A Weighty Issue

I was fortunate enough to attend a work related training in Washington D.C. last month. It was awesome. I got a lot of information on how to promote wellness for Native Americans. There was one downfall, however. Every morning, they provided us with a delightful breakfast buffet. It had cheesy scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausages AND bacon. I was running several miles every morning, so I came to the table with my appetite. I figured 'what the heck- I may as well enjoy myself' since I follow a pretty good diet most of the time. I would heap my plate full and sometimes even go back for seconds. No harm, I thought, I'm running it off. One day I even beat my personal best and did an 8 mile run.

I was feeling great- until I got home and hit the scale. I was up 9 pounds! I was floored! How could this happen? I really thought about the amount of calories I was taking in- and that little trip through the buffet probably more than doubled the amount of calories I usually have in a day. That, and only running- not getting in any weight lifting or sparring or wrestling- meant that I was taking in WAY more than I was burning off. I have a fight coming up on November 14th in Ontario, California, and I need to be at 125 pounds. This was NOT good. No longer do I have the luxury of cutting weight by sauna or dehydration (since the kidney failure). I have to cut this weight the old fashioned way- diet and exercise.

It's been really hard getting the weight off this time. I've cut back on the food, increased the exercise- but still- it's slow going. Right now, I'm only 2 pounds down. It's pretty frustrating. I just finished a brutal workout on Sunday- which is usually my light day. I flipped the tire, dragged the chunk of iron, used the sledgehammer, climbed the rope and ran the hill. I'm sore and tired and cranky. My poor husband gets the brunt of it. He overcooked my veggies the other night, and I was not pleased. When you have only veggies for dinner, they have to be delicious. I apologized, of course, but I'm sure I won't have mushy cauliflower next time!

Derek, my wrestler training partner, has been totally successful cutting weight. He got down to 133 this weekend. It sucks to weigh the same as him. He's usually over 150. Now that's he's all cut up and I'm puffy- he gets to call me all the nasty names until I make weight. His favorite right now is 'jelly roll'- the jerk! It is motivating me, though. I'm much more serious about avoiding the sweets, now.

On the plus side (literally), I feel a lot stronger. My punches are more solid, my endurance is good, and I feel really brutal. I have all kinds of nastiness in store for my next opponent. I just hope I can make weight!