Never made it...

I never did really keep up with my food Tues..  I TRIED, but by the end of the night I lost all track.  Besides... it was date night!  I know I didn't do great, but I also know I was good yesterday.  I did go out to the Mommy breakfast, but I just had coffee and a muffin.  I had planned on getting fruit, but man oh MAN did we have a horrible waitress!  And by the time it was over, I was just happy to finally have the damn muffin and my coffee.  It was sort of a slow day after that, so I didn't really eat much.  I drank a BUNCH of water and some coffee.  And took it easy.  That's about it!  Tuesday was a much busier day.  Between school, meetings, lunches, family, etc. and then date night... MADNESS!  But it was good.  Especially date night and the teacher meeting.  Then yesterday I ended up being sorta blah with not doing much until after hubby had left for work and I was like a crazy woman!  I was up picking up toys, straightening, doing dishes, etc.  And then I even bathed the boys and all that fun stuff.  Busy busy busy!  Not sure WHAT got into me!  LOL

Anyways, back to the teacher meeting and date night.  What was so great you ask?  Well, we discovered that so far our reaction of holding oldest back for a year proved to be correct.  I didn't want him starting K at a young 5 and having issues because he was always at the bottom and trying to catch up.  So, we waited until this year.  A few people said, well, it will be hard on him because he has such a late birthday!  But I don't think that will be the case.  They say that because he is a summer baby... but I think of his birthday as being early.  Meaning, he had his b-day over the summer and some of the other kiddos are having their birthdays now turning 6.  I feel it was the right decision to start him off that way so that when he went into school, emotionally and academically, he would be 'ahead' instead of trying to play catch up.  The teacher confirmed he was doing well!  He's actually at the top of the class with a few other kiddos!  AND, she said he had NO behavioral issues as of now.  I look forward to seeing how the semester goes and what her thoughts will be as the year progresses.  I really liked her and am SO happy that his school life started out with her!!

Date night was also successful!  We didn't make it bowling (boo!) but we did manage to get our Christmas shopping started and added a few things to the list.  I thought it was going to be harder, but we managed to find quite a few things and think of the things he had mentioned throughout the summer.  Then we went out for a late dinner at Red Robin.  It was SO good but I couldn't eat much!  It was a HUGE burger and fries and I just couldn't do it.  I brought it home, but I have yet to finish it.  Really hope the hubby will take it tonight to work with him -- I hate the thought of throwing it out and I KNOW I'm not going to eat it right now.

I did great on food yesterday even if I did drink a ton of coffee.  LOL  My weight this AM was back at 198.  I had hoped to see 197.x, but I will be content with the 198.  I hope that the bloat continues to go down and I see 196.0 come my real weigh-in.  I would love 195.x, but I just don't think that will happen.  At a minimum, that would be 2.5lbs. I would need to lose between today and Sunday.  Even if I am lucky and manage to go down a bit from water, I just don't see being able to lose any actual weight more than just a smidge.  But it would be super sweet to!  LOL

I DO have a bit of rant today.  Does anyone on here read any of the articles on Yahoo's Shine?  I read an article last night on whether or not 'overweight' was the new normal.  It wasn't the article so much that T'd me off, but more the comments to the article.  People really ARE cruel and clueless.  Just burned my buns up.  I started to leave a comment and say what I thought, but I've come to the conclusion that for the most part, it's useless to comment on those things.  So, here is is... Do YOU think that 'overweight' is the new normal?

Here is my response:

There are two sides to every story, and this argument is no different.  Are more Americans overweight than they have been in our history?  Why, yes.  Has it become an accepted lifestyle?  Uh, NO.  More and more Americans are overweight for any number of reasons.  Some of which are actually GOOD.  Yes, I said people are fat because of GOOD things!  Mostly being that since the early 1900's, healthcare, quality and quantity of food, and ACCESS has soared.  Back then, you had to grow everything, work the land, and many times had to deal with it if you just didn't have much for dinner but potatoes.  Today isn't like that so much.  There are many programs for state healthcare, walk-in clinics, and then aid for food.  Even when times are tough, there is still more availability now than there has ever been.  The question is, is that a good thing NOW?  This is where it gets complicated!  It was good because less people were sick and starving, there were more variety of foods, and lives were saved.  But it was also BAD because along with this easier access came convenience foods and less people growing what they eat and relying on not only grocery stores for food, but also restaurants -- fast food restaurants.  In the end, parts have been good while parts have gone haywire and have gotten out of control.  Instead of just access to more fruits and veggies (and year round I might add!), we have stores PACKED FULL of cheap JUNK.  Yes, it may seem good at first to buy this stuff, but people got away from using these items such as Mac-n-cheese as a filler and have made that their WHOLE MEALS.  Mac-n-cheese can be great as a side or even as the meal if you add in some protein (I like tuna!) and some veggies (we use peas, broccoli, spinach, etc.).  That was lunch one day - Mac-n-cheese with tuna and peas and a side salad.  But that's not how people eat it now.  That is ALL they eat.  A box that is suppose to be 4 servings that I can usually stretch to about 6, is now feeding maybe 2 people.  Yes, it's cheap, but if that is ALL you are eating, what are you REALLY getting?

