Hello, Snow

Finally, first real snow of Winter 2011-2012. It came after Christmas (darn), and on a Saturday (kids say darn, parents say yeah).

It looks really pretty, is easy enough to shovel and didn't cripple the state. Maybe this Winter is trying to make up for last Winter.

Gadget Guy was up at the crack of dawn (as always). After he finished changing the critter cages, he tackled the snow.

Princess Imagination looked out the window astonished, "Look snow! Actual snow!! And there are bunny tracks leading out from the back porch!!!"

Now just an hour after sunrise and the falling snow has turned to rain. I can already see the grass poking through the melting snow. If Pink Ballerina doesn't wake soon, there will be no snow left.

Frustration

Did I jinx myself my mentioning my great start of 4.7 pounds in 14 days?

It feels like it, because I have hit a huge set back: in two days I went back up 2.2 pounds!

This morning I was back down again a mere 0.1. The running total is down just 2.6.

No, I haven't gone on a junk-food binge.

No, I haven't stopped exercising. In fact, I've done 30 minutes on the elliptical plus my allotment of jumping jacks.

So what can this be? Water retention? Constipation? Nasty Aunt Flo lurking in the shadows?

I'm hoping the next few days will bring good news.

Progress report: two weeks in, 4.7 pounds down

In the last few years I've discovered that I now gain weight very easily. It slips on smoothly, like a comfy pair of slippers.

Losing weight, eh, not so much. I lose a few, gain a few, back and forth. It’s never a straight line down. And it never stays down for long. As soon as I let down my guard, it creeps back up again. And then there's that scary big 200 looming in the not-too-distance.

I’ve decided that it’s time to change all that.

Since January 1^st I’ve lost 4.7 pounds.

Those pounds were frustratingly hard to lose: over those two weeks, I was down 3.8, up 1.3, down 1.8, up .8 and down 1.2.

I write down my weight every morning, then I plot it on a graph. But as I plot it I can see that even if it’s not a straight line down, it will be overall down.

As of New Year's Day, I really changed what I eat. Lots more fresh fruit and veggies, lean meats, reduced carbs/starches, and very little sweets (except that tube of cookie dough in the fridge leftover from NYE).

I stopped buying all the junk food that the kids usually request. Instead, apples, oranges, bananas, cantaloupes, and honeydews fill the crisper in the fridge; ready-to-eat containers of pineapple, peaches, and pink grapefruit now live on the shelf above, making friends with the lite yogurt.

In fact, there was more fruit than room for it in the crisper. But then I learned everyone likes their apples "warm" (not cold from the fridge). So the apples stay out in a basket on the table.

Gadget Guy and the Pink Ballerina are on board the eat-healthy bandwagon. Pink Ballerina said that she "really, really wanted some ice cream" the other night, but understood that "we're eating just healthy food now." Princess Imagination is fine with just apples and frozen fruit pops. Bumblebee usually eats a serving (or more) of everything that’s available. Since all that's available is fresh fruit and yogurt, that's all he's been eating. (Mental note: if you want your kids to stop eating junk food, stop buying junk food.)

But changing my diet is not enough. I have been exercising. I can't always get the classes at the gym, so I have been creative. For the last two Saturdays, I had to squeeze in a quick workout: take kids to Tae Kwon Do, walk down to gym, push hard for 30 minutes on elliptical trainer, grab a quick shower, throw on fresh clothes, walk back to TKD, pick up kids, drive home and serve lunch! On school days, I can stay on the elliptical for 45 to 60 minutes. Too many days, someone is home sick, or something else gets in the way. On those days, I do 20 to 30 Jumping Jacks an hour every hour.

Well, it's a start. Happy New Year!!

The Mominator