May 1st

Well, my trip to Cali is over and I'm back in my old routine. That's not so good. For some reason that old routine has gradually come back to mindlessly eating peanuts by the handful for fiber. That old routine seems to think that when the hubby wants treats, that I need treats too. That old routine seems to include watching television during the day and sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time, when I could be up and puttering around.

When my sister and I were together, we were on the go. Now I know that we were trying to pack in all the sister goodness that we could in those three days, but it did get me thinking about how little I move on a daily basis. When I was going from one end of the airport to the other, I was moving like crazy. My two months of treadmill work really helped there. Man, it felt good, being able to move like that while carrying two shoulder bags. I was passing people like I was a young gal.

While out in California, I was surprised to see numerous real size ladies, as well as some quite obese folks. This is surprising because when I started going out to see my sister seven years ago, everywhere we went we were the only ones who weren't skinny minnies. I was glad to see the real size gals, but was thinking about the obese ones. Were these the real size gals from seven years ago. I'll bet so.

Thoughts like these, and the fact that I couldn't find any slacks that fit me exactly the way I wanted, led me to offering up a challenge to my sisters. We discussed that we thought realistically we could all lose twenty pounds by my next visit in October. Basically there are twenty or twenty 0ne weeks until my next trip and I know that you are supposed to be able to lose 1-2 pounds a week on a healthy plan. So that's the challenge. Lose twenty pounds by October. Can I do it this time? I'm praying that I can. I don't want to be one of the real size chicks that ends up being morbidly obese in five years.

For the first three weeks, I'm going to use Larry North's 21 day plan, Slim Down For Life. Although it is a ten year old publication, it's still a good guideline to get me back on portion control, as well as eating three meals and two snacks. I tend to either graze all day, or not eat at all and then overeat at dinner.

We all know that exercise is a great way to ramp up weight loss and good health in general and he lists lots of one minute exercises that almost anyone can do. I plan on adding these moves to my current program of treadmill walking and I'm sure as each day goes by, I'll have more energy and drive to continue.

So that's it for me today. The first of a new month, a great time to start getting healthy. My last treat was a strawberry shortcake with ice cream at the local Strawberry festival. Hey, it's to support the kids.

Look at the heart shape randomly formed by two strawberry slices, aww it loves me as much as I love it.

Have a great weekend and let me know if you are interested in cheering me on in my six month challenge. Join me if you want. Come on, it'll be fun!