From fat to flat in four months? Hrmph!

My New Year resolution is to downsize. I've already donated half of our holiday decorations. I rearranged the living room, which left less knick-knack space, so I also donated the "pretties."

Right before Christmas we donated our old bedroom furniture to St. Vincent DePaul charity resale.

Bill called grandson #1 with a truck, and right before closing time, they pulled up to the dock. The manager said in no uncertain terms she was not accepting any donations. Hubby looked stricken, and the haggling began.

He:    "I know it's late but we will help carry it in."
She:  "No! Come back tomorrow."
He:   "Please? What if we just leave it here on the dock?"
She:  "We'll put it in the dumpster." (yeah right)
He:   "My grandson came from far away to help. We won't have this truck tomorrow."
She:  "We'll be closing in five."
He:   "We can have it off this truck in less than five."

Begrudgingly, she looked the gift horse in the mouth, nodded, nudged the dock worker and refused to meet my husband's eye.

Ridding ourselves of clutter makes the house look cleaner, especially with the new dresser top bare instead of overflowing with stuff.

I am not a minimalist, but I am becoming an "I Need Lessist."

What I really need is less black pants in three sizes. The pair I bought for New Year's Eve has a stretch waist band, because I'd rather see a letter on the tag than a new number!

We sat with two other couples. The younger, thin woman picked at her food, examined every morsel, discussed carbs, and dairy and sugars with her husband before delicately nibbling.

I told her I teach at a school for children with food allergies, and I asked if she had allergies.

"No, I am trying to control my sugar without experiencing keratosis... because you need fat to hold your internal organs, but the fats you need... blah-blah-blah.  People keep asking me how I have lost so much weight since September, and they do not believe my scale reads the same thing as it did back then. Look at my stomach. It hasn't been this flat since...blah-blah-blah...I can't believe I've gone from a size 14 to a size 4, and my weight hasn't changed one pound."

I haven't been a size four since I was four years old.

"You want to know how I did it?" she asked.
I bit...into a buttered roll, stuffed a spoonful of mashed potatoes in my mouth and asked, "HOW?"

"I don't eat carbs or processed food anymore. I eat a hard boiled egg and string cheese for breakfast. No breads or cereal unless it's Grape Nuts." Gag me! Egg yolk EVERY day? Possibly break my teeth on that rock cereal...I don't think so.

"Mid morning I snack on ham chunks. Noon, I eat a salad and piece of protein. Mid afternoon I eat no calories at all: peanut butter smeared celery, and then for dinner, sweet potatoes and lean meat. Never ever French fries or breads or donuts or..." I'm tuning your skinny ass out. I tunneled into my pasta.

I know that I do need to downsize my scale number, my bra size, my underwear size...oh yeah, did I tell you, while unloading the dresser, grandson pulled out one of the drawers and a pair of my bright white granny panties went air born and lit up the night? The 20 year old was so embarrassed Bill had to retrieve them and stuff them in his pocket before they landed at the kid's feet.

So, on Wednesday, January 1st, I came to terms with myself.  I got out the egg carton and removed a dozen eggs. I boiled ten.
I fried the other two, cooked up a pan of bacon, prepared a tray of biscuits and got out the real cream butter. My "new year" doesn't start until I go back to school. If the predicted snow arrives, I may be nibbling chocolate covered pretzels a few more days. Then, it's all over for me and my carb loaded bottom.

I will keep you apprized of my weight loss endeavors.