So sorry I've been out...went to a hippie retreat where there was NO INTERNET! Crazy people!
MARTINI ROCKS!!!! I am so happy for you, girlfriend!!!!!
Congratulations as well to healthyginger, Change4life, playfullyme and anybody else I've missed. You should all get medals!
This is a long-term effort for us, to achieve optimum health. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around calling myself athletic. The idea of spending the rest of my life exercising and watching what I eat is, at the moment, very intimidating. But I only indulge that thought briefly, because it only talks me out of doing what I need to do every day to achieve what I want the most, a healthy body that can do whatever I want it to do.
So, the hippie retreat...it was actually a writer's retreat held at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. So beautiful there, and the food was delicious (all organic, vegetables grown on site). My workshop was a true learning experience, and I met so many really fascinating people. I had no problem with getting exercise daily with the hilly walks to the classroom and my bedroom. Lots of walks! I had some issues with the food. I ate A LOT of vegetables (yum), but very little meat. They had a lot of brown rice, whole grain breads and cereals, legumes. Even though I'm not supposed to have those due to my type 2 diabetes, I caved after three days because I was hungry. So for breakfast, I ate more eggs, I had big salads with lots of olive oil dressing, nuts and seeds for lunch, and plenty of kale with a tiny portion of fish or chicken at dinner. Had to skip all the tofu stuff due to the food sensitivity too. On the three days they had cheese, I totally overate that. And one day some chunks of ham appeared at the salad bar and all us deprived carnivores went nuts! In the end, I didn't lose or gain weight, even though I was keeping a lid on the calories (around 1800).
Since I've been home and off the grains, legumes and fruit (oh, I ate more fruit there too), my bloodsugar started coming back to normal (for me) and I've lost a couple pounds. I've gone over on calories but way lower on carbs and I can lose weight like that. I'm back to my Pilates, weight training and cardio (foot is feeling better) and I'm experiencing a lot of productive soreness. And I achieved my first back plank in Pilates this week! I've been trying to achieve that for two years! Backside was too big. I wonder how long it'll take for me to be able to do some proper dips. That's next on my list.
Must achieve good sleep tonight. Chat with you all again soon!
I am shocked that I can actually do this! Sweet! My body's capable of more than I give it credit for.
for (approx.) every 5 pounds lost: 
