Battle with the Bulge

That's Chedette - CAUGHT IN THE ACT! As crazy as I am over sweets! (I hope that she will forgive me for posting this picture!)

My friends Maru and Chedette with Gabby and Guia during our PLAY/EAT DATE where the children played and the mothers ate!


Eons ago, I had a 25-inch waistline and a head-turning coca-cola body!

Nowadays, I still managed to maintain that "coca-cola" body!

Sadly though, it’s now coke in cans!

I can always blame motherhood for that. After all, I was in full bedrest during my entire pregnancy. And what does one do if one has to stay in bed all the time for nine months? Eat, sleep, watch TV, eat, sleep … (and don't forget the time-worn, ever-effective excuse ... "I am eating for two now ...")

Or I can blame my having Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome. It is a condition of infertility and women with PCOS are typically “well-rounded”.

But the blame really lies on me alone and my enthusiasm for food and sweets! I tried to fight by sticking mostly to fish and vegetables and not keeping anything remotely palatable at home. Being on a seefood (when-I-see-food-I-eat) diet, I thought that keeping away the temptations would help. But I still ballooned to 160 pounds even with only occasional binging during parties and fiestas.

Funny how we never seem to notice how BIG we’ve really become! Of course, we know that we’ve gained weight or have gotten fat, but we never seem to realize how fat we have become until we see our pictures! It always comes as a shock to me – “am I really that big already?”

I did the South Beach Diet once and actually lost 15 pounds! But it’s a very difficult diet to stick to, particularly for somebody with an ongoing love affair with desserts!

I also tried the pastrami diet with my cake-eating soulmate, Chedette! It was absolutely crazy! We were supposed to eat nothing except one very thin slice of pastrami, sandwiched by two slices of cereal bread for lunch and dinner. I didn’t last long.

I will never forget becoming bathed in cold sweat as I trembled from hunger, or how I combated my hunger pangs by drowning myself with coffee! Oh! how we suffered! But we really suffered for nothing as we succumbed to almost every temptation that came our way. We were too weak to say no. It was hilarious how we used to text each other, starting with … “forgive me for I have sinned …”

I realized the more we deprived ourselves of the food we love, the more intense our cravings became. Whenever we’d go on a diet, we seem to think of nothing else except food!

Chedette and I often wondered at how Maru (who is a Muslim) could bear not to have any food or drink FROM SUNRISE UP TO SUNDOWN – FOR 30 DAYS during Ramadan! One time, we jokingly told Maru and we could never convert to Islam, not because we have anything against this faith – but simply because … yes, you guessed it!!! --- Ramadan.

We’d both make very miserable Muslim girls … and as our imagination got worked up, we thought of how we’d be discovered – caught in the act of cheating – while eating under the bed during Ramadan – and eating “humba” at that!

We also tried the Carbo Lovers' Diet. It is very simple and easy to stick to. We have 3 full meals each day, right? Well, we can choose any 2 meals where we eat according to the principles of the South Beach Diet. The third meal is to be our "reward meal", where, for one hour from the time we start the meal, we can eat absolutely anything and everything under the sun!

This is a great idea and another friend Maru swore that it really works! The beauty here is that we are not deprived of our favorites. We have that one meal each day to look forward to, where for instance, that ice cream that we have been craving for, could finally be had!

Another beauty is that the Carbo Lovers' Diet is very flexible! What if you were invited to this feast that you simply must go to - BUT, it's for dinner!! and your reward meal is lunch!!! No problem ... you can switch for that day ... do the South Beach during lunchtime, and reward yourself by binging at dinnertime! But remember -- one hour only. (There is an explanation for this but it is too technical and complicated for me to narrate here.)

I was happy with this diet and I think I can stick to this and actually make it my lifestyle. However, I realized that as far I was concerned, this is good only for maintaining my desired weight once I have reached it, but not while I still want to keep losing more.

So I decided to abandon it momentarily, aim for my goal, and once it is reached, resume the Carbo Lovers' (or is it Addicts') Diet.

Presently, Chedette and I are struggling with Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet (again!). We are actually doing the cha-cha, where we stayed good girls for one week and lose about 5 pounds, let go of all control the following week, then struggle back the next!

I suppose it is more difficult for working moms who have to contend with all the temptations in their workplaces, from vendors lugging goodies along to officemates bringing fiesta leftovers!

At least, stay-at-home moms like Chedette and I can choose to bar yummy food from our homes. The operative word though is “choose”, because weak-willed as we are, we easily yield to our cravings, throw our resolves into the wind, and actively seek our hearts’ desires.

Oh well … here’s to all of us who have not given up yet! Can we ask the powers that be to help us by banning fiestas all over Oriental Negros?

By the way, we did consider exercise! We will get to that, maybe after losing about 10 pounds … or maybe not … takes too much effort … bad lazy me!