My Big Fat Boring Life

Things are moving along in my life in a way that is astoundingly normal. Comfortable. Regular. Ordinary.

I love it.

We've had Frodo and Mini-Me here for the majority of the last four weeks. That's been a combination of their regular time with us, March break, their mother having commitments that has taken her out of town, and them just wanting to be here. It's been really good because it's allowed us to finally settle into a place where we can have our lives go on when they are here. Normally everything stops and the world revolves around them while they're here - but that's not normal living. We have gone through major guilt of not wanting to either go out when they are here because we only have them a few days a week (although by extension, that means so does their mother, right?) or because we're not sure how they will behave if we take them with us wherever we are going. Both ended this past month. We've taken them with us to places that we normally wouldn't, and they've behaved like normal kids. We've had people into our homes and told them that, like other normal families, we'd be chaining them to the wall hooks we had installed in the basement for precisely such an occasion, and they complied willingly.

In short, it feels like we've been a normal family this last month, and it is tres cool. Last night while we were at my parents' place, Frodo actually put his arm around me on the couch. I tried to let on like it was an every day occurrence, but everyone in the room knew it was monumental.

As I said, tres cool.

In other news from my big fat boring life, I'm seeing the finish line for this semester's courses. They've been a huge amount of work - mostly reading and group work - both of which bore me to tears. I have given up on my goal of maintaining an A average, and had to take my well earned "told you so's" from colleagues who are a year ahead of me in the program. I guess every new grad student in this program enters with the "I'm gonna maintain an A average" attitude, and those that have gone before sagely nod their heads while assuring us that this too shall pass. Why, just the other day I found myself counselling a new student in just that manner. Yep. We are counselling our own future to underachieve. Impressive eh?

I hit a plateau with my weight loss journey - 30 lbs and holding. I had sought some nutritional counselling from the fitness coach I've been seeing at the gym, and she told me that my body was storing because I wasn't getting enough protein or complex carbs to support the workout regime I now have. I took that advice to the weight loss center, and asked to be moved to another level of the program that would meet this nutritional need. Now, this is a great program, but a canned one, so here's what happened. They called their nutritionist, who said to move to a program that would give me "one more starch and 1/2 a protein". I was delighted! Finally, an advertisement that was actually true! They do indeed tailor the program to meet your personal needs! I took my new information booklet and ran home to plan out my new meals.

Imagine my surprise when I did the math. Why yes, I did indeed have a new half circle under the protein column, but all it was good for was colouring in. Let's take chicken as a protein example. Under my old program, I could eat 16 oz of chicken in a day and call that 2 exchanges of protein as each exchange of chicken was 8 ounces. Under the new program, with 1/2 an exchange more of protein, I could eat 14 oz of chicken in a day and call that 2 1/2 exchanges of protein. Why? Because although I had an "extra 1/2 of a protein", the protein size was reduced!

Well, I'm right S-M-R-T and caught onto that quick like!! I'm still kind of blown away that they think we're fat AND stupid.

Anyhow, I realized that I'm not going to break this plateau unless I follow the nutritional advice I'm being given by a nutritionist who has nothing to gain from me financially. I decided to put this program on hold, and pick up my old WW materials. This allows me to stay within a reduction range while at the same time making my own choices of protein and carbs. I've already dropped another 3 lbs just in the week that I've been following this new plan, and let me tell you......skim milk never ever tasted so good! I didn't realize how much I missed having a wider choice of dairy. Under the other program I could only have 1 dairy exchange per day, so by the time I ate my yogurt and had cheese with my melba toast, that was gone!

And finally, last Sunday HB proved once again why I completely and absolutely adore him. We were out at a function where people were sharing their experience of a weekend they had just completed. One of the guys was speaking, and he looked at his girlfriend, who was standing at the back of the room and said "all I can tell you is that you and I are going to be the happiest couple in the world", which of course put all the women in the room into a swoon.

But none swooned as much as I did ... because HB, without missing a beat, leaned into me and said "how can that be, when we already are?".

I do love that man!

Oh the excitement. It just never ends at Casa Dawg!!!