You know, I am a very active person. I work out almost every morning at 5:30am, sometimes I double dip and do another round in the evening. In addition, the amount of coffee I consume (Death Wish in particular) on a daily basis should have my metabolism revving like an Italian Formula One race car.

Yet, I struggle.

I returned to Weight Watchers in January after a long absence and focused on the fact that I needed to move that stinkin’ scale in the right direction. But the work paid off and here I sit, enjoying 15.7 pounds of weight loss and I am faced with a serious challenge- German high school students bearing gifts of chocolate. We have two students, Max & Julius living with us for a few weeks.

At this very moment, I now possess about 8 pounds of German chocolate in various forms and flavors.  My favorite is chocolate with nuts; cold chocolate perfectly chilled in the fridge calling my name. Karen, it’s only one piece.  Karen, it’s a treat, you earned it.  Karen, THEY ARE 5 POINTS A PIECE!

I cannot tell a lie and I did partake a bit, ok three times.

Since these boys, including my son Jack, can consume seriously enormous quantities of food and calories, I thought i would to the mix and ‘what the heck’ procured six pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream now looming in the basement freezer.  They are on sale at Shoprite for $2.99 so why buy just one right?  I did purchase one Halo for myself to offset the pain and shame of looking like a depressed lunatic with six pints of Ben & Jerry’s in my cart. (There was also two pounds of bacon, chips, two dozen eggs and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls) There is no hiding.

I open the pantry- cookies, Ghirardelli brownies, pretzels, popcorn, snacks, ugh, holy cow!

I open the fridge- pudding, bacon, sausage, butter, and a few random apples and strawberries.

I keep a stash of emergency chocolate in the wine fridge.  Now there sits concealed an additional 8 pounds of German chocolate hidden among the Riesling and gewürztraminer. Wait, hidden from who?

Our last exchange students from Germany were two girls who ate like birds except for Pop-Tarts and Nerds.  I miss you Charlotte & Alena. Although now that I think about it, we did have that make your own sundaes evening with our friends Ben a& Jerry.  Max and Julius, you are a gem to have here and I do not look forward to saying goodbye. I will miss the closed doors, the German language exchange between you two when you are looking for the right word and the laughs about the differences in our cultures. I love sitting around the counter with you guys.

They say you can’t get change without the challenge, right? Ok bring it on. I bought 100 pieces of sugar free gum to chew to keep me (my mouth) occupied. No promises.