Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! What do you do if you wake up at 4:40 a.m.  start thinking about all the things you need to do yet before the guests arrive, realize that you haven't gotten around to writing in your Fitness blog for awhile….5 a.m. is your usual time to rise up, so when it rolls around, you might as well get up and start writing!

The last two weigh-ins have both found me down a little, .2 then .8 for a total of 1 whole pound. The Weight Watchers meetings have been very helpful to plan ahead for a successful feasting day. We did a pretend Thanksgiving dinner buffet and totaled the points. It's pretty hard to get a Thanksgiving plate of foods plus dessert for less than 30 points, and the daily goal for losing is 26! That's where the beauty of those 49 extra points and activity points comes in. Being extra careful the rest of the week means I can enjoy all the delicious foods today (in moderation of course).

The past few weeks I've been dipping into the chocolate stash in the office way too much and just craving food all the time, so I decided on Saturday that I would not eat any sugar until Thanksgiving. That lasted until I made apple crisp for the boys on Sunday! But after I had some of that, I went back to the plan. This time it lasted until I was at Hope's house on Tuesday night and had to have some of Janelle's fabulous cherry pie with a little ice cream! I'm so glad that I'm not a legalist! Other than that, I did pretty well! I realized if I only ate sweet treats when I am enjoying them with other people, sugar addiction would probably not be a problem!

For today's dessert, I made a crustless pumpkin custard from a Hungry Girls recipe that only has 2 points per serving, because I didn't want to use 11+ points on pie today. Gotta save points for leftovers later in the day! I wonder if I'll really be able to leave the apple and berry pies alone? I plan to save one piece for Will and send leftovers home with guests! There's not much will power between me and pie!

Exercise is especially important to this week's plan. I enjoyed a beautiful run at sunset last night (wearing my neon reflective vest of course) and intend to do my own little 30 minute Crossfit workout this morning that will include sit ups, push ups, squats with dumbbells, lunges and burpees.  And my guests don't know it yet, but there will be a group walk around the loop between dinner and dessert!

The heat came on a bit ago and wow did it suddenly get hot in here. I had to run upstairs and exchange my cozy fleece pajama top for something a little lighter. That's the other nice thing about getting up extra early, you get more time to sit around in your comfy jammies. And I do love my fleece jammies. Have I mentioned that lately?

Just had to share this…I'm thankful for awesome pjs!

I've been reading each morning from Ann Voscamp's "One Thousand Gifts" devotional, and several of them this week have focused on slowing down and eliminating the hurry from life. I loved Devotion 10, "Recognizing Grace", which told of eating dessert with her family after being stressed by her noisy, fighting, messy children.  "Life is dessert—too brief to hurry."  My prayer for you and for myself is that we will slow down today and truly taste of God's goodness.

The turkey is now smoking in the Traeger!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."  (G.K. Chesterton)

P.S. 7:47 a.m. I just pre-tracked my food for the day. Now stick with it, girl!

Coasting and Grace

Where does time go? The past few weeks have been extremely busy and some very stressful things have happened. That's my excuse for not living up to my commitment to post once a week. Have I mentioned that I have a little problem with self-discipline?

So here I am, three weigh-ins after gaining a pound on the last one I wrote about. That pound is now gone and I am exactly where I was October 15. So you might say I have been coasting. I haven't been focused on counting points or tracking much at all the past few weeks, and only my consistent exercise is saving me from gaining. 

I got in some extra exercise while Will was gone hunting for 10 days. I drove home at lunch most days and took Zeek for a walk. It was always a great triumph that we made it down the road to the ditch in time for him to do his dirty business. Yes, every day. The dreaded pooper bag never had to be used. 

Last year I had a lot of trouble during the holidays and that's where the pounds started creeping back on. I'm determined not to let that happen this year. I still want to lose a few pounds but I think my goal will be to just maintain during the holidays and try to focus on eating healthy while enjoying moderate amounts of holiday goodies.

I am loving the Cross Fit class. My goal is to still do Zumba twice a week also but that's suffered a little because work is so busy. Tonight I was going to make it on time but when I got to the gym I realized I didn't have my shoes. Grrrr. I raced home, I mean drove sedately home, changed, and got back for the last 20 action packed minutes of Zumba, then stayed for Cross Fit. It feels so good to challenge the body to do different things, things that are hard!

Since I'm so inconsistent and wishy-washy about things, it makes me very happy that I serve an unchanging God. 

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13: 8)

And I've been thinking about the following verse as well: "Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents."

May I keep my focus on the God who gives the grace that strengthens my heart. Because of His grace, I  persevere in spite of my weakness and failures.