Why I'm Starting This Blog

I'm starting this blog because friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers keep asking me, "How do you do it?"
"Do what?" I ask.
"Stay so thin!"
At first I would stare at them blankly for a few seconds before answering, "Oh, I don't know." Then I'd smile and change the subject before the daggers in their eyes penetrated me any deeper. Keep in mind, they are mostly women asking me that question, especially after I had each of my two children.

And I honestly didn't know the answer. Until a few years ago I started to pay attention to what I ate, how much, when, my level of activity, my attitude towards eating, etc. I was always interested in the subject of health/nutrition, but not until I had two children did I realize that my eating habits were definitely paying off. I don't exercise. I don't diet. But I do "watch" what I eat and I've sloughed off most of my pregnancy weight. I'm 30 years old, currently weigh about 125 lbs and I'm 5'6" tall. I work full-time. I have a genetic predisposition to being thin: I was what I would classify myself as "skinny" as a teenager and my mom is thin now. I'll talk more about my history later.

The purpose of this blog is to try and find answers to the question of how I stay thin. I will attempt to describe in detail what I eat, how much, my activity and my personal opinions of food. I will refer to product names, but I am in no way endorsing them or affiliated with their business. This will be a case-study of one year in the life of a thin person.

So today I ate (in order):
- one slice of raisin cinnamon bread with about three "shavings" of butter (what's a "shaving?" - I'm not sure how much. Just imagine shaving butter with a kitchen knife so thin that it melts on the warm bread within seconds of spreading it. We're not talking globs or chunks or slices of butter, just shavings).
- a cup of water
- a cup of tea
- about 3 oz. of cream of wheat (no milk; a tsp of white sugar)
- 6 oz. of strawberry/banana yogurt (29g of sugar - yuck!! to me, that's too sweet for yogurt and it took me awhile to eat it. I was kicking myself for buying it in the food store).
- a slice of cheese pizza
- 2 tootsie rolls
- a half of a hershey chocolate bar
- about 2 full size graham crackers
- half a cup of regular coffee (with a tsp of white sugar and a sprinkle of creamer)
- a cup of chopped peaches (pre-packaged)
- about 2 cups of cooked spaghetti, a quarter cup sauce, 2 meatballs and a slice of garlic bread (prepackaged).
- 2 tall glasses of water

Nothing else before bed.

I got up probably about a dozen times from my desk at the office and walked to co-workers' offices, the bathroom and the kitchen. This is a small office - mostly the rooms are right down the hallway.
I got home from work and started dinner right away in the kitchen.
I cleaned up some of the toys scattered around the living room.
I went Christmas shopping for about an hour.