Monday, January 13, 2014

Binge and Purge...

Binge and Purge...it seems to be something that we as humans do in all aspects of our lives. I feel like over the past year I've spent a great deal of time binging and not enough time purging...and now that a new year has come, it's time to do some serious purging.

Now before you start to wonder, no I haven't taken to an eating disorder...but I have realized several things over the past few weeks. After our wonderful Christmas spent with family I stepped on the scale in my bathroom and I immediately realized that something needed to change. So I set out on a major portion control kick and even ordered T25...seriously I need my head examined! Time to purge.

I started to think about the times in my life when I decided that I needed to purge things...or when The Universe decided it for me. Almost immediately I thought about when I was living in Boston and things in my life seemed to be in complete and utter chaos. I went through a breakup about a month before and I'd taken to typing a journal on my computer. I poured everything into that journal and would spend countless hours reading through it and analyzing...well over analyzing...everything that I felt and consequently was still feeling. I fell into this endless cycle where I wasn't able to completely move past things and I honestly wasn't even looking for a way out of it.

That's when The Universe stepped in and handled things for me. I returned home from work one night and turned on my computer to start typing another journal entry...and then settle in for another night of reading through my heart break. That's when it happened...the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH! In denial about what was happening, I hit the power but and restarted my laptop. When it was in the process of restarting I heard this "thump, thump, thump, thump, thump," coming from the hard drive and then nothing. I got sick to my stomach as I started to realize what was going on. I immediately got on the phone with Dell and spoke to a lovely gentleman named John Anderson, who was clearly from India and that wasn't his birth name...but I digress.

John told me that it sounded like my hard drive crashed and that they'd send me a new one since my laptop was still under warranty. Great! But wait...what about all my files, music...and most importantly...my journal?! That's when John asked if I backed up my computer. :( My heart sank as I told him that I hadn't ever backed it up. He told me that my only option to attempt to retrieve data was to take it to a place that specialized in it. He said I could start with Best Buy and they might even be able to check it.

I set off to Best Buy the next day and dropped, what seemed like, my whole life off in the hands of a Geek Squad Member. He was a very nice guy and he took my information and told me he'd call me within a day or two with what he found. A DAY OR TWO!?!? So I reluctantly went to work and waited for his call. When it finally came...well...you already know what happened.

Purge.

The Universe intervened when I couldn't pull myself out of this rut. I lost everything on my laptop. I cried wondering what I was going to do...how was I going to get through this?! My whole life was poured into that journal, and all my feelings were in there...raw and real. And now it was gone. I spent the night sick to my stomach. When I woke the next morning I realized what really happened...I realized that I lost everything on my computer because I needed a restart. The Universe did what I wasn't able to...a hard reboot.

All these years later I recall that period of time whenever I'm in a place in my life that starts to become a rut. I know that if I want to be in control of the restart, I need to make the move...because The Universe won't be gentle. :)

So here I am...sitting at my table thinking about...food. Seriously, I went from 3,000,000,000 calories a day down to 1,600. That's right folks...1,600. I had headaches the first few days, and everything I looked at looked like food. I never realized that our couch is the color of a chocolate bar. Michael and I affectionately created the term "hungrumps." It is when Brian is hungry and GRUMPY! I had a severe case of the hungrumps for the first week, but here we are a little over two weeks into my weight loss and I'm doing well. Since I weighed myself three days after Christmas I've lost 15 1/2 pounds...and I know people around me say...you have no weight to lose...but let me tell you...a girdle and spanx do wonders when combined with the right clothing! :)

On top of the portion control, Michael and I have decided to do the cleanse again. Well, actually we purchased an elliptical machine and decided to do the cleanse because we both need to drop a few pounds before our trip to Hawai'i! Did I tell you we leave for Hawai'i next week?!? That's right! My motivation for losing weight is that it is currently the season where humpback whales migrate to the islands to have the calves...and I don't want to be mistaken for a beached calf and having people trying to push me back in the water! Michael just wants to fit into his board shorts. Either way...we are both on the cleanse...we are 4 days in and things are going quite well. I made my stuffed pepper recipe tonight, and it was just a delicious! I took pictures because I'm going to use it for my next column in My Edmonds News! Check it out next week for an updated version of the recipe, with step by step instructions. :)

Well I guess that now I'm starting to ramble, which means it's time to end this post. I guess what I'm getting at is there comes a time in every person's life when they need to purge. Have you sat back and assessed things lately? If you were to, would you have things you need to purge? Purging is necessary at times, and healthy. And remember...purge on your own before The Universe does it for you.

Until next time...Keep Cooking!

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