Resurrection Coming

Ohhhh I am so excited I can hardly stand it! You can almost *feel* the energy in the air from everyone around you gearing up for a new life, a second chance, resolutions and promises! It doesn't even matter if most of the energy will dissipate within a couple of weeks... it is *there*, it is real, almost palpable. All the hope and excitement and determination is so invigorating! It's nice to feed off everyone else's energy for...

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Winter Bounty: Clementines!

In the wintertime, I used to be very sad that the Farmer's Market was closed. No more fresh local veggies, no more deliciously sweet, ripe berries and peaches. No juicy watermelons or plump, bright red tomatoes. All the foundation of my eating for summer was...

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Oh, Those BatArms!!

I had a run-in today with my "bat wing" arms, as some bloggers so lovingly refer to their big flabby upper arm area. You know, the part that swings and flaps like a wing whenever you raise your arm above your shoulder? That big huge hunk that hangs there? (If you do NOT know what I mean, thank your lucky stars. And do NOT let yourself become morbidly obese. Ever.)This morning I got out a new size L (normal!) shirt to wear. I knew...

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An Answer! Finally!

Wow, 46 comments on my last post!! I guess there are more of us diehards out there reading blogs than I thought! Thanks for all the GREAT feedback. I am so happy for the reassurance not only to myself but to the rest of you guys, that we are not alone! The whole world is not stuffing themselves with fudge at this very moment. Thank goodness!I woke up this morning... SICK AGAIN!! I could not believe it. Sore throat, severe headache,...

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For the Diehards...

I take it not a whole heck of a lot of people are actually reading weight loss blogs today... everyone's got their heads in the sand pretending that what they eat for the next 5 days doesn't count because of the fresh start on January 1... right? Right??(Actually the head-in-the-sanders are probably not reading this blog... but that's ok. When they come around we can leech off their new-years enthusiasm for a month or two and...

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Christmas Joy

I just had the *best* Christmas ever!! Well, maybe when the kids were all tiny, that was super fun, but I really enjoyed my Christmas today! All the kids were happy, everyone playing together and enjoying being home, and I was able to just relax and be happy. Last year was my very first year without having my children for Christmas, as the older ones all went to their father's for the very first time since we divorced a decade...

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The Resolution Habit

Is it Christmas Eve already?? You know what that means. One week until the throngs of fat and not-so-fat people jump on the bandwagon, join gyms, buy diet cookies, start their Day 1, and work really hard at losing weight (for about a week). I love the feeling of renewal and the big leap in the general public's interest in fitness, but I wish it would last past January. It will for me... how about you?Looking back I remember how...

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Cookie Coma

Ahhhh, what a week it's been! Crazy good times and insane exhaustion. This week I made seven -- yes SEVEN -- kinds of Christmas cookies (all the same ones I made last year, of course... tradition!) and two kinds of fudge. Then, in the mail, came 2 huge bricks of expensive dark chocolate, a couple of fancy candy bars, a pound of hand-dipped chocolates, and some really delicious-looking cheese gifts. Wow! And the treat plates from...

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Brighter Days

Today is a special day. It's Winter Solstice! Days have been getting shorter and shorter since mid-summer, but from now on they will start to get longer again. I couldn't be happier about that. And whether the marking of the *literal* solstice matters to you or not, perhaps you can appreciate, as I do, the simple concept that from today on out, things are just going to get brighter.Today is the darkest day you'll have to deal...

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A Wish for You

I'm sure you're really busy this weekend. It's the last weekend before Christmas. I personally am going insane trying to finish my Christmas shopping with the kids all home from school and none of the items I have rain checks for ever actually being available for purchase. So anyway, with all the chaos (or, alternately, the loneliness and isolation; I know some of you are alone for the holidays and it just sucks), what are you...

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Two Weeks Left

I am finally over my sickness, which lasted a week and a half. I was really hating it. No energy whatsoever, constant headaches and fatigue. Thank goodness I am on the mend and can get on with the holiday excitement, including taking my little one to see Santa and his (real) reindeer, finishing up the shopping, and baking Christmas cookies and fudge!For the last two weeks, my exercise efforts have been kind of frustrating. I really...

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Trying Something New...

Well, after that weird hormonal binge and a gain of 2 pounds on the scale, I did some reading and thinking. I have found some evidence that suggests a reason for mid- to end-cycle binges, but I'm still pondering and will put that in another post. For now, let me share what I did to halt the "crazy rolling ball" of binge eating.You know how once you screw up and binge, it is easier to do it again the next day? Harder to quit? It...

