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Winter sucks. It’s no secret.

Everyone prefers warmth and sunshine to cold and damp, right?

Winter has but one redeeming quality, which is the freedom to grow one’s leg hair and blubber, knowing that both will be camouflaged by layers of warm clothing.

I’m nothing short of thrilled that my mission: blubberflage is being thwarted this year because before year’s end, I’ll be back in my bikini, on a beach in Hawaii.

I love hanging out in a bikini, but I know from experience that it feels better when I can look down at my bad self and feel good about what I see. I do not seek perfection, I’ll never have a six pack, but I like to be in shape and as an admitted work-out junkie, the only obstacle between me and bikini mojo is my diet. Or lack thereof.

So, when December somehow arrived early this year, I knew it was time for boot camp. Whenever I need to drop a few pounds, I turn back to my trusty old pal, Weight watchers. I’ve had great success with WW, I lost the baby weight before my youngest even started kindergarten! And since that first big step, I’ve gone back for refreshers now and then, knowing that the simple art of paying attention is really all that I need to adjust back to the point where I can look down on my bikini-clad self and smile.

I have never attended a weight watchers meeting, I only use the online tools. I had nachos for dinner last night. Sometimes my biggest motivation to work out is the fact that I can earn 3 light beers with one hour of kickboxing. I’m not exactly a poster child. But let's traverse the journey toward today's 18 points together, shall we?

When I'm counting points, I pack my own lunch alongside the lunches I pack for the kids. I have a little purple cooler that serves me well.
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Complete with sporty ice packs!
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Here’s my breakfast on display at my desk....

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Also know as the point where I got sidetracked from explaining the points values in my diet.

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For lunch, I have salad. Now salad can be a tricky menu item. Sometimes the leaves are so green that they taste much like the soil that nourished them. My salads need pizzaz! I seek it in the form of hot peppers, my beloved beets, tasty proteins (this is leftie pollo asado) and damn it, I forgot the olives! Grrrr. Oh well, without olives, the only thing in this salad that even has points is the chicken. I could eat 6 of these salads today! But I won’t.

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Because the masterpiece, the magnum opus, the crowning glory and the saboteur of each and every day of my life is my dinner.

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What?

That's another salad - look closely under the chicken and the egg and the avocado and the bacon. And NO, I'm not drinking THREE beers, that would be ridiculous. The one with the fruit is my husband's. And please note that I'm not eating my boy's disgusting cheeseless preservative pizza or my girl's cheeseFEST pizza or my husband's sausage and peppers with a side of hot wings. It's a SALAD, damn it. And I worked out right before I got there.

I get to re-set tomorrow.