Happy New Year! Happy New Me!

Happy New Year!

And with that, I've officially survived The Holidays!

It's a good thing they're over. I didn't go into the holidays planning to lose any more weight. I had mostly hoped to maintain where I was. And "where I was" was at 170 pounds on November 14th.

This morning, I was at 168. Of course, the week before Christmas I hit a flu-induced low of 164. ;)  But I'm happy having dropped a couple of pounds through the most food-filled month of the year.

That was also considering that my exercise has become basically nothing the last couple of weeks. It got cold. Sandi is still sidelined. There was a month-long stretch where the work load was nuts. (YAY!) And Ethan has been out of school, so he's been staying with Mee-Mow and Num-Num while Mommy works. Between all of those (blizzard, anyone?), the walking has come to a standstill. (No pun intended.)

The eating patterns did a slow descent into old habits, too. Big dinners, lots of food, cold weather making me want comfort foods (pasta!)...it all worked against me. Or, more accurately, I *let* it work against me. (It's like Ethan getting mad when someone *makes* him laugh.)

So here we are. January 1st. And it's time to get serious again.

Throw out the leftover cookies. Restock the fridge with a veggie tray and apple slices. Plan my meals for a few days so there won't be the last-minute throw-togethers. Start logging my food intake again. If the weather won't let me get out and walk, I need to get to Kim's and hit the elliptical. (But that may wait until Ethan's back in school next week.)

I have 8 pounds to go and 6 weeks to get there. I don't know that I'll make the deadline, but it'll be close. The important thing is to keep heading in that direction.

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In case anyone missed it on Facebook, two major things have happened in the last 48 hours that involves this journey.

First, I have registered for the Festival 500 Mini-Marathon on the first Saturday of May. It's supposed to be a fairly easy (flat) course, with a typical registration of 35,000 participants. Actually, I'm more worried about the 7:30 a.m. start time than I am about the 13.1-mile distance or the required pace of 18 minutes per mile. But it gives me something to work toward through the spring.

Second, I went shopping today with some of my Christmas money. I love Kohl's - between the After Christmas Blitz and Clearance, and a 20% coupon, I scored 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of slacks, 6 sweaters and 2 summer tops for just under $200. And the really cool part?? The pants were all SIZE 12!! And while most of the tops and sweaters were a size large, one judiciously chosen sweater was a size MEDIUM. When I first tried on the size 12 jeans and they fit, I just stood in the dressing room and cried. And trembled. Literally trembled.

And then I came home and made Jim take a picture of me in the size 12 jeans and the medium sweater...just because. :)