No, I’m not talking about Bo Derek here. I am talking about the 10 pounds we seem to gain every time we make our glorious return to the United States. Surely this is a result of our intense craving for all comida mexicana, not to mention all the processed, convenient foods we are so accustomed to here. Things we really don’t have so much access to in Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, our diet primarily consists of:

Breakfast: yogurt, Muesli and berries

Lunch: salad, some form of white meat (chicken or pork, no seafood)

Dinner: see Lunch

Here, our food consists of:

Breakfast: cereal with some type of sugar in it, sugary coffee or tea, or some pastry

Lunch: a sandwich or salad, though Mark often sneaks in rolled tacos or hamburgers

Dinner: Italian food–read:pasta, pasta, pasta!, or mexican food with extra tortillas or, on a healthy night, chicken and rice

So…you can see the problem, no? When we live here permanently, we really eat pretty healthily…more so than that list above. But when we are just visiting here, something comes over us. We eat every meal as if it were our.last.meal.on.earth. And then, after a few weeks, suddenly we realize that it really could have been our last meal on earth because now we can live on our fat stores alone.

Since we have been here so long this time, we had to stage an intervention. Ok, well I staged an intervention on us, explaining to Mark that at this rate, we will have to buy extra seats on the airplane just to get back to BG. We are now on a plan. An organic, lots of fruits, vegetables, fiber, and water plan. Mark loves it. NOT!!! But so be it. It’s working. We are losing some poundage and we are getting back our energy, our mojo, so to speak. We were so lethargic a couple of weeks ago. But now…exercising fiends!

Oh, and a word about exercising….OUCH! I have not run since my big foot operation last year. And let’s just say that my days of marathon and triathlon training are far, far away. I am happy just to get through a couple of miles without dropping dead. Even so, I have a hard time walking the next day. So sad. But it’s coming back. S.L.O.W. S.L.O.W. But coming back nonetheless.

So maybe, by the time we get back to Sofia, we will be able to walk the giant hill up to Mark’s office without too much huffing and puffing. We’ll see…!!!