Have you ever had one of those mornings when every outfit you pulled out of the closet looked absolutely dreadful when placed on your body? Have you slipped into your favorite pair of “fat pants” and found that they fit snugly around the arse and accentuated your pooch enough to convince you that you might be 4-months pregnant? Well, that was my morning.

Although I’d like to convince myself that my brand new dryer is the culprit that is shrinking my clothes down a size, I must be honest with myself and admit that I’m starting to pack the pounds back on.

It’s more than a little disappointing in light of how well I had been doing earlier this year when I had dropped about 10 pounds and toned up as a result of consistent, daily exercise.

A couple of things happened in between the exercising mania and my current state of plumpness. First of all, one of the most wonderful things happened: Hubby returned from Iraq. One of our favorite pasttimes is dining out; enjoying each other’s delicious company over scrumptuous meals. Since my eating partner has returned, I began relishing the taste of food again and indulgence became an act of celebration. Hubby’s back, let’s go out to dinner! Hubby’s back, let’s have some cake! Hubby’s back, let’s take you to get your favorite plate lunch! While nothing can compare to having my better half back home, I honestly let it go to my hips.

Second, the stress of dealing with the home purchase and subsequent move was extremely taxing on my mind, body and spirit. While time became a commodity, exercise fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that feel compelled to feed my stress. And believe me, my stress was not interested in eating celery sticks. Chocolate became the comforter and I do believe I have read and memorized every bit of quippy wisdom that is printed on the inside of the foil wrappers of Dove dark chocolates.

Now that things have settled down enough for me to take a good look at myself in the mirror, I’ve discovered the detrimental effects of the lapse in healthy living on my body. When I pondered the hours of sweat and exercise that helped me get to that point, I felt ill realizing how pathetically easy it was to put those pounds right back on.

As a result of this, I’ve started back on my exercise regimen. I’ll be walking at least 2 miles a day, 5 of 7 days a week. With the cooperation of a co-worker, I now have a walking buddy to keep me motivated to walk on our lunch hour. (30 minutes, 2 miles) Then, when I get home, I take my evening walk with Hubby — another 30 minutes, 2 miles.

My goal? Forget about the 24-Hour Fitness pitch (”Look great naked!”), I just want to look decent in my clothes again. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

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