May 5, 2003
Went over to a birthday dinner for Betty (Kathy’s mom) at three yesterday. Brad and Carol, E.J. and Cedes also came. Fun talking to all of them. Unfortunately I had some champagne and when I went in to have my blood work up done this morning, my coumadin levels actually went down! I also had a small cup of homemade soup yesterdy that Kathy made with dark green vegetables (another no-no with coumadin). So I really messed myself up.

I have always eaten anything and everything I ever wanted. Steak and eggs for breakfast, double cheeseburger for lunch, roast beef and gravy for a snack and chicken fried steak for dinner. And I couldn’t put on weight! Once when I was about 14 I went to the lake with a friend’s family (who had a cute sister) and when we got changed into our bathing suits, my friend said, “You’re too skinny to go swimming.” That really helped my self-image. I became obsessed with gaining weight. I ate and ate. Nothing. At 6’1” I weighed 145 in high school and barely got to 165 in college. I could eat like the proverbial pig and never gain weight. I skated on this all thru my twenties and thirties, but he gravy train ended a week ago today.

Since my mid-forties I have hovered around the 200-210 mark (ironically a weight I dreamed of achieving because my dad weighed 200 and I thought, “If only I could get there, then I’d be happy.”). After my hospitalization a week ago last Thursday I have eaten very little (didn’t want to die). And now that I’m semi-out of the woods, I am still keeping a very low intake attitude. I’ve lost 10 pounds already. My pants are loose. I haven’t had Mexican food in two weeks (a world record!). But I blew it with the champagne and the soup and now I get more stomach shots as a reward.

Still managed to finish a drawing for Phil Spangenberger’s new column.

“How come I always get blamed for everything I do?”
—Dennis the Menace