Friday Fly By, Hot 100 Update

Hi Everybody.  Is everyone else incredibly busy right now, or is it just me??  Whew.  Today I went to my Praise Moves Yoga class, paid bills, shopped at Costco, visited my Dad, took some homemade turkey soup to my neighbor who just got out of the hospital, and set up our Christmas tree.   I'll take this chance to relax a bit while I compose this post.

Just lights for now, decorations come later.

I didn't post yesterday, but I had a full day.  After a day of taking care of J&E, I made lemon-soy chicken for dinner.  WE also had brown rice and roasted butternut squash.  Yum.  I used 34 points yesterday, my daily 29 plus 5 of my weekly points.  I felt well nourished and satisfied and I managed to fit my oz of dark chocolate into that points packet.  I feel good that I haven't yet felt the need to use all of my quota of extra points for a day.  There are 49 weekly extra points, so the quota would be 7 per day.

We did our regular Thursday night strength training at the gym, but then we did something new and different.

A few weeks ago, when we were at the beach in NC, DH and I had several great talks while we took our daily walk along the beach.  The kind of talks that are memorable and where we come up with some of our best ideas about things we want to accomplish or do.  Anyway.  We were talking about how much we enjoy biking together and about running.  DH has 10 or so marathons under his belt and I like to run and have run a few races including a 1/2 marathon in the distant past and a 10 miler last year, but neither of us feels led to run long distance races any more.  But we both want to stay in shape and to pursue a variety of modes of fitness.  We got the idea that we might enjoy trying a tri.  Soooo, last night, we hit the gym 20 minutes earlier and after 45 minutes of lifting weights we went to the pool and swam laps.

I'm not a natural born swimmer.  In fact, I think I flunked the swimming classes my mom dutifully took me to when I was 6 or 7--it seems to me I never graduated from the "minnow" class.  I got to the point where I could tread water, do the breast stroke, side stroke, and an acceptable crawl.  I apparently passed the swim test necessary to go in the pool without an adult.  But, natural born swimmer--no.  So last night, I was pretty content with my 6 laps in 15 minutes.  Slow, but okay.  I was content until DH gently pointed out that a "lap" is swimming in two directions, not just across.  Okay, so 3 laps in 15 minutes.  At least I have a good baseline.  AND, I tried something new.  Good for me!  We're going to "train" in the pool twice a week for the winter and look for a tri in the spring.

Day four and my "streak" is on track.  I'm feeling good about the program and about my eating. I've stayed "on plan" and tracked every bite to make sure I'm keeping to the point allowances.  I'm already looking forward to switching to the Power Point plan (CORE) and not having to track daily points, but I'm still getting acquainted with the new point values, so this is good.

RATS!  I just managed to wipe out about 15 lines of this post.  Okay, so you'll get the concise version.

I want to spend some time with my sister and I found a great airfare, so I'm flying down on Atlanta.
Missy, if you happen to be reading this and you don't want to know what you're getting for Xmas, I suggest you stop reading right now, okay?
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Missy has an ancient PC and her house isn't set up for WiFI, so we took advantage of the Black Friday sale at Apple.com and are giving her a MacBook Air  and an Airport Express (router).  Setting that up for her will be my #1 priority.  I have a bit of a vested interest, because I can't imagine being "unplugged" for almost a week!

Okay,  Hot 100 Update

Goal 1: I think I have to admit that I'm not likely to reach my WW goal by Jan 1st, having taken a 7.4 detour in the wrong direction, but I have almost a month left and I'm going to do my best to lose and stick to my plan.  I'm excited about the new WW plan and think I'll do well.  I've rediscovered my motivation to stay on plan.  (and yes, I've found a WW meeting close to my sister's house in Atlanta).

Goal 2:  Yes.  I exercised 6/7 days and it was quality exercise.  Adding swimming and a goal of doing a tri is a fun extra.

Goal 3:  Finally.  The chocolate is now under control.  I have been able to eat well and treat myself to a mini-splurge of 1 oz per day.

I noticed Jack playing with the soccer ball yesterday.  He was sitting on it and then scooting around.  It looked like very good exercise--Bosu Ball?  He's all boy--he loves any ball he sees.

Have a great week end.  My next post will be from Atlanta (God and my computer-geek-skills willing!)