Sheri's Scribbles

There is this phenomena called the "Freshman 15." It is common knowledge that college freshman gain weight in the first year they are away from home. My college freshman son recently wrote an essay about this for his English class. He got the idea because I was complaining about the Grad School 50 that I has put on over the last couple years, mostly over the last year that my backside has been glued to a chair in front of a computer. It certainly didn't help that usually there was a startbucks cup nearby. Well, it helped, but not in the weight department.

I have had this photo (actually, it was our Christmas card photo in 2008, only 18 months ago) on my desk all year. I have to say that while I was still "dieting" at that time. I was pretty happy about the way I looked. I'm easy to spot; I'm the only girl. I'm also only taller than those under 8 in the picture, lol. The summer before (June, 2 years ago), Jacob and I went to Seattle to visit some friends. Here is a photo from that trip. Since I am usually behind the camera, there are not many photos of me floating around. You can't see much of me in this picture. But, I looked HOT, lol.

I decided to do my two years master's program in three. This lightened my load the first year which was great. I thought (errantly) I've got this. Then my second year was not too bad, although I did add an internship to my course load. It still wasn't too bad, but I started to gain the second half of my second year.

I took Nate to Santa Cruz in May (1 year ago), just before the end of my second year. Here is another of the few pictures of me. It's not flattering. But, it helps tell the story of my Grad School 50.

Another year goes by. The year from Hell. Yes, I said it, because it was. Not only did I have a crazy course load, but I had more internship hours. In the fall, Nate had the H1N1 virus and was down for two weeks. And what does a sick 6 year old want more than anything else? To be held...by Mom. And so I did.

This put me behind in my courses. But, I figured I'd catch up during winter break. I'm a good student. It really didn't seem like a big deal. Then just before Christmas, I fell and injured my knee. BADLY! I realized that trying to write papers while on vicodin was not a great idea. So, again the work was put on hold. And, again I was sitting on my bum. Until I had surgery in January. And until I start Physical Therapy in February.

Oh, I had started a new semester. And I still had work from my prior semester. I became glued to my chair, at the computer, except when I was at PT. And every week my PT asked if I had been doing my exercises. UM. Well, anyway, here I am NOW. It's not pretty. But, it's the beginning of my battle with my Grad School 50.

I am not going to share how much I weigh. Come on, this IS a public blog. But, I am going to track my loss. As of yesterday, I am down 2.8, since graduation.

My angle of attack, is to first cut back on my starbucks and my Diet Pepsi. These have been my crutches the last several months. And it's time to learn to walk on my own, literally, lol. I'm also trying to plan meals better. I am planning a weekly update to say how it's going. I'm counting on my readers/friends to hold me accountable.