Turkey Time and Black Thursday/Friday Night...

I can't believe that Thanksgiving has made it here already.  Back in June when we started Weight Watchers, all the holidays seemed so far off.  Now we've blown through two of the three major food gatherings (Halloween Candy...food gathering...get it) and we just have one more to go.

We ended up having a small Thanksgiving dinner.  I really didn't want to do a thing this year because to be honest, I was petrified of overeating.  I don't want food to control me anymore and most of the time, it doesn't.  But when it sits in the fridge (especially things like pie, cake, and rolls) I have trouble resisting that kind of temptation.  So I made up the basic Thanksgiving goodies and only one pie that was made with two bananas and sugar free pudding (2 cups).  It wasn't the best, but it was a sweet which helped give closure to the day. 

What is it with traditions?  Why not start some kind of new one and move away from the food part of it....maybe I'll never know.  Anyhow, sucess was had and we made it through. 

Carl went to Wal-Mart to get in on one of the TV deals.  He made it back home in one piece and with the TV he wanted.  We used to be the couple who headed out for fun on Black Friday mornings, but now with stores opening on Thursday evening (or some all day) we just don't even fight the crowds.  But it was nice to get a new TV and spoil ourselves just a bit.

Missing Were We

Guess where we've been for a week?

Yep yep!  In Branson enjoying some down time.  I gotta tell you, it was so hard trying to lose weight while there.  It just smelled good everywhere we went.  From popcorn and funnel cakes to steak or bbq...ugh, it was overwhelming.    For the most part, we did well and resisted it.  We didn't even make our regular stop at Krispy Kreme.  It was tough, but not going there felt like nothing we've experienced before.  It was like triumph.  

So anyhow, while we were in town, we saw some shows, played mini-golf, shopped too much, watched some movies and just went wherever the day took us.  We also went to a Weight Watchers meeting while there...they were a trip. :)

Although it was fun, it was good to get home.

A Glitch & News

Coming back from a small hiatus around here.  Lots to share, where to start.  First off I guess, severe pain knocked me down.... it was in my knee.  Felt like a knife stabbing in there so I laid low for a while took it easy.  That was a whole week of babying it.  Last Monday, I woke up with pain in my right side and went to the doc thinking it's a kidney infection or something.  Yeah, no.  Turned out after some xrays, I have a ruptured disc in my back.  And one that's fused to my spine.  And some arthritis... blah.  But...life goes on as much as it can.  Treatment was to baby it for a while (the disc) and just see how things progress. 

So I also started a new job this week in our County Clerk's office.  I'm now a Voter Registration Clerk (part-time) and it's been fun so far.  Lots to learn, but it's sharpening the mind. 

And that's fun and all, but back to the doctor visit... while I was there I had my blood drawn.  Turns out my thyroid is inactive (DUH, I told them that the last two times) and I'm now taking synthroid 75mg.  Guess we'll see how this works out.  On the upside, all my other labs were okay and my blood pressure the other day was 118 over 74 - Good Deal!

Blinders On... Keep Moving...

Never truer words spoken than those above!  I'm going to come clean about something here and even though I don't want to, I'm going to face it down, admit it and move on. 

We went to the grocery store tonight (after our workout) and  picked up groceries for the coming week.  All was good throughout the fruit & veg section and into the main aisles of the store.  But as we were coming to the end of our trip, we had to get some milk.  The milk is next to the donuts, cookies, pies, cakes, chips, and dip.  Wonderful product placement, thanks.  I really appreciate it.  *eye roll*

There was a moment tonight though, where I lingered to long, thinking just a "what if" thought while picking up the milk.  What if I just have one slice of cake to take home with me?  What if we just get one package of cookies, they're on sale?  What if we get Doritos this week instead of pretzels?  What if we just grab some donuts for tomorrow?  It'll be a treat.  And then I thought - What if you stop with these stupid thoughts and keep walking?   So I did.  

When we were on our way home (hubster went too), I decided to confess my thoughts to him.  He admitted that he was feeling the same way.  I was so happy to hear that because it means that I'm not a total loser and we both have weak moments.  But in our weak moments, we didn't give up.  And because we didn't give up on ourselves, we didn't sabotage the other one.  That in itself is just an amazing moment on this path.

I'm not gloating or bragging about tonight, but I am rejoicing loudly because for the first time in my life, I used discipline on myself.  And it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.  But now I wonder in what other ways I can put it to use.

Working Out: A Confession.

I have so many issues and I'm seriously trying to get past them, but it really is hard. One of the biggest fears I have is people taking my picture secretly.  I just hate cell phones and the ability for people to take pictures without being obvious.

The People of Wal-Mart site seriously disgusts me because sure some of those people on that site like attention obviously.  But when you see the obese person splayed out on a bench near the pharmacy, that person is probably sick and waiting for their medicine to be filled.  Why would that be worth a laugh to anyone?

My fear thrived and multiplied when we walked at the Y for the first time.  It was crazy busy down below the walking track and I just hated it.  I know that I wouldn't be working out so much if that was the way it would be.  And this isn't a generalization, but most of the pictures of other people, are usually taken by teenagers trying to outdo their friends.  Our Y seems to have a lot of young unsupervised teens running around or playing a game of basketball in the gym...that resides below the walking track.  And lots of windows are set up where the exercise equipment is situated.  

Am I over-thinking it?  Definitely.
Paranoid?  Without a doubt.
Is it likely to happen?  Probably not.

But it is on my mind and it was a huge roadblock on the path to success.  So how do you get around the roadblock?  For me, it was to look elsewhere this time.  When we tried out the Annex (a secondary location across town), I fell in love with it from the start.  Seriously.   The best thing for me was the fact that no one under 18 allowed.  Then it just got better from there... there's only one window for visitors to see in.  The place has plenty of room to work out and several types of equipment (it's not the newest, but it works great).  It's open 24  hours and it's quiet!  Seriously, we pretty much have it to ourselves when we go work out at 5:30pm.  I don't know what it's like for the rest of the day, but for that hour, it's just bliss to me.

For what it's worth, I know I shouldn't care what others think and do, but I do.  I don't like that about myself, but I am self-conscious to a fault.  Maybe one day I'll get past that, but for now I am so thrilled that I'm doing what I'm doing at the Annex.  I'm so blessed.

Strategic Moves.

So Weight Watchers has a journal called the Ultimate Three Month Tracker.   One of the things I like about it is that at the beginning of a week, it asks if there are any obstacles coming up.  I try to think of things that may cause me to be lax in my planning for the week so hindsight would no longer be the end result.

This week we have/had two events that take us out of the house, which is honestly a safe eating environment for now.  One was Kelly's birthday dinner and the other is a church fellowship event where the food object is hot dogs & s'mores.  Alrighty then...bring on the planning.

For the dinner out, we couldn't figure out how to go to a Chinese buffet and not go hog-wild.  Then it dawned on me...Chinese buffets have lots of fruit available and salad is everywhere.  It truly is a habit of ours to bypass the 'good stuff' and head to the 'tastiest stuff'.  But we didn't.  We filled our first plate with salad and fruit and settled with one plate of all the rest.  That meant we had to pick and choose because we weren't going back for more.  But it worked, we did great.  I don't know the point count, but I know that we managed without going overboard.  

As for today, the plan is to eat some fruit at home and then have a hot dog and good choices.  And to keep busy by talking with people.  I have to make a dish to take with us and I don't know what to take.  So we'll just wing it on that and go with our eating plan.  I hope it works and I'll let you know.