What a Girl Wants (it's not cheese puffs)

Do you remember the email that went around a while ago titled “Porn for Women”? It had a bunch of scantily clad men doing housework? It was pretty funny. Do you want to know another fantasy that women have? The fantasy that we can eat healthy 80% of the time, then 20% of the time we can eat whatever we want…and still lose weight! I’m not sure who came up with this formula, I doubt if it can even be traced back to a scientific study, doctor, nutritionist, or if it was an urban legend all along. I’m starting to suspect that it has been misconstrued and misunderstood in order to correspond with our "cheese puff fantasies" (insert your favorite bad- for-you food) and that the 80/20 rule is meant for AFTER we achieve our healthy goal weight, not during the process. After we lose whatever amount of weight we want to lose, by all means, let's eat healthy 80% of the time and splurge now and then. We can still maintain our figures without derailing our efforts. I'm pretty sure that sounds right. Of course, I'm no expert.

I hate to be negative because what I’m doing does seem to be working, albeit very, very slowly. I know, I know, that’s the healthy way. The weight should stay off, blah blah blah. I know I feel much better! I’ve lost an inch and a half from my waist and I feel a little “firmer”. I bet my heart is healthier, my blood pressure is within a good range, pre-hyper tension and pre-diabetes are things of the past. But I’m getting impatient and starting to succumb to the “I am killing myself on these hikes and eating turkey wraps every day for lunch, I want results NOW” mentality.

I TRIED the 80/20 rule and it took me a week and a half to recover from the "20%" portion of nachos/sliders/burritos/margaritas and cheese puffs. My lack of basic math aptitude could be partly to blame. Rob informed me that a 20% splurge would amount to one order of Little League Nachos every 5 games, not once a week. I was way off. I think in an earlier post, I actually referred to it as a “slight eating disorder” when I ate ZERO un-healthy food for a few months and dropped a bunch of weight. Really? It’s an eating disorder if I don’t eat cheese puffs and super burritos? I’m going to have to rethink that.

It’s not that I eat nothing but nuts and lettuce. I eat normal food – chicken, fish, some beef, lots of vegetables and fruits, yogurt, nuts, salads, whole wheat bread and brown rice. But I think I’m going to say “so long” to my beloved Cheese Puffs for awhile. No more fries and nachos this Little League season. Call me crazy. Call me extreme. But I’m not hiking 5000’ each week just to refuel with garbage. I’m tired of complaining about my slow progress as I painstakingly log the 375 calorie Cheese Puff splurge into my food diary. It turns out, I can’t have it all. And that’s fine, because I know what I really want. I'm not obsessed....just determined.