Judy's Weightloss Journey

It was about impossible to keep up with this while my Mom was here. Plus, I spilled water on my keyboard the other day and frizted it all to heck. I could still type, but had to constantly go back and correct all the random characters being thrown in. And even the arrow keys were sending me extra characters, so it was a serious pain. Ok to get me through small typing chores, but not something I wanted to use to compose anything serious.

So, finally, Mom went home today, and I was able to get a new keyboard. Time to get back in the swing, for I certainly haven't given up!

And speaking of "not giving up"....I have NOT given up on my new lifestyle...even with the challenges presented while my Mom was here. I did not fall of the wagon (so to speak) even once. Sometimes it was hard, and I had to deal with higher levels of stress on some days, without giving in to the urge to nom on anything in sight. Plus, I got some good exercise while she was here...especially on Saturday when we all went to the zoo. The zoo out here is built on the side of a mountain. Quite stunning and beautiful...but is a good workout all on its own with very steep slopes up and down between exhibits. Add in pushing a very heavy wheelchair up and down those slopes and you've got yourself a serious workout! LOL It was such a beautiful day though, and we all had a great time...so it was well worth the effort. I seriously can't wait until Wednesday morning when I step on the scale to measure my progress again.

So...how did I get through the week with the stress and various temptations tossed in my way? On my most stressed day, I was so cranky and was having a hard time not looking at the various tempting goodies around the house. I felt like I was gonna explode with frustration....the first real frustration I'd felt since starting this. But instead of giving in to the call-of-the-snack...I snuck away upstairs to my room and locked the door and called my sister and vented on her shoulders for a bit. She understands. Her and mom live together...so she understands very well. Seriously, I love my mom to pieces....she's crazy-funny and ALWAYS there when we need her. ALWAYS. But sometimes the two of us can rub each other the wrong way until a lot of static builds up. My sis understands all that perfectly...and also understands the constant battle-of-the-bulge. (NOT saying she is bulgy! She's much smaller than me and always beautiful in my eyes...but she has her own demons to fight as well and knows the battle.) Anyhow....that's how I got through the stress. I called someone who cared and could listen and understand. I talked it all out until I was calm and collected and happy to go eat some salad.

Eating out at restaurants is another challenge I faced much more than usual this week. And in all of those, I simply chose not to look at all the tempting stuff and yummy pictures....but rather, to focus only on what fit my needs. In one place, I ordered a fancy salad with grilled apples on it (hold the cheese, please!) and it was quite yummy. In another, brown rice and veggies...also very yummy. At Macaroni grill, they have whole wheat pasta you can choose...with some spicy tomato sauce, broccoli, spinach, and pine nuts. Again, very yummy. All in all....the stuff I can get in restaurants is way better than I'm currently able to fix for myself at home. Have to be VERY careful....and watch the portion sizes very closely as well. But I'm learning that eating out is nothing to be feared...no matter how good the grilling meat smells.

Grocery stores can be quite a gauntlet of temptations as well. One big thing I learned is to NOT go to the store when you're hungry! LOL Bad mojo if you do that! It's like all the junkfood in the store starts lunging out at you if you're hungry. But even without that weakness, it seems like at least 85% of the food in the market is pure junk....and you have to walk past and through all of it to find the good stuff. Especially at this time of year, with mazes of halloween candy to weave through...soon to be replaced with all the Christmas candy. And like I do in the restaurants....I just have to make myself not pay the slightest attention to such things. I let my eyes pass right over it without ever allowing them to focus. I know that if I allow myself to think about those things...to contemplate how tasty they might be, or how "satisfying"....I will only cause myself pain. Why bother with the pain of regret pining away for something you can't have? Or even worse...giving in to the temptation, and then dealing with the self-loathing that comes afterwards? NO THANK YOU! It's SO much easier if you don't let it escalate to that point to begin with. And once the temptations are past....the pain is gone...and I'm left with the VICTORY of having run that gauntlet without so much as a scratch.

I know I've typed a lot tonight...sorry! Had a lot on my mind to catch up on. I'll try to wrap this up for tonight.....but tomorrow, I want to talk about the question, "If it's so easy, why didn't you do this years ago?"

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
- Philippians 4:13

Goodnight....
-- Judy