Mary's baby shower...

Just got back from a baby shower my friend Mary threw for her niece. It was very "English" - petit fours, little crustless sandwiches, little cakes, etc....and I have some of everything. OMG!! So, how I deal with this for the rest of the week is my challenge. I've used most of my 35 points and have 14 left for the remainder of the week. Since I'm doing CORE, it means I can't snack on non-CORE foods for the rest of the week...or, at least, be very careful and prudent. I can do it!

Lost 1.0 lbs!!

Doesn't sound like much when you hear other women at the WW meetings who have lost 3 and 4 pounds, but for me this is great! This year I'm trying to plan my weight loss out over the year. I love planning and live my professional life with plans, checklists, to-do lists, etc. and get great satisfaction when I succeed in achieving my goals. If I don't achieve them, I re-evaluate my goals and decide whether or not to proceed, and review where I want to be at any given time. It's a strategy that's worked well for me throughout my career - whether it was in education, like now, or when I worked in the private sector in the computer field. It works and I feel good! But it never dawned on me to do the same for my health...well, it did "dawn on me" but I never actually did anything about it. And, ya, I've done the New Year's resolution bit, but that wasn't specific enough, it wasn't SMART - Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely - the exact strategy that works for me at work, I had never applied to weight loss and health.

So, this year, in the year that I turn 50 - I finally get it. I've set weight loss goals throughout the year. Each month I've identified an amount of weight I want to loss - considering work demands and knowing some months are more stressful that others. Allowing me to have some comfort foods if I really need to and can't divert to something else. I've also hired a Personal Trainer who is really fantastic and do not cancel workouts no matter how tired or depressed or stressed I am. I've also set out an outfit I would like to wear on my birthday and another outfit for New Year's Eve 2008/9.

I've been setting short-term weekly goals, and trying to keep them. This week, I'm going to stop using cream in my coffee and switch to skim milk. I thought a little cream in my coffee won't make so much difference, but I think it does, in more ways that weight. It could be part of the problem with my choloesterol (which is a whole other story).

I think...no, I know I'm on the right path. I will continue to journal here, 'cause it's easier to type here than to write in my journal. For this month, my goal was to lose 3 pounds, so far I've lost 2.8 - so 0.2 for next week and I've met January's goal!!

back to the purpose of this blog

The original purpose was a place to track my progress with my health plan for 2008...lose weight, exercise and look great when I turn 50!!

I've been working out with a personal trainer who is just great! She's nice, she's just a regular woman, and she makes me work hard but doesn't go into overkill. My weight is fluctuating, but I'm learning to eat better...so once the penny drops and I still to the Weight Watchers plan, hopefully the weight will come off too.

So, I'm plugging away at it...staying hopeful, optimistic, and positive.

epiphany

Today is the Theophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Saviour according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Saviour also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvellous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens hearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens. (ref: http://www.iconograms.org/sig.php?eid=374)

January 5, 2008

Today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 78 years old today. She died March 14, 2002 and I still miss her terribly.

Eurterpe (Efterpe)

According to Wikipedia:

In Greek mythology, Euterpe (pronounced /IPA [ef' terpi] in Modern Greek and meaning "rejoicing well" or "delight") was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of Pleasure", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music. In late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and depicted holding a flute.

A few say she invented the aulos or double-flute, though most mythographers credit Marsyas with its invention. The river Strymon impregnated Euterpe; her son Rhesus led a band of Thracians and was killed by Diomedes at Troy, according to Homer's Iliad.

Her name is from Greek eu (good, well) and τέρπ-εω (to please)