Fatty McFat

Yawwwnnnnnnn. That's pretty much the week we've had. Baseball and swimming lessons are over for the year, the neighbor kids are home from Poland and are over all the time. The kids finished their last week of Camp Zone yesterday and will go to one final week of camp at the Riverplex next week. They're excited because their two favorite counselors are also going to the Riverplex camp. I'm not excited because camp drop-off and pick-up are a much bigger pain when they're not right in front of my work. Oh well, only one week.

School's starting a week later than usual this year because of some major construction projects at many schools. This is a good idea because last year the construction at my kids' school wasn't finished and Kaylin spent a week having classes in the library. The unexpected late start left us with no camp the final week before school starts, so I'm taking the week off work and hanging out with the kids. Gene needs his remaining time off to take off with the kids at Christmas break, so he'll be working.

I've been thinking about this time off all summer. Oh, the projects I put off because I could get them done during my week off! Now the time is actually almost here and I'm booking it solid to be out of town. It turns out that the thought of staying home all week babysitting the neighbor kids and watching them mess up my house and yard and drink all my juice boxes isn't that appealing. Who woulda thunk? Instead, I'm planning a two-day trip to Cincinnati with a friend, a trip to Omaha with the kids, and if I can somehow swing it, an overnight with Gene and the kids to Starved Rock. I really just want to get out of here and do something fun. And yes, the kids are VERY excited about going to Nebraska. Seriously. Except Kaylin wants to drive on to Wyoming. For real. I'd do it if we had enough time!

The other night I weighed myself for the first time in at least 18 months. Let's just say I wasn't happy. My feet have been so bad for most of this time that I stopped exercising. Most of the time I was in so much pain after work I'd come home and plop in my chair, unable to do anything else. I couldn't stand (literally and figuratively) to cook so I started eating easy, boxed crap and take-out. I slowly transitioned from a mostly healthy diet to basically nothing but junk. Even my packed lunches at work were stuff like frozen egg rolls that I could pack in about 10 seconds. I have a very physical job and I'm on my feet literally all day, but that can't make up for McDonalds several times a week and microwavable junk the rest of the time.

My feet are still too bad to walk or run for exercise. Biking makes them cramp horribly and isn't worth it. My left foot is bothering me enough that I'm going in for a cortisone injection Monday. But sheesh, are my feet not healing because I'm not stretching/icing/wearing orthotics enough or is it because I'm now so overweight? It's definitely time to do something! I started a new "whole foods" diet last Saturday. I'm taking it in baby steps, but plunged right in with two definite rules- no packaged frozen foods and no fast foods. Well, I am eating pre-cooked frozen chicken breast, turkey meatballs and soy sausage as well as frozen veggies. Just no TV dinners or egg rolls or Eggo waffles. I also need to stop drinking so much Diet Pepsi and start drinking more water. My plan is to transition from soda to bottled green tea to mostly water. I love the green tea so that transition shouldn't be an issue, but the caffeine withdrawal of switching from tea to water scares me to death.

A week on the MUCH better diet (I'm not "dieting" I'm changing my whole way of eating, or my "diet") has already shown good results. I don't plan to weigh myself again for a long time, but the difference in energy is amazing. I had three late nights at work this week. Normally, that would mean a Friday of exhaustion and needing to spend the entire day resting. This Friday I was fine. I got a bunch of housework done and felt good. I've been sleeping better and longer the past few nights. I just feel better. My next step is to find exercise (not swimming!!!) that I can do without using my feet. Email me if you have any suggestions!