The Weight Game

Or in my case, I should say "weight gain". Growing up and even into my twenties I never had a weight problem. I could eat massive amounts of food, donuts for breakfast, fast food to my heart's content, soda and candy and not even exercise. I never gained weight. I always thought I was just blessed with my father's genes.

Then two monumental things happened in my life in my early thirties that completely changed the shape of my body. 1.) I became addicted to coffee. 2.) I had a baby.

It's hard to know which of the two is to blame so I'll go ahead and blame Starbucks; it's easier for me when I have something to blame. I drank a little coffee here and there but never much liked the taste unless I drowned it in creamer and added a ton of sugar. Then Starbucks had to go and come up with happiness in a cup: a vanilla latte and suddenly I was hooked. It was like drinking a dessert, so rich and creamy and delicious. And on cold days it became a way to feel warm and on hot days, well they made cold Frappucinos which was a like a coffee slurpee to cool down and pretty soon I was drinking some type of Starbucks beverage every single morning to wake up. Soon I was addicted and it didn't help that they had a great selection of baked goods which everyone knows goes great with coffee.

The older my first son Jimmy got, the more coffee I was drinking and it wasn't just coffee, it was Venti Carmel Machiottos and Mochas with whipped cream. Fat free at this juncture of my life was unheard of and I never bothered to change the rest of my diet either.

So by the time Jimmy was two years old, I had put on an extra 20 pounds of padding. And I had a store downtown with a, you guessed it, Starbucks conveniently located across the street. And if for some reason I couldn't make it into a Starbucks, that was OK because I could get my fix at any convenience store or gas station with one (or four) of those high calorie cold Frappucinos in a bottle. Life was grand.

As the weight came on, I tried things like Weight Watchers. But I couldn't stick with it because after four Frappucinos I'd be out of points by noon.

I was seriously convinced I had a medical issue. I thought maybe it was a tumor or thyroid problem so I went to the Doctor and had a battery of tests done. Luckily everything came out normal and the doctor turned to me and told me how my hormones and body was changing because of age and child birth and that I should just get used to it. My metabolism had suddenly, after 30+ years, changed.

Eleven years later and I'm still struggling with my weight. It's time now to get serious and get off the Starbucks. I need to take better care of myself, eat better and not so much and most importantly...exercise!

I'm on day two of my diet and besides all the chocolate and jelly beans tonight at Bunco, I did great. I'm not going to get too crazy but I am going to cut out my triple Venti Cinnamon Dolce Lattes and see what happens. Baby steps.