Okay, I'll admit it. I'm not "model size". I was not blessed with genetics conducive to eating well and maintaining a tiny figure. Nor do I have the time and inclination to work out the way that someone of my body type must in order to be small.
I've also given birth to four very large children. By the time a person has four kids, the largest of which weighed in at 11 pounds (the smallest was 8 pounds 12 oz), there are just some skin issues that aren't going to go away without trimming and tucking. It is at this point in my childbearing career that I can sympathize greatly with marsupials like kangaroos.
Even worse, I'm a terrible yo-yo dieter, and not completely by choice. Not that I'm trying to pass the blame off on anyone else - I know what works for me and I can do it without much fuss. It's just that I keep getting interrupted.
Interruptions in the military life are legion. There is PCSing season (about once very two years or more for us). Now, I absolutely love PCSing. I know that makes me crazy, but I look at it as a vacation paid for by someone else. We stop often and see whatever we can along the route.
All this would be well and good if there were Sweet Tomatoes franchises, or Fresh Choice restaurants in every city and state. I would even settle for omnipresent Ruby Tuesday's (their avocado ranch dressing is to die for). But many's the time (especially traveling through Texas) when we've had to stop at Slim Joe's All Fried Food All the Time.
If it is PCS season, I gain weight.
Then there is every time hubby is about to leave for a deployment. I can't tell a man about to go to a War Zone that I'm stuck on salad when we go out! Part of his ritual pre-deployment is to go out and "share" food. He wants to enjoy the last few weeks with me, and eating good food is enjoyable. That desert will be the last time he gets chocolate mousse cake or cannoli for months, the last thing I want is to deny him.
If it is pre-deployment, I gain weight.
Luckily, during deployment I tend to shed quite a bit. With hubby gone, I'm generally on edge enough not to be tremendously hungry. I don't have him at home to want to sit on the couch and relax with at night, so I tend to work out much more often. We also don't go out to eat without hubby, so there's portion and calorie control right there.
During deployment, I lose weight.
But then hubby comes home. He's been gone for months. He hasn't had a decent Prime Rib in all that time. He hasn't had real pizza. He hasn't had Mexican food, for goodness sake. Honestly! I never in my life thought that lack of Mexican food would be an issue! I now understand that hubby and I cannot live without it. So, for the first six weeks when hubby is home we eat out more often - he has to go to ALL the places he loves. And when I make dinner, I make dinner. There's roast and potatoes, or chicken enchiladas and rice; and, of course, desert every night.
When hubby comes home, I gain weight.
In all honesty, I think I might be looking forward to the time when we have to attend lots of "function" dinners. Dessicated chicken breasts, cold potatoes, and runny jello parfait. Now, that's food you can lose weight on!
We've got another PCS coming up soon (no, we don't know where yet). Maybe I should plan our route ahead by using Google to find decent salad bars.
