Three Months of the 17 Day Diet

Cucumber Gap Trail - GSMNP

February 13, 2012

Wow, what a week!  Packed full of activity and I simply don't know where it went.  As a result, did not get post started over the weekend as I normally do, so this will most likely be all over the place.  My week's highlight, however, was spending Thursday afternoon with my "getting better all the time friend, " Cammy.  Cammy blogs at Tippy Toe Diet, and is a long time maintainer of a more 100+ pound weight loss.  She has a delightful writing style and an in-person personality that matches.  I first met Cammy at our mini-meetup last October in Little Rock, Arkansas and was absolutely delighted when she emailed that she'd be in the East Tennessee area on business last week.  It was a gorgeous sunny February afternoon, so we took a nice long walk on the Gatlinburg Trail and then enjoyed an early dinner at Calhoun's restaurant in Gatlinburg.  We talked like we'd known each other all our lives and after dropping her back at her hotel with her eyelids drooping (remember, she'd been conducting training sessions all week and I for one, know how exhausting that is!!), I hoped that was just the first of many "business" trips to my end of the state.

At Cataract Falls just outside Gatlinburg, TN

February 23, 2012

It appears that today is the day we are finally getting our roof replaced following the deadly tornado outbreak and hailstorm from last April 17.  We were fortunate in that our roof was only six years old and it held up better than most throughout the storm, but with significant damage, we knew it would eventually need to be replaced.  We chose to wait hoping those who needed it worse would get their repairs accomplished plus give the fly-by-night unscrupulous roofing companies time to leave town.  Monday is normally my "domestic" day, so my goal is to get 'er done and GET OUT OF DODGE before I get a headache.  LOL!   (Insert five minute break while I go start laundry!)

On Friday morning at dark-thirty, Mr. B leaves for a week in Germany with his auditioned choral ensemble and to say he is wild would be putting it mildly.   If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that he and I are very close and do not separate well, but he enjoys this trip so much and after five years of having him travel abroad without me, I've become comfortable enough that I actually look forward to the week alone.  I've got several things already planned including a day with MIL (to soothe her spirits as it TERRIFIES her having him "all the way over there"), three days of hiking and a grocery shopping trip to Atlanta.  Can't wait for two full days to enjoy the Dekalb Farmers Market, Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Publix.  Even better for me, is the 0% sales tax on food in Georgia, so that is automatically a 5.5% savings for me over any food purchases in Tennessee.  That Atlanta trip will also include a trip to REI where I'm certain I will find more hiking gadgets that I simply can't live without. If there are any readers in the Atlanta metro area and we could work it out, I'd love to meet for lunch one of those days!! 

February 25 marked three months of amazing success with the 17 Day Diet.  To say that I am thrilled with this plan and its results would be an understatement.  Between November 25 and February 25, I lost 17.4 pounds.  The calendar month of February has not brought the loss of pounds I would've liked, but I know exactly what to do to change that.  I also know that I am at the exact weight at which my body likes to "set."   Every time I've lost weight, I have plateaued at this particular number no matter how many pounds I had lost to get there.  I suspect my body could enjoy this as a happy weight, but once I start losing again, I will lose steadily down to the next weight where I know my body can and will be happy!!  So I'm looking forward to March and the madness it will bring in many ways including basketball heaven!!  My plan is to adhere strictly to Cycle 1 while Mr. B is in Germany and get that weight moving once again.  As long as I average a 5-6 pound loss per month, I am happy.  But most of all, I am happy with the way I feel and am getting happier by the day with the way I look.   

Told you this post would ramble, but the pounding is about to get to me, so I believe it's time to leave the premises in the hands of roofers and get outside.  Thankfully, roofing and nice days go hand-in-hand, so spending most of this day outside will be a pleasure.

Does your week look quiet and serene or noisy like mine??