Battle of the Bulge (mine)

I seem to be suffering from a "thickening of the waist" lately, and it's irritating. I put myself squarely in the "active" category of people - I run a few miles a week, walk, garden, bike when it's nice. I don't have an unhealthy diet (I mean, could it be better? Sure. But it's not awful. I don't even eat ice cream every night, even though I really really want to.). But my pants don't fit, and I don't like it. What gives?

There is actually a name for this phenomenon in older women. It's called the "post-meno belly." Lovely. But a study by the Mayo Clinic in 2013 showed that we are all basically doomed (ok, not really maybe) because the changes in estrogen levels mean "post-menopausal women burned less fat than their pre-menopausal colleagues. These changes mean that their cells are not only storing more fat, but are also less willing to part with it." LESS WILLING TO PART WITH IT JESUS. That's just great. You can read all about it here.

My two running buddies are struggling as well and decided to take action by joining Weight Watchers. I was a little late to the party, but signed up Sunday for the online version (50% OFF!) - and yes, there's an app for that.

If you have never done Weight Watchers - and I have not - it's based on points. A little quiz at the beginning about age, height, weight and goal triggers an algorithm (one presumes) that calculates how many food/drink points you get each day, plus an extra allotment of weekly points that seem designed to get you in trouble. I could be wrong about that, though.

The whole thing is pretty simple, and the points database seems to be extensive. I plugged in Seeds of Change (I like their rice and grain mixes) and a ton of them were listed (at ridiculous point levels). And if you really want to know the difference between farmed salmon and wild-caught, it's WW points. Farmed is more points.

Lunch today - plus an clementine I forgot to record, but fruit is 0 points, so

My breakfast was a nice healthy 5 points:

Yes, WHOLE MILK. Actually, 2 TBS 1/2 & 1/2 plus 1% milk - because lowfat milk is gross. You know I'm right.

Which means, to my way of thinking, I had points to burn at dinner, baby.

For the record, I did not have a Lagunitas. I had a Victory Brewing Dirt Wolf, a double IPA that is probably more like 8 points but they didn't have any double IPAs on the list, SO.

Wine is a pathetic 5 oz pour and racks up 4 points. So, this is gonna be HARD people.

But I've lost almost 2 lbs since Sunday. And I only dipped into those weekly "oops" points on the first day, when I went one point over on my daily total. 

Stay tuned.