Just. Breathe.

...to Hell with my good intentions! [Ha. Until I typed that line, I didn't get the double meaning! I meant it to be a continuation of the blog title, but reading it by itself also works!] What a crazy couple of weeks. I'd like to say I was all good and well no my way to losing those pounds, but no. Not even close. I've eaten more sugar in the last week than I have in the last year and that's not a good thing. If it's any indication of how my self-control will be on the cruise, I'm in trouble. Last weekend we hosted the teenagers from our church for a retreat weekend. Boys and girls (about a dozen) for two dinners and a lunch, and the girls for breakfast. It was great fun, but when you cook a lot of stuff you don't intend to eat, the temptation just sits there...calls your name at night... The food was pretty awesome, though. Italian "pizza pasta" Friday night -- layers of sauce, noodles, Canadian bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and more than tw...

In most ways, this week has not given the results I wanted. Instead of starting on the 8 pound loss, I've gained two pounds. Guess losing an even 10 works better? Whatever... Granted, this was a hormonal ToM, and I could blame that. Done. I have done the planned 30-Day Shred (Jillian is Satan) every day, though, and my arms are killing me. I did take myself up to Level 2 pretty quickly because I'm an idiot I've done Level 1 several times before, just never for 30 full days. Level 2 has these things called walk-out pushups (or something like that) where you start from standing, bend and walk on your hands out to pushup position, do a pushup, then walk back and stand up. Who makes up these ridiculous moves? The weather has been awful and I'm a weather-wuss, so no running yet. It's supposed to stop raining tomorrow, and maybe get above 50 degrees, so perhaps I'll make the dog happy and get outside again. I obviously have to do something different if I'...

[My family is laughing at this title - one of my pet peeves is the apparent belief that "My Favorite Things" is a Christmas song, evidenced by the constant playing of it on various music stations during the season. Have these people never seen the movie??? Just because it talks about wrapped packages and snow...Austria apparently only has those things at Christmas. Bah.] I, on the other hand, have many favorite things and not just at Christmas! Here's a quick random list in case you are just rabidly curious. 1. Phillip Phillips' debut album, The World from the Side of the Moon -- There is not a single track on this album I don't like. I loved him on American Idol, mostly because he didn't seem to give two hoots if he won and he wasn't going to change his style to make some judge happy. "Home" is the big hit so far, but "Man on the Moon" is one of my favorites. 2. Terra Sweet Potato chips, from Costco/Sam's -- big bags, awe...

I'm not a big fan of resolutions - new year or otherwise - perhaps because of the pressure the word implies. Last January, however, I made one determination -- to get the weight off for the last time. Let's see how that turned out: I lost 35 pounds. That's a little more than half my goal. I've gone from a size 18/20 to a 12/14. I've lost 6" in my hips and 5" in my waist. My triglycerides dropped from 200 to 40, cholesterol from 220 to 194, HDL up from 25 to 60.  Other goals and accomplishments: I can run a 5K without stopping. My pace on a mile has dropped from around 13 minutes to under 12 minutes. My usual two+ mile runs take about 25 minutes. I've completely changed the way I (and the family) eat. I don't count calories or weigh portions, and I'm always satisfied when I finish a meal. I've experimented with countless new recipes, with only a few "let's not do this again" experiences. I've blogged most...