Thanksgiving Dinner!!!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Last year’s Thanksgiving was a no brainer for me when it came to eating.  I had just lost 22 pounds. I was totally motivated to continue the momentum achieved in the Back to School Weight Loss Challenge!  I continued to maintain and even lost another 6 pounds by Christmas!

This Thanksgiving was different. I have lost 66 pounds and am almost to goal so any little ‘cheat’ really shows up!  There’s not so much ‘fluffy fat’ to cover it up! To help off set this I did boot camp 4 days in a row.  I’m learning how to adjust my eating to incorporate more carb and still maintain my current progress. It is a big challenge for me to keep those carbs limited!  One even healthy carb can often lead to another! Again I find that being prepared and planning ahead makes for a more successful day! I don’t know that there will ever be a time I can just ‘wing it’ and stay on track!  

We had lots of choices for dinner!  So I majored on the turkey, ham and green beans with a little bite of mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese, fruit salad, sweet potato salad—skipped the dinner rolls. It all tasted soooooooo good! And I did not feel guilty because it was planned and it was moderate!  I tried a couple of bites of dessert from my husband’s plate!  My challenge came later back at home with eating too much fruit and eating some more dessert!  Why?  I hadn’t planned beyond the TG dinner! 

Love that Jamaican cooking, ususally!!

On Friday I made a  big pot of Jamaican Red Peas Soup using the Thanksgiving dinner ham bone, Jamaican spices, and kidney beans!  It looked so good and I figured that a small bowl of the soup would be great!  My bowl was very small compared to my husband's. He had a serving bowl full of the soup!  However, about 10 minutes after eating the soup, my belly started growling and swelled up to way over twice its size. YUK!!! Not a nice feeling! I think it might have something to do with the fact I have not eaten beans for a year and a half!  All I could do was take a couple of “Beano” tablets---which are supposed to be taken BEFORE, not AFTER the fact and head for bed!  Even 15 hours later on  Saturday at boot camp as I did the table top hold, I did NOT have my usual flat belly!!!! So much for Red Peas Soup. Rich gets to eat the rest of it and he will gladly comply!!

We put up our icicle lights along the eves today. I always do the ladder work while Rich sets it up and makes sure it is steady. How was it different this year?  With 66 Pounds less of me, the ladder didn’t even sink into the ground at all! Wow! What a pleasant surprise!!!  In the past it sank to the first rungs!!! LOL

This week’s boot camps were extra brutal according to Luka, our trainer. He wanted to counteract any over-eating!!! Four days in a row were quite a challenge for my body, but I enjoyed doing some new things. We did the floor ladder—hop-scotching the entire length of it, sprinting back and repeating for 50 seconds. Also did pushups with slide pad under our hands. All the regular exercises had progressions to challenge us to a new level!  I could do some of them, others will have to wait for another day. The bottom line?  I’m making progress each time---still doing a few more reps and making my body do those last moves and not quit early.  I'm watching my form and trying to get the most from each session!  

A big plus of boot camp are all the friends who work out with me. They are such an encouragement and I am able to encourage them as well. It really helps to be accountable to friends who are concerned for my health and fitness!





Before TG dinner!!! LOL



Hope you have some friends to encourage you too-------  
May God's
Abundant blessing 
bring success
      in all you do!          Babyboomergrandma Susan