Badminton, Baby!

This past week has been really good, including the weekend. I have been sticking to my points allowance for the most part. (On Sunday evening I indulged a little. We had been walking around an amusement park with the kids all day and I was famished.) Keeping up the exercise hasn't been as difficult as I had expected; my energy levels are surprisingly high. I guess I owe that to cutting out the crap: I don't have the usual sugar highs-and-lows anymore. I am getting plenty of fiber, enough protein and almost all the sugars I am taking in are coming from fruit.

But (why must there always be a but?) I am hungry. There's no denying it. I am not hungry all day every day, but it does happen. It has been that way with any diet that was successful for me. I can deal with it just fine; I usually have a glass of water, a coffee (black) or one of my fruity snacks. It does make me wonder though if it's a necessary evil we have to go through?

On the exercise front I am reacquainting myself with an old favorite: Badminton. After I graduated back in 2005, I started playing badminton on Thursday evening with some friends. After a while the friends quit, but then Engineer Daddy joined. I love this sport so much, mostly because it feeds the - usually dormant - competitive side in me. I can work up a serious sweat and not even notice it because I'm having so much fun.

I stopped playing when I was 5 months pregnant with MiniMe. After she was born, during the breastfeeding period I preferred staying home with her in the evening. When she was weaned I still stayed home because one of us had to keep an eye on her. And then a few months later the cycle of pregnancy and breastfeeding started again. Engineer Daddy and I decided this was something we needed to do together again. For the first time ever we're hiring a babysitter (that is not family). I am so happy we made this decision.

Tomorrow is going to be hell with sore muscles. Oh well.