Late start compared to last week. But it's time to admit that this holiday business is over and get back to work.

It wasn't my best vacation eating behavior, although a far cry better that before my journey began. I have to get my focus back.

The tree is gone; the living room looks normal again. A new cycle begins.

We leave the tree up until the Three Kings arrive on the 6th. I think that's good for a number of reasons. One is that it teaches patience, and that's a virtue worth having in this weight loss and weight maintenance game.

I am feeling pretty good but longing to get back to the gymn. Work, family, weather, Christmas have stopped me getting there for weeks. I've exercised but not at the gymn in that concentrated, listening to my muscles, hearing my heart beat, focusing on my lungs way.

Good morning, everyone!

I took down our tree and lights yesterday, too. I knew that if I didn't do it this weekend, it wouldn't get done until next weekend, and the tree was already starting to look a little droopy and shed needles. Our town eliminated its tree recycling program, so I lopped off the boughs and used those for protections for rhodies I planted last spring, and cut up the rest for firewood in a couple of years. Recycling the hard way!

I'm sitting at 148.5. That's 9.5 pounds less than last 3 Jan 2010, but the 2010 weigh-in was a water-retention day. Still, I'll take a 7 pound loss at my age, assuming little of it was lean body mass. Here's to keeping it off, and sending some more little triglyceride friends after it!

First day back to school for The Boy. DH let him stay up way too late last night (DH gets the night shift, as it were), so it will be a bit of a struggle to get him up this morning. But, I think we'll all be glad to get back onto a normal schedule.

// b. strong,
Kim

After our New Years Day lunch of Hoppin'John with greens and the densest, most buttery, butterscotched topped pound cake ever, I am at 151. this morning. I should be under my "allowed" weight at the TOPS meeting later today. No resolutions this year, other than I want to get to a weight of 143lbs. No rush, I plan to take all year to get there. Going to add a Saturday Zumba class to my routine this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it.

Today we're embarking on 2 to 3 weeks of DD's P90X meal plans. I'm not doing it in it's entirety. I'll just eat the dinners she plans and do my usual for breakfast and lunch. Due to the cold weather, I prefer a hot breakfast (even though we harvested a couple branches of my grapefruit tree yesterday). I'll eat a grapefruit now and then for a snack, but I've got to get hot into me in the morning. So I bought a big box of egg whites, cut up some peppers and onions and have them at the ready. So simple to throw the two together in a bowl and nuke for a minute or two and top with a little salsa! Yum

We took down most of the decorations yesterday morning. We didn't put up a tree this year, so the clean up was minimal. We'll leave the outside lights up for another week.

We went to see True Grit yesterday. Good movie. Funny like a Coen brothers film should be. We're going to get the 1969 John Wayne on Netflix so we can compare the two (assuming 1969 will be less gory, less funny). A friend of mine did the same and she was amazed at the similarities in dialogue.

My Dad is home. My brother went to the hospital yesterday at 10 am to pick him up. They finally released him 7 hours later. They had intended on releasing him on Saturday. Wondering what the delay was. My brother said it was if the nurses knew he was to leave but dragged their heels in getting everything done for the discharge. Makes one wonder.

Everyone have a great week!

Good day everyone! Time to gt back on track for me, in lots of ways. Have to get my food on track, take control of my time, get my finances in order, and take down the Christmas decorations.

Silver - hope you get your gym time soon. And I am going to tell people who give me a hard time about my decorations being up still that I'm doing the same thing with leaving mine up. I like it. And it gives me a little more time.

Kim - high five on the weight loss! And the recycling of the tree.

4x - I missed my greens this year, sadness. Enjoy the Zumba!

Allison - glad that your dad is home! Good luck with the P90X meals.

Good day all!

Happy New Year!
Goals and resolutions.... hmmmm.... I am sitting 4 pounds higher than where I like to be (127 vs. 123). Hoping to get some of that off this week with out the relatives here, dinners out, disrupted gym routines, etc.

I do feel like I've been slacking some with my resolve so I need to find a way to refocus. Something to strive for, a goal, or something. Thinking about how or what to do....

We more or less survived the relatives being here (remember the $$$ Napa saga?). Inlaws are supposed to be flying out today so hopefully that will be the end of it. Dh got food poisoning over the weekend and was miserable which put the burden of entertaining, driving, etc. onto me. Hopefully he is mostly on the mend but is still taking today off.

Returned to a huge mess at work as I took the Friday off before break and I guess the library was a dumping ground. So....trying to dig myself out....

Hi all,

Despite being happy I reunited w BF, I felt rather Scroogey throughout the holidays. I wasn't in a horrible mood, just less excited than usual about the holidays, and for some reason I feel guilty about this. I also missed my own family, even though I got to see them at Thanksgiving. I left to visit BF on Christmas Eve (he was staying w his sis & her family), stayed there til Dec. 27. Dec. 30 he also came home, b/c there was no business, and he is here until he leaves for vacation to the Dominican Republic this Wed (I'm not going, a whole other long story there). Lots of back and forth and uncertainty about planning ahead but I'm glad we got to spend the holidays together.

Exercise was so-so, eating far from exemplary. That really needs to change long-term, not just for a few weeks until I next fall off the wagon. Though I'm doing the same thing as (almost) always, to start I'm writing down what I eat in my food journal, tracking calories, and exercise. I need to push myself to exercise harder and differently, and not give up my eating plan every few weeks, and I need to sit down and think how to make myself do those things, b/c what I've done in the last few years hasn't worked. Something needs to change in 2011, and I need to figure out what.

