Ah, January. Resolutions and Random Thoughts

Ah, the pace of life has slowed again at work. We're all setting things back to rights, giving things plenty of spit and polish, reviewing what we did right and what we could do better for next year, and basically getting ready to introduce the shopping public to spring. The Enchanted Bathing Suit Forest has already reappeared at the front of women's clothing and the flip flops are about to replace those few pairs of slippers in the bins in the shoe department.

Here it is well into January, and I'm just now up for air long enough to think about things like what I'd like to work on in 2007. I'd like to keep losing weight. While everyone is bemoaning their holiday weight gains, I actually lost 7-10 lbs. (I'm not really sure, but that's as accurate as I can be) during the holidays. Since I am not 100% sure of my highest shipping weight, I think that actually puts me at somewhere between 20-25 lbs. since August. Don't worry, there's still plenty of me to go around and I am far from in danger of being blown away by a strong gust! But I can tell in the way my clothes fit, even baggy things like nightgowns, jeans and sweatshirts, and people have begun to notice. Most of them think I've done something to my hair, but I know they are just seeing the change in my face.

I attribute a good part of my weight loss during the holidays to running at full-bore at work for 8-10 hrs. a day five days a week. The other part I attribute to finally seeming to have internalized the whole concept of "enough". I ate pretty much whatever I wanted to, including things like eggnog with bourbon, Christmas cookies and candy, pizza, subs and potato chips, but I think I rarely overindulged in any of those things without counterbalancing them somewhere else in my day, and even overindulgence itself was pretty rare. I was able to stop at normal and recommended portions of most things. I had an entire bag of Hershey mint kisses in my house for a whole month. I even forgot the partially open bag was there for a week. I'd eat 3-5 at a time. And that was enough on the occasions I was actually in the mood for them.

I'll admit that I mostly cook at home, making leftovers serve for lunches. I keep canned soups and a couple of light frozen entrees in the freezer (although I am an inveterate label reader and will buy certain Stouffer's red box entrees because they are just about the same as some light frozen things in terms of general nutritional value and higher quality) for a pinch. But even if I don't have leftovers or a frozen thing, I am fortunate to know what my options are at work over at Food Avenue and out on the shelves. I'm lucky enough to have a well-stocked pantry that ensures I can get something relatively healthy on the table relatively quickly, even when I get home late or have a short time between shifts. I don't think I could live nearly so well without my Trader Joe's frozen veggies, like haricot verts, soycutash and sugar snaps. Rotisserie chickens, especially when you're shopping at midnight and can get the ones sitting in the deli case that have been marked down a couple bucks, are a godsend. And low carb freaks take heed that due to holiday budget constraints, there were several weeks where my diet was heavy on the carbs (mac and cheese, tuna noodle casserole, cheesy taters, potato soup, and bean soup weeks spring to mind). For exercise, I walked a good 2-3 miles daily, just at work, and I also did things like push shopping carts manually (I can push up to 7 at a time) on a regular basis and climb up and down ladders in the stockroom to help our backroom with the massive amounts of pulls they had on their plate. I jokingly referred to it all as the "GSTL Total Holiday Fitness Program". It worked.

Of course, with the slower pace at work, there are a few things I'm making a more conscious effort at monitering. I'm avoiding the candy that is almost always at hand even now. Hershey kisses and those little Dove chocolates. Not allowed to mindlessly graze them. I'm craving salads and soups, so those are appearing on my menus more frequently. I try to have a nice hot cup of tea almost every evening or at some point in the day (and, yes, it is one of the few things that I use real sugar for). Adding more things like mushrooms and other veggies in things like beef stroganoff and cutting back on the amount of meat. Reacquainting myself with tofu, which I actually like. I make a decent ma po tofu, which is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. Trying to have meatless meals at least once or twice a week. I plan to pump up my exercise ball and clear a space in the living room, so that I can roll around on it a few times a week. Plan to add some upper body free weights (I've got them sitting in the living room, after all!) and do things like squats and lunges, too, to work the lower body. These will all be reasonable and attainable habits to either keep up or acquire.

There really isn't much more that I can think of. Change for me is becoming more and more an organic process. I find what needs to change or improve usually makes itself apparent, regardless of my plans or my best intentions. If I focus on anything, it is being open to the input of the universe, so that I can hear the directions for where I'm supposed to go and trusting that all things will unfold as they were meant to in good time.