Girlfriends



Christmas 2009 with Sharon and Vicki



Christmas 2010 with Vicki and Sharon

 
For nearly 20 years I've enjoyed a holiday lunch and gift exchange with my girlfriends Sharon and Vicki at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. There's always much laughter and vows to get together more often in the coming year. As I was trying to get a visual of where I'm beginning this new year in comparison to last, I realized that these photographs tell a story of size as well as of friendship. I'm really looking forward to being half the woman I am now when I'm ringing in 2012 with good friends!

A few thousand steps at a time ...

Over the three months of the OptiFit program I've learned alot. And re-learned even more. The road to getting fit, figuratively, is really quite literal. In mid-December I bought myself an early Christmas present ... a pedometer. My husband measured my stride and set it up for me. What I've discovered in the past two weeks is that in the course of my regular day I average just over 4,000 steps. What that means is that I have to get moving and build that up to closer to 10,000 steps a day. I lead a somewhat sedentary life, sitting in front of a computer writing or standing in front of a microphone talking. I'm adding activities to the twice a week strength training at OptiFit and am more conscious of where I park in parking lots, choosing now to park further away from my destination to rack up steps. A competitive person by nature, I want to "win" this numbers game. My New Years resolution for 2011 ... maintain forward motion!

Real food

In the sometimes crazy world that is my life, I find myself interacting with food in unexpected ways. When the owner of Rosa's Italian Deli asked if I'd like to be included on the restaurant's Celebrity Menu, I was flattered but very conflicted. I'm a work in progress in dealing with the myriad of food issues that have found me fighting and winning the battle of weight. Then I realized I could set a good example for any of my column readers and radio show listeners by creating something that was heart healthy and balanced. Tina and I came up with the Main Street Mojo sandwich ... served open-faced so there's just a single slice of multi-grain Italian bread. :) Topped with albacore tuna dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, tossed with sun dried tomatoes, sweet onions and capers, served on a lettuce leaf. It's good but as you can see from this photo, more than twice the portion size I would eat at one meal. A balancing act to be sure but I'm taking some satisfaction in how educated I'm becoming.

Unexpected outcome

My toes and feet are happiest when submerged in the water of our beautiful lakes and rivers but alas they must be tucked into shoes for most of the year. While I've been reveling in the revelation of baggy clothes, trying on shoes this weekend brought an amazing discovery. After years of wearing a size 8, and depending upon the style, even an 8W, I apparently now wear a 7.5 shoe size. Even with a pair of trouser socks, the size 8 were simply too roomy. Incredible shrinking feet. Who'd have imagined?

Baggy is good ...

This photograph will be a favorite for years to come. It's Christmas morning and we drove out to Higgins Point at the east end of Lake Coeur d'Alene. I took my camera down the trail to the shoreline to enjoy the view. Coming back up the trail I realized I wasn't out of breath and needing to rest. I also noticed that my clothing is getting increasingly baggy. Even wearing a couple of layers of sweaters under this jacket, it's loose-fitting, as are the smaller size pants I bought I couple of weeks ago. I'm liking the new and improved me.

Small Victories

just a small sampling of sweets
that have appeared this month in
the KVNI studio.

Another 2 pound loss this week. Doesn't sound like much when you have at least another 50 pounds to lose but I'm taking my victories wherever they present themselves. I remind myself that I did not become nearly 100 pounds overweight in a matter of months. It was a decade or more of gaining several pounds a year. Slowly and covertly, the pounds came to stay. I aged and my metabolism slowed down. I became less active and less vigilent. So I try to practice patience and resist the urge to become discouraged. It's winter, a time when I tend to want to hibernate, and the holidays.

Me and Janna with festive sugar-free
Jello holiday dessert

To have lost ten pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas ... with vast arrays of treats everywhere and holiday parties galore ... is a victory. I will begin the New Year by hitting the ground running on this journey to fitness. And by this time next year I hope to be half the woman I was in 2010. :)

Light at the end of the tunnel

Week 10 of a 12-week program finds me just 10 lbs away from my halfway point goal. A lot of work ahead of me to be down another 50 lbs by the time my next birthday rolls around in May but a good foundation has been laid.

It's magic!

I've joked about eating "space food" for the last several weeks, like the astronauts. Little packets of dried food, that added to a few ounces of water becomes somewhat like real food. Since these days I'm eating not for recreation or out of emotion or haste but for fuel, my space food is just what's needed. Look HERE to see how I take these powdered eggs and turn them into a wonderful breakfast that's full of protein. About 125 calories, including my embellishments. :)

Yowza!

Thanksgiving came and went and the world didn't come to an end. :) We decided to forgo the huge, food laden eating fest that the holiday has always centered around and without the daughters and grandsons here, it was a quiet day for me and the hubs. I baked a small turkey breast and made Stove-Top stuffing and mashed potatoes. The things that Bert said he would most like to have. I had a slice of turkey and about a 1/4 cup of stuffing and that was it. No big deal. For all of my fretting about getting through the day I realized it's just food. Didn't miss the pumpkin pie or fruit salads or gravy or any of it. Missed the daughters and grandsons but that was it. And in my next weekly weigh-in, in a week that included Thanksgiving, I was down 5.5 lbs. Go figure.