Back in the saddle - well, maybe next week!

This was the second Saturday in a row that I didn't do my usual weigh-in at Weight Watchers. Last Saturday we were in Phoenix, and this Saturday I was in Hell.

Well, not literally - but it felt that way! I've had the Toothache of the Damned ever since I drank a full bottle of Coca Cola Classic(tm) that my mom gave me for my birthday. (No, I don't THINK she was trying to kill me, though anything's possible.)

Anyway, in spite of all the pain and trauma I've been going through, I'm still keeping an eye on the scales at home, and my weight is still holding steady between 180 and 182 in the mornings.

So this week's weigh-in should be OK - if not a spectactular loss, at least I'm holding my own. Hope you're doing the same!

By the way, our church (St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic in Sherman Oaks) is setting up for a rummage sale on Sept. 26, and I went over there yesterday after church. All the circuit equipment from It Figures is there, looking forlorn but still strong. I have dibs on one of the upper body workout machines, but won't be too upset if someone buys it. Had fun showing some of the kids how the machines worked - and trying to explain to them why anyone would subject themselves to so much torture!

What a weekend!

Well, the good news is I lost 2.2 pounds - weight is now 188.0, yay! I hate to say it, but I think going back to Curves was a good decision. It may not be the best place to work out, but it's the most convenient place for me right now, and if I alternate it with my Fabulous Downtown Lunch Hour Walks, I should see some good results.

Now for the bad news - my husband and I were puttering around the house yesterday, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon and even seriously contemplating some, ahem, romantic activity, when ... RING!!! It was my mother-in-law - she'd just fallen asleep at the wheel and plowed into a parked car!

So we had to drop the romance, and get down to business*. First we drove over to the scene of the accident. Wow, it really looked awful. I had thought, ok, going slow, hitting a parked car, probably nothing serious. But mom-in-law's car is a Honda - and she ran into the back of a Suburban! The Suburban had maybe a couple of scratches - but the poor little Honda was smashed all the way in on the front!

The windshield hadn't shattered but it was a maze of cobwebby cracks, and BOTH airbags had deployed. That's what caused mom-in-law's injuries (looks like they're mainly going to be deep bruises - apparently no internal injuries, thanks be to God!), but man, imagine what it would have been like without the airbags. Shudder!

After spending hours in the ER waiting room, surrounded by other sick and/or cranky people (all of whom took great and noisy pleasure in watching the Super Bowl - including a resident who kept wandering out of surgery, in full scrubs, to check the score), we went home, only to get another phone call saying she might be released tonight.

So poor hubby went back (letting me sleep the peaceful sleep of the guilty-but-not-guilty-enough-to-get-back-out-of-bed), only to return an hour later after being told they were keeping her overnight. Hospitals! Gotta love 'em, right?

Anyway, if you're a praying sort (and if you're reading a blog called the Curvy Catholic, one hopes you would be!), please keep mom-in-law Anne - and devoted hubby Steve - in your prayers today. I think everyone will be OK, but we're all sleep-deprived zombies this morning!

Did get some nice videos at an Eastern Orthodox Vespers this weekend - here is a nice one from the very beginning - listen to the bells ringing in the background:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYnQ8RTw0_8

(note - it's still being uploaded as I post this - sorry if it doesn't play right away. I'll come back later & see if I can fix it.)

So - how was YOUR weekend?

(*though any marriage that can't survive a situation like this probably doesn't have any romance to it anyway!)

And so this is Christmas (the first day of December, anyway!)

Happy day-after, everyone! Did we all survive the long Thanksgiving weekend? We did - just barely! Holidays are always a mixture of fun and frustration, aren't they? Perhaps I don't need to say any more.

Thanks go out to the California Cat Center (http://www.californiacatcenter.com/) which not only took great care of our little Princess but even made a YouTube video about here! Check it out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSnMQLzMeDY&feature=email)!

As for my weight - well, for the first time since April, I didn't go to a Weight Watchers meeting OR to Curves, all week! Yet, strangely enough, I managed to stick to a reasonable program of eating and exercise, and according to my official Weight Watchers scale at home, my weight this morning was 196.

Since the home scale tends to be about one pound higher than the one at the meeting, I'm going to say that's 195, which means I gained a little over half a pound. However, when you consider that it was THANKSGIVING - and that I pretty much dug in and ate all I wanted that day - it's pretty amazing that I ONLY gained half a pound, eh?

Plus, the hotel where my husband and I stayed (the La Quinta Inn, in Phoenix http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/propertyProfile.do?ident=LQ704&propId=704) had a fitness center (actually, a little room with two treadmills, an elliptical and a stationary bike), and we actually used the treadmills every day we were there. Apparently we were the only ones who did! Which was fine with me - we had it pretty much all to ourselves.

I haven't used a treadmill for a long time but I think my walking almost every day is starting to pay off - I was able to go 30 minutes at 3.0 miles per hour without gasping for breath - even ran a little. I liked that!

This morning I was going to go back to Curves but it was cold and I wimped out and decided to have a nice hot breakfast instead. Might go on my lunch hour. But to be honest, I'm kind of at a crossroads about Curves. I really like being able to exercise in a way that doesn't require me to change clothes (i.e., walking)! Well, we'll see - maybe by the time 12:55 rolls around I'll be ready.

Birthday Blast(s)!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. As you weight-loss veterans may have suspected - yes, I did gain a little weight! Not much, though - Saturday I was up to 202.8, so only about a pound and a half. ("Only" - nyuk nyuk!)

And that's not the reason I didn't post. To be honest, I just forgot! See, last Tuesday was my 50th birthday -

[pause, wait for applause - whoops, sorry! Forgot I don't have a Teleprompter!]

Anyway, I went to Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of days to celebrate with my parents; and then came home and celebrated again with my wonderful husband.

And somewhere in there - I just forgot to post! Oh well, no worries - I'm back now! Like your worst nightmare! (hee hee!)

Re: the weight gain - I really don't feel bad about it at all. And I'm not surprised by it either. Remember a few weeks ago, when I said that I was cutting back on my CURVES workouts during August? Well, I'm convinced the weight gain is the direct result of that.

But now I'm back to work, back on my regular schedule, and back to my 3-times-a-week CURVES workouts. So I fully expect a loss at my next weigh-in!

Oh, speaking of losses - I'm kind of in mourning for our old "Thinner" brand scale. Actually, it's still in the house. However, my wonderful and thoughtful husband decided to buy a new scale - specifically the Weight Watchers scale.

And it's really nice! Very pretty and functional. However, I've gotten used to the old one weighing me in at about two pounds less than the official WW scale (you know, the special digital ones they use to weigh you in at meetings). The new one, however, weighs me in at least one pound HIGHER than that official weight! So I have to kind of psych myself up to accept the new numbers.

The positive side is that from now on, whatever I weigh at home before leaving for the meeting, I'll know that I won't weigh any MORE than that at the meeting! So maybe it'll work out OK after all!

P.S. Wonderful/thoughtful hubby also gave me a brand new Cuisinart programmable coffeemaker for my morning commute! There are still a couple of bugs to work out, but I did leave home today with a commuter mug full of hot, delicious coffee. Perfect for these bitter cold Southern California mornings!

THANKS AGAIN, sweetie! I love you!

Holding at a steady pace

Last Friday's weigh-in was exactly the same - 210.8. Neither up nor down. So I guess I'm at one of those much-talked-about plateaus.

So I decided to just enjoy the weekend and go "off plan" - not drastically, just in the sense that I ate what I wanted and didn't keep track of the points.

Steve and I went to Carlsbad Saturday morning and stayed overnight. We visited with my parents, who were in from Phoenix hoping to see the beach (and cruelly disappointed by our hotel's promise of an "ocean view room" - yeah, great view if you had a periscope!).

But it was a nice weekend, marred only by our severly overindulgent worries about our cat, the aptly named "Princess", who we'd left all by herself for the WHOLE NIGHT!!! something she's never before experienced in her short but eventful life.

She seemed fine when we got home Sunday afternoon - a little annoyed but graciously allowing us to kneel at her paws and beg forgiveness. All hail the Princess!

Oh, as for last week's post - still no period! I haven't made a doctor's appointment yet, but I suppose I should. I kind of don't want to, though - a superstitious feeling that I'll "jinx it" somehow if I actually schedule a test. I'd like to enjoy that feeling of "maybe ... possibly ... perhaps!" a few days longer.