The REAL Hunger Games...

What do you do when you exercise strenuously at least 5 hours a week, eat sensibly, and still aren't losing weight? You go see your doctor.

And what does he tell you?

Mrs. Gilbert, have you tried anorexia?

Well, no. Not since I was 17, anyway.

My GP has recommended a 1,000 calorie a day diet. I've been doing it for two weeks now. Man, am I hungry!

But, if the scales at the gym match the scales at the doctor's office, I've lost 12 kilos in those two weeks. To be honest, I doubt they match up. That would put me at a weight loss of around 27 pounds, and that's just not healthy or possible. But the needle is creeping in the right direction. I'm guessing I've shed around 10 pounds.

As Dr. Jaggs-Fowler so charmingly put it, my body is eating it's own "packed lunch."

Most of the time it's fine, this diet. I spend a lot of time thinking about food, but the peppermint tea is really helpful and I'm drinking a lot of water. Today though, has been my first really hard day. I've just wanted to eat all day long. Willpower is hard to come by when you're fixing snacks for the kids, and when you have to prepare meals for them even when you can't eat them. One of the hardest things for me to do is throw away the food that they don't eat when I'm still hungry. It just seems like madness.

I do need to check with my doctor and my fitness instructor at the gym to make sure my exercise program isn't too strenuous for my reduced calorie diet. I get so weak by the end of the workout that I am literally shaking. My new lower body program is killer.

Funny, how I'm doing all this work to make myself healthier. It seems counter-productive at this point, because my whole body aches, I'm tired, and I'm so hungry right now that I feel physically ill.

Hope it's all worth it in the end.

I'm so hungry I can't stand it right now. That must mean it's time for bed. I'm going to go now, and dream about steak, pasta, and ice cream. And baked potatoes smothered in butter and soured cream. Maybe cheesecake, too...