I treat my body like a tent

Excerpt from Fruitcakes - Jimmy Buffett

Here come the big ones--
Relationships--We all got 'em, we all want 'em.
What do we do with 'em?
Here we go I'll tell ya
She said you've got to do your fair share
Now cough up half the rent
I treat my body like a temple
You treat yours like a tent.

These are among my favorite lines in Buffett's Fruitcakes (although the lines about religion crack me up every time). I must admit I'm more in tent-mode than temple-mode and I have been for quite some time. I used to joke that I still eat like I'm in college. The not-so-funny part is that my body reacts differently to collegiate fare now that I'm nearing 40.

Since C and I were married, we've been incredibly skilled at saying, "You know, we need to create a meal plan." Follow through has been as thorough as our pre-purchase research of big ticket items. That is to say, it's been nil. Planning is not our strong suit.

Tonight C suggested that I create a meal plan because I'm home and have time. Yeah, right....when would I blog if I was busy doing that?! (Insert wink). He even said he'd willingly cook the food on my plan. So, I signed up with South Beach Diet online. My friend Small Town Girl told me today that her brother lost a ton of weight on it. SBD makes it easy - for only $5 a week they give you all kinds of web resources, a menu plan, a shopping list, access to nutritionists, etc, etc. I thought "what the hell, I'll give it a go." And, yep, to me it's worth $5 a week to have someone else plan our meals. I'm that kitchen-averse.

The first two weeks will be the toughest: no wine, no bread, no fruit. But I'm gonna do this. Hold me to it. I'm tired of carrying around my 7 year old, 40 pound, post-baby weight.

Now I gotta go drink, eat chocolate, and finish the left over fruit. The plan starts tomorrow. Wish me luck.