The long slog toward slim

This picture was taken this month (January) on one of our snowshoe trips. One nice thing about winter is you can't really see all those extra pounds I gained in 2010. It's not that I don't exercise, as all of you who follow my blog know, but it's that other part, the intake, that seems to be the problem.

I got all excited once I started my calorie counting regime last week after having lost two whole pounds in the first four days. Another pound skated right off the scales in another two or three days. So, this morning after not having weighed myself since last Friday, I was so excited about getting on the scales after my workout. NO! I couldn't have GAINED a pound. Or could I? I've been diligent in logging my food intake and making sure I am in a 300-calorie deficit as I add everything up. It was disappointing, but I am pretty sure this is just part of the ups and downs (literally) of the game. There is a need to remember that I'm in this for the long haul. I was just jumping ahead, as usual. Sigh. It was probably a good thing for me to remember that several things can add or subtract from that total poundage. I've still got another eight pounds to lose for real.

I have noticed that my pants are very slightly less tight, but it's not anything making me ready to fling myself into my favorite jeans and be disappointed. I'll wait awhile. Becoming slim and getting rid of my muffin top are my goals, and they are totally within my reach if I just remember to take it slow, gear myself up for the long slog of counting calories and depriving myself of chocolate. For now, anyway.

Pete, August 2010

My brother-in-law Pete is very ill with Stage IV emphysema and was told this morning that there is nothing more that can be done to extend his life. My sister called me to let me know that he is being referred to Hospice and that she will call me when she wants me to come. If it were up to me, I'd head down to Florida tomorrow, but she has her hands full and doesn't need me to interfere. It's a very hard time ahead right now, and my heart is heavy not only because I love them both, but because we all must travel that path one day, and it really sucks to be the one left behind.

Last August I went to Virginia and spent a week with Pete, my sister, their daughter and my beautiful newborn grand niece, their first grandchild. It was a wonderful visit, and when we said goodbye, I wondered if I would see Pete again. Well, I believe I will, but maybe not on this side of the veil. Pete has been married to my sister for almost half a century, and I've known him most of my life. He was my first husband's best friend for years and years. If there is an afterlife, I know that he and Derald will be really happy to be together again.
:-[