Plateau

Well here we are again. Honestly, my life is so busy right now I can hardly stay afloat. I have stuck to my program. Easter weekend I had a little wine and a little too much "Easter" -- but overall it was fine. I did a great job. So I am sure you can appreciate my frustration when I went to weigh in today and was down only by .4 pounds. Down yes. But over two weeks? Booooo!!!!!

I stuck to the program. I got exercise. So it must be a plateau. Happens all the time, or so I'm told. To me, it looks like the picture here. I am looking across a vast ocean and can't see the other side, which represents the goals I have set. I am navigating this barge that I call a body toward that goal, and there's no current or wind to help me along. Just me and whatever motor I have inside. Ugghhh!

But, I suppose it could be worse. I could be my sister. She broke her kneecap, so she is laid up in bed. She is starting to get around a little bit, but still needs lots of rest. So how did this happen? She fell down while she was skating laps with me. I forced her to go skating with me, and she wiped out and broke her knee. The UP side is that she loved it, and said she plans to go back as soon as she is healed. I'm glad, or would probably have felt pretty guilty.

So I worked through the anger and frustration of the morning's weigh-in, and I plan to stay tight on the program. I know it works. I know this is a temporary glitch. I just want it to move forward. And the truth it, the wine alone last weekend could have made me bump up and stay there awhile. That always happens when I drink wine. So, I'll be avoiding that for a bit.

So I am very busy making some big life moves here. I'll report as I have time, as I am somewhat overwhelmed at the moment. So please pray for me, and I will pray for you. Until next time, God bless ya'll!

204.4

I am seriously on a roll!!!! What a thrill. Sometimes there are no words to describe what it feels like when you get on the scale and see a really nice drop. And I am quite sure that it's all due to John Paul II. I know, you're asking how that can be. Well I'll tell you.

Pope John Paul II has been one of my personal heroes for almost thirteen years. I have a running list of people I admire, but this man has had more impact on me than I could ever begin to tell you. And I wanted more than anything in the world to meet this man. In fact I prayed for many years that God would work it out that I could meet him. And of course, I really wanted that to be while we were still on earth. So when he passed away at the age of 84 on April 2, 2005, I was genuinely and sincerely devastated. It was like losing a second father.

When I started my weight loss journey, I started a novena to John Paul. A novena is a prayer you say for 9 days. And for nine days in a row I had a little visit with John Paul II. I asked him to ask Jesus to help me stay motivated, to keep exercising, and to see quick results. In particular, I really wanted to see the 190's by Easter.

When I saw the scale results this week and last week, I knew he was doing what I asked. It is now a reality that I could be under 200 by Easter. Granted, it might be on my home scale and not the Jenny Craig scale, but when I started the novena I was thinking that's the scale I would be using anyway. Unbelievable. And then I got a REALLY miraculous surprise. The Catholic Church announced the day of JPII"s annual feast day (the day we celebrate his life on earth and in the church). And guess what???? It's MY BIRTHDAY! I seriously know that it was a little message from him, telling me that he will be watching out for me my whole life, in every way. We are connected by time and space. I'm just going to have a wait a little bit to see him.

So. That's my little inspirational story for today, which is Sunday. A good story if I say so myself. But, I never got around to telling you about the food last week, so I will do that in the next couple of days. Until then, happy meals, happy days and sweet dreams.

H is for Home Run

And that's what I hit at my weigh-in this weekend. A home run! I know the numbers listed here on my blog are what I intended to use, but the truth is, life without a scale is one worth living. I thought it would slow me down, cause me to given in, eat more. I was wrong. The ungodly fear of those numbers at Jenny Craig kept me on track. And since my numbers there have now passed what I was seeing on my home scale, I can just use those. So here's the recap: I started the Jenny Craig program on Wednesday, March 23rd. I weighed in at a whopping 214. A week later I weighed in at 210.4. On Saturday I weighed in at . . . drum roll please . . . 207.4! Whoop dee dooo!!!! Now that's a home run! And this after a beautiful night at the Twins' game at Target Field (where I had salad and 1/2 piece of cheese pizza). I kept the momentum at my black tie dinner on Saturday night, eating all of my salad and asparagus, but only taking a few bites of the steak and salmon.

