Vacations and diets just don’t mix…

Clams/Suzys Artsy Craftsy Sitcom

I have mentioned before that I am currently in the midst of a major diet.  A few years ago, I had lost over 60 pounds and was actually running in marathons.  My father died, and the resulting depression affected me in the weight department.  I tend to eat to feel better.  I ended up gaining most of that weight back.  Unable to get myself back into control, I hired a company called Quick Weight Loss to help monitor my diet plan and give me direction along the way.  I am already down a little over 30 pounds and am working to get back to running those marathons again.

Of course, hiring a weight loss company means that they are all up in your business.

All the time.

I mean that is what you pay them for, and you certainly can’t fault them for doing their job.  However, that doesn’t stop me from being annoyed at times.  They require that I weigh in several times a week, and present to them in writing what I ate since the last time they saw me.  If you miss a couple days, they call to check on you.

Some of you might be too young to remember the Flintstones, but there was an episode where Fred had to go on a diet to be in a commercial.  He didn’t realize that he was supposed to be the “before” photo.  Anyway, he hired a company to monitor him.  Every time he went to eat something he wasn’t supposed to, a guy would jump out from behind the curtains or from around the corner and snatch it away from him, yelling, “Oink, oink oink!”.
The company I hired is kinda like that.
Oregon Coast/Suzys Artsy Craftsy Sitcom

So, when this trip to the West coast came up, I told the nice folks at the weight loss place that I was going to be out of town.  They gave me several long lectures on what to eat and what not to eat and stocked me up on protein bars, diet drinks and supplements for my trip.  I left with a plan.

And then I got to California and there was food.  I started off slowly with orange juice- something I haven’t had in several months.  And it was downhill from there.  We saw the ad for a restaurant with “meatballs the size of your head” in Palo Alto.  And the diet plan went straight out the window.

Mt. St. Helens/Suzys Artsy Craftsy Sitcom

Not that I totally went crazy, but there was chocolate cake, cheese cake, black cherry ice cream, fried fish, and maybe a little pasta.  Fortunately for me, there was also a ton of walking.  California isn’t kidding when they put a hill in front of you.  Seemed that everywhere we went, there was a hill involved.  In some cases, a small mountain.

The result? A two pound loss.

I’d be happy, but for the two telephone calls a day that I received from the weight loss center the whole time I was gone.  I know their number, and I never answered.  I was irritated that they were calling me while I was on one of our family vacations.  What did they think I was doing? Cheating?

Now how would they get that idea?

Come to think of it, I never did check behind those curtains before ordering dessert…

California/Suzys Artsy Craftsy Sitcom