Today I'm dressed in a muumuu, a roomy old dress I've owned for years and still enjoy. I go thru spells of resisting its comfort. "Women who wear muumuus have given up on trying to keep their slender figure." I used to hear that from women who still fought it; I've said it myself during times when I so wanted to regain the slimness I enjoyed in my youth. Today I'm quite comfortable with the way my 64 year old body looks.

In 2008, I took Adderall and lost 35 pounds. Within the last couple of years, I've regained most of it. What can I say? I enjoy eating, healthy food, junk food, any food. My appetite is more predominant than my will to exercise. I wish those preferences were the other way around, but they are what they are. The amphetamine I took is the only thing that has ever reversed it, and my doctor refuses to prescribe it again, convinced I was using it more for weight loss than ADD. It did seem to be more effective in curbing my appetite than in helping my concentration. And I did seem to be more energetic and enjoyed exercise more.

I did not realize then what I've learned recently that using Adderall as a diet pill reached epidemic proportions in 2008, mostly among much younger women who wanted to go from a size 8 to a size 4. No wonder doctors grew super-cautious about handing out the Rx, but I was a 61 year old grandmother! My oldest grandson was taking the drug for his ADHD, and I heard him and his parents talk about how he was never hungry.  To me, it sounded like a miracle drug.

I even suspected that he inherited his predisposition for ADHD from me. I've had symptoms of attention deficit disorder since long before it was identified as a medical condition. None of my teachers in school thought I performed to my potential. The nice ones labelled me an underachiever; the not-so-nice ones called me lazy. So passing the screening test for the condition was a breeze. I answered all the questions honestly and was diagnosed with ADD. The prescription was issued with blood pressure monitored closely and monthly doctor visits required. And the weight came off, about 3 or 4 lbs monthly, a safe pace, and when I got back into size 8 jeans for the first time in 20 years, I was ecstatic. 

Without the amphetamine, however, the appetite returned. Thankfully, it's taken longer to put the excess weight back on than to take it off. But it's baaaaack! And today I've chosen to camouflage it with yards of tropical fabric. Once again, Gramma loooooooooves her muumuu!

3 hrs. later. I wore the muumuu to Kroger and a nice looking old hippy with a gray ponytail told me he loved the dress I was wearing. "It looks very cool and comfortable," he said. I thanked him.