Weighty decision

I need to lose weight. I need to lower my cholesterol. I need to be more active. These are the things my doctor tells me, and I am trying to listen.

At work, they are holding a "diet contest." I shudder at the term, because I don't believe in diets -- they make me think of the anorexic looking celebrities you see in the tabloids in the grocery line. This is not about losing a certain amount of weight, or looking good in a swimsuit, or fitting into an old pair of jeans. This is about my health.



Working the overnight shift is hard on my body. My doc has warned me that I am shaving years off of my life by working overnight (a decision I made in order to see my kids more.) I sit at a computer for 8 hours a day. And depending on how much sleep I get in a day, I can be very lethargic the rest of the day.

And when I am lacking sleep, instead of acting like this dwarf...I act much more like this one: And lets just say the grumpiness adds to a lack of interest in exercise, and a serious increase of interest in chocolate. The reality is that when we are tired, our body wants to eat to survive, to keep going.

But I can't blame it all on the overnight shift. I eat too much. I exercise too little. My cholesterol is high, due to family history (and my diet). It is time for change -- not because it's a new year, but because my doctor's appointment right before Christmas confirmed what I was worried about -- the cholesterol.

So I've joined the diet contest at work -- something I thought was supposed to be a way for the newsroom to band together, work together, and work towards a healthier lifestyle. A few select people have ruined that -- leaving candies and french fries on employees desks, bringing in candied popcorn, chips and other high calorie foods -- just to sabotage the other contestants. I thought the contest was a competition with one's self, an effort to push ourselves to eat better, exercise more and be healthier. But I suppose with the competitiveness that comes naturally with a newsroom, that may have been a lofty assumption.

So I am attempting to stay above the fray, refusing the popcorn machine, refusing the snacks that are coming in, and working with my co-workers to eat healthier. Oatmeal is now my breakfast (at 2 a.m.) and sometimes a daily snack. I'm working hard to cut portion sizes. I am careful not to buy any foods at the grocery store that I will be tempted with, at home. I am keeping a daily (most of the time) exercise and food journal -- so I am really aware of what I eat, when I eat, and why I turn to food. Our new membership to the YMCA has my legs aching, and my heart pumping, and I hope to be able to get a consistent schedule of when I will work out, in the days to come.

The last couple of days, I'll admit, have not been ideal -- birthday cake (a small piece), pizza (only one piece), popcorn at a movie (okay, I shouldn't have gotten the butter), and a meal at a restaurant for a celebration (the sandwich was okay, but the french fries kinda ruined it) -- now that the festivities of the birthday celebrations are almost over, I hope to get back on track.

So, with the focus being on health (but a smaller jean size being a positive side effect), and the interest being on better eating (and a possible cash prize providing at least a bit of incentive), I embark on this new effort to live longer and better, taking each day, hour, meal... one at a time.

**And no, none of the above pictures are mine -- but that is similar to what our newsroom looks like, and yes, Owen had a "Mario" birthday cake, decorated, in part, by the 9 year old boys over for the sleepover. Pictures will follow... one day. **