Thursday, March 28, 2024

C. Stroup – What a waist

A couple of months ago I confessed about the weight my hubby and I had amassed. … I went on to say that taking it off was quite a task. But the truth of the matter, even though we struggled through, looking down at the numbers on the bathroom scale was an awesome view.

We’d been religious about what we ate, got used to the salads; the chicken and fish … even the veggies starting tasting great. Our meals took much longer to prepare as pizza had been a weekly fare. Frozen entrees were out of the question. Reading about the calories was a scary lesson. Thin sticks of celery and carrots, too, we noshed more than our share, more than a few. Dipped in lo-cal ranch helped the flavor and doing so did our diet a favor.

Just shy of four months of watching our weight, growing slimmer and slimmer became well worth the wait. Bending over to tie our shoes was a wonderful thing after paying our dues. Ken tipped the scales at a mere 162 and 115 for me, although I had a few more pounds to lose. We each had a goal set in mind, he reached his. I needed more time. Two-hundred was the number where Ken started out and as for me 129 spoke to what I’d been feeding my mouth. 

We planned to get rid of more than our goal so when the time came we could fill up our bowls. Papa Stroup was coming down to stay a few days and, last time he saw us, he hinted that we should change our ways. So more than just a challenge to ourselves, we wanted to show him his advice had helped.

Papa is thinner than he should be and needs fattening up it’s plain to see. So the day before he got off the plane, we stocked up on all things fattening in his name. In came the Cheetos, cheese and chips along with the peanuts, popcorn and dips. We spared no expense on the ice cream and cake, cookies and chocolate jumped into our shopping cart’s wake. All chicken and red meat were fried in grease and pasta and breads were on the increase.

I did bake some salmon for dinner one night as Papa had never had a bite. But that just wasn’t the only first for him. On his 95th birthday we made him grin. We all went to Braum’s for a decadent treat … his banana split was all he could eat. As Ken and I inhaled our scrumptious delight, Papa was struggling with all his might. So we brought the rest home and stuck it in the freezer and for four nights it served as dessert for the geezer. (My bad but it did rhyme).

[So we brought the rest home and in the freezer it went and for four nights it served as dessert for the old gent. (There, is that better?)]

Uncle Roy, who is Papa Stroup’s brother, loves to bake bread and give it to others. So whenever Ken’s dad comes for a stay he always has two loaves stashed away. The bread is full of raisins and nuts and when eaten with butter goes straight to the gut.

Once Papa went home after gaining a pound, Ken and I gasped as we looked around.  The whole house was loaded with fat pills to eat …”There goes our diet,” we said in defeat. Throwing food out is against my beliefs. If my mom were alive she’d give me such grief. A better solution is to give it away, to friends and to family, a nice gesture they say.

To help counteract all our eating sins, we walk every day in hopes to stay thin. We don’t do that much, 20 minutes or so, no matter the weather we’re faithful and go.  This seems to help, at least in our minds, ‘cause we both know we’ll falter come dinner time.

As it stands right now we’re holding our own but still sneak snacks and the occasional ice cream cone. Well, to be honest our transgressions are more than a few. Some of our old habits we’re starting anew. Guess we’ll just wait ‘til the scales tip again, then we’ll get serious about staying thin!   

Originally published in the October 2014 issue of The Cross Timbers Gazette.

C. Stroup
C. Stroup
Cindy Stroup is a Double Oak resident and has been contributing to The Cross Timbers Gazette for over 30 years. Read her column each month in The Cross Timbers Gazette newspaper.

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