On New Year’s resolutions and a holiday recap

Cheers to 2011!

I pondered a handful of options for a good new year’s resolution but ultimately decided to not make a specific pledge for 2011.  I sort of already did it in September when I started The Mambo Project, a resolution for my lifetime, not just a single year.  Also, New Year’s resolutions have that annoying stigma, the negative assumption that they will always be broken.  I don’t want the pressure. 

I will, however, positively continue with my monthly and weekly Mambo Project goals throughout 2011 and beyond.  I will achieve my lifetime resolution in small manageable steps.

In January I will join a gym.  We have a wonderful local facility called The Canada Games Complex which was built for the 1981 Canada Games hosted by my city.  The Complex, as it is known locally, has a huge larger-than-Olympic sized pool, equipment galore, squash courts, exercise classes, an indoor track, access to trainers and more.  My parents (God bless them) have generously offered to pay for the entire first year of a family membership for Eddy, Coby and me.  They know exactly how important The Mambo project is to all three of us. So...   

Goal for the first week of 2011:  Buy a complex membership and start using it.

Relaxing my typical food rules during the holidays was nice.  I ate what I wanted and sipped a few vodka & cranberries with absolutely no guilt.  I did not over eat.  I ate normal-person portions, balancing rich holiday favourites (like tourtière, a French Canadian meat pie) with lots of veggies on the side.  I wasn’t trying to lose weight. I was just trying to eat like a normal person. 

I didn’t do any Christmas baking.  I didn’t want it in my house, staring at me, tempting me.  I ate one or two bits of baking (as an average-sized person would) when I attended Christmas events, like Coby’s Christmas concert at school. 

Next week on Wednesday when I step on my scale I expect to find that I have maintained, or, at worst, gained one or two pounds, which, as I have said before, is a fair price to pay for a good celebration because this, after all, is real life.

From my family to yours, my friends and fellow bloggers, I wish you a very Happy New Year.  And if you’re on a similar quest for a healthier life, Happy New YOU.

Christmas party, weigh-in day and realistic holiday goals

Here we are on our way to Ed's Christmas party

On Saturday we went to Ed’s station’s Christmas party.  My night-long smile was not because of the good food or the music or the wine.  I smiled because earlier that day, while selecting my party clothes, I was slipping into pants and skirts I haven’t worn for many, many years.   I’m still the fat chick in the photo (albeit not as fat a chick as I was three months ago!) so none of my options were particularly sexy, but I sure as hell felt sexy in them.  

Today was Wednesday Weigh-In Day and I hopped on my scale with true enthusiasm.  I maintained.  Works for me!  Maintaining through the holidays is a realistic and obtainable goal and I recommend it to anyone.  It’s so much less stressful than saying “I will lose weight during the holidays”.  I don’t want to say no to all the delicious food and drinks during the holidays.  At parties and dinners I will enjoy my favourites in moderation, just like my average-sized friends do.   I’ve watched them for years.  I know their habits and learning to live them.   Real life.

Oh, and another reason I was so smiley at Ed’s Christmas party?  The chairs that were painfully (literally, painfully) too tight for me at the same venue two years ago?   The identical chairs gave my butt just enough room this year.   Yeah.  It was a big smile.

Wednesday Weigh-In (on Thursday morning)

A short scale-fear recap:  I have not stepped on the scale for nearly exactly one month.  Following my thyroidectomy my weight fluctuated a bit and seeing a gain after 7 days of healthy eating totally got me down.  I had been reading on-line testimonials from others who had their thyroids removed and most of the news wasn’t great.  Nearly every person gained weight.  One even gained 30 pounds.  Man, if I gained 30 pounds (nearly everything I’d lost) after all my hard work I would be wrecked emotionally. Fearing the psychological ramifications of more gains and disappointments I decided to keep off the scale until I felt strong enough, mentally. 

