We recently celebrated the Hundredth Day of School.  Is this a national holiday you didn't know about?  Only if you're an early childhood educator!  Since I teach kindergarten, counting to 100 is a huge part of my math curriculum.  The best part of the Hundredth Day, for me, is knowing that there are only 80 days of school left in the school year! 

But I digress, the importance of the Hundredth Day is that my class has always celebrated by making Gorp. (A homemade, anything goes kind of trail mix.)  Each of my kids is assigned a different snack item to bring in.  For example, students bring in 100 marshmallows, 100 mini cheese crackers, 100 raisins, etc. Our celebration comes to a climax when we open up all the snacks and mix them together to make a giant punch bowl of Gorp, or snack mix.

In the past, I would have single handedly eaten an entire bowl by just grazing throughout the days and weeks following the celebration.  This year, however, after having eaten only meat and vegetables for two weeks, I could barely stand to sample the Gorp.  For one, it was too sugary sweet and two, it was super salty!  Who knew that two marshmallows, one goldfish, three craisins, two chocolate chips, one gummi bear and one rice chex would make feel like I'd eaten a fully loaded 22 inch pizza and a 12 buffalo wings all on my own?  It got to the point where I could hardly stand to smell the Gorp!  I felt like I was at a dinner party, struggling to chew and swallow the mysterious entree that had been set in front of me.

It gets worse, that feeling of being bloated that I had not felt, was instant!  My belly was like a dry sponge that exploded in a hot pot of water.  I felt like Violet when she blew up like a blueberry and had to be rolled out of the room by the Oompa Loompahs! My hands and feet were also swollen, though not nearly as much, by the end of the day.  I also gained a pound because I felt so guilty, I soothed my ego with a fully loaded soda.  (I'm also an emotional eater. Duh.)

Good news!  Instead of making several more batches of Gorp and serving it to my kids over the next few days, I only made two batches and threw away any leftovers!  (Why make two batches?  I had to use all of the items my kids brought in and it was enough for two punch bowls.  Rest assured, I didn't force them to eat Gorp in one day.  I stretched it over the week with small servings.  Most of them packed in baggies and shared it at home.)

If certain foods make me feel so bad, why have I continued to eat so poorly my entire life?  Admittedly, this is the first diet I've been on for longer than a week and where my goal is not in losing the weight, but in feeling better.  I can honestly say, I don't enjoy feeling sick after every meal.  Collectively, my family and I have lost a total of 42.5 pounds. We did not all start dieting the same week, so some of us have been eating healthier for longer.  I was the last one to jump on board.

Perhaps next year, we'll make Gorp with carrots and celery sticks!