Are You Ready For Round II?

Just when you think it is safe to stay in your jammies all day.... along comes the New Year celebrations. Are we going out? Are they coming here? Do I have to clean? What kind of food should we serve? Should I make another batch of chocolate chip cookies? How about fudge? STOPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!

By keeping up my decorations, I avoid having to clean as much..."I'm going to save the dusting and vacuuming until all the decs are down!" Does that one work in your house? May I suggest that you don't cook anything; use what you have, or buy something already made. Make it as easy as possible for yourself because you are going to need the energy to make decisions, get everyone ready, rent the movies, memorize the football game schedules, shag beers for your spouse, make nice with relatives and/or friends of your spouse, break up fights and finally, eat your way into oblivion! Or not......

Let's just take a moment and think about what is important. It might be the house, it might be entertaining, or it might be placating the kids who are still on their sugar highs from last week. It could also be the fact that we need to pat ourselves on the back for surviving another year, another season and possibly another 24 hours without duct taping to a chair, someone whose been continuously pushing our buttons.

What is important to me is thanking the guy upstairs that my fingers can still type; that for today, I can breathe, see, hear, and "move about the cabin" with relatively little effort; that my children are asleep somewhere in the house, and not laying in a hospital bed getting poked and otherwise abused with procedures to keep them alive; that, although I miss my parents and good friends that have been taken from this earth, I feel confident they are safe, warm and very happy; and, that at the end of the day, I can feel good about something that I tried to do to bring a smile to someone's face.

Oh, and thanks, God, for helping me get one pound closer to my weight-loss goal!!

Wishing you success, prosperity and happiness in the year 2009! God Bless you.

The Lost Weeks

I started this post about two weeks ago. Since then, it's sort of been like "The Lost Weeks" for me. I managed to read a few posts, but couldn't put together enough time or energy to write one of my own. I apologize...I'm back now! The following paragraph is what was started.

Well, the registration for the weight management website went through and I am officially on the books. No turning back now! I had to give my weight (ouch!) and set a goal for losing so many pounds (please don't make me tell you) in six months. They are also asking for my workout schedule. Let's see, instead of bench pressing with conventional weights, I'll just toss my 50 pound dog up in the air, catch her and "lift." IROFL...HA...HA!

I fell off the wagon and went back to old habits of dealing with stress. Like so many others whose blogs I follow, I've let the stress of the holidays and preparations get to me. I've managed to maintain the weight, but the poor eating habits have dropped my energy level to a new low.

Okay, now that it is out of my system....I hope this finds you filled with excitment and anticipation (but not the stressful kind) as you begin your descent into the holidays. I think that my survival depends on my constant chats with God asking for strength and concentration to focus on my family and the "real" reason for celebrating this holiday - the birth of Christ. I'm hoping to be able to discard the junky stuff like cleaning, does everyone have enough presents to open, and will there be enough food!! Oh, and yes, I do ask him for the willpower to resist the foods and beverages that do not provide me with any nutritional value. (Some of you do not know how very difficult this last one is for me!)

The dog and I went out for a little walk and "taking care of business" this morning. This walk was going to be one of my 20 minutes workouts. Well, by the time we got to the parking strip in front of the house, we were bombarded by an ice storm. We will try again later. I'll concentrate on the muscles in my right hand by addressing our holiday cards instead.

I wish you a very happy holiday, however you are celebrating, and that you are safe, warm and able to spend time with loved ones.

Exercising in Cool Weather

Okay, maybe not exactly cool, but how about 30 degrees? Yesterday I chose to chase the dog around the house for 20 minutes instead of going on a walk. I strained a butt muscle! Have you ever done that? You can feel it sitting down, lying down, walking, standing, etc.

"Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhh" screamed Charlie Brown. I thought that by constant movement like walking the dog outside might work out the kinks. Can't say that it did. All she did was pull, pull, pull to get wherever it was that she wanted to go. She doesn't distinguish between dry sidewalk and black ice sidewalk...we both survived.

Well, friends, there are 20 days left until the chaotic wrapping paper wars! We will get the tree up and decorations out this weekend, but there's no promise the tree will have anything on it, or that the decs will make it out of the tubs! Bah, humbug!

Happy decorating, craft show jumping, lunching with BFFs, and the usual fun stuff of laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, paying bills......!

Challenge Update....

Well, so much for holidays where we consume mass quantities of carbs and sugar! I did very well portion-wise. All 20 meals were small to medium size portions! It's taken a few days of trying to back off from the sweet stuff, but I think I'm on my way. I can, however, still sense a whisper of gorging in the air!

The scale hasn't changed in a week, so I must be outputting enough to equal the inputting. Not eating after 7:00pm has helped tremendously. I just drink...lots and lots of water! Then I have to get up in the middle of the night to take care of that little problem!

I'm reading the book (yes...I do read...when there is nothing good on TV and all of the cherubs are in bed), "Half-Assed a Weight-Loss Memoir" by Jennette Fulda. I'm enjoying her perspective on the "why" and "how". It's interesting to learn the different ways in which we look at our lives and feelings, and how we deal with them. When I feel crappy, food is comfort; when I feel angry, food is comfort; and when I'm really, really angry, only chocolate food is comfort. Then, from the middle of the night through the next day, I have to take care of another little problem!

Baby Steps, I know. It didn't appear overnight; what makes me thing it will disappear overnight? Through it all, I know that I'm loved and I hope to be forgiven for not sharing.

I do not commit to walking the dog tomorrow morning for 20 minutes in 35 degree weather, but I will chase her around the house for the same amount of time. Does that count?

Hope you have a healthy day. Bring a smile to someone and they just may give it back!