Little Injustices

I don't think that I have worked at anything as physically demanding as the job that I have right now ...

I have delivered papers. I pulled/carried/delivered papers for up to four routes. I walked through rain, sleet, snow and ice. But the job was complete within an hour or two.

I babysat. I carried, rocked, lifted and tended to the needs of many. We walked anywhere we wanted to go. I pushed strollers, pulled wagons and held hands. My work day was long but the physical demands were spaced out throughout the day.

I have exercised. I devoted time and energy to keep physically fit. It had a defined start and end. Often about an hour. The end. Then I went on my merry way.

I have danced. Private lessons were a half hour. Group classes were another hour and a half. Formation classes were an hour. Dancing for fun??? I never, ever got enough of that ...

I have worked around the house. I've done yard work, painted, moved furniture, scrubbed, cleaned and filled a day with housecleaning. Some days were more physically demanding than others and I haven't had one of those days in quite some time.

I have walked. I've put quite a few miles on these feet of mine, but having a defined destination put a beginning and an end to each trek. The only time that I ever walked to exhaustion was one time in my teens when we 'walked all day' for some walkathon.

But this job? I walk in the door and go straight to work. Filling shelves, pulling trolleys loaded with merchandise, packing up rack after rack after rack of baking, hauling the empty racks to the back and putting the various cookie sheets and baking trays back to where they belong, emptying garbage, helping customers and the list goes on. And on. I quite honestly don't stop moving for the duration of my shift.

I have been working at this job for about a month. Granted, the first two weeks were only weekend shifts, but since then I have worked three or four consecutive days. Add that onto my other job and I have had most of  my days accounted for. Okay, okay ... I just checked and I have had nine days off over the course of the past month. So I definitely have had my share of down-time. But, the point that I'm trying to make is that I have not been sitting at home and twiddling my thumbs. I have been busy. And when I haven't been busy, I have been content just to be home. I have not been over-eating. If anything, I am eating much less than I normally do.

The injustice of it all?? I have gained four pounds in two months. Four pounds!! And I've been doing more and eating less! What is with that??

I mentioned this to my doctor and she said that what I have been doing is not as good as exercise. "You will not lose weight that way" ... I don't even care about losing weight. I simply can't afford to gain two pounds a month.

Sometimes ... you do all the right things and the wrong things happen.