Will I EVER Be Able to Button My Pants Again??!!

Okay...confession time. I have NOT been able to button my pants AT ALL this school year EVER...NOT ONCE...NOPE. I've spent the ENTIRE year wearing belts that hide the buttons, and shirts that cover the "open" top to my trousers. I'd like to blame it on the pants being the wrong size, or the buttons being too far along the waistband, or something related to "shrinkage" in the laundry, but the fact is I NEED TO LOSE A HUGE AMOUNT OF BLUBBER...okay, really only 10 pounds, but it might as well be a ton...!

I've TRIED to diet...I've TRIED to exercise...I've TRIED to NOT stuff everything I can find into my mouth when I get home from school/am stressed/am tired/need nourishment, but the truth is, I HAVE NO WILLPOWER WHATSOEVER, when it comes to eating. Add to that the ANNOYING reality that your metabolism really DOES slow down after you hit 40, and it's just NOT a good scene.

I remember FOR YEARS wanting to "gain weight so that I could turn it into muscle". I was SKINNY as a teenager/young adult, and I could eat WHATEVER I wanted WHENEVER I wanted to, and never gained an ounce...boy are THOSE days over (and I have YET to figure out a way to do that "fat to muscle" thing...especially since I DESPISE lifting weights...!!!).

Boy have things changed...I had a physical about a month ago, and I've officially moved into that "obese" category (my doctor, who's like, 12, was very nice in saying that I was BARELY in the obese category, but ACK! ACK! ACK!). My cholesterol was also WAY high...269!

So...for the fifty MILLIONTH time (this school year alone!), I'm going on a diet...again...and it's DOOMED to failure (for the reasons mentioned above...mainly the NO WILLPOWER thing). Maybe by posting this on my blog, I'll actually follow through (some sort of cyber "accountability"??!!).

Summer is almost here, and I SO don't want to look like THIS anymore (shown with my friend Julie):

I'd MUCH rather look like THIS...
...but...unless someone figures out a way to attach heads to other people's bodies in REAL LIFE, and not just Photoshop...THAT'S not going to happen...sigh...

Anyhoo...back to reality...I DID find some cool online resources to use (BESIDES the Weight Watchers recipe "boards" at http://www.weightwatchers.com/).

I'm going to use the following to help me figure out what I'm eating, and how many calories I've consumed:

• http://www.calorie-count.com/ (use the "Food Browser" along the left side to find the foods for which you want to find the calories)


• http://www.myfoodbuddy.com/calorie_counters.htm (enter the number of servings of each item that you've consumed (there's even a soda and coffee calorie counter!), and total your intake for the day)


• http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/recipe_analysis.php (enter the ingredients in a recipe that you want to make, and it'll total the calories, fat, fiber, etc.)


• http://www.dwlz.com/restaurants.html (scroll down to the bottom for an alphabetical listing of restaurants, and find out the total number of Weight Watchers points for the item you are ordering!)

I'm also going to check how many calories I've burned at various activities at http://www.webmd.com/content/tools/1/calc_calories.htm (the green box under "Calorie Counter").

I've also got a "weight chart" on my bathroom mirror, on which I plot my weight (every Wednesday). The "zig zaggy lines" aren't looking too good lately, but, maybe now they WILL start the downward zag...I can only hope!!!

As I said above...I've tried the "diet thing" A LOT lately, so I'm not promising anything, but I'm TIRED of having this "spare tire" around my waist, and I'd REALLY like to wear shorts and t-shirts this summer and NOT look like I have a beach ball STUFFED under my shirt!!! Ack!

Here's hoping that YOU aren't "battling the bulge", and that you can eat WHATEVER you want WHENEVER you want!

Gotta go...the raspberry creme brulee I bought at Trader Joes last week is CALLING TO ME...!!! Help...me.....