Lending A Hand If You Need One...

Mercy, how the time has gotten away from me these days! Both hubby and son have been home this week and we've been getting a lot of stuff done but my blog has woefully fallen to the wayside. Time to fix that.

There are so many great end-of-the-year blog posts this morning. Lots of reflection of the year past and plans for the new one ahead. As for me, I am none too thrilled about my lack of weight loss this year. It's true that I'm slightly lighter than last year at this time but I should have been able to do much better. The biggest obstacle I'm dealing with is stress - maybe to the point of it interfering with my weight loss as the stress hormone cortisol holds onto fat with both hands. Both parents are dealing with terminal illnesses and the family, which should be helping support each other, is instead disintegrating. I've at least come to accept what is versus what I wish it were - but it is still a very painful situation. The stress will only continue to increase so my method of coping has to keep pace.

My eating hasn't been great but it hasn't been awful either. I'm happy with the level of exercise I'm doing but more things have to come together for the whole thing to work. So here's my plan for 2010:

Try yoga to help cope with the constant stress.
Get back to food journaling.
Drink more water.
Try a personal trainer and get these workouts, well, personalized.
Lose 30 pounds.
Travel more.
Have more fun.
Post a picture of myself.

Okay, so that's not the most awe-inspiring post of all time but it suits my needs for now.

I'm so happy to have gotten to know so many of you this past year. You've made the journey far more inspiring, encouraging and fun than I ever would have thought possible. I applaud everyone who has accomplished what they sought out to do and offer my hand to anyone who still, like me, has farther to go.

Happy New Year, friends! I hope it's the best one ever.

Giving Yourself the Gift of Blogs

Merry, Merry Christmas!

As the Christmas season is speeding towards a close and you may find yourself scrambling for last minute gifts at your local gas station or drug store, might I propose a number of gifts I've enjoyed all year that can be found right at the end of your fingertips on your keyboard.

For true inspiration and never-say-die spirit, look up my friends Shelley, Kari and Diane. There is hope and wisdom and a way back to a sane life with their words and actions. They've been there, and are doing that so each one of their stories is something you can completely relate to.

For a good laugh, there are my co-blogging friends Crabby and Jo whom I have the honor of joining at Cranky Fitness. And what list would be complete without Jack Sh*t when it comes to laughing out loud while providing lots of motivation at the same time. And Camevil's got just about the sharpest wit of all as she pursues her dream career of first zombie lawyer - and losing maintaining weight. You just know there's going to be a roast beast at her dinner table this holiday season.

For downright smarts about fitness and motivation (and just about the nicest person around) there's MizFit. Miz has teamed up with another of our weight loss blog friends, Shauna the Amazing Diet Girl, for some terrific pod casts as Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone.

And while the Two Fit Chicks cover the workouts, my friend TJ is a constant source of terrific and creative light eating. I wish the girl would write her own light cookbook. I'd be first in line. She's also another inspiring story in terms of weight loss.

Just about everyone in our little blog neighborhood is a gift so take a nice long tour and be sure to stop in and say hello.

And a very Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating it! And a very happy day off to the rest of you. I hope 2010 brings us closer to our goals. Enjoy!!!

Could Be Worse...

....Could be raining.

Okay, so I got on the dreaded scale this weekend after being away for quite a long time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but still...I'm up a bit from my recent lowest reading (+1.4) but considering all the stress and holiday goodies arriving daily, it could've been a lot worse.

So back I go to holding myself accountable (when will I ever learn?) and weekly weigh-ins. The numbers may not move as quickly as I'd like them to but at least I won't be pretending they're not even there.

Things That Happened When I Stopped Paying Attention

"Whoa! It isn't that bad....yet!"

Geez - when was the last time I weighed myself on a regular basis? Seems like back before "Law & Order" went into re-runs. That's a bad thing when one is part of a weight loss blog community and started out "with the very best of intentions." Okay - there was a time when I hit a plateau and was so touchy as to the scale readings that I stopped doing it for a while to prevent the likely negative psychological effects - also known as "flipping out". And then a few injuries had me scaling back my workouts so I really, really stopped regularly checking the scale. And then before I knew it (3 or 4 months later), I'd fallen out of my accountability routine and am just rolling along like I was in my pre-blog days. Not good.

I am a little scared of stepping on that scale again but it has to happen. I never was the type to weigh every day so I'm not going to get all obsessed about it. I know I will get upset for having dropped the ball and retraced my steps back into Deucetown again but it's time to face reality. Sure, there are lots of parties yet to attend and then the big Christmas feast but it can be managed.

Along with ditching my regular weigh-ins also went my semi-careful eating habits. It seems I have never been able to do many things half-assed - except, of course, losing weight. When I throw in the towel, I throw in the rest of the laundry too. Acknowledging the problem is always the first step, right?

I've already had breakfast and coffee this morning so it will have to wait until tomorrow, as I've always weighed myself first thing in the morning and with as little clothing as possible so as not to scare the dog (who runs around naked all the time, I might add, and it never freaks me out).

Here' to getting back on track.

Which Comes First - Happiness Or Weight Loss?

C'mon, get happy!

It's a very cold, windy morning here and I'm sitting in my office at my laptop listening to the radio station that plays Christmas carols nonstop while sipping my coffee. I am having a very rare happy moment. Ahhhh, I wish it could last forever. I wish I could share it with all of you. I think some of this new-found contentment comes courtesy of a book I've been reading lately called, "Happiness Now" by Robert Holden. In it, he points out the importance of experiencing the "now" of happiness - the present moment - and not looking outside of yourself to other people or other things, to the past or to the future for it. It's all within you if you just stop long enough to get quiet and let it rise to the top. Or so he claims. So far, so good.

I think I've spent a lot of my life looking outward for the answers - including thinking that once I lost all the weight I needed to lose, I'd be so much happier and suddenly be enlightened as to the ways of the world. But I think it might work the other way around. I think happiness with oneself brings about feelings of worthiness and deserving of good things: emotions often found lacking in people who've had life-long weight struggles. No one can make us happy or fulfilled except ourselves. Oh sure, money and good looks open a lot more doors and I wouldn't turn down either but in the long end, those superficial things don't define your character. Sorry - I don't mean to go all Wayne Dwyer on you. Just thinking, is all.

Any thoughts, friends?

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I've been so bad at posting lately - there's just so much going on this time of year. Today we got about 6 inches of snow so that was the little extra monkey wrench thrown into the works. Had to clear it all away before the sleet and rain came around noon otherwise it's like lifting wet cement.

The teen turned 14 today!! Time is flying. We're also having our big family party here this Sunday so there are lots of preparations to be made and cleaning (ugh!) to be done. Still have to decorate the tree and move all the Christmas presents and wrapping stuff from my dining room/staging area to some closet that isn't already jammed.

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately and that has turned into one small eating frenzy but luckily there was nothing good in the house to eat. You know you've got it bad when raisin bran looks good. Anyway, I'm staying as organized as I can so that I don't fall into the snack trap again so easily.

Happy Hump Day! Hope you're all doing well.

Welcome To Onderland: Population: One More

I finally crossed the border into Onederland this morning under heavy sniper fire from Turkey and Gravystan troops. Whew - it feels great to be here after SUCH a long plateau. Mentally, it feels like a big road block has just been lifted and there are green lights as far as I can see.

Thank you all so much for your support and inspiration. You've made this part of the journey so much more bearable. I hope I'll be seeing you all for the next 30 pounds.