Yesterday was tougher. I went out to eat with my kids. I ordered a cup of soup and egg salad on whole wheat. But guess what? When I went to check the calories online later, I found out that my little sandwich is almost 500 calories!!!!! Booooo hooooo hoooo! So sad. So I probably ended up eating 1500 calories yesterday, with no exercise since Thursday.

So it was back to work today. I skated 45 minutes -- dragging my sister along to show her how wonderful this exercise is. I'll walk a little later I think, too. Back to the grindstone. But I am good and ready. I want to be out of two-derville and back in one-derland SO bad! I was hoping by Easter, but I am not so sure it will happen.

Anyway, I'll tell you about some of my yummy foods later this week. You might just be a little jealous. Hehehe. Until then, pray for me and I'll pray for you. Have a glorious day!!!

Skating on Thin Ice

What a week I have had! Life is good. First off, I got rid of my scale. Complete withdrawals, but that is better than being irritated and depressed all day.

Also, I found a beautiful ice rink and headed there to skate twice this week. I was missing my skating buddies from the northwest, but loved being back on the ice. And I don't use fancy schmancy girls' skates with a toe pick anymore. Despite the fact that at one time I aspired to be the next Dorothy Hamel, I find that girls' skates are horribly uncomfortable and gave me big, oozing blisters. So I went out and bought a pair of used hockey skates. I love them. They're roomy and comfortable. I can't stop in them, but who cares? I get done what I need to: laps. And laps and laps and laps. I slap on my head phones and nano and off I go. I used to have skating partners, but since they are now in another city, I just sing to myself instead. Too bad for everyone around me . . . haha . . . they get a serenade!

So. Skating and walking. I ended each day with a 2 or 2.5 mile walk. VERY good way to end the day. The only downside is that my little armband doesn't accurately record the calories I burn skating. It says I only burned about 250 calories. But every other source says that even slow skating burns twice that for 50 minutes. So I guess I will have to wait until I weigh in to see how many it really burned. I can do that.

I am a teensy sore and tired today, but in a good way. I have a busy weekend ahead. Minnesota Twins game today, weigh in at Jenny Craig tomorrow, and tomorrow night is a black tie gala for Children's Hospital at the Depot in Minneapolis. Not too worried about my food. They don't usually over-fill the plates at the gala dinners. As for the Twins' game, I can just steer to salad. Not suppose to have meat today, but if it comes down to bad choices, I may eat meat anyway.

So that's the story on this beautiful Friday morning. I will let you know how the JC weigh in goes In the meantime, enjoy the weekend and God Bless.

My Roller Coaster Ride

That's my life. A giant roller coaster. It's up and then down and then up and then down. And sometimes I throw up.

My weigh-in with JC was excellent on Friday. I was down 4.5 pounds. I had a great weekend. I ate well and got in some exercise. And today, my weight was up a pound. But with all of these different numbers and weigh-ins my mind is swimming. I know I brought the confusion to my own doorstep, but that isn't any consolation. Here's what happened: I weighed myself at home two weeks ago. That was the first number. Three days later I weighed in with Jenny. I had on jeans and a sweatshirt. Full, heavy clothes. Another number. Friday I wore sweat pants. Light clothing at JC -- and the scale showed a decline in my weight and my clothes. At home on Friday, I was also down another pound. The scale showed 207.4.

I have no explanation for the rise this morning, except that I had some bread when I went out for dinner and a play last night. I guess I also had a little too much chicken or something. It doesn't really matter. The point is, I have several different numbers going every which way at the same time. I need some consistency. Plus, I am tired of that little machine wreaking havoc on my emotions. So here's my plan. I had one of my children take my scale. I will get on it again next Monday. This is the number I will use to track my weight loss from week to week. I would use the JC number, but theirs is about 3 pounds higher, and who needs that???? Notta me. So no, forget that. Mondays will be my weigh in day. This is really a news flash folks. I am a SCALE JUNKIE, as you well know. It's as addictive as any drug. I am pretty sure I will even go through horrible withdrawals. So I hope I can stick to my guns.

And while I'm off the scale, I hope to kick start my body again. As usual, it is clinging desperately to the poundage I have accumulated. But one thing I know for certain: it cannot and will not hold on to it for good. I will win. It WILL come off if I continue to eat 1200 calories a day. And I will.

So that's my lovely story for today. I am staying positive. And I just keep saying my prayers, asking for help staying motivated and to help speed my results. As always, I will keep you posted on how we go. God Bless you all real good! :)