Halloweekend and Other Tales

    First of all, belated Happy Halloween. This week has been very hectic. Work has been busy and Jake is having some difficulties getting used to 5th grade homework. I had a fun Halloween with Jake. My office had a Halloween party for children after work. Josh brought Jake and Vanessa straight from school. Part of the celebration is for the children to go around trick or treating from desk to desk, which of course means you need to have candy. There was a plate of candy behind me all day that I was able to ignore for most of the day. But Fridays can be a little wild and I gave in to a fun size Three Muskateers bar. Once I took the children trick or treating about the office, we went to the pizza party. I had one slice of plain pizza. Since we had pizza I decided not to make dinner. I think I had the right intentions but later on I was hungry. So I had some popcorn, a fun size Snickers, a Twix and a snack size bag of pretzels(all things that Jake did not like).
       Saturday my friend and I took the kids to a Haunted House. My friend promised her daughter that we would go for ice cream after. Guess who had a soft serve ice cream cone.  Later I snacked on lemon drops and sour cherry gum drops(more of Jake discarded candy- you would think he was adopted).  I know this does not sound like a lot of candy, but I was a little disappointed that I went for it. Eating the candy hung over my head like I stole something.  To make up for my snacking, I made sure that I got up early Saturday and Sunday to do laps around the track. It was the least I could do.
        There's something else. I found myself too lazy to get in workouts Wed-Fri. I was tired but I also felt a little unmotivated. So I really worked hard to make up for it Sat-Mon. I must have done something right because I lost two of the three pounds I gained the previous week.My current weight is 235lbs. While I know it is not traumatic to lose and gain, I really want to get out of the 230's. I think I have been here long enough. This week's meeting topic gave me some inspiration.  It was about building muscle which will help you lose weight as well as fight gains once you reach goal. As you know I have been working on my strength training lately. I honestly believe that it helped me throughout Halloweekend. Another benefit of strength building is it has changed my body structure. Sure I have a long way to go but my body has changed in other ways. I have built muscle in parts of my body that I have never been able to do on another diet. Sometimes at night in bed, I will feel a part of me that feels foreign. I'll ask my hubby "what do you think of that". He will remind me that this is my body building muscles and changing. It's a great feeling but it's also confusing. Even though I am losing weight, I don't always see myself as losing. It's good to know that even when I am not losing a lot of pounds, I am really changing for the better.

          Once upon a time, There was a girl named Carin who saw a red jacket in a catalog that she fell in love with. It was a short red quilted coat. She immediately ordered the jacket in a 1X(22X/24X) because she had been hovering around size 22X for a long time. When the jacket arrived, she ripped open the box with glee. She could not wait to wear the red jacket to work the next day. But alas, when she tried the red jacket on, it was soooo tight; she could not even pull up the zipper. This was a reality check for Carin because not only had she not purchased a jacket in a long time; but she had not tried on different sizes. Carin cried that night disappointed. The next day, she told her co-worker what happened and her friend told her to send it back and order a new jacket in a larger size. But Carin said no. She would not buy a larger jacket and she would not return the red jacket. She started she started Weight Watchers and lost some weight. Every few weeks she would try on the jackets but it was always a snug fit. She wore her large winter coat for that winter knowing that one day the coat would fit.  Seasons change and the a year or so went by.  The weather was a little nippy but not cold enough for a large winter coat. So Carin pulled out the red jacket ; put it on and went to work. But later in the day she noticed something astonishing. The red jacket was easy to zip. She did not have to suck in her breath to zip the jacket. As a matter of fact, there was extra room in the jacket in case she had to layer up. This made Carin so happy because she did not realize that her body had changed so much. Nor did she think of the jacket as a challenge when she put it on that day. It was no longer the un-wearable expense. It was just the red jacket. Carin was so happy that she had to take pictures. And there was no sadness in the coat closet.

         

          The moral of the tale is that sometimes things seem really hard and unobtainable. It seems so far away in the distance. But over time and with a little persistance it can work out. And little victories are not so little at all.

            During the next week( which is really this week . I am so late) , I will continue to motivate my self to workout. Between 5th grade homework and a grueling work day I find that I am getting lower on my own to do list. That is the absolute best I can do.