[Zen Pharmacy]

So I'm here because I couldn't sleep. Insomnia happens to the best of us, I suppose.

Anyway, I had a realization today on my rotation (I'm a pharmacy student/intern, you see). I was counseling a diabetic patient on lifestyle modification and felt overwhelmed with hypocrisy. How can I tell this person that they need to lose weight when I'm only 30 pounds or so lighter than they are?

I've always run that line between being just fat and being athlethic. I was adopted into a family of freakishly thin (much as I love them) super athletic folks. So while I still lived at home, I was fine. Lots of sports, lots of outside activities, they all kept me if not skinny, at least muscular and in the lower end of overweight.

I went off to undergrad and gained about 60 pounds over the course of 4 years. Moved to the UK to do an internship and the lack of a car and what I like to call the "poor exchange rate" diet worked them back off.

Then I got married, earned a M.S. degree in computation chemistry (which involves sitting on my butt) and gained most of it back. Then came the rest and a little more when I started Pharmacy School.

My husband has also gained weight with me since we were married. I'd like to call him the foil to my previous weight loss attempts (because he's a picky eater, is hesitant to drop the nerd diet of mt. dew and cheese puffs), but I think that I need to accept responsibility.

So, I'm here to clean up my mix of Southern/Cajun/Alaskan style of cooking and get back on the plan. A former tennis partner/outdoor sports partner in crime has started a graduate program at my university so I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of activities. I don't have a night running buddy (and my days are packed between lectures/library/clinic hours) so I've worked out a deal to purchase a treadmill from a friend.

I think I can do it this time. I want to be able to look a patient in the eyes during counseling and say, "I know it's hard, but I'm proof that it is possible to change."

Being able to shop at the cute little boutique shops in town, wouldn't hurt either. (Darn these SEC schools with their overabundance of cute sorority girls).

[Jmlstarz]

I couldn't sleep either ! My husband too is clinging to his nerd diet. Makes it hard to cook meals! Good luck with your goals this year!

[NightengaleShane]

Hi there, Zen Pharmacy! I like your username, by the way.

Spouses sure can make weight loss difficult, huh? My girlfriend eats lots and lots of crap and while she has gained weight in our relationship (17 pounds in 2.5 years), I gained a **** of a lot more - 50 pounds in 6 months! She truly DOES have a fast metabolism by nature, as she eats 2,500-3,000 calories on most days (I tracked her calories out of curiousity for one month - average was 2,750) and when I eat as much as she does, I get as big as a house. And it IS difficult to start a new lifestyle change/eating plan when you are in a relationship with someone who eats food with little nutritional value. Yes, it IS an excuse, but it's an excuse that I sure can sympathize with!

Oh, as for being both chubby AND athletic... it's possible. One of my good friends eats healthily, works out plenty, plays lots of sports, AND has a physical job (she's a mail carrier) but she is, according to the BMI scale, overweight. Not obese, but overweight... and she WAS technically obese (even if on the lower end of the spectrum) before she started her job. She's just an endomorph... those build both muscle and fat and are just not meant to be thin. Thin is a specific body type... fit and healthy comes in all sizes