wednesday weigh in

I've never been a dieter.

I've never been one of those people who refuses to go back for a second helping when my appetite isn't completely satisfied, or declines a chocolate eclair, all in the name of watching calories.

(Or afraid of what other people might think.)

I've never been one to eat a salad for dinner (unless I want a salad), just so I can have dessert. And unless it is really (really) huge, splitting a dessert is blasphemy in my book.

I've never been worried about fitting in to a specific size and I've never been obsessed with the scale and need to know if I weigh more or less than I did the day (or hour) before. Except of course, when I watched the scale with fascination as I lost more than 50 pounds the week after both of my pregnancies. But that was purely scientific.

It's no surprise given my love of good food, I've never been thin. And now that I seem to be growing older and my metabolism is slowing down, I might soon change my tune about sharing that triple scoop hot fudge sundae. Especially once I stop nursing and no longer have a little fat vacuum named Henry attached to me.

But here's the thing...

I don't eat much during the day.

I graze constantly and usually I graze on good things. Fruit. Nuts. Whole grain crackers. And, through experience, I've learned to not fill my house with foods that overly tempt me. Sure, I'll have a bowl of ice cream every single night of the week ... but I don't eat it mid day. And although I'll make brownies or chocolate chip cookies every so often, I can't always have that stuff in the house ... or I would be as big as a house.

The reason that I am pulling myself out of bed every Saturday morning to go running is not because I am trying to lose weight. Although, I suppose that is a nice side-effect. Instead, it's because I really feel like that little time a way makes me a better person. When I come home from exercising, I am recharged. I am ready to take on the day. I am ready to be a better wife, a better mother, a better friend, a better employee, a better person.

And perhaps best of all, I can eat O'Henry bars - with a side of fresh blue berries - and not feel quite as guilty.

So, how are you doing with your goals?

(And please let me know if you are able to see the photos in this post? I recently switched over to Flickr and I received a note today that the pictures in my blog are no longer visible. Which is almost as horrifying as running out of ice cream!)