The End....actually, make that ------------------------- THE DASH!!

Two Thousand and Ten.

It has been a good year.

I cannot honestly say that I kept the resolutions that I made on January 1, 2010. I didn’t make any for 2010. It’s been several years since I’ve made new year’s resolutions. I quit making them because I wasn’t keeping them.

2010?

So how was it?

Actually, it was a good year! Here are the highlights:
~Removed 67 pounds from my body.
~Only missed Saturday morning WW class when out of town for work.
~Continue to be faithful to water aerobics classes and working with a personal trainer.
~Did a 5K on the recumbent bike.
~Rarely experience knee pain while walking now.
~Off of blood pressure medication.
~Had to adjust the seat and steering wheel in my van.
~Can shop in stores that do not have electric scooters. (Good news for my health; bad news for the checking account.)
~Don’t avoid going places I haven’t been before for fear of steps/seats/facilities/etc.
~Stopped using walking stick, except on very rare and unusual situations.
~Make much better food choices, including often choosing not to eat sugar-filled, highly processed items.
~Smaller clothes……even able to wear some from regular people stores.

2010.

The end.

That’s the title I started this entry with, but the more I thought about it, I’m not ending anything I started during 2010. So, I’m thinking that THE DASH is a better title for this entry.

So, what’s next?

I’m gonna DASH into 2011 ----------

2011, here I come!

Yep, that’s my choice. I like that choice!!

Here's the deal.................so, WHAT'S the deal????

Okay, I’m having to face a hard reality today brought about by a couple of things going on in my life right now.

Yesterday, my van left me stranded in the parking lot at Stein Mart around 4:30 PM. Yikes, Friday afternoon, 4:30 PM, van won’t crank. Oh my!!! Long story short (and YES, I can shorten a story. LOL!!)……I got home around 7 PM with a brand new battery in my van. All is well. I was surprised by this turn of events, but my Heavenly Father was NOT surprised by this at all. In fact, He had started putting in place things as long as a year ago so that I would have what I needed to get through this situation unscathed.

Here's my deal: I continue daily to reap the benefits of my work and efforts to lose weight and regain my health and mobility over this past year. So, why am I struggling with my determination, motivation and commitment to my journey these past few months?

Here’s His deal:
• Over a year ago, I put in my van the small yellow pages book that I got in the mail. This was needed to look up phone numbers to call for help.
• One year ago, today, I joined Weight Watchers and hired a personal trainer and got serious about getting healthy and in shape. This is important because while I was waiting on the tow truck, I had to go to the bathroom. Because I was meeting someone in the parking lot to get some things I had ordered, I was parked at the entrance of the lot so she could spot me easily when she arrived. This meant a lengthy walk to the store and then the restrooms were in the back of the store. I made it and could actually still breathe when I got back to my van.
• Because the day was “casual dress day” at the office, I had on sweat pants and a tee shirt under my sweat shirt, so I was not freezing while I waited. It has been really cold here the last few days!!
• As I said, I was meeting a friend to get something from her. I had suggested we meet at a small church parking lot closer to where she was going to be. She insisted she meet me in the Stein Mart parking lot even though it was 5-6 miles out of her way. God knew I needed to be near a restroom since I’d be there a while.

So, WHAT’S the deal???? Why am I struggling so with my weight loss journey right now? Why am I walking on both sides of the line?

Today, as I have mulled over and over and over this question, I have faced some hard realities as well as some wonderful realities of my life this year versus this same time last year.
• Losing weight is hard.
• Being able to walk is wonderful.
• I’m tired of cooking.
• Being able to get in smaller clothes is wonderful.
• I’m tired of grocery shopping.
• Not feeling bloated from fast-foods is wonderful.
• I’m tired of tracking my food.
• Being off my BP meds is wonderful.
• I’m tired of figuring the points of foods.
• Walking without pain is wonderful.
• I’m tired of washing my bathing suit and towel so often each week.
• Being in the swimming pool is wonderful.
• Losing weight is hard.
• Being fat is hard.

I have a choice. I have a daily, actually moment-by-moment, choice to make. I can choose to do nothing and begin the process of gaining. I can choose to do something and begin the process of losing. It is my choice.

Hmmmmmmmmm. Interesting reality.

Do nothing = gaining.

Do something = losing.

The result of those choices seems somewhat backwards. But, I assure you, in this situation, it is not.

So, what will my choice be? The day has come when I realize that the choice of doing nothing is harder than the choice of doing something. Therefore, I am choosing to do something. I will continue the fight that I began one year ago today.............I will continue to regain my health and my life!! That's MY choice!!!!!

Oh, and once the tow truck got to me and jumped my battery and I was driving to the auto repair shop, here is what God gave me to remind me that He is worthy of so much more than I can ever begin to give Him.

On the road again and again...........

Oh my, what a week!! I realized late last night that I had not updated you on my Thanksgiving choices. My Thanksgiving celebrations with family and friends kept me on the road more days that I had originally planned. However, it was all a good thing. I ended up taking a couple of road trips that I didn’t know about until the day before them. Fun time and sweet memories!!

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I saw this thought posted on the WW message board: Thanksgiving is just another day. I will be surrounded by food and I will have choices to make, just like any other day. Whether or not I make good choices is completely up to me, just like any other day. Journaling my choices on/over Thanksgiving is up to me, just like any other day. The choice is, after all, completely mine.

I definitely celebrated Thanksgiving and made good choices. I squeezed off 2.4 pounds during all those celebrations!! So pleased and excited…….and VERY thankful!!! I am 69.2 pounds lighter than I was this time last year.

Things that I did Thanksgiving 2010 that I could or would NOT have done Thanksgiving 2009:
•Walked totally without my walking stick everywhere I went.
•Was on the road Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday visiting with family and friends. Back at home each night and up and out headed in a different direction the next day.
•Shopped at stores that did not have the electric scooters on Black Friday.
•Ate good, healthy choices and left second and third helpings on the table.
•Chose carefully the one dessert or taste of dessert that I wanted three of the five days.
•Tracked every bite.
•Spent three mornings in the pool.

Then went to a different Weight Watchers meeting on Monday evening to get the new program. I did NOT want to wait until today and hear the details of the new program. I couldn’t officially weigh today at my regular class since I’d already weighed once during this WW week. So, no report from the scales this week.

I am loving the new program. I’ll admit that it has been hard to wipe all the old facts and figures out of my brain this week. But, I believe that it will be well worth the effort. I’m excited!!

As I am closing in on my one year anniversary as a Weight Watcher member, I am very excited about my second year on program. I believe the new program will bring about great progress in my journey down the scales. I believe the new program will bring about more strides toward improving my health. I believe that my improved mobility and health over this past year will bring about a new level of exercise and I will not be limited to the pool for exercise.

The choice is mine and I am choosing to be excited and proud of my accomplishments this past year. I am choosing to continue down this beautiful road on my journey down the scales toward better health and mobility. To be perfectly honest, I LIKE that choice. I LIKE the “new and improved” Cynthia!!