Now, is this within our own control?  To a large degree yes.  But then you have to think that a human's body is designed for survival -- we are designed to hoard food and prepare for 'lean' times.  It's easy to fall into the habit of not moving enough, eating too much and even soothing ourselves with food.  Our brains make it easy.  And it is NOT easy to deprive ourselves once we've become accustomed to having more.  It's easy enough for someone to say, well, just eat less and exercise!  Just like it's easy for a non-alcoholic to say just don't drink or a non-drug addict to say just don't shoot up!  It is ALWAYS easier said than done.  It's mostly mental and it's like saying that you have absolute control over every action.  As humans, we like to think we do but I truly believe that sometimes our 'base' instincts take over and we do/react in a way we just can't comprehend.  Is that the case for every person?  No.  Do some people have no control and some people have health issues and the rest of us are lazy?  Maybe.  But do we want to be this way??? NO.

NO. NO. NO.  Why do you think the exercise/diet/drug industry is out of control and everywhere?  Because we as Americans KNOW we are fat and we're trying to fight!  But as a whole, we're fighting against nature (hoard and save) and against ourselves.  We're all either too fat or too skinny!  It's like there is no neutral zone.  And we have NO real guidance in this endeavor.  Doctors, dieticians, health experts, etc. tell us these things but we have no real answers.  And THAT brings me to what makes people think that we are all so fat and so overweight now?  Is it Hollywood?  Are they just so thin that the rest of us look like cows?  Have we gained weight at an unbelievable rate?  Do we, as a country, have NO self control and we're spiraling into a cess pool of lard?  The answer to all of these is no.  Plain and simple.  There ARE answers.

As I said previously, part of the reason we seem so much larger now is because the quality of life overall is better.  So, of COURSE our weight is going to be higher.  If we're healthier and not starving, of course we aren't going to be sick and at an emaciated weight.  Another reason we seem larger is due to the clothing industry.  Is there vanity sizing?  To some degree but the truth is, they are mostly trying to keep up with the 'average'.  What was average in the 1920's can't be the average now.  And who says that the women were healthy then?  Nothing.  Another reason for the saying that Americans are fatter is based on the BMI scale.  Now THAT is a crock of bullshit if I've ever seen one!  Regardless of what Mr. Keys found to be 'accurate' back in the 70's.  HELLO!  It doesn't take bone structure, muscle mass, or ratio of fat to muscle into account AT ALL!  HOW can that be the standard to which we are held?  THIS is why there are so many people aggravated, confused, and tired of fighting.  Not to MENTION that the 'standard' of healthy BMI was changed back in the late 90's so that a vast majority of people who use to be average and at a good weight were now rated as 'overweight'.  Which also pushed more people from the 'overweight' category to 'obese'.  And to top THAT all off, study after study is coming out showing that people who are in the bottom portion of the 'overweight' range (5 to 15lbs. over the government's BMI standard), are actually HEALTHIER than those that fall under the 'normal' range!  I'd bet the reason being that in today's society, its VERY hard to get to that 'normal' range for many body types and the people that have this issue (like me!) would end up yo-yoing back and forth trying to get to and stay at that slightly lower weight.  My body build just fights me.  Where on the other hand, if I just got CLOSE to that range and ate healthy, maintained, moved, and didn't stress over out over it, my body wouldn't respond as if it were under constant attack.  Don't you feel that is healthier?

My point is, is our overall size larger now?  Yes.  Are there some valid reasons?  Yes.  Has it gotten to where some people are out of control?  Yes.  Is it accepted?  No.  It may be accepted be be a little more overweight like maybe 10lbs. over the current 'ideal', but it is NOT accepted to be truly fat.  And it isn't fair to constantly be comparing the people of the past with now or even me with my friend.  There is a ton of factors that make up our bodies and it is truly aggravating how black and white people make it.  It is a varied topic and there are so many ups and downs, lefts and rights, and sometimes wrongs.  One of the wrongs being the way we measure if we are 'overweight' or 'normal' to begin with!  So, a large part of the reason why so many people may be more accepting of 10 or so pounds is because if the standards were changed to take into account body build and fat percentage, many of those people would fall into a healthy range!  And it is RIDICULOUS to say that just because we don't fit into the medical or government's world of standards does NOT mean that we are 'fat and happy'.  It meas we feel there needs to be CHANGE.  I'm not saying to accept being FAT but restructuring the standards and realizing that there are more things than being a traditional size 2.

That's not to say I am saying we should stop trying to lose weight and get healthy.  Just that I get crazy annoyed with people who sit there and say that because I am making an effort NOT to do some freaky diet, to love myself and encourage myself that I am 'normalizing' being fat!  I'm NOT!  I'm just trying to do this the right way and I think that many people are coming to the same conclusions.  And just because you don't kill yourself or beat yourself up to get to some crazy small weight and we get to OUR normal and OUR natural weight and stay there and be happy and enjoy life does not mean that we consider overweight normal or even want people to act like we are skinny mini's.  It just means that we each should do what works for us and the whole damn world should stop obsessing over if we are fat or not.  Geez.

See???  I was worked up.  I feel better now!  LOL  Ok, Ok.  Going to get off of here now.  I want to check FB and call a friend.  Talk to all you chicks later!