What a Diet!

                                                                      "Photo courtesy Photos8.com"

I was over at the Sleep Apnea clinic today for a regular appointment and somehow we got off on the subject of diets.  I think we made the transition when my doctor asked me if I'd had any changes to my health since my last visit.

"Nope," I replied.  "I just got my annual physical results and everything looks fine.  And I've been keeping the weight off."


"You've lost quite a bit, haven't you," she asked.


"Well, yes but lately I've just been maintaining, which is fine by me because with all the traveling I've been doing, I consider 'maintaining' to be a real victory," I answered.


"What diet plan have you been on," she asked.


Wrong question!  You see, I attend TOPS, Take Off Pounds Sensibly but I don't exactly follow the "sensibly" part.  My philosophy this go-round has been to just eat in a manner that I thought I could continue to follow long-term.  For me, that has meant that I mainly eat desserts.

                                                                                                                         "Photo courtesy Photos8.com"

 "Desserts?" she said, incredulously.

 "Yes, well, I have this big sweet tooth and so I usually just go for the desserts but not a LOT of dessert.  For example, for lunch I might have the top off of a slab of cake and that's all," I explained.

"You don't eat the cake?"

"No, I figure that the cake is just empty calories and I really only like the frosting so I eat the frosting with just a bit of the cake.  Same thing with Hostess Cupcakes.  I cut the tops off and only eat the tops," I told her.

"Oh, my gosh," she said and started to laugh.  "I've got to tell my daughter this.  She's working on her Ph.D in Nutrition and she's not going to believe this.  I don't even like frosting.  One bite is usually enough for me."

"Hey, you are the type of person I always try to sit by when I'm at a function that is serving cake," I continued.  "I look for someone who is scraping their frosting off and only eating their cake then I offer to exchange the bottom of my cake for their frosting."

She couldn't stop laughing.

"What do you eat for breakfast?" she asked.

"Breakfast is usually only a bowl of oatmeal.  And supper is a normal meal but I eat small portions and no dessert.  It's just lunch that is my time for the sweets."

                                                             "Photo courtesy Photos8.com".

"And you want to hear the funniest part?" I asked.  "I won a trophy this year for having lost the most weight in our division.  When our TOPS leader gave it to me, the other folks in the group started asking me what I did to lose the weight.  He just looked at me and started shaking his head.  'Don't tell them, Dee!' he said.  But I told them anyway."

"What did you tell them," my doctor asked.

"I told them that I only eat sweets," I replied.  

We both laughed.  

"What can I say?" she asked.  "You're doing fine.  Come back in 6 months."

As she walked me to the door, she said, "I can't wait to tell my daughter about this."  She was still chuckling as she walked back down the hall.