Fancy Pants

Well, it has finally happened. 

My body has finally gotten the message and has finally begun to shed this excess weight in earnest...I won't lie: it is very nice getting on the scale and having it register less and less each week.
However, there are some things that I am losing that I am a little less than thrilled about...

I am losing my Fancy Pants.

Call them what you will, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Come on, you know the ones...maybe they're your favorite sweat pants, favorite pajama bottoms...or, like me, your favorite "dress up" pants. They are the pants that are your "go-to" pants...the ones that you can dress up and go to formal evening out, or pair them with the perfect top and you've got a great go-to-school-event pair of pants. These are the pants that I wear when I know I'm going to see my mother (and I want to look really put together), and they are the pants that I put on when I'm going out to an evening charity event. They're the pants I can put a twin-set on with, throw on some pearls, and I have the perfect "Ladies Who Lunch" outfit.  I know how they fit, I know they look good, and frankly, I know that they hide what they are supposed to! 

(Sigh)

They are, as Sarah Kate put it, my "Fancy Pants." (As in, "Don't worry Mommy. I know exactly what you mean. You're going to just have to go find some new Fancy Pants.")  This conversation took place when I put my pants on yesterday to go to brunch and the theater (for my birthday Ron took me, Libby, Sam and Libby's friend to see Shrek: The Musical) and I realized: my pants are getting big. Like, really big.  Like, you could probably have fit a few programs, a lipstick and my mid-afternoon snack in my pants with me.

The good news is, I probably have a week or so left in my Fancy Pants. The bad news is: my niece's graduation from high school is in two weeks, and I am going to have to get a new pair of pants. (Or, --gasp!-- a dress or maybe even a skirt...)  For those of you who have never struggled with your weight, I am sure that at this point you're thinking, "....aaaannndd?" But for me, this is a big deal.  First, shopping for clothing (especially for pants!!) is NOT my favorite thing to do (oh, all right:  shopping for anything to cover my hindquarters has rarely been anything other than a chore).  It usually consists of me pulling two sizes of pants in the dressing room, and ending up buying the larger size. That is not fun, nor does it make me want to run out and go shopping.

But, there's just no getting around it this time.  My niece's graduation is nigh...and not only is it a major occasion for my family (one reason to pull out the Fancy Pants) but my parents will also be there...and I don't think that they've seen me in anything BUT my Fancy Pants for formal occasions in...well, probably a few years...So it is going to be important to look good.  I am of the school of thought, however, that one looks one's best when one feels good/confident...and I'm worried I'm really going to miss my Fancy Pants!

Let's be real here for a moment, though - I knew when I began this journey that eventually I would have to say goodbye to my beloved Fancy Pants...If I started making healthy choices and exercising and just doing the "right thing", then losing inches and pounds would be one of the better perks of this new lifestyle.  I just don't think I realized how attached I'd become to my Fancy Pants...or how hard it would be to say goodbye.  But this journey is all about goodbyes...and hellos! And that's how it goes, folks...out with the old, in with the new. New habits, new foods...new Fancy Pants. 

And that, my friends, is a good thing. A very good thing.

Shake Your Booty...

As many of you know, I have been working closely with Dr. Ann Kulze in Charleston, South Carolina.  "Dr. Ann" and I devised a plan to help me stay on track and to (finally!) shed these extra pounds (sometimes it feels like tons, I can't lie...) that I've been carrying around for the past 20+ years.  I met with "Dr. Ann" for the first time back at the end of March, and since then, I have been emailing her my daily food journals that I keep every few weeks or so.  She reviews them, and then she will call me and let me know areas where I can improve.  So far, so good, I am happy to report. With the exception of a few tweaks here and there (add more protein, watch out for sushi rice), I have earned an "A+" with Dr. Ann.

In a recent conversation, Dr. Ann mentioned that she was particularly concerned that I might be over-exercising.  After I stopped laughing and told her, "Dr. Ann, I don't think that OVER-exercising is EVER going to be a problem we have to worry about for me..." we did talk about how the only way that I am going to actually be able to finally shed this extra weight and move on to a happier, healthier me is through exercise.  And that's just the bottom line, folks.  I can eat all the right things, "do" all the right things, take all the right supplements and refuse to let any sweets into my house...but the fact of the matter is that unless I exercise every single day, then I will NEVER achieve the optimal health that I so long for.  The good news is, that that information actually GOT IN.  And it's not something that I didn't know, or even that I wasn't sure about.  I have known for YEARS that the only way to truly achieve optimal health is through daily exercise.  Of course, KNOWING that and DOING that are two entirely different things.

