New Year - New Start

I'm a statistic. As much as I hate it, I'm one of those people who gained 7 pounds over the holidays!

When I last weighed in Dec. 19, I weighed 185 or so. As I was walking out the door, I found out Perfect Solutions was going to be closed until after New Year! I knew I was in trouble. I've really struggled these past 2 weeks, with another week to go.

Although I was getting motivational emails from Perfect Solutions, which reminded me that it was a holi"day", not a holi"month", I still celebrated more than the day.

My biggest problem has been chocolate. Another struggle has been eating nonstop. For Christmas, I got an awesome basket of snacks and candy, which I ate. A friend brought a plate of cookies, which I ate. I bought Christmas candy, which I ate. Then, I had a moment of genius, I took it to a party and abandoned it there. All the good habits I've worked on these past 15 months were slipping away.

Donovan suggested I weigh every morning and record the weights -
184.8 - Dec. 21 - dinner with friends
185.4 - Dec. 22
186.4 - Dec. 23
186.8 - Dec. 24 - heavy hors d'oeuvres
189.4 - Dec. 26
187.8 - Dec. 27
187.4 - Dec. 28 - party at a friend's
190.0 - Dec. 29
189.0 - Dec. 31 - went crazy at a New Year's Eve party
192.4 - Jan 1
189.2 - Jan 3 - took kids to dinner at Applebee's
190.6 - Jan 4

My next weigh in will be Jan. 9, and I plan to be back to 185 by then - God willing.

In November, I limited my caloric intake to 1,000 for a few days and lost 3 pounds, so I'll do that again - starting today. Of course, it was 5:00 pm before I decided on this plan, and I'm at about 890 calories, so it'll be tough today. But, I have to do something - and quick!

I've even introduced exercise and drinking water.

I was to have blood work done Tuesday morning for my doctor appointment this Monday. I drank a gallon of water, and still I left the clinic with 3 holes, no blood work, but with an appointment to go back Thursday. My veins are practically invisible. Those that they can see blow. I drank lots of water Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Thursday, we were a little more successful - after a failed attempt, the nurse was able to draw blood! Yea! I'm pretty bruised, but that's typical of blood work. I've been a problem since age 19. Luckily, I'm not afraid of needles.

The nurse told me to lift weights. I also noticed that around 10:00 am, my veins are much more visible than they are at 8:00, so I'm going to wait as long as possible before going next time. They expect me at the clinic early because I'm fasting. But I'd rather be a little hungry with bigger veins.

I'm still waiting on the results . . .

I found some exercises to get rid of arm jiggle and other loose skin, and I actually did them once. I have to develop better habits.

I woke up this morning at 8:00 to a Diagnosis Murder marathon. The TV has been on all day while I puttered around the house. I went through the clothes in my closets and packed up 2 large bags to give away. It's funny - I didn't plan to do it - it just happened. I was trying to hang clean clothes in my closet, but it was too full. That's why I decided to get rid of clothes that were too big. I was shocked at how many I was holding on to. Some were my former "go-to" clothes, some were just forgotten. A couple tops were my favorites. I hated to get rid of them, but out they must go. I've worn them fairly recently because they were my favorites, but they just don't look good anymore. It's time for someone else to enjoy them.