There are some who may think I did the wrong thing and should have stepped on the scale anyway, but for me, major disappointments drive me to ice cream and slabs of cheese.   I could not take the risk.  If I didn’t step on the scale I could assume I was losing weight.  After all, I was eating well so I should be losing weight.

Today I was up earlier than usual, feeling confident and brave.  I decided to do it.  Before I could change my mind I stepped on the scale and since November 17^th I am down 12 more pounds.  That is now a total of (drum roll, please) 40 pounds lost! 

Obviously I’m thrilled with the number, but I am even more jubilant knowing that I am mastering normal eating.  My lifelong poor eating habits are changing.  My life is changing.

Crafting snowflakes, removing guilt and this week's goal

I am so happy .   Achieving last week’s goal, Coby and I gathered foam snowflakes, sparkly stickers and glitter glue to make 24 of these > 
and a few other ornaments for our tree.  As we crafted our snowflakes we listened to Christmas tunes on my iPod and chatted about all sorts of things (school, Harry Potter, friends, his cat Hermione.)   He kept thanking me and telling me he loves the ornaments and wants to keep them forever.  These are the moments.  These are the moments we cherish but so easily miss when we’re too busy, busy, busy.  

It was a good week.  A very good week.  Acknowledging my recent fear of the scale and letting myself know it was ok to stay off it for a while has given me a new freedom.  Emotional eaters (which most of us are) know how stress can make us mindlessly pop comfort in our mouths.   Fearing the scale, and being afraid to admit it, was making me want to eat.  I stopped myself, but I felt guilt just for wanting.  Guilt.  Just for wanting.  Letting go of the stress – the scale – took away the fear and guilt and the strong urge to overindulge.   I felt happy all week.  Confident.  It was good.

This week's will be another non-food related goal. 

Goal for the week of December 13, 2010:  Declutter!

This is the perfect pre-Christmas goal.  I’m not going to tackle every room.  This week’s goal will just be Coby’s room.  I’ll start there to make room for new toys, books and games.   When I go back to this post in September, I recall that number 4 on my list of First Year Goals is “Declutter My House”.  This week’s goal will be a start. 

Getting rid of house clutter is similar to losing weight.  Excess weight is like clutter on our bodies.  Shedding the clutter, be it body or house, gives us room to move and breath and feel good about ourselves.   I’m up for that.

I'm back with fun December goals!

Hi again.  I know it has been a while.  I’m sorry if I caused anyone to worry while I was absent.  I’m ok.  I had a couple of rough weeks, though.  I felt so tired.  Befuddled.  Frustrated.  I’ve been on thyroid medication for about one month and I think I’m starting to feel better.  I say “I think” because I haven’t felt normal for so long that I’m not sure if I’m there yet.  I doubt I’m at my best yet, but that day will come.  I've been calling this “my new normal” and I’ll take it.  For now. 

I haven’t stepped on my scale since my last weigh-in on November 17^th.   I was well aware that post-thyroidectomy I might gain weight and I thought I was prepared.  Nevertheless, my small gain on the 17th upset me far more than I expected.  Fearing a downward spiral I have avoided the scale since then.  Except for one or two “poor me” moments right after the 17^th, I have continued to make healthy food choices.  Healthy eating is becoming more and more of a normal behaviour for me now, which is a huge accomplishment.   Given the food choices I am making, I should not be gaining weight.   I’m wearing a jacket that I haven’t fit into since 2003, so that’s a great sign.  In order to keep my positive attitude, though, I must not step on the scale until I feel like I am ready for it.  Does that make sense? 

I decided to make my December goals 100% non-food related.  Well, that’s not totally true.  They are goals that will keep me busy so I don’t get tempted by yummy holiday nibbly bits.  You know what I’m talking about.  The wonderful little appys and baking and chocolates and other goodies that are plentiful this time of year. 

Goal for the week of December 6, 2010 – Make Christmas tree ornaments with Coby

Coby and I made a trip to Michaels (looooove Michaels!) to find all the supplies we need to fill our tree with handmade ornaments.  This week we’re going to get started.