Happy December!

Wow, it's December already?!? We're charging through the holidays, no?

Sparkly tree in the lobby at work...this photo doesn't do it justice.

How the Holiday Weekend Went

Thanksgiving and Mr. Handsome-and-Handy's birthday weekend went well. I kicked off the holidays with my personal "turkey trot" on Thanksgiving morning. After three days of not much activity, my body was rarin' to go! While I ran, I enjoyed the wonderful 2 Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcast #5. I laughed out loud when Miz and Dietgirl read the letter from the listener who listens when he or she works out, and M&D wondered if others listened while *they* worked out. It was still dark when I did my run, so it was nice to have good virtual company.

Thanksgiving was a family potluck hosted by my sister-in-law's sister and her husband. (Would that make them my in-law in-laws?) Unfortunately, our hostess was down and out with the flu (and had removed herself to her mom's for the day); but my sister-in-law and her brother-in-law saved the day with their mad cooking & grilling skills. I'm usually not a big fan of turkey, but this turkey was smoked on the grill, and on one of the turkeys, there was *bacon*. Holy yum! Is there anything not made better by the magic touch of bacon? Of course, our host started whipping off the bacon slices onto a plate before I could get a photo for you all. Drat! This also solved the dilemma of what to feed my turkey-averse kids: they enjoyed the bacon quite a lot. I enjoyed quite a lot of turkey with its crispy, smokey skin...sort of like the bacon of the turkey, isn't it? (Or, as my good friend Wendy calls it, "meat candy.") My sister-in-law's gravy was magical. So I ate quite a lot of turkey, dibs and dabs of the starchy stuff, and I'm not sure why but I grabbed some of the green bean casserole. I don't even really care much for the green bean casserole. So yes, there was some mindless feeding. Thank goodness we brought a fruit and veggie tray, because aside from green bean casserole, there was nary a veg to be found. My plate feels naked when it doesn't wear green. (I also discovered the amazingness of Trader Joe's cilantro pecan dip! Yum! Goes very well with raw veggies.)

Having kids, as Miz pointed out in the podcast, is a blessing at family events, even when you really like your extended family. It gave me a great excuse to get outside and work off some of that food! I played lawn hockey and on the trampoline with the kids before and after dinner, which included some practical strength exercises of trying to climb a rope, hauling a rope up and down with kids hanging on it, and tricep pushups against the side of the trampoline. I have no idea what we're going to do at the next family gathering, because they are planning to get rid of their trampoline pretty soon! Aaaiiiee! Maybe we'll have to bring our mini inflatable jumpy.

One highlight of the evening was our host's grandfather's videos. His grandfather loved taking home movies, and it was wonderful seeing scenes of life from 1927. The family had a great sense of humor, so there were several funny stunts. Such as family members leaving the house, then sneaking back around, so there was this continual stream of people. Even more funny, you saw the occasional person sneaking back around. It was also quite historic, with video of Yosemite (people feeding bears by hand? yikes!) and a trip to a lumber camp and a day at the beach. Not to mention the clothing styles and old cars! (And apparently "buns" were as funny then as they are now. Gave me a reassuring sense of continuity, that.)

I did have a little holiday-induced perfectionist PMS panic going on...that feeling of, "It's almost December 1st...have you ordered your holiday cards yet?" *Gulp!* And, "There is nothing I could buy that will truly express how much I adore Mr. H&H. So hopefully this stuff he wanted and already knows about and this Star Trek beer glass will suffice." Although, I must say, nothing says familial affection like the Chia SpongeBob SquarePants that his brother & family got him. (Our people are big on goofy humor; this is the same brother that dressed up as a whoopie cushion last Halloween. ;-) It's open and on the hutch, and we're going to see if SpongeBob gets chia-headed in the estimated 2 weeks; this should work unless I get peckish for fiber and lick the chia off his head.

I also did a bit of overindulging in the carb/salt/fat foods over the weekend and not enough indulging in the veggies, which led to some increasing numerals mounting between my toes each morning and some snugness in the pantalones. Not to the extent of bad effect on the blood glucose levels, but the carb/fat/salt cravings kicked up a few notches. I've been doing some course correcting, telling myself that the cravings are normal and that if I stick to my plan, they will go away in a couple of days and I won't feel like I want to vacuum up a tin of nuts. I achieved a minor victory the last two nights in a row: I did not snack after dinner last night! Just ate my dinner, and was done. Finis! Finito! ("Finally!" you say. I know, huh?) It tends to be a very vulnerable time in my day. SpongeBob had better watch it tonight.

We also got a new tree on Saturday, after Mr. H&H spent 4 hours on Friday trying to change all the dead bulbs in our old artificial tree. The new one is slim and fits in our tiny house much better, plus the lights are LED and more efficient. Things 1 & 2 loved decorating it. Photos of that tree next time!

Monthly Measure
Well, last month's measure was up in most areas. I'm happy to report that bust is down .5, but thighs are up .5; other measurements unchanged. Which means that, from my lowest measurement, I'm still up 1" in waist, 1.5" in rib cage, and .5" in the thighs; however, bust and hips are at their low point.

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 102 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 101 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: +.4 from last week, and back to where I was 2 weeks ago. Still in the 190s, but given the scale trend over the weekend, I'm feeling grateful to be back on track.

Food goals:
- 2/3 work days were food brought from home.
- Ate lots of veggies. Used veggie & fruit tray for noshing at Thanksgiving, as planned.
- Got in at least 2 meatless meals but 0 fish meals.
- Fiber: at least 3/7 days were over 30. Could have been better.

Exercise goals: Made 30/day for 4 days; missed the "get kids outside to play an hour a day" goal, other than Thanksgiving day.
Total mileage: 34.47 miles
- Wednesday: No activity
- Thursday: 60 minutes (4.83 miles) - my personal turkey trot!
- Friday: No activity
- Saturday: 40 minutes on the stationary bike (8 miles)
- Sunday: No activity
- Monday: 38 minutes run (3 miles); about 10 minutes of strength exercises later in the day.
- Tuesday: 60 minute spin class (18.64 miles)

Sleep: Met goal of 7 hours/night, except for Monday night.

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Have fun and breathe-relax-staycalm-ooooohhhhmmmm about the holidays!