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You Know It's A Binge When...

You know it's a binge when...-you stop counting calories-you lose count of how many pieces of pizza you ate-you guzzle orange juice instead of water-you eat globs of cream cheese straight off the knife-you break into your kids' Christmas candy and eat some of it-you pour yourself a bowl of trail mix when you don't even LIKE trail mix and it is 250 calories for 3 TABLESPOONS-you consider eating the leftover Halloween candy-you...

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Something New: Persimmons!

If you're like me, you may have noticed persimmons at the grocery store but had no idea how to choose one, what to do with them, or what they are for. Up until now, I never tried any type of persimmon. So I figured it was time to do a little research and give...

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Still Sick, but NSVs

I am beyond irritable today, with hormonal mid-cycle moodiness plus once again feeling awful with this sickness, BUT I wanted to give a brief post with a couple of nice NSVs (non-scale victories).1) Yesterday I attended my first holiday event/gathering (I *was* feeling like I was over this sickness yesterday) where there was a spread of Christmas treats. When I saw the long table loaded with every possible kind of cookie, I stopped...

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Better is Good Enough

I think one of the reasons I've hung in there with this whole weight loss thing is that I am not terribly perfectionistic with my eating. Yeah, I eat butter. I enjoy cheese. I eat sugar sometimes. Pizza. Bacon. Stuff that diet purists gasp in disgust about. You CAN'T eat sausage and lose weight! Oh my gosh! You HAVE to eliminate every.last.morsel from your diet that is not pure and holy. Or Else.Well, I am sure that works for...

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Motivation

For the last couple of days, I've been eating a little more and not exercising because I've been sick. I try to eat according to appetite (i.e., listening to my body) within a range of 1200-1700 calories per day. And I try to exercise for 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. I did stay within my calorie range, but didn't exercise, and with all the higher carb, saltier types of foods I was eating and the tons of water I continued to...

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Half Portions, Double Portions

Back before I was trying to lose weight, I still thought about portions a lot. Except the thinking was, "How big of a portion can I snag" or "How many portions of this can I eat before I am too stuffed?" It was all about getting the biggest, the most. Kinda shameful, actually, now that I think of it. I mean, I would definitely NOT say I was ever a "selfish" kid or person in my life, but somehow when it came to food, I always wanted...

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Short Update

Just a little helloooo to say, I am still emotionally in a happy place but seem to have come down with some kinda flu late Saturday. Headache, extreme fatigue, sore throat, terrible brain fog. I can't remember what I am doing from one minute to the next, so a coherent post is probably out of the question for now. I did get the tree up (boy it was tough, I took Excedrin, we did lights first and then ornaments later, then today...

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Feeling Great!

Today, I weigh 227 pounds. And it feels SO RIGHT. It feels like I am finally *exactly* where I should be both physically and mentally. You might think that's a really strange thing to hear from a woman who is at least 70 pounds overweight, but I am not talking about reaching a destination here. I am not talking about BMI charts or desired outcomes or clothing sizes. I am talking about my actual weight *finally* matching my mental...

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Roots of Christmas Cookie Longings

Well, the Christmas Cookies started creeping into my brain yesterday. It happens every year, those cookies. Ever since I started celebrating Christmas when I was 18, I've had a mad affair with them. You see, I spent a lot of years in my childhood seeing *other* kids eat those beautiful Christmas cookies, but not being allowed to have any myself.I started out my life with the usual holiday excitement in December: a lighted tree,...

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Self Exam Time

And no, I don't mean breasts. (Although you should be doing that every month anyway).Every so often, it is good to really stop and *look* at yourself and your life, how you feel and why, and whether you are reaching your goals. December is a good time for this. Most people, near the end of the month, are bemoaning yet another year gone by with dropped resolutions. New commitment comes magically on January first, but it always...

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How I Learned To Cook

Back when I was a kid, my Dad did all the cooking. He was a fantastic cook. He'd make these really wonderful fancy dishes for company and family that would have everyone raving. I never paid much attention to his cooking, and sadly, he passed away when I was 20 years old. I never learned to cook from the master, and I only have two of his recipes. People still talk about how great such-and-such a dish was, and I often wish desperately...

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December 1, 2009: 230 Pounds

This morning I am feeling quite happy! I lost four pounds in December, which makes a total of 15 pounds in the last 2 months. I am pleased with that. Four pounds may not seem like much, but when you realize that before last month, I had not lost more than TWO pounds in a month for the past YEAR, 4 seems like an okay number.First, some stats:Days in November that I counted all my calories: 25 out of 30Average calories per day in...

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