Yes, I have been known to do that... beat the Skinny Ladies to the Buffet! *LOL* I Love Good Food what can I say? And I'm not a big Fan of Junk Food, Fast Food or Fried Foods, so mostly I eat what is considered the Good Foods that promote Good Health. And frankly, my eating habits haven't really changed much for most of my Life... but my weight sure has!
I used to be Skinny... really Skinny in fact... Naturally Skinny without trying to be, clear through to the tail end of my Forties when Menopause hit hard after a Hysterectomy. So with a Lifetime of never having to worry about what I ate because I must have had some kind of revved up Metabolism that handled it differently until my Senior Years started rolling around, I've really struggled with what to do about it now and how best to deal with it? Limiting Portions to miniscule amounts just left me feeling Hungry, but it does take the weight off if you don't mind a Lifetime of eating as though you had an eating disorder! That isn't how I want to Live... being preoccupied with Food one extreme way or the other! Food is just fuel, I eat to Live not Live to eat... and yet finding that Ideal Fuel that keeps one at an Ideal Weight has been Elusive to me in my Senior Years!
I used to be Skinny... really Skinny in fact... Naturally Skinny without trying to be, clear through to the tail end of my Forties when Menopause hit hard after a Hysterectomy. So with a Lifetime of never having to worry about what I ate because I must have had some kind of revved up Metabolism that handled it differently until my Senior Years started rolling around, I've really struggled with what to do about it now and how best to deal with it? Limiting Portions to miniscule amounts just left me feeling Hungry, but it does take the weight off if you don't mind a Lifetime of eating as though you had an eating disorder! That isn't how I want to Live... being preoccupied with Food one extreme way or the other! Food is just fuel, I eat to Live not Live to eat... and yet finding that Ideal Fuel that keeps one at an Ideal Weight has been Elusive to me in my Senior Years!
I've always been Active... really Active in fact... if my Activity Level alone were a Measure of Weight I should STILL be Skinny! *LOL* But Activity seems to not make a dent in this problem after this Menopause thing, I can go to the Gym five days a week and Workout for 2-5 hours and see practically no results... I'm Serious! And that's too much devotion to Exercise to see no results... I can't Justify spending that much time at the Gym if it's showing no improvement, the Gym bores me... I'd rather take a Hike or an extremely long Walk. But even without the Gym, I'm very Active, so that should be burning Calories... and I'm not a glutton, don't do seconds and often don't finish what's on my plate... so what gives?!??!??! Is it just the Aging Process and perhaps a combination of Aging and Stress? Stress... which I can't do as much about as Diet because the Stress in my Life involves other People I'm the Primary Caregiver of! *Le Sigh* And I just cannot Justify the Expense of those pre-packaged Dietary Programs, they work only so long as you're eating their Food and not REAL Food... integrating Real Food back into the equation even with their Maintenance Program was a complete Failure! As you can see by the 'Before' and 'After' and then 'Much After' Images! *Le Sigh*
I don't like being overweight or seeing my 'Fat' Pictures which puts the Issue right in my Face so Shamefully and Glaringly... and not just because of the Health reasons... there are Vanity reasons as well... I'm keeping it totally Real here. Having Linebacker Arms and looking like a Samoan Wrestler is just NOT the 'Look' I'm going for, so the Visual disturbs me... and I don't even hafta look at myself all day like the rest of you do! *Smiles* The "Me" in the Mirror doesn't always look as big to me as the "Me" in Images does... which is kinda a Weird Visual Anomaly that defies explanation. Plus... I Love Fashion and yet, for Big Women, it's as if the Fashion Industry doesn't even think we exist or that we'd wear Fashionable Clothing and Accessories or want to look Good, I dunno which it is? Surely the Industry must look around and clearly see that the Average Woman in America today is not a Size 6? And for those of us in the larger double digits the pickins' are mightly slim everywhere and nothing fits right or comfortably! Most of the Gals I know that are over the Age of... say 15, who are Skinny or have at least kept a Girlish Figure, really WORK at it... HARD!
I've done the Work for extended periods of time too and tried a multitude of Weight Loss Regimens and followed them Religiously... even losing the Weight. Then doing the suggested Maintenance Programs in Vain... only to gain the weight back again... and then some! Nothing tasted as good as being thinner felt, and yet one MUST eat to Live... but eat WHAT to make this Weight come off and more importantly stay off ?!??!?? I have Wondered if this Senior Body of mine has Regulated itself to be this particular Size for some strange reason that I just cannot fathom? Right now I'm trying something less drastic dietary wise that is Simple and claims to be effective... summed up in just Seven Words: Eat Food, not too much, mostly Plants. Okay... I can do that... and I got the Books by the Authors so that I can go more in depth with this Method and what it entails... we'll see if that works?!? And I'll probably still be beating the Skinny Ladies to the Salad Bar... because I Love Good Food... and the Fresh and Healthy Foods are the Tastiest anyway... I've just got to figure out which Food Combinations work best to get my Girlish Figure back?!?
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian