Oct. 11: Moved In At Last!

Finally.

After a week and a half without phone and internet, life is settling into a new kind of normal.

The move, like all moves, was long, exhausting, and chaotic.  On moving day we didn't get the truck unpacked until 8:30 at night.  It took absolutely forever.  Added to that, my living room furniture wouldn't fit through the door.  I luckily sold it and managed to get a small sofa for the same amount.  We were so exhausted we could hardly move.  We went out for dinner and R fell asleep at the table.  The next day my back hurt so much I could hardly walk.  It also hurt that badly the day after that.  Thankfully, I'm all better now.

Unfortunately I'm also about five pounds heavier.  You know what ticks me off?  When I was all stressed out, I gave myself permission to eat crappy food.  Then when I was feeling better, I gave myself permission to eat crappy food. Subsequently, I gained 5 pounds in two weeks.  What was the reason?  There wasn't one - I just made them up.  I wanted to eat crappy food, and so I did. Excuses are what made me fat the first 759 times around.  Here are the excuses that have been in play over the past two weeks:

1.)  You poor thing, you are so stressed out.  Just have a cheeseburger and you'll feel better.

2.)  There is no time today - we have to eat in the car on the way to our appointment.

3.)  I'm feeling much better - let's celebrate with dinner out!

4.)  The boss bought donuts - it would be rude not to eat one.

5.)  I don't have time to pack my lunch this morning - I'll just have fast food.

6.)  I didn't have any granola to go with my yogurt so I will just have a candy bar instead.

I'm sure there were other excuses, but those were sufficiently lame to get my point across.

My point is:  There is always an excuse - it's easier to make excuses and let yourself off the hook than to stay on track.  But it's not easier to be heavy instead of healthy.  My short term satisfaction is not worth my long term health.

So tomorrow begins the trek back to a healthy lifestyle, here in my cute new apartment just a few blocks from work.

For all my Canadian friends

~ I'm thankful that I weigh about 50 pounds less than I did last Thanksgiving ~

~ I'm thankful that I've been able to reduce my expenses ~

~ I'm thankful that I have a lovely new apartment with a great landlord ~

~ I'm thankful for my beautiful, talented daughters ~

~ I'm thankful for my affectionate pets ~

~ I'm thankful that I have been blessed with a new beginning ~

~ I'm thankful for a great job ~

Tomorrow:

 recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers

Sept. 26: Countdown to Moving Day

That is not my neat tidy stack of moving boxes.

Nope, my moving boxes are all adult diaper boxes.  My next door neighbor works at a nursing home and has supplied me with hundreds of sturdy, uniformly-sized adult diaper boxes!  I'm sure the new neighbors will wonder who the heck is moving in, and whether or not they should allow us to sit down on the new sofa if they invite us over.

A couple of dear friends stopped by today to help me and it was great.  I still need to do the storage area of the basement, the linen closet and the pantry.  The bedrooms are basically done.  Life is going to be absolutely insane this week, climbing over and around the boxes in every room.

Eats are outrageously bad.  I'm having a lot of trouble getting on track and staying on track right now.  I'm not going to just cave but I'm also not going to beat myself up this week.  A week from tomorrow is soon enough to start pulling it all together again.  So far, my weight has been maintained fairly well, so I'm sure an off-week won't cause me to regain 20 pounds. 

I prepped some food today, but not as much as usual.  I made....

Roasted chicken breast

Roasted broccoli

Mexican ground turkey

Garden salad

Fruit tray

Hopefully this will keep me on the straight and narrow for at least some of the week.  If I can hang tough for everything but one meal a day, I'll be really pleased with the week.  Supper will consist of short cuts, drive thru and frozen pizza.  That's just how it is.

Once I get moved, I'll be cutting an hour out of my day by getting rid of my current commute.  I'll have more time to update - I know I've been lagging, so I really thank those of you who have stuck with me.  Starting next week, I'll be updating with my new weight-loss plan as the diet break ends and the dieting begins.  I'll also be creating more yummy recipes and meal plans, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to the gym!