Ever lose a couple of pounds without even trying?  No, me neither, at least not often but strangely that has happened recently.  Don't hate me, mistaking me for one of those people with the metabolism of a hummingbird living on chocolate cake and french fries but never meeting a molecule of cellulite that sticks.  That is not me.

Instead the mystery has a rational explanation.  This weight loss (mere ounces really) has coincided with the arrival from college of my nineteen-year old son.  He's been home for about a month and it dawned on me this morning that the entire household has adopted the teenage boy diet. 

His chowing prowess, combined with that of his two brothers requires a daily trip to the store to re-stock the essentials.    They are at times like a biblical swarm, eating everything in the house.  It also means that they hide things from each other--the last can of coke, a favorite yogurt flavor, the Hershey's Syrup.  I'll find these little treasures secreted at the back of the fridge behind the artichoke hearts where they think the others won't care to look.

That tray of enchiladas?  They left me a sliver.  The Texas Sheet Cake?  Ditto.  It's like magic.  I eat all I want, or all the boys don't eat, and presto, I lose weight.  The upside is that there are plenty of vegetables kicking around and the fruit bowl always has an offering.  The only thing they seem to touch the apples for is to practice juggling.    

© Julia Barr 2010

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