Happy new year to all of you! Later this month, I'll share photos from my 2 year journey on this program. Wow, two years! Meanwhile, I'm back home from my holidays in Florida.
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| Christmas in Punta Gorda, FL |
Dorothy said it best "there's no place like home" and I was never so
happy to be home as I was on Saturday night. It took 3 hours to get to
the Chicopee exit from Worcester on I-90; I ran smack into the snow
storm on the way home from Providence airport. There were long periods
of time
when I couldn't see anything and finally, 15 miles from my exit, I found
apace to pull over and
remove ice from my window wipers. I was shaking so bad, I stayed there
for about a half-hour before driving again. I stopped 3 more times to
remove ice before reaching my exit. That was the scariest driving
experience of my life. I'm going to become an expert at reading weather
reports; this will never happen to me again!
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| View from the plane landing in Providence. This should have been my warning not to drive home! |
I started to write a blog from the airports on my way home, but I didn't get it posted, so here's what I wrote about airports and holiday foods...
Who knew Wendy serves breakfast? I certainly didn't. That was until I was at the Charlotte airport last week, waiting for my connecting flight, with just enough time to grab a bite to eat before boarding.
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| Wendy's egg, sausage, and cheese; hold the muffin please! |
I was never a Wendy's fan, so I picked up coffee at one of those pastry places. I ignored the sweet things behind the glass counter and focused on just the coffee, then quickly moved to the line at Wendy's. I planned to order a couple bacon burgers, but I discovered they don't serve anything but breakfast food until 10 am. Breakfast at Wendy's? I didn't even know they made breakfast. I ordered an egg, sausage, and cheese sandwich and asked them to hold the muffin. With my coffee and "sandwich" in hand, I had a seat in the area where we would be boarding and then gobbled up my sandwich. It was so delicious, I went back for a second one!
Earlier that morning, when I stepped on the plane in Fort Myers shortly after 6 am, I looked at
the seat belt extensions sitting on a shelf for anyone who needed them at the front of the plane. I was happy to just breeze by; no need for
them anymore! Gave them up about a year ago and I've never looked back.
That was one of many experiences I'm happy to longer have to deal with
when traveling.
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| No seat belt extension for me! |
During my holidays in Florida I thought about my friends of the key hypnosis blog and the key hypnosis Facebook support group a lot, because I did a lot of cooking and even baked a few items. I don't usually have to deal with foods that I know many of you do because you cook for your families. I chose to bake a couple of times and when I did, I followed advice I remember hearing from some of you -- I washed my hands often to avoid tasting things I shouldn't.
Nothing sweet to the lips was a familiar mantra while I was in the kitchen and when I was at parties. A soft voice in my head told me I needed to taste the batter, but I remembered the mantra and temptation melted as fast hot water to sugar. The moment passed. That's all it is really, a moment in time. A split-second decision; gone in an instant once you make a decision which direction you're going. But a taste of the spoon and that moment in time could have lasted for weeks. No thank you!
One party I went to had only one food on program, summer sausage. Everything else was either a carb, sugar, or both. I indulged in a cup of coffee while everyone had dessert. When we returned home, I had chicken salad I'd made the day before. The next night we had a party at our house and basically all I had was pepperoni, nothing else was on program. After the guests left, I helped clean up and called it an early night. The next morning I had a really big breakfast.
I don't find myself in these kinds of situations very often, where there isn't much control over the food options. I did the right thing by having something to eat at home after the first party, but I wish I had made something I could eat at the party at our house. At the end of the day I was hungry and I found it easier to go to sleep early that night than to fix something to eat, as we'd had a really long day. Next time, I will plan ahead. The host frowns upon people bringing anything to the party; she's an incredible cook (and baker) and she seems a bit insulted at this idea and I don't know her enough to explain myself. As it was, she wasn't happy that I brought seltzer with me, but when she found only tonic water in her cabinet, she agreed to add my seltzer to her vodka. Last year at her party I skipped the tonic water and had her add water to the vodka and I got a bit tipsy. That's not a good place to be when there's a table full of foods you don't want to eat.
In any case, I really do appreciate those of you who have families and deal with non-program foods all the time. I'm happy I was able to pass the tests of vacation in the various places I could have failed. As I said a few months ago, I own this program - it's mine! I'm pleased to say I'm still on program and looking forward to another drop in size soon.
How about the rest of you? What did you do to take care of yourself during the holidays? I'd love to hear what great tricks you put into play to stay on program!
The other antidote is that with my blood sugar stable, I am amazed and grateful, over and over, when I get to the end of a day like this and see that I did the laundry, made a good dinner, did a bunch of other tasks, talked with friends, and still have plenty of energy. And I'm wearing a ratty sweatshirt that used to hog my hips and now floats around in space. I figure I've probably lost about 25-30 pounds and have another 20 to go, but feel soooooo much better! When I pass myself in a mirror I don't feel nauseous and turn away. I dont obsess about my pancreas quitting on me, know that I am doing what I can to treat myself and my body with compassion and wisdom. Wow! As I write those words they feel so, so much more important and powerful than the Cheese Monster.
Thanks for all the support.
Eva