Scales For You

What more could I want?  My husband cooked breakfast for me, I played golf with my daughter-in-law, ate at a Mexican restaurant, and now I’m sitting with my husband and dog playing with a laptop computer in an air conditioned house.  Life is good!

I do have one small problem, however, that continually gets bigger.  Maybe I should say, I continually get bigger.  Gaining a pound or a pound and a half a month doesn’t seem too bad, but the months keep going by and the weight keeps going up.  My large capacity bathroom scales are soon not going to be able to weigh my oversized body.  That’s sad!  I’ve got to get my willpower in gear and start eating healthy foods in the right amounts.  In other words, I’ve got to change my lifestyle!

Happy Fathers’ Day to all the fathers out there!  I lost my father in 1996 and still miss him.  However, my children have a good father and I celebrate Fathers’ Day with him.  Fathers are important to children.  I think our society, especially the courts, are realizing the role the fathers need to play in their children’s lives.  It used to be that when there was a divorce with children, many times the father seemed to divorce the children along with their mom.  Now, the courts and judges appear to be trying to keep both parents involved in their children’s lives.  In fact, reseach is showing now that children who do not have both parents involved in their lives are having trouble developing emotionally like they should.  When a parent disappears from a child’s life, the child’s first question is, “Why doesn’t my parent love me?”  The second question is, “What’s wrong with me?”  If my parent doesn’t love me, something must be wrong with me.

Obesity also adds to a child’s difficulty in developing emotionally.  Many children in America are now suffering from obesity.  It’s too easy to run through a drive through, order fast food, and go home.  The children grow up thinking fast food is the only good food.  Why not get a set of cooking scales and teach the children how to cook at home?  It will help build a good parent/child relationship, while forming good eating habits. 

Thursday night, I had five of my college classmates from fifty years ago spend the night at my house.  We had a wonderful time remembering old times and sharing information about our lives and our families.  It’s quite remarkable that we have stayed so close for so many years.  In some ways we feel closer to each other than to our own sisters.

I think I have also remained extremely good friends with my excess pounds.  They love me so much, they never seem to want to leave; and they bring their friends to visit.  Somehow, they become my friends, too.  Why does our weight seem to continually increase over the years–not a lot each year, but it gradually adds up.  The bathroom scales tell the tale, but they don’t prevent what is happening.  We have to take control of our own destiny.  Eating out doesn’t help because we feel compelled to eat all we paid for, including all the extra bread, etc.  It all goes back to willpower and determination.

Every time I investigate a diet program, they say, “write down everything you eat”. I never could figure how writing would help me lose weight. Maybe just looking at the long list of food I have eaten during the day will make me ashamed of myself.

I think I finally have the answer. Writing gives me the exercise I need to burn the calories I have eaten! Wow! I’ll be glad to write down everything I eat, then when I step on the bathroom scales, I’ll see that writing down everything I eat really burns those calories! 

I read recently that bottled water has become the second most popular drink in America (behind soft drinks). That’s great since water can be considered as a nutrient your body needs.

It is essential to replace daily water that is lost from the body. In fact, 60% of our body weight is water. Next time I step on the bathroom scales, I will remember that 60% of my weight is water and should not count against me.

Why is it that every time I need to go on a diet, every program says, “Don’t think ‘diet’”? What am I supposed to think? I need to lose weight. Is that not connected with going on a “diet”?

Maybe I need to rethink the entire thing. Maybe I could think “withdrawal”. Withdrawal from food! That should help me feel better! I’ll get some pocket scales so I can weigh the food I’m not going to eat! On second thought, I think I’ll just go on a “diet”.

As I aged and my eyesight dimmed, I realized I had a real problem. When I stepped on my bathroom scales, I could not see how much I weighed. My husband, trying to be helpful I guess, offered to look for me. I knew that was not the answer!

Now I have the ideal solution to my problem. Escali bathroom scales hold the weight long enough for me to step off the scale, pick it up and hold it close enough that I can see my own weight. O happy day! My problem is solved. Thank you, Escali.

It’s hard to get a full meal cooked for several people, especially getting it all done at about the same time so everything will be warm.  It takes a lot of planning and coordination, and knowing about how long each item takes.  It’s reasonably easy to cook one dish at a time, but that doesn’t compare with cooking a complete meal and serving it.  When I was growing up, my mom would have me peel the potatoes, or make the cornbread, or set the table; however, I had never tried to cook a meal until I married.  I had a lot of learning to do in a hurry.

Things are so much more convenient now.  The old wood cookstove has been replaced by an electric stove with a convection oven accompanied by a microwave oven.  In addition, the food scales can weigh each ingredient when baking cakes, cookies, etc., and avoid having to wash measuring cups and spoons.  Many things have improved, but it’s still difficult to get a complete meal done, everything on the table, the table set, and be ready to eat at the time everyone is expecting to eat.  Life is complicated.

We have just finished a one-day Vacation Bible School at our church.  It was lots of work, but lots of fun for all of us.  It took several months of planning, many hours of decorating, and a lot of studying and preparing.  Then the children descended upon us and the fun began.  Children learn so much and enjoy learning when they are young; and it’s so much fun for adults to watch the little lightbulbs go off when they catch on.  The teenagers wrote and performed a skit at the end of the day, which was fantastic.

It’s also fun and entertaining to teach children while working in the kitchen.  A good set of kitchen scales can be fun while teaching them measuring skills, as well as the importance of measuring accurately.  There’s no better way to bond with your children or grandchildren than to spend time with them in the kitchen.  You’ll be glad you did!

Sometimes I think my chihuahua is smarter than I am.  He only eats enough food, then you can’t make him eat anymore.  He spits it out if you put it in his mouth.  Needless to say, he is not too fat.  He is just the right size for his bone structure.

Why can’t I learn to stop eating when I have had enough?  Instead, I continue to eat when I know I’m going to feel miserably full and gain more weight.  My large capacity scales tell me I’m right, but that’s no consolation, because in this case, being right about what I’m doing means I’m doing the wrong thing.  I know a few people that say, “I’m not hungry,” and refuse to eat regardless of the occasion.  I’m not one of those.  I can eat any time, any place, and almost anything.  I’m going to have to change my attitude about food, then maybe I can change my eating habits.  Wish me luck!