I had an epiphany this weekend concerning my weight, dieting, and food. It's not anything I haven't really considered before, it just seemed to coalesce at a very appropriate time; just sort of a little light bulb going off with the classic "Ding!" sound.

The annual Grubbs/Morton (Mom's side of the family) family reunion...well, thing was this past weekend. There's more eating than 'reunioning', but that's par for the course given my family. If there were something else going on beyond the dinner it would be one thing-but nope. It's a food thing. At an all-you-can-eat buffet, no less. The Golden Corral. Or the Golden Trough, as we fondly refer to it. So in reality, there's between 40 and 60 folks there (including children-gads, we're a prolific family) squeezed into 4-top tables in the most crowded buffet restaurant in Pensacola. How much 'reunionizing' do you expect to take place? The kids had a great time-there's no way to impose the strict Morton law when the kids nearly outnumber the adults, and besides your great-aunt-whats-her-name won't make you chew with your mouth shut or tell you to stop running up and down the minuscule aisles between the tables. ...sigh... The one time each year that most of the family members get together, and it's AYCE. Don't get me wrong-I don't necessarily mean that I want to hang out somewhere else with all these people!

And then, as if that was not enough family togetherness to last me for the next 6 months, we had a Tucker (Dad's side) family dinner on Sunday. Aunt Fay is in town and it was the best way to get everyone together. This was pizza. Oh, and fried spring rolls from Val's in-laws, and potato salad from Grandma Morton. ...sigh...

Now, to see members of my family is to realize why all our bonding occurs across the dinner table. I didn't buy this amazing figure from a catalog, folks; it was proudly passed down by generations of Southern cooks and connoisseurs of anything fried, fatty, and/or containing "may-nays". (Partial credit to Val on that one, heh.) Very few members of either side of my family could be described as 'slim;' most range from 'pleasantly plump' to 'morbidly obese.'

Upon realizing this, I found myself at a crossroads. I could either say "to hell with it" and go with Mother Nature (and my voracious Southern appetite) or I could be the non-conformist I've always wanted to be (hey, I'm one of the only people I know that does not have a MySpace-I'm TOTALLY nonconformist!) and continue busting my ass to lose the weight and do my best to ensure that it doesn't creep back up. Still in the throes of a steady weight loss, I opted for the 2nd choice. Ask me again once I hit my first plateau. Anyway, I'm teaching myself to ENJOY eating right, and trying to set a better example for Cam. I'm hoping that getting (and keeping) the weight off will prevent the diabetes that my doc warned me of; I was borderline diabetic when I was pregnant with Cam, and I have many relatives on both sides of the family that are diabetic, too. Getting older is hard enough without your own body betraying you. Stupid pancreas.

Anyway...I've wandered off the topic. Yes, yes, it does happen from time to time, don't look so shocked. Tonight is a big night for me; my 7th weigh-in, and this could quite possibly put me over 20 pounds lost total! Well, online...in the meetings it will still be 15, but hey-I'll get more gold stars! (insert happy gold star dance here) I really am enjoying the whole Weight Watchers thing-the meetings aren't embarrassing at all, except for the fact that they are 2 store fronts down from the Riviera Gym...geez, guess which building MY fat ass is going into? Ahem. Anyway, I'm still all gung-ho about the diet and the weight loss and had to share my weekend story.

Oh-I did very well at both dinners, by the way. I had to use some of my weekly allowance points for the Buffet, but it wasn't with dreadfully unhealthy stuff. I didn't need to use any at all on Sunday-I brought stuff to make a grilled chicken wrap. :) It wasn't NEARLY as good as the pizza looked, but I behaved very well. I'm going to go drink some water-keep your fingers crossed for me regarding the weigh-in!