Never Too Much

           I feel good about this week.  Actually I feel nifty.I have to attribute it to exercise. I did not do anything out of the ordinary. I just worked out. But I think that I was able to take away something from my workouts that empowered me. That and the fact that I was able to put a little distance between me and the stress I have been under lately. I noticed that even though it was the end of the workday and I was tired, the workouts released the necessary endorphins I needed to fight back for myself and get my focus back to me. As I said in my previous blog, I decided to keep the stair case challenge in my routine. Last week on my "work from home day", I shut down at 5pm and told Jake that we were going to the stairs. He huffed and puffed but we were able to get in 50 flights of stairs.  During the week, I felt the benefit of doing stairs two weeks in a row. The other day I found myself running up and down the stairs in my office in three inch heels. Literally I was running up one flight. I wasn't out of breath. I thought that was pretty nifty.Today when I worked from home I grabbed Jake and his friend Vanessa for the climb. While Jake performed the most dramatic scenes of Bette Davis' career, Vanessa really loved the stair workout. We were able to do 70 flights today.

This week's exercise/pedometer totals were;
Tues. all day = 7pts
Wed. stair climb + 53mins dvd = 8pts
Thurs. all day + 30 mins dvd = 4pts
Fri. all day  = 7pts
Sat.6hrs of chores + jog in place 30mins = 8pts
Sun. Chores = 1pt
Mon. all day + 30 mins walking dvd = 5pts

         I lost .08lbs. I am happy with that because last week I gained .02lbs. I now weigh 232.6lbs. I have lost 45lbs all together. When I typed this into my WW E-Tools, I received a reply that I lost another five pounds. It's kind of amazing how seeing a different number or a different level makes you feel. Something so small as .08lbs created a move forward moment. Those weeks that I stayed the same weight for so many weeks in a row finally took a hit. I totally need the encouragement. So Yeah me! I lost 45lbs.
         This week's WW meeting topic is "Am I Really Hungry". Guess what readers, almost every angle of this topic is me. First, let's go over my leader Melanie's TABLE theory shall we.
Tired
Angry
Bored
Lonely
Emotional
        Do I eat when I am tired? Not so much out of hunger but I have made very poor choices when I am too tired to cook.
        Do I eat when I am angry? Sometimes. I was once having a pressing conversation with one of my TRIGGERS and when I hung up the phone, I was surrounded by chicken bones. Apparently, instead of removing myself from the conversation, I removed the leftover broiled chicken from the tupperware.
        Do I eat when I am bored or lonely? Folks, for years now I have never been bored or lonely. There is always something or someone jumping off in my life.
        Do I eat when I am emotional? Let's see, I eat when I am happy, sad, angry, grumpy, PMSing.
       I do all those TABLE things. In last night's meeting I heard a quiet voice in the crowd. A wonderful man who just hit lifetime said the thing I never hear in a WW meeting. It's the thing that I am always afraid to say out loud at a meeting. There are so many members talking about how the eat this , not that.  Measure this and that. How it all works out perfect for them.No one else seems to have THAT feeling that goes on inside of me. I rarely feel full. That feeling you are supposed to get when you feel just full enough. I don't hear that inside voice. Sometimes I feel full when I am out to dinner with friends but then I am so preoccupied with conversation, dancing, flirting or whatever that food is not as important as the experience of being out ( you can tell I don't get out much).
              At home I cook good food. I love food. I want it to taste good. I like to present it well. And I like to be complimented for it. If the food does not taste like I wanted it to, I throw it out and eat a PB&J sandwich. I can eat small portions of food for breakfast and lunch because I know I am going to eat well that night. WW is really helping me in the way that I now pay attention to what I eat and how much. But the little partial smile I'm satisfied face plays a very small part in my life. I keep looking for him on the horizon. You know the guy on page 53 of the Getting Started booklet. I override his voice. I have not figured out why. I am sure I'll get there one day. Maybe I will take a little time this week to look for him.
              I do however find other things to do without sitting around thinking of food. Some of them revolve around my little energizer bunny of a son. And I do love television( Come back Keith Obermann. I miss you). I took a little advice from our fill in leader Ellen. I purchased a drawing pad and a box of 64 crayons. One night while watching tv with my hubby, I started drawing. I drew my name in grafitti letters. My husband was told his friend on the phone that he has known me forever and never knew I could draw.
             Another one of my multitasking hobbies is knitting and crocheting. I get patterns for small projects and complete them if I concentrate on them. One restful weekend I made two hats and a scarf for my hubby. The other project I finally finished was a shrug I made for myself. I spoke about this before. How I never make something for myself because I am so big that it will take forever. Well it didn't take forever this time. So here is my shrug and the scarf I made for my hubby.

            This week I plan to try to listen out for the "satisfied man". I know he's out there somewhere looking to hook up with me. I leave you with Jake's fabulous artwork. A Valentine picture of our family. You will be able to spot me in the picture. I am the one who is pink. Happy Valentine's Day.