Average...Yet Obese

I once read that the average woman in America is 5'4 and a size 12. I have been both a size 12 (okay, or 14) and 5'4 (go figure) for most of my adult life. So I guess it shouldn't have surprised me this morning when an article I was reading stated that 63.1% of Americans are now overweight or obese. Yes, you heard me correctly - 63%! I was curious what constituted obesity in the American Health Association's eyes, so I went to the linked BMI calculator. You enter your height and weight and the calculator spits out your rating, e.g. tells you if you're fat, or as they put it "prone to health risks", average...which they refer to as "desirable" or obese. God I hate that word, it's just ugly. So first I put in my current weight (and height, obviously) to see what category I presently fall into and then I continued putting in numbers to see what category I'd be in if I gained, lost, etc. Anything above 171 and I was labeled obese...which seems harsh and is really pretty mortifying considering the fact that I've weighed more than that for most of my adult life. Jeez, I know I'm no supermodel but OBESE? Really? At my current weight of 163 lbs., I fall into the "prone to health risks" category and I will remain there until I weigh less than 148 lbs., when I'll officially become "desirable". I was curious to see what the cateogy lower than "desirable" was (fabulous?) and if you'd have to reach utter emaciation before falling into it. Turns out you are "desirable" if you fall anywhere between 107 and 148 lbs., at 5'4 anyway. This means that I am an estimated 15 lbs. heavier than the top of my "desirable" weight, which I guess I can buy...thus the diet. Seems like 107 would be an extremely low weight though for an average-build woman like me. I'm pretty sure weighing 107 would put me in about a size 0-2 and although that's apparently "DESIRABLE" to the AHA, I'd be ecstatic with a 4 or 6!

Okay, now to the boring stuff...although I did lose another two pounds in the past two or three days courtesy of the stomach flu. I'm officially down (I gained a lb. or so back over the weekend but I prefer to think of this as a natural fluctuation) 10.2 lbs. total for the month (it'll be 4 weeks on Saturday since I started this diet...I mean (ahem) LIFESTYLE CHANGE. Saturday for breakfast I ate a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and water (no coffee). That day for lunch I had a whole wheat pita pizza with green olives, onion, mushrooms, sauce (from the jar) and about 3/4 c. low-fat mozzarella. I also finished off the last two bites of my son's ham and cheese sandwich and a remaining handful of blueberries. For dinner that evening, I had chicken fajitas on the grill with a little bit of salsa and light sour cream (probably only a TBSP each) and 10 or 12 tortilla chips with more salsa and more sour cream. I was starving...that's what happens when I wait too long to eat...I cheat! I had a LaCroix sparkling water with dinner too. Then after dinner, I broke my own rule and had a vodka/soda/lemon - but just one. No guilt - I've been under a lot of stress and needed to take the edge off.

Sunday I had coffee with CM and Splenda and it would appear - no breakfast. I know what you're thinking...'doesn't this dummy know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?...It's what gets your metabolism going'. And yes, I know both of these things but like all full-time mothers and wives, I sometimes don't have time for breakfast, despite my best intentions. For lunch I had a whole wheat pita pizza again, but this time just with sauce and cheese...oh, and a string cheese too. I'm lazy that way. I don't like to put a lot of thought into what I'm making/eating so when I find something I like, that I also happen to have the ingredients for, I just go with it. That afternoon for a snack I ate a 1/2 c. of this new organic fruity, nutty, fiber-y cereal I bought and a 1/2 c. of fat free milk. I also had a sugar free chocolate Snack Pack pudding at some point that afternoon....hey, just reading it from my not-so-specific journal. That night for dinner I had a small New York strip, which incidentally was grilled to perfection, approximately 14 spears of asparaGAS and a small bowl of my son's leftover whole wheat elbow macaroni which happened to be covered it butter and Parmesan (picture me rolling my eyes here). Then, as the perfect end to the perfect day, I had 6 plain m&m's...quite possibly the world's most perfect food.

Monday I had a 1/2 c. of my healthy cereal again with 1/2 c. fat free milk for breakfast. I also had a banana and coffee (with the usual mixers). For lunch I had a salad with about 1/8 c. of feta crumbles and 6 cherry tomatoes. I spritzed it with one of those new salad spritzer dressings - the Italian one. You have to spray like 30 times to actually get the salad DAMP though so I'm pretty sure I had more than the 1g fat per-serving serving. I was so hungry about 3 hours later...I know, SHOCKER...that I had another 1/2 c. cereal covered in another 1/2 c. fat free milk. For dinner, I ate about 1 and 1/2 small grilled hamburgers dipped in ketchup and light Hidden Valley Ranch. One may have had melted cheddar on it too but my memory is foggy. Followed up with 3 m&m's. Boy, I'm sure not doing well with the no sweets, am I? Pffft.

The next two days are easy...I was sick with the stomach flu. Tuesday I had an orange, sugar free Popsicle and water. Wednesday I did eat more. Hello! Hadn't eaten in over 24 hours! I was watching the Today show that morning and their chef was making gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. Now, I'll admit...I'm one who is easily swayed by the power of suggestion. I proceeded to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich, not with Gruyere and the fancy cheeses the chef used, but with two slices of Kraft deli-style American and butter, of course. Duh. I also had a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup - the ultimate comfort food. I polished off two more sugar free Popsicles throughout the course of the afternoon. I had enjoyed my grilled cheese so immensely that I made my kiddo one for dinner that night...well, plus the pan was still out on the stove. Why dirty more dishes if I don't have to, right? He ate about half and I ate his other half, mind you this was about 8 hours after I had my first one that day, and it was just as good.

I was still recovering from my bug today and only got down about 3 sips of my usual coffee drink. I (yet again) had no time for breakfast - too busy catching up on my emails. For lunch I had a whole wheat pita with some lean turkey, a slice of Swiss cheese and a few tomato slices. I also ate a tangerine and about half a can of LaCroix. For a snack I had a banana. For dinner tonight - back to my old standby - I made a whole wheat pita pizza but measured out the 1/4 c. sauce and 1/4 c. mozzarella. I also had one bite of my kiddo's dessert, which was chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I'm officially sick of eating "healthy" pizza. And that is one of my biggest challenges right now....I don't know what to eat. As you can see I've been eating next to no veggies and only a moderate amount of fruits. I wish I was one of those people who could eat salad every day but I'm just not. I'm working on coming up with a plan for this little "issue" though and will fill you in on the brilliant solution I've come up with in my next post.

Sorry this was a bit lengthy and I promise to get another post up soon so I don't have to recap my life's story next time. Peace out.