Sunday, January 24, 2010

Pinch the Grinch

Was it just last Sunday that I had myself worked into a frenzy over a gain of 0.2 pounds?! To encourage anyone who might be experiencing a plateau, last Sunday already seems like a million years ago, especially with today's news. Five pounds. I lost 5 pounds this week! That's like a sack of sugar or a bag of potatoes.

What is even more remarkable, are the circumstances of the week. As you all know, I'd had my wings clipped and was lazing about the house (ha-ha) in an air cast. Walking and aerobics were taboo for me this week; I just tried really hard to stick to my 28 points a day, and though I did end up using some flex points, I did not use as many as previous weeks.

Consequently, when I got on that scale today, I totally felt like the Grinch after he stole Christmas. Who's not familiar with that story? Enter Green Dude living on craggy mountain top, wearing clothes that directly communicate his lack of proximity to the Who-ville Wal-mart, and treating dog Max shamefully. Someone call PETA.

The plot advances. Grinch is bored and bitter; hence, engages in destructive behavior. No he does not eat all the Little Debbies in his cupboard, but he does burgle Who-ville's Christmas cache, right down to the last can of Who-hash. Then, with a fake sleigh piled about three stores high with holiday Who-hah, he schleps to a cliff and prepares to dump the garbage.

And that's when he hears them--all the Whos down in Who-ville SINGING even though they've been utterly fleeced. Thus commences the Grinch's moving monologue regarding the arrival of Christmas despite the absence of materialism and his subsequent conversion to star citizen and carver of the roast beast! That's kind of how I felt standing on the scale today.

But . . . but . . .
It left without sweating,
or getting up early!
Without bicep curling
Or getting all burly.
It left without leaping
It left without panting!
It left without push-ups
and subsequent ranting!
It left without leg-lifts
Or a Bo-flex by Fed-Ex
It left without lights from
Fleet paramedics!

Yes, it left without ALL
of the fore-mentioned headaches!

And all the folks down in Greenville say
That Shankspeare's huge hips
Dropped a dress size that day!

So yes, at last, it seems that the skinny-bug has pinched the Grinch. Mind you, I'm not giving up exercise. But I have learned that I'm not going to give up just because something might cause me to have to miss the activity I've planned. Eating well obviously goes a long way.

Reflection has also been very valuable this week. Though, I did take time to set short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals; in retrospect, I feel I may have set them a bit too rigorously in the long-term. Time will tell, but I need to remember this week and not guilt myself too much if I have to back off activity at some point in time--or maybe even take a week off. As for this next week, my ankle is feeling much improved. I'll still be taking it slow--no aerobics yet this week--just an easy one mile walk each morning with my air cast on.

If anything, this week has trumpeted the virtues of rest, so this week's commitment will be to get seven and a half hours of sleep each night. Also, I will be making every sixth week of this year a week to reflect on and re-evaluate where I am on the journey to my skinny jeans. When I get there, I'm gonna put them on, do a happy-dance, and walk down to Who-ville to carve the roast beast.

And then I'm going to write down "Roast Beast" in my tracker, and carefully portion that Who-hash.

So, ah, exactly how many points ARE in Who-Hash, anyway?

2 comments:

  1. Sarah, I'm really enjoying reading your blog. I look forward to each new post and am even disappointed when you miss a day -- but believe me, I understand what it's like to be too busy or tired to write. I was thinking after reading the post about the talking bag of vegetables that your approach to losing weight is actually how our approach to the Christian life should be. Evaluating and reevaluating your life and your day to day choices and determining not to give up, even when you're thrown a curveball. Deciding to overcome and then finding a way to do so. You're an inspiration to me! You go girl!

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  2. 5 pounds?! That is awesome! I do hope you are healing quickly. I was experiencing that very thing only a couple weeks ago and it was horrible trying to stay off ot if with kids running loose :-)Keep up the fabulous work!

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