Pandemic pounds and menopausal pounds produced an alarming six month weight gain of 10 pounds if I am being completely honest and 8 pounds if I go from my highest perimenopausal weight to my average current weight. I know when it all started, too. I had been regularly walking my dogs until about the middle of November when the three of us, an aerdale terrier and an obese beagle and my average self were attacked by a neighbor dog. Both dogs required surgery and stitches, were found to heartworm positive and that was it for our walks for several months. Yes, they recovered or are still recovering nicely, but now I have a some trauma issues and panic whenever we encounter an off-leash dog or one charging it’s fence line. My exercise routine was decimated. Then, since it was close to the holidays and my teen daughter decided home-baked treats were to be her new hobby, the snacking started. It was almost two pounds a month. First, I thought the scale was wrong and changed the batteries. Then, figured it was water weight and tried to cut back on some salt. Then, maybe just lack of exercise, Finally, excuses and denial aside, it was beyond obvious my clothes were tighter but not where they had been before. My middle was growing, my butt getting flat and well the rest of me seemed to be shrinking as muscle disappeared. To add a bit of insult to injury, a sibling had spent the last six months training for a marathon and was looking pretty darn good.

My kids were going away for the summer. The husband was leaving a week later. It was time to take back some control. My lifestyle needed a makeover. My goal for years has been five servings of fruits and vegetables a day along with whatever else I was eating. Most weeks, it was a lucky day or two if I made that goal. Now, it was a requirement. Those five servings plus nuts and a glass of milk were going to be the foundation for the next month’s eating. My reward, my own vacation week in my hometown eating childhood favorites- Nico-boli’s, Thrasher French fries, pizza, crab imperial and clams casino. Yes, I’m headed to Biden’s summer home town- Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Room for one more appetite, stand aside, I am getting in line.

I do not have a weight loss goal exactly. The plan is to eat as healthy as I can, up my exercise slowly and see what happens. If all goes well, what should happen is to lose at least a pound a week…4-5 pounds should make a great difference, mess it up for one week, and then return home alone for three more weeks to sustain it on my own before everyone comes home for the start of the next school year. As for this entry- I am thinking from an accountability perspective, I should post as often as possible since this will be my food journal, too.

Several diet programs were reviewed, keto, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, but none of them really suited me, our refrigerator or the Costco shopping list. The other reason this is my food journal is because it will let me see what can be done later to support the family in healthy eating with less food waste and better budgeting.

Before the kids left, I made one more trip to Costco on Saturday and spent $153.00 stocking up on what was going to get me through well, hopefully two weeks. The kids had gotten Covid-shots and wanted home-made chicken and dumplings so that was the weekend plan. Read on to see what came home.