It's unofficial

Thank you ALL for your super supportive comments on my progress. I still have a long way to go. Anyone looking at me would certainly say, "Oh, what a pretty face. But she really needs to lose some weight." <snort!> HOWEVER, as I mentioned to a friend and to my husband, I see possibility where I haven't been able to see it in a very long time.

The DietBet ends today, but I haven't received weigh-out instructions yet. I reported Sunday that I'd lost 14 pounds during the duration of the bet. That's been corrected to 12.5, as I forgot to account for 1.5 pounds of clothing.

Now you know. I weigh myself NEKKID!

Anyway. I know if you achieve your goal you have to upload pictures and I want to make sure all my ducks are lined up before I take the pictures, but I was pretty excited to step on the scale this morning and drop one more pound. Unofficially. Of course, the scale fluctuates hourly sometimes. (ASK ME HOW I KNOW! Heh) The important thing is I lost the weight and won the bet. Yay, me!

The DailyMile widget updates here on the blog every time I update my progress. It's at 450 miles as of yesterday, so I continue to make progress with the 1000-mile walking goal, as well.

One of my chores yesterday was laundry. So, those linen slacks I mentioned that I was going to have altered? The label said they were linen and rayon. Laundering instructions were for cold water wash/hang to dry. I took a leap of faith and sacrificed one pair to a warm water wash and then I threw them in the dryer.

The lighter pair is a good 3.5 inches smaller than the darker pair.
And they're not tight around my waist at all. Wonder how much a
tailor would have charged to alter them? I probably saved enough
money to add another pair of linen slacks to the closet. Heh.

Perfect fit. I tell you what, when your stars are aligned, everything works out for the best.

One thing I'm having trouble with is keeping up with the work involved in maintaining a house and yard AND putting in the time it takes to take a long daily walk. (It's all about priorities. OH, YES IT IS.) Yesterday I rested a bit after lunch and then forced myself to get up and work a little more on the herb bed. I planted sage, basil, parsley and bronze fennel. The well-established lemon balm is spreading like wildfire, but I just didn't have the energy to attack it with the hoe. That will be a job for another day.

Since I'm going to Tennessee in a couple days, I'm not even going to worry about planting the rest of the vegetable garden until I get back. I think all I'm going to do are tomatoes and squashes this year. Maybe some peppers. The onions are doing well; can't say as much for the cabbages and kale I planted earlier.

Sometimes gardening can be discouraging. The first year I put one in, the deer didn't know it was here. Now they look forward to their evening smorgasbord, despite the electric fencing. Nothing fazes them.

Perhaps I need to brush up on my shooting skills. Bambi bologna, anyone?

I'd give it two thumbs up …

but my other hand is busy stuffing banana bread into my mouth!

Seriously, the bread was moist and delicious, and something I'll definitely make again. Glad I'm not allergic to coconut. And wishing I could grow them (of course)! But then I'd have to learn how to make flour and oil out of them and seriously? Some things are better left to others. Coconut processors gotta make a living, too, right?

However, I don't plan on making it often. In AA, when one of our triggers smacks us in the face (a whiff of wine, an image of a foam-covered beer stein), we call the feeling we get "euphoric recall." It's not a good thing, and chowing down on banana bread gives me a little bit of that feeling. I would love for food to be fuel, without any feelings attached to it. Does banana bread taste better than bacon and eggs? Yeah, sure. Is it as beneficial for my body? I would say probably not. And I can almost guarantee I'm going to be very hungry when lunchtime rolls around.

So Happy Mother's Day (here in the U.S.), whether your children have two legs or four. Or fins, for that matter. We're taking my husband's mother out for lunch today, to a big buffet at a nearby state park which is famous for its big buffets. The menu includes many good choices for me, and I don't anticipate having to make any tough decisions going through the line.

My first DietBet weigh-in was on a Sunday, and I've logged my progress on the game website each Sunday since. As of this morning I have half a pound to go to get my money back. Seven pounds GONE in two weeks. That. Is. The. BOMB! My non-DietBet weigh-in day is tomorrow. This morning the total was 21. I hope it stays the same for one more day. And then continues to go down, week after week, until I need to learn some maintenance techniques.

Because THAT is always the issue. If you've ever lost and gained and lost and gained and lost and gained, you know losing is possible and gaining is inevitable. Or at least I do. What I don't know is how to make it stay lost.

My guess is it has something to do with continuing to do what works. Heh. For me, that would be almost-daily intentional activity and a reasonable amount of whole, healthful food. It would also mean eliminating sugar, probably eliminating wheat and possibly eliminating legumes and dairy. The jury is out, of course, until I begin adding those items back into my meals.

But with just a half a pound to go on the bet, I don't think this is the time to experiment.

4, 3, 2, 1

FOUR …
grandchildren.

THREE …
of them soon-to-be five-year-old boys.

TWO …
restaurants.

ONE …
great day!

But a long day, indeed.

This set of young'ns lives three-and-a-half hours away, which is on the cusp of an overnight trip. We've always made it a day trip, and as the children get older it becomes more and more difficult to leave. We arrived mid-morning, in time to go to the boys' first t-ball practice (what a HOOT!), and didn't leave until 4:30 p.m.

I don't write much about my family, especially my grandchildren, but I'm sure you know how much I'd love to. I just don't think it's my place. It was fun spending time with them and I'm so happy they're all healthy and active and sociable and they love having us visit.

Birthday presents might have had something to do with that. Heh.

My husband and I took everyone out for lunch after practice, to Pike's Old-Fashioned Soda Shop, which was paleo-perfect – they offered a burger in a bowl, no bread, with a fresh fruit cup on the side. Fun fact: Shallow Hal was filmed there.

The irony did NOT escape me.

We had dinner on the way home at one of the many Cracker Barrel restaurants dotting I-77 between NC and WV. Grilled pork chop, baked sweet potato and turnip greens. I didn't know Cracker Barrel  sweet potatoes came topped with a brown sugar/cinnamon mixture, but the server was most accommodating in replacing it with a plain one.

I did not feel deprived, not once all day. I was appropriately hungry when I sat down for a meal and satisfied when I finished. My husband strayed from the plan (he's been very supportive), and said he honestly wished he hadn't, after all.

Disc.i.pline. It's definitely working. The only DietBet weigh-ins that count are the first and last, but we are encouraged to check in frequently. I've decided once a week is frequently enough, and this morning I'm down 3.5 pounds from last Sunday's weigh-in.

That sounds like a lot to lose in one week, but I'm not quibbling. There's money on the line!

I'm walking this morning, aiming for six miles. But I'm walking on my very hilly road instead of the nice, flat road that runs along Indian Creek. So it might end up being five. Either way, I'll beat my lowest week of the year, and that's really the goal du jour.

Hope your jour is a good one.