Diet

I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets. ~ Dolly Parton (My Life and Other Unfinished Business)

What you eat standing up doesn't count ~ Beth Barnes

Never eat more than you can lift. ~ Miss Piggy

Ok, I know that D-I-E-T is a 4-letter word and (if you’re a woman) it is TRULY a thorn in your side.  I grew up a Southern girl eating fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of fried okra washing it down with sweet tea--dessert consisted of crust (made with LARD) topped with fresh strawberries (doused in sugar).  A little fried chicken and sweet tea does a body good!  My Granny would get up every morning and make (real) bacon, fried eggs with biscuits and occasionally she’d make her own YUMMY homemade gravy.  Of course, when you’re a 10-year-old farm girl you can consume a million calories in one sitting and burn them all off playing with frogs and making mud pies.  Now that I’ve reached the ripe old age of 40 I am a little more reserved with my fried chicken eating....I still make sure to have sweet tea around for giggles though.  

My Granny was not an obese woman but a woman with some curves--I might add that there is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her.  I, myself, have tipped the scales to epic proportions but that was more about comfort eating than sustaining life.  My long-time friend and I had a conversation tonight about our changing bodies and about how sickly we allowed ourselves to get just to fit into our size 2 jeans.  I am quite happy with myself today, I am not stick-thin but I’m a girl with a few curves (it’s the bumpy curves that I’d like to get rid of!).  My #2 daughter (who is 14) is talking about going on a diet because she’s fat!?  She is by NO means overweight but she is also not a stick figure either.  In recent weeks I have dropped a few pounds simply for convenience rather than necessity.  My meals have consisted of Cheerios for breakfast, a quick sandwich or whatever I can grab for lunch and cheese and crackers for dinner.  When no one else is around it’s all about easy and convenient, no big mess to clean up after making a 10 course meal (not that I do that anyway).  I might add that all of these life-sustaining meals were done while standing over the sink (again, less mess to clean).  

I am not downplaying the importance of good health or the state of obesity in this country, I am just wondering how we got so obsessed about the size of our midsection?  I have been on my share of diets, most of them were more about the ability to NOT eat for days and then gorge myself until I wanted to...well, you know.  I think that the more we eat the less we get up and move.  As those close to me know, I am NOT one to sit idle....I am always doing something.  I don’t beat myself up when I don’t make it out to walk but I make up for it by doing things that are actually FUN, like going on a hike with the kids and The Man.  I’d rather be out killing two birds with one stone....getting a little exercise and having fun with the family.  We live in a world of Lean Cuisine and Jenny Craig but when we try to do what the celebrities do we fail miserably.  In reality we all know that they work out for 10 hours a day while eating Saltine crackers and cauliflower.  I rather enjoy a good meal where we all sit around the table and talk about our day, laughing about our own silliness.  

As I said, I am quite happy with my place in life.  I am content with my size and I am not ever going to starve myself for vanity’s sake again.  I think that as long as I am comfortable in my own skin that the occasional Southern-fried meal won’t kill me!  Enjoy your Holiday BBQ's and go light on the mac & cheese (JUST KIDDING!).

*I can hear the hate mail now...please be nice!*