Michele, sorry DH got food poisoning and you had to deal with the family. I need to figure out how to re-focus as well. Maybe we could all brainstorm together? I'm definitely going to post some goals and thoughts in the 2011 hopes goals etc. thread once I can articulate them.

Allison, I'm glad your Dad is home, and the news from the doctors isn't so bad. Good luck w DD's P90X meals! I've never learned about the meal plan but know the workouts are supposed to be killer. I laughed quite a bit at Saef's post last week about how just the P90X commercials keep her going at the gym.

Kim, congrats on the loss over the year! You're definitely moving in the direction you want to go.

Hi Bill, Silver, Shannon, 4xcharm, everyone else lurking out there! It sounds like we're all packing up from the holidays and getting back to our healthy routines.

I started the New Year with my yearly physical this morning. The physician's assistant who did most of the work was new to the practice and questioned me a lot about my pulse or resting heart rate, which is 40. Also -- this is a weird NSV, but it does qualify as an NSV -- she told me how great my veins are, before picking one to use for drawing the blood sample. I remember my dread of having blood drawn about 106 pounds ago, when they used to have to dig to find a vein. I don't know if it's just weight loss or the addition of strength training that brought the veins to the surface, but whatever caused it, it's made this process so much easier.

I don't know what my blood work will reveal yet, of course, since it was just drawn a few hours ago, but I'm hoping it will be a decent reading.

It's strange to have today off, when so many are back at work, but the way my company's calendar works is that the New Year's holiday is the first holiday of the year, so they had to move it up to Monday to make it fall in 2011 rather than in 2010.

The doctor's scale said that I was 144 with clothes on & breakfast still in me. Sounds about right. I'm fine with that & just want to be -- here comes the dreaded "t" word -- more toned, at least as well as I can be with the loose skin that's come as part of my efforts.

Hi guys,

It's my first time posting here. I just entered maintenance on the 22-Dec-10 and am aiming to weigh 158lbs. I am close...3lbs away.

My eating has not been bad but my exercise has been slacking, what with the Christmas break. I am DYING to get back to the gym....miss that adrenaline rush, miss the sweaty feeling. Hopefully I will be back in the gym tomorrow.

Saef - funny, I'm having both my (female) annual exam, and a mammogram tomorrow! I usually start the new year this way as it's my birthday week so easy to remember when to have these done. I won't have blood tests til Feb though as my internist does those, but I have the appt already.

We're having crazy warm weather here - nearly 50F - and a nasty wind. All the main roads are clear and dry, but the side roads, and our driveway, which were snowpacked have become ice with water on top - not fun! We're supposed to be back to more normal winter weather, i.e. temps in the teens, by the end of the week.

Happy New Year! Ah, a fresh slate. It feels good to be back in control. I already wrote myself a note for next December about not making so much sweet stuff.

Pat, 50 degrees really is warm! Does the pineapple express make it up that far? We're sitting around 25F, which is pretty typical.

Saef, isn't it funny what constitutes an NSV now? That seems like a pretty good one, especially since your description of "digging for a vein" gave me the shivers.

Slim CB, welcome! Congratulations on your weight loss! As you can tell, even maintainers have difficulty with the holiday season. But we all get right back on plan and don't let a slip become a slide.

Had some good medical news today. My neuro had read about an MS antibody test so just to confirm what I already knew, I took it and don't have the antibodies so that puts the whole MS thing to rest. The bone doc called, too, to tell me my Vit D levels were good, but my body just isn't absorbing calcium so I'm suppose start an IV medication that's done yearly. Okay, as long as it helps. I'm hopeful.

Last day of vacation for my DH. We had a good time with the three out of five kids that were here at various times. But it's always nice to get back into the routine, especially the workout and eating routine.

Another day without heat at the office! It's 39 outside and 62 inside. My little space heater will be working overtime today!

The first meal DD prepared from her P90X thing was good, albeit quite salty. Miso soup (she bought red miso which we later learned is twice as salty as the other varieties) and beef & broccoli stir fry over soba noodles. I believe we have chicken on tap for tonight. A lot of the menu choice are fish, which she won't eat, so she's doing chicken one night and beef, turkey or pork the next night. I made it through the day without stopping at the candy jar at work and didn't have my nightly cocktail or wine. WIN! But also a fail as I failed to do my exercising. I will do it tomorrow as I get an extra hour in the morning.

Today is DH's birthday so we might take off work a little early. I bought him a watch for his birthday and he wants to exchange it for a smaller version, so we'll probably do that this afternoon. DS has his last driver's ed lesson today. He's decided he'll take the Hyundai Elantra so we'll probably go buy that this weekend. Oh, and Sunday we're going to see a matinee of A Chorus Line. Should be fun.

Today's is my dd's 20th birthday as well. I cannot believe my husband and I are old enough to have a daughter so old. I think we're going to get sushi tonight for her birthday. She is making her own birthday cake because she loves to bake. I will probably have a taste as it is very labor intensive-- some sort of nutella chocolate ganache....

And great news Sheila on your medical tests!

And, Saef-- I'm sure your bloodwork will be top notch!