Week 4: Still Stumbling

This week, I had the pleasure of enjoying my mother-in-law and her husband visiting us for a week. We ate out a lot, which proved a bit of a quandary in terms of eating and trying to figure out calories and trying to withstand the urge to eat more than I needed. The results were mixed. I began well, started sinking back into overeating habits for a few days and then made an adjustment on Tuesday and Wednesday that made me re-visit the feelings of day-long hunger to get back on track. I think there was one or two days during their visit where I was about 1000 calories above my target. One of those days, every meal was purchased outside the home. The final meal was at a Cuban restaurant where I learned that I really like Cuban food and I especially love drinking a Mojito cocktail. It is made with mint leaves crushed in lime juice, a bit of powdered sugar, a shot of white rum with club soda topping it off. I was highly tempted to have two glasses, but successfully withstood the temptation by thinking of the cost, the calories, and a vision of Eric having a heart attack trying to carry me to the car because I had passed out in a drunken stupor from overestimating my lightweight abilities to process alcohol. It is also always tempting when visitors are around to make sure we have lots of sweets and Grandpa Dick was not helping when he bought the kids push-up treats on our way to Tubac. At least I made sure he didn’t get me any because I was saving my calories that day for Wisdom’s fruit burros served with a scoop of ice cream. Mmmmmm….Can you tell why I have a hard time losing weight?

I do have some non-weight accomplishments this week:
* I memorized Ephesians 1:18-20 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. My favorite version of the 2 Corinthians verse is New Living Translation, though I worked so hard to memorize the NIV version that I am not going to try and memorize the NLT version. They both are helping me to rely more on God, because it is His power that can change a person in the long run.
* I have gone from an “old lady” shuffling jog for slightly less than ½ mile with my bad knee aching by the end of the run to a “slightly younger old lady” shuffling jog for a little more than ½ mile without my bad knee whining at all. My fitbit pedometer says that I am keeping a 10 minute mile pace when I run that is pretty consistent.
* Maia, the Wii’s “Personal Trainer” will stop about three times in a workout to see how I am doing for that particular section of the workout. On two different occasions, I was able to chose “No sweat” instead of “I was working hard.” or “I couldn’t keep up.”
* I have worked out five times a week for the last three weeks, not counting shambling/walking the dog and playing in the pool when temperatures reach 90.
* I spent an hour climbing up, jumping across, and scrambling down big boulders on a creek bed trail in Tanto Natural Bridge State Park, as well as helping my youngest do the same. I felt like a female version of Greg Bear in “Man vs. Wild.” At least until my legs started shaking as I climbed up the last embankment that brought me back to the top of the trail. The next day, I was only a little sore. If I had tried to do the same four weeks ago, I probably would have hurt/pulled something and too sore to move the following day.
* I put on some shorts last week that used to scream in agony at the excessive stretching needed for me to wear them. This week, they only whimpered briefly.

My goals for this week are to memorize Ephesians 3:16-21 and keep any “binge eating” to one day a week and not let it get extended to more than two days. Ideally, I would like to eliminate binge eating all together. However, I am human, not God, so I can live with imperfection :-).

“If I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through. And if I’m weak, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You.” (Rich Mullins, “If I Stand”)

The result for this week: Up 1 pound, 37 to go