Surviving Thanksgiving

Well, it's over...for another year.  The one day where more food is prepared and served than any other day...and I made it.

This year I was invited to share Thanksgiving with my daughters future in-laws.  They are a wonderful large and loving family!  I was so thankful to be included in their celebration.  They are also fabulous cooks and so I knew that everything was going to be delicious.  So I had a plan.

I started my day with a run - my longest run to date - 4.71 miles!  I was actually going to try for 5 miles, but at about the 4.5 mile mark my right knee began to hurt.  As I turned to head back to the car, it started to hurt more and more.  By the time I got back to the car, I could barely bend it.  Damn!!  I do not want to get injured so that I can't run anymore!  I went home and took a hot bath.  Then I rubbed ointment on my knee and wrapped it in an ace bandage.  The good news is that this morning it hardly hurts at all !  I am going to give it another day to rest and then tomorrow I am going to try a shorter run and see how it goes.  I have a 5K coming up in a couple of weeks and I don't want to miss it!

I ate a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of bacon at noon.  I figured that would hold me until dinner that night and it did.  We got to the house around 3:30 and the party was in full swing.  I got a glass of wine and sat down to visit.  I had 2 crackers with brie and fig paste while I visited and then a handful of pecans.  Big mistake!  That little bit of appetizer filled me up to the point where I really couldn't eat dinner! I think I had 2 small bites of turkey and a few green beans and that was it.  Damn!  Wish I could undo that and not have taken a bite of anything until dinner!  At least it made me far too full to even contemplate eating any of the lovely deserts on display!  But I did it...I made it through the biggest eating day of the year and didn't overeat, or eat anything that would set me back in my journey, and it wasn't even hard!  Hooray!

I am still at the same weight...160.4   I have been at this weight for about a month.  I am trying very hard not to be upset about it.  I know these things take time and that if I keep working hard, the weight will begin to come off again.  But it's hard to wait.  It's hard to stay positive.  It's not hard (surprisingly) to stay motivated...I am still very on track with exercise and eating...but I do find myself doing a lot of negative self talk and I want to stop that.

Right now, my goal is to lose another 10 pounds by my 1 year surgery anniversary.  If I can do that, I will have lost 75 pounds in a year.  When I started the journey last February, I was convinced that I could lose all 90 pounds in that first year.  I heard that the first year is the "honeymoon" year and that after that, it is much harder to lose the weight.  Well...that is not going to happen and so I am going to have to lose weight after the honeymoon!!  I am determined to get down to 140 at a maximum weight...and 130 as a minimum.  Once I get to 140 and am able to maintain that weight for more than 6 months, I can begin to plan for my breast lift and tummy tuck.  If I am going back under the knife, it will only be when my body and mind both are ready for it.

So here's to the start of the holiday season...a time where candy and cookies abound...and a time where family is together and we can set aside (even for a short time) the troubles that plague us the rest of the year.  I am looking forward to my daughter coming home during college break and I am looking forward to turning on the Christmas lights after a long day at work and just soaking in the holiday spirit!

Cheers!