February

I start February off at 213 pounds. Today, I have on a blouse I bought twenty-five years ago for a party in Monterey. How I managed to keep it through three house moves and countless increases in dress size, I’ll never know. But oh do I look good in it.

In January, my weight jumped all over from 217 to 211 pounds and back to 213. I never seemed to be able to drop consistently like this past summer. I would like to say that it was all about choices in the food but not so. My husband has been very ill during the month January. The stress involved in having someone I love in pain, has caused fluctuations in my weight and as well as my sleeping patterns. I found that there were days that I gained weight without even eating.

Exercise like walking the dog and jumping the trampoline worked to reduce stress and helped in keeping the weight going down. Even if the numbers crept up a little during the week, the clothes I wore remained on the smaller side.

I am still shrinking.

Moral of the story: Life gets hard. Keep to your goals anyway. It’s worth it.

"All My Children"

In 2010, I hit my goal of 225 pounds—the weight I needed to be Paul’s kidney donor. In the interim, Paul’s health has declined. His foot wound is now of serious concern. The transplant cannot happen until he is free from open wounds for six months. So July 2011 would be the best case scenario before I jump onto a gurney and hand over a body part to a group of people in masks.

I am currently 44 pounds lighter than my July 1st beginning weight of 260. At 216 pounds—lost one pound this year so far—I am going to push to lose a mere 26 pounds by July 1st 2011. This would put me at my ideal weight 190 and ideal size 14. A healthy goal by any standard.

My darling Moose gave me a Rounder for Christmas. That is a medium size trampoline with a rail that I can use in my living room. Yesterday I bounced for thirty minutes. Today I feel every muscle especially in my fanny and thighs. I am planning to jump to All My Children five days a week and pounce off those inches. The weight is coming off faster than the inches. Exercise is the only answer.

Oh, I am also planning to write this blog about three times a week. I have received comments that once a week is not helpful to the dieter. Expect recipes and meal planning in the following weeks. Okay?

Have a Blessed Day!

The Answer is “40 Inch Four Folding with Handle Trampoline”

Ignoring the obvious syntax error in the above title which was, by the way, taken off of an enclosed instruction manual, the question? What did I get from my husband for Christmas? Wait…it’s not Christmas. Not exactly but I did answer the door when FedEx delivered straight from China, a package with an ink rendering of the contents on the cardboard covering.

Yes! I beseeched my darling on a daily basis for the newest gismo, even going so far as to print out a Google price comparison of the appropriate resellers. It arrived this afternoon.

Note to all newly-weds: if you want something specific other than car floor mats for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or other important event, printouts of the online vendor will do much to increase your mate’s ability to please your wants and needs. Paul and I have been together almost twenty-nine years. We are skilled at fulfilling each other’s bliss.

I did offer to wrap it but he and I both knew that I would not be calm until the assembled work-out gear stood in the living room.

So twenty minutes later, the box shredded and the packing material spread over two rooms—thanks to my basset/pointer mutt—I mounted shiny new trampoline in front of the fireplace and bounced like Tigger, "a very bouncy fella."

I bounced until my gluteus maximus clinched like the Philadelphia Eagles clinching the NFC East. Real tight in just seven minutes and forty-three seconds.

That goal of a getting into a new size-sixteen dress for New Year’s may be within my reach. Yes, I lost one pound this week and I gained a trampoline. Life can be good if you focus on the little stuff.
Merry Christmas