Thanksgiving: a wonderful time to be grateful!

Well, I have FINALLY updated the Success Rate charts at the bottom of the blog page tonight - something I hadn't done in over a month, I'm afraid to say. But now it's up in all its glory, along with the updated chart on the right of the blog page, so everyone can see how successful we've been so far. And we really have been very, very successful: Mom is under 200lbs for the first time in almost as long as she can remember; I have just bought my first pair of (American) size 16 years in at least 15 years, if not longer - and am close to hitting my 200lb-by-Christmas goal - and Eileen is looking GREAT with her 16.5lb weight loss. I am so proud of all of us!

Having said that, this week was Thanksgiving - yesterday, to be exact - which is a time to reflect on all that we are grateful for, which we did - and to eat to excess, which we also did, with gusto! What a wonderful meal we had (even if it was mostly bought at the supermarket!): moist, succulent turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, wild rice, green salad (made, for once, with MELON jello instead of LIME jello - Mom said she wondered why it wasn't as green as normal when she was making it!!), bread rolls, pumpkin bread (home made - thanks, Kathy!), cranberry apple casserole, stuffing, crudites... followed by apple & pumpkin pies with whipped cream... Truly a scrumptious - calorie laden! - meal to be very, very grateful for. My waistline, however, not so much!

Which explains exactly why our goal for this two-week period - as indeed it will also be for the Christmas period - is to simply MAINTAIN our current weights rather than to actually lose anything. If I can succeed in that goal, I will be a very happy camper indeed!

I said I don't believe our scale, and I don't: when I got up yesterday morning I weighed 193, but when Eileen appeared two hours later - and after I had had my breakfast - I was 196. And I didn't eat THAT much for breakfast! We took the 193 as my weight, anyway. And Eileen gave me the money for the bank from last week, so I deposited $13 in our Heifer Fund, which now stands at $152. Today is Thanksgiving, and I expect by the time all is said and done I will weigh in at 206! I am determined to eat minimal amounts of everything good, but a woman can only do what a woman can do! More tomorrow!!

Well, it was weigh in morning, and I lost 2 pounds, which means I have to pay the Heifer fund one dollar. Not too bad, but I still hope to lose one more pound so that I will be below 195 for Thanksgiving. Then I suppose I will just put it all back on again! But hey! we need to suspend our die - FRP until after the holidays, just set a goal of maintaining rather than losing. Eileen gained, but that is not surprising, given her broken arm, while Esther Marie met the goal in SPITE of her wounded arm! We'll weigh in on Wednesday next week instead of doing it on Thanksgiving Day, though that would be ideal day to give us incentive!

So much for resolutions!

Well, so much for my resolution to blog more! That seems to have gone rapidly by the by... But at least my resolution to eat less - and eat better - hasn't gone quite the same way! I have cut down the quantities again (less bread for a start!), and have bought some fruit for the house, so at least I have healthy munchies again. I do have to confess that both Mom & I caved last night and had chocolate milkshakes from Roy Rogers, but oh! they tasted sooooooooo good! Well worth cheating!

As for riding my bike, I did that yesterday to work & again this morning. The plan, of course, was to ride it home again this afternoon - except that I was silly, tried lifting a dishwasher on my own, and promptly hurt my left arm! So Mom had to rescue me from work (my hand & wrist swelled up & went numb for a couple of hours!), and consequently the bike is still chained to the fence outside the Lawn & Garden department... Oh well, just means I'll have to go get it tomorrow is all!

Bring on the weigh-in this week... I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

I lost TWO AND A HALF POUNDS at weigh in yesterday - but I don't believe the scales! If my goal was to be below 195 by Thanksgiving, then I have already met it! The down side is that Eileen GAINED two and a half, so I DEFINATELY don't believe the scales! We have agreed to suspend her losing until her arm is somewhat healed and she can get back to geetting more exercise again. I was given a nice compliment yesterday when a lady I know told me it was time to QUIT losing before I lose my tush altogether!!

So I've noticed a direct correlation...

between my interest in keeping to this diet challenge (or FRP, as Mom insists on calling it!) and the frequency of blogging on this site... The less I do the latter, the less interested - and more likely to cheat on - I am in doing the former! So new resolutions as of today:

1. Blog more often
2. Be at 200 lbs by Christmas
3. Be at 190 lbs by the time I go to Honduras for Valentine's Day!

I also need to start riding the bike more again - weather permitting, of course (it's done nothing but rain all day today...). As much as I groan about getting on the thing, once I'm actually on it, I really do enjoy riding it - to work, at least! How I feel about riding it home again really depends on what kind of day I've at work, and how much running up & down the length of the store that I've had to do!

But more than anything else, what I need to do is wrap my head around this whole food / snack thing again. I'm embarrassed to admit that I have eaten everything & anything that's come my way over the last few days: way too much bread, way too much candy (marathons, twixes, a mini bag of m&ms, a couple of mini bags of candy corn, potato chips... the list goes on & on...). I have very bad expectations for tomorrow morning's weigh-in - but with my new resolve and new, achievable goals & timelines, am very hopeful that things will turn around again in the very near future & I WILL meet all my goals and deadlines!

Oh, and I definitely need to buy new pants... even the girls at work are commenting on the fact that my jeans are now too big for my waist & my behind!!

No blogs means no FRP - though I did lose one pound at weigh in on Thursday. But I have been very b ..................... well, not good ever since. But now I am determined to get back on board. I really, really would like to see 195 before Thanksgiving and maybe 190 by Christmas. Who knows by next summer I could even be in a bikini - never that I have ever aspire to a bikini, but the thought is nice, anyway! I'd rather be off my cholesterol pills!!!

I need new pants!

My jeans are all too big for me now - yay! And I'm on the last hole of both of my belts - I keep meaning to get new holes punched into them at work, but so far haven't got that far - which is a really great feeling, as I don't remember the last time I SHRANK out of my pants, instead of GROWING out of them!!

Today could be a bit of a food day, though, as we're going to lunch with the Red Hats - Mom's "women of a certain age" group who loudly & proudly proclaim that red & purple DO go together, and that just because you reach "a certain age" doesn't mean to say you can't still have fun. We're having appetizers here at the house, then going on to a restaurant in Union Bridge (I think...) - I feel a burger & french fries coming on! But it's a beautiful day, so I'm hopeful that I will ride the bike to work this afternoon, which will let me work off whatever I have for lunch!

Weigh-in in 2 days... I HOPE I will at least have lost the 2lbs I gained last week!

FRP - phooey! Do you have any idea what you have to DENY yourself if you embark on a FRP? Try baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. Twix. Brownies. Birthday cake. ANY cake. Coffee rolls from Dunkin Donuts. And now Halloween candy. Bah, humbug - but only because I kinda forgot that last and kinda SCOFFED the last named! I guess I can resist anything except a Tootsie Roll! I THINK I did alright Sunday and Monday, it's just that I know I will have to pay the price (literally!) for Saturday come the next weigh in. Hopefully I can just have stayed the same and not GAINED!!