Back on track!!

Dear Dawn:

I miss you, too! I am up early this morning for a class I have to attend, but more because I know if I don't get out and exercise this morning, I will really lose another day to excessiveness. It's been rough lately! I've found that the best key for me is to start the day with exercise. I hear what you are going through... the familiar flavors and all of the feelings and comforts that come with them. I am going to say that we both have to remember and live by this: Confidence and being truly comfortable are two things that we carry with us, no matter where we are and no matter where we go... they don't come through any food or superficial stuff. Why is that so hard to remember when we get around family and friends.... especially when we're back home?
Anyways, in focusing on the positive:

-I have lost 11 lbs since we started!! (Although, I think I've gained alot back, BUT I can and will lose it again!)
-I am able to get back on track after seriously "falling off the wagon"
-I have you for support and you really understand what I'm going through
-I live in a beautiful city with lots of outdoor summer activities that don't
have to involve food
-I have the ability to get out to walk and move in the morning- what a blessing that is!
-Thank God, I am still a relatively healthy person; now it's up to me to preserve that and to reverse any negative effects that might begin creeping in
Alright, Dawn! WE can do this!!!

I'm off for a walk, and the next time you're at a gathering, think of how much everyone wants to catch up with and know about how you're doing! Learn something interesting about everyone who is there! Talk to them! And remember- you can't talk to people if your mouth is full, right? The celebration is not the food, it's YOU!!

With love, Morgan

NOT starving in Africa!

Disclaimer: THe following post was typed on a delapadated computer in africa. Spelling might be terrible and the language might not make sense. I hope you can decifer the type!
Spellcheck is not working and I am too lazy to re-read it. Please Morgan, spellcheck it for me and then repost it!

Thanks in advance........

Oh Morgan,

I am in Cape Town South Africa. I have been here for a week. What a beautiful land this is.
Apart from the rain and the cold teperatures, I am loving every minute.
The only curse is the food.
Unlike most South African---I am not starving.
I am so full I can barely type this.

I was so good the first 3 days and then I went to one of the gatherings and the curries, nan bread and Brittish deserts lured me in. Everything here is delicious. I have yet to find a food I do not like. All the sweets and yummy deserts are flavored with custard, toffee or caramel! All my weak flavors are rolled into one.

The good news is that after 4 days of eating non-stop and trying everything... I am done.
I dont want to eat anymore.
I am tired of eating--can you believe it?
I am not saying that this will continue, but I will definitly slow down a bit.
I think that the idea of just eating because I can nauseates me. Especially in a country where more than half are starving as I gorge my face with food-- enought for 4 people.

So I am going to focus on the positive.

1. I am still able to get back on track
2. I have lost 12 lbs since we started this journey
3. I am looking and feeling so much better than I have in at least a year
4. I have done this before and know that I can do it again
5. I have you to dish with and you for suppot
6. I have to stay on track so that I can support you too
7. I am going to be in Africa for a total of 6 weeks! I have to get back on track sooner or later--otherwise I will be back where we started and that will not be good. Not for me or for our blog!
8. And finally, because we actually have people who read this blog--can you believe it. And they are so nice and supportive and they are going through or have gone through this before. What an incentive.

So thats it Morgan.
I am in Africa, not starving, but willing to get back on track first thing!

My body is aching from the strain of this weight.
My conscience is hurting from my gluttony in the land they say is filled with milk and honey, but instead is filled with starving cold africans, many displaced from their homes.
My back is sore, my head is sore and my blood pressure could definitly be better than it is!

I miss you and our chats. I long to look out my kitchen window as I prepare a healthy meal and see you across the way in your kitchen doing the same.
Miss you neighbor. Miss you friend.
But most of all, I miss you-my diet buddy

Thank god for facebook and blogger.com

-Love Dawn

The Deep-Fried South

Dawn! It's been so long since I've last written- I know you're halfway across the world by now yourself? Please let me know how you're doing!
I've been back home since we last spoke- visiting my parents in the little town that I grew up in outside of Charlotte, NC. I had a lovely time, really, I did, but like many things to do with Southern culture, part of having fun is enjoying the food! When will I learn how to differentiate the fun from the food? Well, the painful truth is this: after gallons of sweet tea, dozens of fried-chicken-filled biscuits, slice after slice of pecan pie, homemade mint-chocolate pound cake with a sad streak in the middle, crisp fried okra, peach cider, apple pie, and oh, you name it, I ate it, I am ashamed to say that I feel certain that I've gained back every pound I lost. Oh, Dawn- I tried so hard to be good! And, I was at first, but with all the choices, and delicious selections.... well, my urge to eat got the better of me! Some days I just ate and ate until I couldn't eat anymore.... in my mind, I guess I was thinking "How often do I get to eat these yummy things living in NYC? Never! So, I better eat as much as I can while I'm here!" I ate until I was numb, until my sides hurt, and until I sometimes fell asleep from the fullness. Now, what kind of twisted-up logic is that? Really! I guess it wouldn't be so twisted if I were thin and had better habits, but in my current state, it can be identified as nothing other than a really fat person pigging out and eating disgusting amounts of unhealthy food like a pig at a trough who wants the very last scrap. I am like an alcoholic with food, Dawn- I can't stop at one bite or one portion! If I have it, the flood gates are open, and the rest and then some comes pouring in! I am not satisfied until I give in.

Going home has such a strange effect...In my moments of weakness, I seemed to revert back to my childhood habits of sneaking food out of the refrigerator when no one is looking and scarfing it down really quickly as I hear footsteps approaching the kitchen for shame of being caught. This has got to end!
Well, I won't be home again until Christmas. So, I guess between now and then I can lose the weight that I gained back while I was here, and figure out how to combat the Deep-Fried South when I do visit. I am determined to break the cycle, Dawn! I seriously cannot live like this.... at least not very healthfully for much longer, that's for sure!