of 8.37 pounds in less than a month. I am extremely pleased. This IS the only way to do it. Like what my friend Joy said, "Slowly but surely, Ate Katy." ;)