Week Two - Life Gets in the Way

I look at the thin and well-kept and I want to run to them and shake them by the shoulders and say, "How do you do it?"

Not because I don't think I'm beautiful or could be thinner, but because I've never looked as picturesque as some girls can look on a daily basis just because life gets in the way.

Maybe my hair's frizzy and I'm rushing out the door or am in a hurry to get to my writing, so I just put it up in a ponytail and leave it at that.

Sometimes I get off work late and can't make it to the gym because then there would be no time to make dinner, let alone eat it, or write or study or do the other many many things that make up my after-work day.

Or, like in this past week, my dad has a stroke and I have to go to California to be with him. There are no Boston Sports Clubs in California, so I had no gym. I thought I'd get to ride my mom's bike on the extensive bike trails, but because my dad got out of the hospital and needed an escort everywhere (they took his driver's license away temporarily), I was with him 24-7 and had no time for exercise.

I asked if we could walk to breakfast one morning, which would require going up and down a pretty-good-sized hill. Probably all told -- 1/2 or 3/4 mile. My dad, a lover of exercise, thought that was silly and insisted on driving.

Moreover, living in Boston and visiting my family for maybe the 3rd time in a year, it was vacation. Vacation means restaurants every day. Restaurants mean big portions, uncontrolled calories. And in my family, it means Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's. Even though I ordered "healthier" items on the menu (like salads, potstickers, lettuce wraps), I felt like I was eating out of control -- and was.

So...you people who manage to look pristine daily, I have a question for you, "How do you do it without letting life get in the way?"