The funny thing is: I feel FANTASTIC after a workout -- truly! Not only am I so excited that I actually "did the right thing," but I am thrilled that it is one thing I can check off my "to-do" list for the day. (Oh, how I love, love, love that feeling!) It is not even that I don't enjoy working out...I actually do.  What my problem usually is, is the GETTING TO THE GYM.  I'm sure many of you can relate - I know that I need to go to the gym, but there is laundry/work/cleaning to attend to.  And lately, the laundry/work/cleaning has been winning.

But not today!! Today I went and did my thing as "Box Tops Queen" (if you don't know what this is, believe me: you probably don't want to...for those of you that do, then you know I truly love it) at the children's school, and then I went home, changed my clothes and made it just in time for my Zumba class.  And once I was there, guess what? I LOVED IT.  Losing myself in the music, shaking my booty...truth be told: I'm pretty sure that for that hour, the rest of the world outside that room just melted away.  And when the hour had passed (and I had burned 800 calories, thank-you-very-much), and it was time to return to the "real world," I actually felt like I was better prepared to deal with it.

All of this to say, I am going to make a point to remember tomorrow, when I have to get up and go do my exercise-thing, how great I felt right after class...heck: how great I feel right now!  And then, my friends, I am going to go and shake my booty!!! And who knows? Maybe "Dr. Ann" will have to be concerned about my excessive Zumba-booty-shaking!!! You just never know...

Do the Right Thing

Well, here I am, just sailing past the three month mark on this fantastic voyage toward better health that I've embarked on.  Three months...wow!  I have to tell you, I believe that I am still in the "honeymoon period," as I really have not struggled (yet!) with making healthier or better choices.  It has been three months since I have had a diet soda, three months since I've had a (whole) cupcake...Dang! I am proud of myself (pats self on back)!

Now, with all of that said, I also feel like it wouldn't be correct to lead you to believe that there have not been Temptations along the way.  There have, and sometimes they occur on a daily basis!  The good news is, the way I feel right now and the way it feels to have a pair of pants actually slide up my legs without pausing feels way too good to even THINK about trading it in for a slice of that divine looking key lime pie that I saw the other day when I was out to lunch with Libby (yes, I know that's a run-on sentence, but trust me: that pie WAS divine looking, and enough to justify that run-on sentence!)

As we all know, sweets (cupcakes, cake, cookies, pie...pretty much anything you can BAKE) used to be my weakness.  Ah, the smell of a bakery can make my toes curl even now!! Mmm mmm mm!  But the simple fact is that I much prefer the way that I feel right now.  It's true: edamame thrills me...kale calls me...no kidding!  Bottom line is that I can't think of a single thing (truly) that I could put in my mouth that would even come close to making me feel as good as eating the right things do...I love that I wake up each morning feeling healthy and full of energy (man...that was a long time coming! I'm not giving that up without a fight, you can be sure!).  It is a great feeling to know that for these past three months,  I have (and am) doing the right thing. 

Such a simple thought, when you think about it.  Doing the right thing makes me feel good.  And when you think about it, that really applies not only to doing the right thing when it comes to properly fueling my body so it can run at its best, but doing the right thing in general.  Being kind, sharing, being thoughtful...all of these things are, when you get down to the nitty-gritty, really just doing the right thing.  And I feel good when I do them, and when I behave in this way.  And doing the right thing can be expressed in so many aspects of my life -- from extending a hand to someone who is not particularly outgoing, inviting her to be a part of whatever group it is that I am currently enjoying - be it at a cocktail party, a school event, or a ladies' lunch. It can also be taking a small gift over to someone who's having a bad day and making her laugh.  It can even be making a batch of mint brownies for a dear friend who is sad, even when I have vowed never to make the dang things again... Here's the bottom line, folks: the truth is that when we do the right thing, we feel good, and when we feel good, it makes us want to do the right thing.  Ah, what a lovely cycle!!!

So....what about you? Have you been doing the right thing lately? It's not really hard to do...and I can guarantee you, it'll make you feel better...it always does!