by Galen Daugherty

Created on: November 15, 2008

With the holiday season upon us, nothing is more satisfying to me and my office comrade's then stuffing my face full of the goodies that satisfied clients bring in. Going back to Colorado, eating and eating my mothers amazing home cooked food, Christmas dinner, desert, and all the in between. Nothing is more satisfying to me, then being a 31 year old army enlistee, knowing that I have to keep my weight well in check, stepping on a scale, and learning that I've gained 15 pounds. I don't really consider 31 old, but, it's not 16-25, when I went from big to small at the snap of a finger, and I was the hottest commodity on the market. It fills me with glee, to see these twenty-somethings in the army, eat what they want, when they want, and keep their washboard abs. I know, that if I ate half the stuff they did, I would be floating around like the Good Year blimp.

What was once possible: My weight- 165, maintained by donuts for breakfast, Micky Dee's for lunch, Taco Bell for dinner, beer for desert, stay up till 1:30-2 am (usually hanging out with some super hottie), up again at 6:00 am to do it all over. My weight the next morning: 163 lbs.

What it is now: Weight- 193 Wake up at 7:00 am, eat yogurt, a banana whole wheat toast and maybe a poached egg, chicken breast for lunch and a small salad with fat free dressing. No food with carbs, high fat or high sugar for the rest of the day, and definitely no food past 5 pm! Get off work, run a mile, 50 push-ups, 60 sit-ups, and hour of TV, bed by 10. My weight the next morning: 201 lbs. My dating life? Lets just say, it's there. When I grab a snack, it's yogurt, an apple, a banana, or a big glass of water, yummy.

My waist size is up, my energy is down. I trim the hair on my head less, and the hair in my ears and nose more. I wake up with tusks growing out of my nose, cracking joints and a sore back. I am more prone to falling into dietary supplements traps, and less prone to women. I forget to clip my toenails until they hurt, I remember to leave the hallway light on so I don't stub my toe on the way to the rest room several times a night.

It is my last weekend off before Army drill. I have lost almost no weight since the last drill, so I know that my Sgt.s are going to be on me. While the 20-somethings pass me in the mile, I'll be following them up, usually staying within my time by a couple of seconds. I will be skipping the deserts and the fruit punch at chow. If I survive the weekend, I will start the following Monday over, back to my regiment of fruits, vegetables, dietary supplements, water and slimming tea. I will continue to work out, to no avail. Hey, at least I don't have to cut my hair as much as the youngsters do!

Heres the gist of it: Work out, maintain your health. Don't eat foods hight in fat, bad chlorestoral, sugar; stay away from energy drinks, alcoholic bevrages, caffeen, punch, guarana, high fructose etc. To sum it up, stay away from anything that might make you feel just a little better when you're feeling a little down. Rule of thumb: If you can enjoy eating it, don't. Offer that piece of office birthday cake to the girl or guy, who wouldn't give you the time of day outside of work, that can eat 10 pieces of the same cake and not gain an ounce. Put down that cup of coffee, that smells so amazing. Follow these few simple healthy eating choices, and like the rest of us, you will still die anyway. Enjoy somthing awful to eat, your time is limited on earth.

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