Corny Pop, Pop Corn

To get over my 40-something weight issues, I downloaded LOSE IT, an app to count calories and to keep track of burned calories for the day (thanks, Ellen. My administrative assistant rocks). In day one, I was 1000 calories short of what I'm allotted so I remembered Ellen said that popcorn is a good snack. I popped some on the stove like my Grandma Vera and parents used to do. Besides the kernels now stuck in my teeth, the treat was greatly appreciated (Note: I purposely ate all the Magnum Bars in my freezer last night so I could begin anew today). Weijing the roommate asks, "Did you make this on the stove? I didn't know you could do this."

I had my daily run and, hopefully, the number counting will psychologically keep me from the cookies, brownies, cakes, and extra helpings that seem to have crept into my world since being hired at Fairfield.

Sad news, though - alcohol is not a middle-aged man's friend. I read several articles yesterday that reported a lot of estrogen sneaks its way into alcoholic beverages and, if one works out but doesn't for a while (which is what I did with the ankle fiasco from last fall and the vein surgeries this spring), then the body converts alcohol into make-shift proteins that equals blubber. Just what this gorilla needed to read. Pbbbrrrrttt.

Funny, too, because I also purchased a new wallet yesterday because it was $3 and I swapped several id's for the ones that I need now. When I arrived to Syracuse to begin my doctorate my head was huge. Two years later, when I began to work at LeMoyne, my head shrank quite considerably. I think it is because I made no money  and ate yogurt daily and other cheap items to sustain myself. I ate out rarely (except for the nights I showed up at my parents or sisters). Since joining the working world again, it's been too easy to eat out with friends, which often entails excessive amounts of food. My thinking is that being poor was a good weight loss for me. I need to get back in that mindset. Perhaps I should lose my job and struggle financially some more.

I will never have an ideal body. Nope. But I do know how great it feels to be in control of exercise, food, and the way one functions when healthier. It IS, however, TREMENDOUS work. Psychologically, it drives me bonkers, but I'm hoping to rethink my lifestyle choices over the last two years - it's excessive and I need to take more responsibility to control it. But alcohol? really? That's not fair. Time to research the buzz that comes from the bottle with fewest calories.