This Was The Week that Was!

Bote Mountain Trail - GSMNP

December 4, 2009

 I remember pushing "publish" last Friday and thinking that once I got through last weekend, things would calm down considerably and I'd have lots of time to plan, read and BLOG!   As with all of you, many other things are demanding my time and attention, so the planning, reading and blogging remain in the background temporarily. 

Last weekend, we had dinner guests on Friday evening and Sunday evening, then had my family Christmas gathering all day on Saturday.  With those three events behind us, I am happy to say that the party celebrations are over for me.  It helped that all those events were held at my home, so I had some control over what food items were served and I made sure healthy options were available.  For the most part, my eating remained under control.

Mother Nature has shown her ugly side this week in East Tennessee.  Monday morning brought enough snowfall to bring the city to a halt and then Thursday morning, we woke up to almost an inch of ICE.  Of course, ice is a nightmare because it means impassable roads, falling trees and significant power outages.  Mr. B has been in finals and the weather has just played havoc with everyone's schedules.  But all that is in the past and the upcoming forecast is much more tranquil.

I am hiking tomorrow and if all goes according to plan, I will meet my 2010 goal of hiking 300 miles.  I am so proud of this and glad I set the goal last January.   The young lady whom I talked about in this post is hiking with me tomorrow.   She and I are involved in a Bible Study together that is taking a lot of time each day, but I believe is being beneficial to both of us.  She is very excited to be the one with me when I meet my hiking goal!  BTW, the time I spend doing the daily prep for this study is the time I normally spend writing blog posts, so hopefully, when this study is over on January 1, I'll be able to resume a more normal posting schedule.  The Bible Study was my idea and I've been through this particular study before.  I did not recall it taking this much time, but she is hungry for growth and we get into some really neat discussions.  A new perspective is helping me grow as well. 

We leave for Florida on Sunday afternoon.   We normally spend some time in Florida between Christmas and the day Mr. B has to be back to school, but we've never been gone on Christmas Day before.  This will be very different!  We discussed the circumstances and between Mr. B, his mom and myself, decided this particular year, our first without Mr. B's dad, might be better if spent doing something radically different.  So we presented the idea of spending Christmas in Florida thinking she'd probably say no.  We had to laugh when she was saying, "yes" before we could finish saying Florida.   So we are headed to Venice, FL on Sunday and will be there until January 1.  We have rented a house near the quaint little downtown area and within walking distance to the beach.   We will be able to ride our bikes directly from the house to TWO different bike trails.  Temps over the next 10 days are predicted to be in the low 70's.  We are so excited!!  Only a few ever-so-slight qualms about spending 14 days, 24/7 with MIL!  We have a wonderful relationship, but some quirks (I'm sure I have NONE that irritate her!  LOL!) of hers drive me crazy, so there will be some patience required.  I was lucky enough to find a house with master bedrooms on opposite sides of the main living areas.  There will be plenty of room for all of us to get away from each other.  Not to mention some LONG walks which my vigorous exercise program will require!

My eating has not been perfect this week, but it has been o.k.  I have lost some weight, but am still coming at it from a relaxed standpoint and although I know I have lost some weight, I am not revealing any numbers until January 1.  Have been doing a lot of soul-searching about 2011's healthy eating goals.  What, if anything, am I going to change in my approach?  How can I keep myself totally focused and on-track?  When will I forgive myself for getting derailed after FIL's death and then failing to get back on-track?  Can 2011 be the year I reach goal weight AND become a "normal" eater?  I think it can. 

This Week's Hot 100 Update:

1)  Reach my goal weight of 138 on or before February 28, 2011.  I have lost weight this week. 

2)  I will eat nothing containing white sugar, white flour or trans fats. Not perfect, but very close!  Given three dinner parties, I'm quite satisfied with what I did this week.

 

3)  I will walk 10,000 steps every day or an average of 10,000 steps over seven days   Done!

 

4)  I will not eat between meals or after 7 p.m.  Done

How many more challenging parties or other events do you have before Christmas?