Walking Walmart

Some people have to go the gym every day to get a workout. Me? I just count my daily trip to Walmart. Well, I do try to get to the rec center regularly, but I really do go Walmart almost every day. It's kind of crazy. It's never been this way before. But there's something about making seven school lunches that changes things a bit. There are certain types of items that just work well for a school lunch. If we're all eating at home, we can make a big pot of spaghetti or warm up leftovers for lunch. But when I'm packing for the kids I try to put in a sandwich, fruit, some kind of dessert, pretzels or chips or crackers. Then there's the snacks for the 1st and 2nd graders. And we just blow through it so fast. Plus, our pantry is tiny, so we can't stock up too much. I'm sure we'll get the purchasing down better as we go along:)

Yesterday as I wrote I forgot to mention one thing. I really enjoy making lunches for the kids. At one point, Christi and I talked about how much we actually save packing them instead of buying hot lunches. It's not that much. On an hourly basis, I'm probably making less than minimum wage by preparing them myself. But I really do enjoy it. It puts me right in the middle of the morning school rush with the kids. I enjoy getting them all packed up and waving to them as they run out to their carpool. They're good kids!

Abrupt topic change: why is it so hard to lose weight?!? I've been between 220 and 226 for a long time. Years. I know I should be around 190. So why don't I just do it? I did get down to 190 about 7 years ago. That lasted about three months. I feel so much better when I eat healthy and drop a few pounds. And then there's the other end of things. Mornings like today, when I have what a friend of mine calls a "fat-boy hangover." I've never had a real hangover, so I don't know what it feels like. But it can't feel a whole lot worse than this. I woke up at about 4am with some wicked heartburn, and it's still with me. Plus a headache. I just drowned my sorrows in a cup of alka seltzer. I use different remedies depending on what we have around. Christi's favorite is when I drink pepto straight from the bottle. She tells me it's hot when I do that:) So what did I ingest yesterday to precipitate this type of misery? Well, I started out very well. (I start basically every day thinking this will be the day that I really begin to eat healthy. And I'm not necessarily talking about a super-calorie-restrictive diet. I'm just talking about healthy.) By lunch time I had had a bowl of oatmeal, a banana, a tuna sandwich on whole wheat and some almonds. Pretty good. Then I got the cravings. Through the rest of the day, in addition to a good sized dinner, I had a large Butterfinger Sonic Blast (similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard) a Skor bar, two bowls of Cracklin' Oat Bran and a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. And my bowls of cereal aren't exactly small. Then, just to top it off, I had to make a SECOND stop at Walmart to pick up something for a school project for Parker. Of course I meandered down the candy aisle. Actually, there was no meandering about it. I knew exactly what I wanted. Have you ever had chocolate infused with chili pepper. Sounds strange if you haven't had it, but it's actually quite delicious. But it's a "gourmet" chocolate item, so it only comes in the giant sized bars. It is dark chocolate though, so of course it has some healthy anti-oxidants in it, right? (Yes, I realize that is pathetic:) And so I proceeded to eat 75% of that giant chocolate bar to end the night off. And that, folks, is a great recipe for a "fat-boy hangover." May you never suffer through the consequences of such a binge. Actually, may I never suffer through the consequences of such a binge. You're on your own!

Jer