So very much to report!

Well, first off, I have lost 2 more pounds in the last 3 weeks.  I have also lost one more pants size. I am feeling very positive.  With one more loss on the scale I will have lost 25 pounds. Celebrate!

This past 3 weeks has been truly productive.  In my last entry I mentioned that my husband was going on his annual trip with his buddies and that I planned to paint the bathroom, my son’s room, and, if there was time left, I’d refinish the deck. I don’t know what I was thinking. LOL! My husband left early on Wednesday, and rather than sleep because I had an extra full day to myself, I decided to get going on the bathroom. It’s a darned good thing I did!

We have the world’s smallest bathroom, situated between our bedrooms (a “Jack and Jill”). The original paint was – you guessed it – beige – and, of course, I had to put in color. I chose dark celery with a bright white trim. You would think a small room would be finished quickly, but, oddly, the smaller the room and the more fixtures there are, the longer it takes. THREE DAYS of my life to paint that room! It was an exercise in contortion and breath control – twisting every which way to fit between and over permanent items. By the time I finished on Friday I was exhausted, bruised, and more than a little pleased with myself. Also during those first three days I walked the dog, made healthy meal choices, drank loads of water, and even when out to karaoke with some buddies of my own! This is my finished product:

 

On Saturday I had a well-deserved day off. I took MinBo to Pt. Isabel in Richmond for a romp in the park.  He loves it there and I get a real walk because he is off leash. I stopped at the Tool Lending Library to borrow an orbital sander just in case I had time to work on the deck (hey, you never know…) I came home, relaxed a bit, then got ready to go out in San Francisco.

My friend and I met at her cool new houseboat for drinks, and then went to a great Dogpatch restaurant called Serpentine. We did something I don’t usually do which was split the entrée.  SMART! It was the perfect amount of food and left room and calories for a small dessert item. Such a great move. (Thanks, Margaret!) We had a great evening and I went home feeling very pleased not to have overindulged.

Sunday dawned and, crazy me, I decided that I could find the energy to sand down the deck benches.  I went outside, swept away the leaves and got down to business. After I sanded the benches, planning to leave the actual deck sanding to my husband, I thought, “Well, that wasn’t so hard.  Might as well keep going.” So, yes, I sanded the entire deck while alternately crouching and kneeling. Four hours. Calories galore burnt. Thighs in true pain. EvBo came home and was really happy with the new bathroom and surprised and happy about the deck – until I brought up that we would have to power wash and then stain it before the rain came. Oh well, nothing like Mother Nature to force your hand. EvBo power washed the next day and on Tuesday I stained the whole deck. (I started off just planning to do the benches and leave the deck surface to him…but we’ve all seen how that goes. I’m a glutton for thigh pain, apparently!)

There’s more to tell, but I will stop for today and write a new installment in the next few days.  Carry on, People!

Slow and steady

In my enthusiasm to kick it up a notch in the exercise department, I managed to pinch my sciatic nerve in a way that has been pretty ouchie. I always think I can just work through the pain, which, of course, aggravates the inflammation and prolongs the disability.  Enter Rory (the God of Massage) who introduced me to safflower extract…inflammation gone in one day. Pain removed.  I do love Chinese herbal remedies.

My body has been adjusting to its new weight. Since I am not new to the weight loss game, I was aware that the first adjustment phase would come at about 20 pounds.  By “adjustment” I mean that my own body will lose about 20 pounds and then, even though I stick to the calorie count/exercise plan I’ve been following, it will stay at the new weight while the skin shrinks to the new size and the blubber repositions for the next phase of loss.  I’ve noticed that the abdominal fat has changed consistency (TMI? Sorry) and is less solid.  This is a very good thing.

During this adjustment phase I have been working on my sister-in-law’s yard.  She has a side yard that was just totally overgrown with weeds.  We went to a lecture about making meadows by John Greenlee at Annie’s Annuals in Richmond.  It was really inspiring, so my SIL decided she wanted to try that in the side yard.  My husband and I wanted to help so we went into action and started last weekend on this:

Between the three of us, we cut down a small tree, weeded, dug trenches, hauled ground cover bark and rocks, planted bulbs, constructed an underground sprinkler system, planted new plants and spread newspaper and bark over the finished area.  Two full days, a couple of trips to OSH, and good-natured hard work resulted in this:

 

It was rewarding in that my SIL has a beautiful new space, we completed a cool project, and I lost another pound.  22 so far!

This coming week I am starting another project – repainting the bathroom and my son’s room…if there is extra time before my husband comes back from his trip I am going to sand the back deck. I have 5 days and I am going to make the most of them! Losing weight is giving me a significant amount of extra energy and I am motivated to move when I move more easily.

To everyone else struggling with an adjustment phase…just keep working your plan.  That weight can’t win against your will! Let me know what you do in your "adjustment" phases!