Everybody's Got Something.

The first pic is in 2011. I was/am a size 16. The second pic is in 2005. I was a size 10. I believe the title of this post to be true. Some people work too much. Some people drink too much. Some people don't eat enough. Some people eat too much. (Hew.) Some people worry too much. If you think you're immune from having something, I believe you probably haven't figured it out yet. I have a lot of somethings.

My dad is a smoker. He has quit a few times before, and right now, he is not smoking. The first time he quit, I was really young and was having a lot of problems with my asthma. The reason for his current quitting is due to his own health. He is in fantastic shape and condition for his age, but smoking is not good for him, and he know this. So, I'm really proud of him.

I'll admit that I've yelled at him for smoking before. Many years ago, I actually had the nerve to throw a pack of cigarettes on the kitchen counter, look at him and say, "When are you going to quit this shit?" He said, "Excuse me?" I think I repeated myself, and at that very moment, I was immediately overcome with guilt that still sits inside me to this day. How DARE I curse at my father? I have only cursed in front of my parents a few times, probably on less than two hands. They don't appreciate it, and so I try to be respectful in front of them. If you read this, or know me, you know I curse. (Sorry Mom. Sorry Dad too. Still sorry Dad.) I curse so much at the Eagles it's stupid. Unless of course I get so mad that I throw the remote across the room and am silent. That's when you know it's really bad- when I'm silent.

So, along the lines of "everybody's got something," my dad has smoking. He has to fight the urge several times a day, EVERYday, not to smoke. One time he gave me such a good analogy. He said, "Megan, imagine if you had to give up chocolate." Yikes. I mean, I've done it before, twice for Lent, but it was awful, and um, not for the rest of my life. I do love some chocolate. I love a lot of food. I mean, I've actually had two DIFFERENT people tell me recently that when I talk about cheese, my eyes get big. HAH. Probably true though. That's so ridiculous. Who gets excited just to talk about food? Who looks forward to meals so much that they think about them earlier in the day or the week? Well, I do.

So, even though I've got lots of somethings (read: issues), eating is a big one, and primarily, that's what this blog is about. I look forward to food all day long. All types of foods. Right now, I'm full from dinner, but I'm really excited about eating the strawberries in the fridge later on. Last night, Mac and I celebrated Vday at Rays the Classics in Silver Spring, and I was looking forward to a gourmet burger all flipping week. I probably mentioned it to a bunch of people. This coming week, I'm meeting my friend Mary at a really good restaurant, and omg, so excited. HOWEVER, I only hate half of the burger last night. Brought the other half home and was it ever so good reheated. I'm feeling excited because the scale read 2 lbs. lower this morning. Sweet, I'll take it.

I did very poorly with recording my food this week. I will say that I did pretty well though. I ate lean cuisines for most of my lunches, and I unfortunately learned that smoked almonds and I do NOT get along. It's kind of a shame too, bc they're a good snack, but the pains that make me double over from eating them are not worth it. I've kept up with the four-days-a-week workouts, I've made my workouts longer, added more cardio, more stretching and pilates to each of them, and I love it. Speaking of loving something, I think that sometimes our habits can be things we love.

I have a habit of sitting on the couch with Mac. I happen to love it too. Every Sunday in the fall, I instinctively turn on the fox pregame show at noon. It's a habit, and I love it. I usually greet Curt, Terry, Jimmy, Michael and of course Howie.

A friend from high school, Jen, sent me this outstanding article about habits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp
A lot of the article talks about shopping habits and some of what companies do to track your purchases is a little scary, but overall, it's very informative. Just as Jen said, page 8 was excellent. It addresses an issue of "Why eat?" Why do I come home and want to sit on the couch? I am pretty sure that a lot of it was out of boredom/exhaustion/habit. So now, when I get home from school, I try to put on my workout clothes and sneakers almost immediately. Do not sit down. If I'm so bored, I can work out. While I'm at the gym, I'm burning calories and NOT eating. Seems to be a win/win situation, no?

My point is that I'm trying to make this/my "something" or habit working out and eating better. So far, I'm still feeling positive. But yeah, my eyes still widen when I talk about cheese or chocolate. Or a beer on a Friday afternoon.

AND! Even though I'm feeling positive, I tossed in two pictures for comparion, which is still shocking to me, and I'm the person in them. I'm a visual learner. Don't judge. Eating is/was my something, and unfortunately, this habit caused harm to my body. Harm came in the form of a stretch mark on my stomach, lack of energy, laziness and I'm DAMN lucky it hasn't come in the form of diabetes II or bad knees from being overweight. I am on the path in the opposite direction from all of those harms. God, that sounds so lame. But whatever.