I HAD QUITE AN INTERESTING WEEK...

not quite in a good way, which is why today's weigh-in w/ a 2.6 lb loss (week 40) kind of took me by surprise!! :o)

So you say you want the details?? Okay...you don't have to twist my arm! LOL!!

This week was interesting because I never realized how much I truly enjoy my walking... how much I get out of it mentally, because I was just antsy & out of sorts all week because I COULDN'T go out & walk since I SPRAINED MY ANKLE!

One week later, my ankle is feeling MUCH better...I can flex it w/out worrying that the pain is going to shoot me through the roof. I actually took a walk w/ Brayden this afternoon... a nice SLOW walk! It was nice to get out... in the mid 40's today, sunny! We were out for about 20 minutes & that was about as long as I could handle it today. A little tender & achey afterwards, but not bad. Will DEFINITELY be out each day from now on... even if it's just a short walk like today.

I don't know what I'm going to do once there is snow on the ground. I suppose I should continue to walk, as long as it's not icy, right? Sure wish my dear husband would just sweep me off my feet w/ a nice treadmill! :o) (honey...are you reading this?? LOL!)

Also, the other factor this week that made me think my WI wouldn't be as fabulous as it was, was that I had too much Halloween candy throughout the week. Not THAT much, but definitely more sugar than I normally try to go for. I journaled EVERY piece, so it wasn't like it didn't fit into my numbers, but I figured that the QUALITY of my points this week was low enough that it might have effected my weigh-in...obviously it didn't make THAT big a difference (or did it?), but that still doesn't make it okay, right? :o)

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At my meetings, there is this older man who is a Lifetime member & I've seen him the last few times I was there (so, twice in a month). Well...after I weighed, I sat down in my usual spot (2nd row, center, because I want to see Michelle directly, rather than sitting on the sides & have to just look @ her profile most of the meeting!!) and a few minutes later, this man walked up from behind & said "Hi Julie, I'm Dick, nice to meet you!" we shook hands & I told him it was nice meeting him, too! (of course!) I was a little blown away w/ the fact that he knew my name, because he couldn't have seen my nametag yet, from the direction he was approaching me. He sat down we talked about his journey & what he thought about being at Lifetime. I actually asked him how much he had lost & he said 45 lbs over 2 years.... then I thought about it later, hoping that he didn't mind!! It's such a natural thing for us to actually talk about our weight & pounds lost on GoaD that I didn't even think twice about it!! Hope it wasn't too personal for him. He didn't flinch or anything, so maybe that's a good sign! LOL!! As I was talking to him, the lady behind us put her hand on my arm & said "didn't we talk a few weeks ago?" & she came up & took the empty chair on the other side of me. It was fun chatting w/ her...she's a really sweet lady. I'm really enjoying this group. It's been about 2 months, I guess, since I changed from Monday nights to this meeting on Saturday mornings...it's nice to get to know others. (& it felt really great to be sitting by these two successful Lifetime members...it felt like a "power group"! LOL!!)

Anyways...Michelle started out the meeting asking if anyone had anything they needed help with & this one lady, maybe 50?, said that she was having a hard time staying on track. She just couldn't get herself to journal & make good choices & on & on & on!! Tons of "I can't do this" stuff... negative after negative comment... she came up w/ an excuse w/ each suggestion. I just wanted to smack her! (but Dick held me back!! LOL!! Just kidding!) So, instead, I raised my hand & said that I thought she was waiting for the motivation to find her & it just doesn't happen that way. That she needed to do this because it was the right thing & that the motivation will come later. Michelle stopped me @ that point because that was what she was going to get to in the meeting. The group came up w/ some great ideas for this lady & she was asked to pick three that she thought would help her & she picked them, but all the while was saying "I guess I can see if I can do this" & "I'll just have to work on my willpower", etc..... ARG! I don't think she heard anything anyone was saying!! I was about to give her my eMail address so I could help her break through this negative train of thought, but decided I couldn't handle that right now! :o) Anyways (I sure say that alot, don't I?) ... it just made me realize that THAT was MY thought process forever. I gave up way too easily because I just "couldn't do it". I found excuse after excuse why it wasn't going to work for me, etc.

I am THRILLED to see how much I have internalized the changes I have made this past year. It still blows me away...but THIS IS MY LIFE...from now on! It's not hard to do...it IS work, of course, that's the idea... to be 100% on the ball, to know exactly what I am doing & to be aware of where poor choices will get me...physically & mentally.

Okay...I HAVE to be done here!! :o) I think I've exceeded my 2000 character limit, don't you? (yeah, like that ever stopped me!! LOL!) If you REALLY want to do some more reading :o) , I just posted two new pages in the RAMBLINGS section...go ahead, check it out...you know you wanna! :o)

Hope this post finds you all on the right track as well!!