Days 79 thru 82 of change

Fast food, restaurants, and airport snacks, oh my!

I'm off for a week a travel for work and a little nervous about making good diet food choices. Can I assert discipline while on an expense account? Gotta learn sometime! So, I'm taking a diet book and laptop for serious writing in the evening. I have big plans to get lots done. Wish me luck, better yet, God's blessings.


And for those of you who remember...yes, I will be sure to "Lock the windows."

Days 77 & 78

18 pounds down, 12 to go. Standing in the way is a big turkey and pumpkin pie today and a whole month of Christmas goodies.

Repeat after me, "Miniature slice, please."

This holiday season, I'm adopting sister-in-law's motto...Be Intentional. Granted, it's her motto for Bible study, but it's totally applicable for dieting over the holidays. Be intentional about what goodies to eat and pass on all the others. Plan, strategize, be intentional!

Lots of people keep asking me why I am trying to diet over Christmas. Well, what's the statistic? People gain 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years? No thank you, I want to lose 5 pounds over the holidays while still enjoying a piece of fudge here and there. My theory is the upcoming New Year means new resolutions, diet, and exercise plans for a lot of people, so they go a little wild over the seasons. It kind of gives a free pass to indulge since January first is just around the corner. I'm rejecting that mindset...intentionally!

Real change takes real time.

DAY 76 of Changing Habits

1. I have to fly out on Monday 11-30 to Denver and Utah for a big trial, then training. I will be gone all week, flying home on Friday. I will need to work on either Friday or Saturday to get ready for the trip.
   
2. Marci is unable to do the marathon due to kid conflicts, so she will not be walking with me.
3. I don't like to walk alone.
   
4. Last weekend I was planning to get in a long walk but ended up having to move my brothers stuff out of his apartment for him as he just had foot surgery, then move my mom's furniture around in 3 different rooms, plus Dan surprised me by buying a new TV on Friday night and we had to rearrange furniture to make it fit, and lastly I gutted my son's room while he was gone for the weekend. So Saturday evening I was exhausted, not done, my back hurt, and it was dark outside.
5. I don't like to walk alone in the dark.
   
6. I have been doing so well on my diet of no sugars, no carbs, no fats I am losing weight. Yeah!!!! I don't want to blow my diet by eating all the carbs, energy boosters, and granola bars needed to have enough energy to walk 13+ miles. (I've tried to do one before without the proper fuel and I'll never make that mistake again.)
   

Above are all my excuses for bailing out on the Seattle 1/2 marathon. I hope they aren't too lame.

I have never not done one of these walks that I signed up and paid for, so I feel really really really bad. I definitely will do the Pacific Crest 1/2 again next summer and maybe the Champoeg park one just to make up for missing this one.

I guess this is actually a change in live styles that I have not done before...given myself a break when it is truly needed.

REALITY CHECK

1. Best planned intentions sometimes end up being impossible. It has been a week since my last post, not 2 days like I had hoped.
2. Change is hard, long, and difficult to make permanent. Why can't I stop interrupting people? Bridle the tongue and all that.
3. Reality TV, I can't believe Joanna went home on Dancing with the Stars. I am glad Donny is still there, but I thought he should have been the one to go last week. I really like how well Kelly is doing, but she is not the best. I hope she doesn't win.
4. I am so sad that Salem, Oregon's own Laura was voted out of Survivor! I do not like Russell, but I have to say, he is the Survivor Master!
5. My half Marathon is one week from today. Oh my Heavens to Betsy, it is time to get real and get ready.

Update on making changes. Day 74.

The diet is going great. I've cut out sugar, starch, carbs and eat lean chicken, salad, 2 apples a day, etc. I have lost more weight this week and I have ever lost in a week before. Whoo hoo!!! Of course, work has been very stressful, staying late several nights, skipping meals, moving furniture for my mom and at home. No wonder I'm tired so I've only been on the treadmill a couple times. This week, I need to focus on getting my miles in each day. Or else I may be calling a taxi at mile 10 or 11. (Actually, that would be kind of funny.)

Back to a diary of change

I'm back! I have not abandoned my goals for change and will endeavor to post every other day again.

So, 11-17-09 makes day 69 and I have only lost 9 pounds. I am a terrible dieter. I had lost 10 before Texas, but since then I've had my daughter here for a week, thus Padington's Pizza, chocolate chips cookies, and a huge early Thanksgiving dinner. It was so much fun—23 guests and a 22 pound turkey with lots of dessert...Thunder Thigh Brownies, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and lots of pumpkin pie, hence the 1 pound gain. I am so thankful it was not a 5 pound gain.

In the last week, I've read another diet book. I've been to Whole Foods twice and spent a lot of money for my new plan which I started yesterday. I am dedicated and driven...today anyway. I have three more diet books on my nightstand to read, plus one my friend is going to loan me.

What about the other changes? The more important ones?

Well, I have not been consistently exercising, which is bad as my 1/2 marathon is in 12 days and I am not even close to being ready. I don't feel like doing it anymore, but I feel guilty about the waste of money.

I have been doing really well with my chapter re-writes. Plus, I've got my critique group all jazzed up and spurred on (thanks to getting spurred myself by Christina Berry's critique group.) So now I have a writing deadline every other Saturday. That is a good thing for inspiring writers! (Let's not talk about why I missed the first deadline. Let's just say, killing one's darlings is not easy.)

I love my Precepts Bible Study Class, although I wish I had more time for the study. Sometimes I feel like I do the bare minimum. There is a direct correlation between BOC time writing at the computer and time spent in Bible Study. (BOC is Butt On Chair.) It seems like there is never adequate time for both. When I am writing a lot, my Bible study is the bare minimum. When I am studying a lot, I am not writing. This is still a pickle I can't solve.

How's that think first and talk second thing going?

Old habits die hard. I forget all the time. I really need the Holy Spirit to help me make this change. My personality is just too talkative! It's terrible.

So, I am still on the wagon, but only as a rider. Move over, Big Monkey, I'm driving this week!

Baby Elephant Birth

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/656611/d1dfcfee/live_olifant_geboorte_tv.html

Above is the link to a live elephant birth. You may have already seen it on its flight around the internet. Well, I watched it today, expecting to be grossed out. It was a little graphic, but not as bad as I feared. The real story begins after that baby hits the floor. Oh, when the momma elephant desperately cradled her baby's head to get her to breathe, tears welled in my eyes. Check it out. God has made the animals so sweet. I can hardly wait for Heaven, where the animal kingdom will be restored!!!! You have no idea how my heart aches for that.

Tis the season ... for grandkids

My sister & her hubby just had their first grandchild via Stephen's daughter, Michelle. The tiny 6 pounds 10 oz girl is named Eden. Great name!!! I just love it!

My close friend, Trish, just had her first grand child, an adorable baby boy named Conner, weighing in at 8 pounds 13 oz. Big boy for such a tiny mom.

So, congrats to Lori & Stephen and Trish & Dan. (Their kids too!)

Well, you all know my first (and only) grandchild is Bree's dog Toby. And I am crazy for that little pooch. He loved playing in Lake Henry on the Honey Creek Ranch in Texas. Below is a cute video of Toby in the water. He LOVES the water! Besides the usual dog tricks of sit, stay, and shake, Bree has taught him to bow, crawl, and play dead when she shoots him with her finger and says, "Bang." My grand dog is so smart!

(This is my last Texas post. Back to a diary of change...so desperately needed!)