A Teensy Tear of Pure Joy

This morning I needed to have my usual double shot of freezing to completely numb the area around the tooth being worked on and the dentist said she was rather surprised because generally one shot is enough for "a petite person like you."

A petite person? Me??  Wha'......? 

Then I realized she was not just smooth talking her patient. She actually meant that she thinks I am petite and genuinely puzzled as to why I always need two shots of freezing.

I have not heard the word "petite" in reference to myself since I was 23 years old and it certainly hasn't applied with the nearly 100 pound weight gain I experienced between then and a few years ago when it started coming off again with the change in diet and exercise!

I was so shocked and so humbled and so grateful that teensy tears came into my eyes.  I couldn't help it.  I never thought I would hear myself called that ever again.  Fortunately the dentist didn't notice as she is the sort who would ask me if something was wrong and there was no time for me to have a complete emotional breakdown over her off the cuff comment. \

It isn't ego that has me so jazzed about her comment.  It is the joy of recognition that when I take diet and exercise seriously it accomplishes positive results.  I haven't been wasting my time trying to be disciplined only to control the diabetes, even though that is the main reason and reason enough.  I feel better and look more like a human being again.  The excess weight on my small frame made me look less than normal for years and years. I don't have the bone structure to carry it off.

I am sitting here waiting for the post-freezing ibuprofen to take effect and musing on why I was so touched by what she said.  What it does is encourage me to keep the weight off, to get serious about being more disciplined again than I have been lately as far as total calorie intake.  I find that when my husband is struggling with health issues or work stresses I take them on to the point where I start eating too much protein and even more vegetables than one person needs in a day.  The carbs I don't struggle with very often, but a rise in total food intake will have a negative effect after awhile.  Yesterday and today, since my husband saw a doctor who seems to be concerned that he get some help, my appetite is back down to normal.  What a relief!  I need to learn better coping skills when others around me are struggling so I don't take on their worries and lose my dietary discpline!