FAT BOY

The November and December holidays have always been my favorites for several reasons. The main reason though is the feasts that are devoured on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. I remember in years past eating plate after plate of all the things associated with these big meals. Things like turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. MMM, what a wonderful time of year.

I could type about food all day, and my propensity to gorge myself with all the tasty morsels of the seasons, but this post is about the change my body has gone through in the last couple of months. I can't pin point an exact date, but I can pin point the meal. It was about a month ago, at this all you can eat pizza buffet. One of my all time favorites, an eat 'till you can't breathe establishment. Well I was doing my usual, eating piece after piece of pizza, a little spaghetti here and there, and wash it all down with a big glass of tea. Well I did the eat 'till you can't breathe deal, and left happy and completely satiated. I went home and started doing something, more than likely watch television or read, or something fun like that. Well about 2 hours after I ate, I felt miserable. Just a total blah feeling. I didn't feel like moving, I didn't feel like doing anything. I was completely and utterly ill. I didn't link my feeling to the amount of food I ate, I was thinking that it was just my allergies (which had been bothering me for a while).

I eventually fell asleep and got my 8 hours or so. When I woke up in the morning, I felt about the same. Still blah. I got up and went to class. After walking to and from, I felt a little better. Not hungry at all though. That's when I started thinking maybe it was the gluttony that went on the night before that caused my pain.

Two or three days later, I did it again. Not all you can eat buffet, but some big meal I had. I believe it was a steak or something I cooked. Once again, miserable because I ate too much...

Before I talk too much here, let me describe myself a bit. I live to eat. I'm not saying I'm a complete slob and always have one hand in a bag of doritos and the other wrapped around a big mac. It's just something that I've always enjoyed doing. I like trying different restaurants, different types of foods. I think that a meal is a wonderful place to bond with friends, a great place for a date, and a wonderful occasion for a family to get together. Without wanting to sound too much like a chub, a lot of my days are based around meals. I don't really eat breakfast, but lunch is pretty much planned out around the same time everyday, as well as dinner. All the other stuff that happens in a day is a filler. Simply put, I truly enjoy eating.

In the last couple of weeks though, I've gone from always looking forward to eating, to being a little careful with how much I eat. It's probably something that I should have done years ago, but I've never been affected like this before. Today for example, Thanksgiving, my all time favorite holiday, I had one plate, that's it. It was a full plate, but nothing compared to my usual amounts of food. After I finished it, I quit, I wasn't miserable yet, but well on my way to it. In the past I would have continued eating, and never felt miserable.

So here's my question. Is this something that happens once you get to a certain age? It was like hitting a brick wall for me. I was going 100 miles per hour, eating all I could, then BAM, I have to stop (or be completely miserable).

I could be the optimist in this situation, me not stuffing myself, might mean a little weight loss. I'm not saying I'm huge fat, but it wouldn't hurt my to lose a pound or 50. I'm just wondering if this is a full time change, or something that's going to pass in another month or so.

Life presents so many challenges to us. It's funny that this is the one that is the most puzzling to me right now!

Happy Thanksgiving