Pictures are worth a thousand words.

I miss my Gram. I found this picture stuffed in a jewelry box while cleaning today. This was taken on her 70th Birthday. I hadn't met my husband yet, but would two months later. This is summer of 2002 and I'm 250+.

She's been on my mind lately. I think it's all this chemistry I am studying plus the Anatomy... All these little atoms forming molecules forming cells forming tissues forming organs forming you. You with a consciousness. I wonder what happens to that energy that is you? I know where it goes when you lose weight, but when you light goes out, where does it go?

I'm okay with not having the answer to that.

Sometimes it just comes easy

Like right now. Eating well and in moderation is not hard at all. A couple of months ago, so hard. These cycles I've noticed in the past several years are just what they are. Good days and bad days come and go.

I wish

I wish a lot of things. Mostly I wish my body worked better. Especially my immune system.

Coke

Changing their nutrition label. I don't care why they are doing it, just happy they are. Like the article says, I assume it's a preemptive strike against all this soda tax chatter. I personally think obesity taxes are silly. Let's have some personal responsibility instead.

One of the reasons why I want to be a Dietician

Is my husband. He needs a low sodium diet, too much fluid on him is a bad thing. Even skinny people need help with food choices sometimes. He saw the doctor recently and was told to keep on the low sodium bandwagon. So back on it we go. I need to be better about not bringing food in the house that is bad for him. Not that'll he'll eat it, but it's the right thing to do.

Cooking low sodium has gotten easier as I have learned more about it. Flavor can come from all sorts of places, not just salt. My closet is stocked with all sorts of spices. Tonight I'll make a lasagna that uses a roux and swiss instead of mozzarella and ricotta. It's time consuming but worth it because we are what we eat. That fact has hit me hard this week. I was eating like crap and now am paying the price with a nasty cold. The scale wasn't moving, but I wasn't doing my self any favors by eating ice cream for dinner. Hello, wake up call. Just because your thin doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want. It just doesn't work that way.

Off to go make my sauce.

Look at us!

I had the pleasure of seeing an old friend from high school this past weekend. He was in town for the dedication of his baby girl, there was a church service followed by a get together at his grandparents lake house. His Mom was in town too and I just love this woman. She greeted twin sis and I with a hug and was all "Look at us! We're all skinny!" She's a wonderful lady who never made me feel bad about my size. At my heaviest twin sis and I had road tripped to Nashville over New Years to see our friend and his Mom welcomed us into her house even though we just showed up and the family was under a great deal of stress. I was massive then but she was very kind to me. I remember leaving her house with bags of clothes that were now too small for her, but just large enough for me. I was a 3x/28 then and although mortified by her gift was also grateful. She had just had a panniculectomy and I was amazed at the difference in her shape. She had lost some weight but not all of it, however her excess skin was causing problems and so she had the surgery pretty early on. I think it was her experience that planted the plastics seed in me. Ten years later and she still looks amazing, still thin, still eating well and has even lost a few more pounds.

At one point in the afternoon some old neighbors came by. It was clear that she hadn't seen these people in forever, because that moment happened. That moment I love, that moment where someone you haven't seen in forever is simply happy for you and the changes you have made in your life. I teared up watching my friend's mom be embraced and complimented by someone from her past. She kept saying over and over, "Look at you!"

America's Best Idea

I've been watching the Ken Burns series on the National Parks. Amazing. My list of places I want to go grows longer with each episode. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet.