Weighing In - Week Twelve

"I love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful, beautiful life." Darryl Worley.

This pretty much sums up my week and as the scale shows, I'm just barely hanging on to all my previous hard work.
This week's blog isn't going to be about how hard I've worked out, because I haven't since Wednesday. And it isn't going to be about how I've stuck with my diet, since that too has become a bit erratic. No, this week, it will be about how sometimes life spins out of control and all you can do is go with the flow and hope that once the ride is over, you're able to stand up on your own two feet without losing your lunch.

It all began Sunday evening, after a Mother's Day feast of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, biscuits. Basically nothing I considered diet friendly. I was pleasantly stuffed and checking my email, when a well-intentioned friend sent me a link to a PETA video. Normally, I would avoid watching things that I knew would disturb me. I won't lie, "Ignorance is bliss," was my motto when it came to knowing where my dinner came from. But for some reason, I decided it was time to face my fears (big mistake) and burst my own personal bubble, so I watched... and I watched... horrified. And when it was over, I was crying. Physically ill and disturbed beyond any hope of erasing the images and sounds from my mind. And in that moment, Vegetarian-Cheri was born.

Now, because my choice to become a vegetarian is a personal one, I'm not forcing it on my children. No, I will not let my children watch the video (although the boys asked) and no I'm not stopping them from eating their beloved hot dogs, chicken breasts, or steaks. I firmly believe that a decision like this (much like politics and religion) can only be made for ones self. But because I, myself won't be eating meat anymore, I'm able to stretch my budget in a way that will allow me to purchase the pricier, independent, more humanely farmed meats and animal products. We are moving to soy milk as a household not just because of the pathetic life of a diary cow but because it often helps children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and some forms of ADHD. So it seems like a two-for-one, win-win situation, to me. But it becomes a bit trickier with cheese. That's a dilemma I'm still working on. You see, we eat a LOT of cheese in my household... and finding it produced in ways that are not factory/production-line'esque (I know, that's entirely my own language) well, it's something that will take a bit more research. Anyhow, I've gone a week without meat and surprisingly, I'm A-OK with that. I'll admit, it was a little hard trying not to think about where the chicken breasts came from, as I grilled the kids dinner on Monday night but I did it.

In an aside, please note that I'm not on a soapbox preaching to anyone about cutting meat from their diet. This is solely a personal choice and I have no problem with others continuing to be carnivorous. By all means, please, enjoy your cheeseburgers and fried chicken. I used to, so, enough said.

Now, the rest of the week was hectic as everyone in my household was plagued by horrible allergy attacks. The kids weren't sleeping- sneezing, wheezing and coughing their way through the night, which meant I wasn't sleeping either. The mornings were particularly difficult. As many of you know, a tired child is NO fun to get ready in the morning. Times that by three. Yes, it was beyond difficult. Then it seemed, no matter what I did, we were always running late and when I start my day in that manner, it stays that way for the remainder. Always two steps behind everyone else. It's very frustrating and tiring trying to constantly catch up.

Then of course, school was it's own difficulty this week. It turns out, I'm allergic to the hair color the school uses. Every time we began working with it, I became an itchy mess from head to toe. I wanted to crawl out of my skin I was so uncomfortable. I don't look forward to getting out on the salon floor where I'll be exposed to it 8 hours a day, three days a week, for 9 months. Just thinking about it now has me itching!

In addition to chemical allergies, I personally suffered from pollen allergies and with them came the headaches, sneezing, itching eyes, sore throat and body aches. This is where the "diet" flew out the window. Although I continued with my salad lunches and healthy snacks, for my sore throat, I used the "ice cream cure." Nothing better than a bowl of "Cookies & Cream Ice Cream" at bed time to help soothe a painful throat. My kids love this cure, too! And no, this was not the "light" version ice cream. Come on now, what's the point of that?

So now, it's Sunday again. I have one child coughing like mad, another sneezing and coughing, while the third has the sore throat, lethargy and overall "yuck" feeling. All three a whining and easily set off today. OK, all four of us are that way. I myself am a mess. Itchy inner ears, nose, throat (and now itchy skin recalling hair coloring week two of for at school) and I still feeling like I could use another 8 hours of sleep. I wish I could say that I am going to be able to stay in my pajamas all day to rest and relax but I can't. We have family coming in from out of town today and everyone is meeting up this afternoon. Joy! I bet it's going to be a backyard event. Believe me, my family will be well dosed with Benedryl and Claritin, for sure!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful week. All in all, I tell myself, "It could have been much worse." And for that I'm grateful it wasn't. Here's to hoping next week is a little easier and whole lot less itchy. Until next time!

Weekly weight loss: 0.6 pounds
Overall weight loss: 23.6 pounds