Happy Holidays

Finally! I've been wanting to post so badly, but I just had no time at all to sit at the computer.

Friday night I was in the drive-thru lane when the guy in front of me threw his SUV into reverse and crashed into the front of my Subaru. Mabel and I weren't hurt, but the front of my poor 'Ru is all smashed up. Amazingly, despite this massive dose of stress heaped upon my already full plate, I didn't succumb to food. In fact, when I did partake of the pizza we had for supper, one piece sat in my stomach like a brick and I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the night.

I am here to report that I did great this Christmas! I managed to get through four major holiday meals without stuffing myself at any of them. I ate what I wanted, but I ate small portions, and I limited my access to snacking and sneaking opportunities. While everyone else was loosening their pants and complaining how bloated and ill they felt, I was silently beaming inside that I was able to escape that experience.

The funny thing is, I think I did better with my eating on the big event days than in the past two days. Of course, the past two days have been the Big Move, with today another episode in our relocating adventures. My food has been very sloppy, very mindless and not well thought-out. The only thing that's been saving me weight-wise is the fact that I'm doing so much physical labor. I've been climbing up and down countless flights of stairs, lifting and carrying boxes and bags. I went to bed last night in our new house exhausted and sore.

I am up a couple pounds, but only about 2.5. This for me is a huge victory, because on other holidays I've easily bloated up 10, 15 pounds. But the holiday week isn't over yet, and I know I could easily balloon up between now and January 1. So as things begin to settle, I really need to start getting mindful again and get more selective about what I'm eating.

Right now it's not a big deal, but for the time being I'm losing my handy in-house gym for a short period. It's still set up in the extra room off of the garage in the old house until we can get our new basement cleaned up and ready for it. I have a couple choices: drive over to the old house and work out there, or sign up for a month at the gym down the street. Both involve leaving the house at the crack of dawn, which in the winter is a little daunting. The other alternative is to find some kind of exercise tape/DVD that I could do in the living room. I'm still working on this.

Well, I'd love to chat more, but it's time to get back to work. I will do my best to report in again soon -- I'm going to be off work again until January 3, so if I post it will have to be on my home computer, which is on the floor right now until the desk comes. If I don't get back on, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!