Very Bad!

Yesterday, I said I probably gained back half of the 12 pounds that I lost over two weeks. Well, I was wrong; I gained three-quarters of it back. I'm up NINE whopping pounds. So...yes, it looks nice when I lose 12 in two weeks, but it feels terrible to gain nine in one week. I have always known I could do that.

The first time I had realized my body was capable of this was in the summer of 1968. During my senior year of high school, I consciously tried to diet. I did not do it in the most healthy way because I didn't know much back then. I skipped breakfast and lunch every school day and ate only 450 calories total in the evenings. Remember Metracal soups and drinks? I ate one can of soup for dinner and one shake for a bedtime snack. I did that most every day of my senior year. Slowly, I went down from 185 to 165 on graduation day in June, 1968. Then my parents took us on a two week vacation which included a cruise to San Juan and St. Thomas and a driving tour of Florida. When I got home, I weighed 203. That was a 33 pound gain in two weeks and the first time I had ever gone over 200. I was stunned. I had had no idea that was happening, although I knew my clothes were tight!

I immediately went back to my old eating habits, or non-eating habits, and dropped down to 185 by the middle of October of 1968 when I was a freshman at the University of Maryland. That didn't last. Four years later, when I graduated, I weighed 245.

I am a classic yo-yoer, and my yo-yo swings are BIG. So, yeah, I can drop 12 in two weeks, but I could also gain it back in half the time and more.

Passover is only half over. Today is day five of the eight days. Hah! Eight days! It always feels longer than that. It really starts two days earlier with turning the kitchen over, eating dinner and breakfast out because the kitchen is done, and having the first seder the night before it begins. Then at the other end, there is putting everything back and eating pizza out to conclude the holiday. Many, many calories are consumed!

Yes, I KNOW it doesn't HAVE to be this way. There are appropriate calories to be consumed; exercise regimes can be continued; dieting is not impossible. Uh huh. Sure. How many people are willing to give up all their favorite holiday goodies, especially when the holiday extends 8+ days? Not many. There are people with more self-discipline than me who probably do, but this year I have been a colossal failure during this holiday, in terms of what I have eaten. Sigh.

On the positive side, we did take a nice little walk around the Glendora Pond yesterday afternoon. We were rewarded with a nice big alligator sighting. He was so peaceful looking. I also had another great rehearsal at Starliters. That was our last "nuts and bolts" rehearsal. Next week is production week. We will be in the ballroom with the entire stage constructed, all the set pieces, stage crew, prop people, dressers, everything. There are two huge run-throughs Monday and Tuesday nights to get the stage, prop, and dresser people ready. There is a big tech rehearsal Wednesday night, which currently is not asking for the choir to attend. Then Friday night there is a dress rehearsal with a bus load of kids from the local high school coming as an audience. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights, April 21-23, are the show nights. It will be a long week next week. Maybe I'll drop some of this weight.

Sadly, I'm seeing my oncologist for my six month check up on Monday morning. I just checked on my weight last October when I saw her. It looks like I'll be showing a ten pound gain since that time. She probably won't care, but I do.