My second week of this fall semester has come to a close. Homework and assignments are already piling up and I’m struggling to get back in the routine of sitting in boring lectures and waiting on campus for the next thing to start. Some days are packed with things to run to and others, like today, finish early in the day and leave me time to do things.
One thing I’ve had time to do so far is eat a lot. Over the summer, I didn’t really notice how much I ate because the sandwich I ate for lunch was incredibly filling, but already these past two weeks, I’ve noticed that I have eaten a lot of food. It really started on Saturday when I went up to my aunt’s birthday party. Parties with my extended family are always like Christmas and Thanksgiving rolled into one. There’s enough food to feed an army, all of the half million men. This, of course, is split a limited number of ways and the big-eaters (No, not the former nickname of the Cornhuskers–They are the BUG-eaters) are encouraged to eat even after they really can’t. We always come away from these shindigs wishing we hadn’t eaten so much, but enjoying the company while we did.
Sunday, we had my mom’s tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches after church. i most certainly ate two sandwiches made from mom’s homemade bread (larger than store bought loaves) and several bowls of the soup. The afternoon’s project was roofing the house and I spent perhaps five hours on the roof. I was graciously served supper from up there, which was an incredibly delicious chicken and pasta concoction my sister cooked up and a large portion of leftover lasagna. When I got down off the roof, I went on a run and ate the rest of the leftover lasagna when I got home, another portion silimar to what I ate for supper.
Monday, We did more work on the roof and went to Valentino’s for lunch as a reward. Again, I ate quite a bit, perhaps eight pieces of pizza, a plate of salad, and four glasses of wild cherry coke. Tuesday, I ate at the campus dining centers twice. Each plate was loaded with food and I ate my fill. Wednesday was more the same, only I went to Selleck dining only once. This time, I had a full breakfast and lunch at the same time. Thursday, I again ate lunch at the dining hall, this time with my dad. Again, I filled the space on my tray with plates and bowls loaded with food.
All this may seem strange to everyone, but it reminds me of a period of my younger years. From the time I can remember until I was about sixteen, my metabolism was such that I could eat four helpings of food at each meal and it would only maintain my weight. For a few years, my activity level slowed down which, in turn, caused my metabolism to slow down. I gained a little weight while I lived on campus when my activity level dropped to an all time low. No biking to school, no extra-curricular sports, no running just to run. At the very end of that span, my basal metabolic rate, or the amount of energy my body needed just to function, was almost 2000 Calories. Imagine what it must be when I’m running regularly, biking to school everyday and sometimes even twice a day, and walking about an hour every morning. I think it’s safe to assume I need more than 2000 Calories each day, but I think I’ve gotten that this past week.
I suppose I should use this energy to write the three essays and read the several hundred pages due next week. I’ve added two paragraphs to my story so far this semester. YEAh!!!
JA Menter