Day 31 The Hot Month Winds Down Cooly...

A very hot month. Handled an awful lot of stuff in the past 31 days...people, tears and laughter, walking and sitting and falling and visiting the chiropractor, good eating and bad eating, not enough sleep, a writing job in the afternoon, incredible heat and a new air conditioner, jeans fitting and then feeling tight again, hydration, not enough hydration, too much wine and too much anxiety, junk food and vegetables and fresh fruits from the public market, joy and sorrow, hope and fear, flip flops and heels, linen and polyester, sugar cookies and skim milk, chocolate milk and low fat yogurt...I will never be a purist...I will never be skinny (which is a good thing)...I can never be arrogant about food...I should be very careful about giving advice...I am blessed with family, loved ones and dear friends who have my back...blessing and struggling...they seem to go hand in hand...always blessed and always struggling and happy...God bless the waning month of July. Onward into the rested month of August.

Day 30 Outta My Way!

Stella Dora...get thee behind me!

Day 29 Fellowship And Food

The summer job has ended and I feel free and fancy and lovely. Went out to dinner with a lovely person. Conversation was wonderful and I am full of strong, black coffee...shall be awake for quite awhile...well worth it. Beginning to feel back on track after a few minor derailments with food and a few lapses away from the world of exercise. But back on track...two more days in the month...new plans for August and a renewed sense of purpose...

Day 28 48 Years And Counting...

Happy 48th anniversary to my loving parents! 48 years of love and diapers, chocolate and wilted plants, three offspring and never-ending drama, love and dinners out, money, money, money and love...Christmas Eve dinners and politics, church and carb-laden church suppers...love, love, love...Valentine's Day cards and roses...love and affection and food and food and food...and love and coffee and bear claws and boxes of doughnuts hidden in the sock drawer...and chocolate covered cherries and love and love and laughter...and flat tires and contact lenses and piano music and cream-laced coffee and love and love and suddenly...48 years...God is good...all the time...love, food...love.

Day 27 Surrounded By Food...

I seem to be drowning in a plethora of food...abundance everywhere...snacks at work...a fridge full of "stuff"...a friend taking me out to dinner...she ordered our food and then before I could blink, she had ordered an extra cup of french onion soup for me...yikes, slow it down Madge! Was there any handle on the day? Yes...I stopped eating at 7:30...there was no alcohol today and I ate slowly, savoring each bite...a lot of good conversation and plenty of water...have the morning free tomorrow to do a lot of walking...the jeans still fit, the jeans still fit, the jeans still fit...

Day 26 Days Of Wine And Roses...

Too much wine...no roses...not enough sleep...muggy weather...too tired of this particular summer job...feeling bloated and air-tight sealed into these jeans...blah...time to give up and go to bed...blah...not at all like the movies...

Day 25 Sunday In The Park..

There was no park today...but I felt rested in my soul after a very long and crazy week...sorry to say that the scale moved up some, but I am simply going back to the truth that I have learned...put food in its proper place...look deeply at why you are abusing food...what is it I am hiding from? What do I not have that I am pretending food is? What triggers these lapses back into old unwanted behaviors? What will keep me from doing it again? I think I know some of the answers...one is that I cannot go for days in a row with minimal sleep...no matter the social occasion, I have to have some boundaries...the rapid downhill slide is never worth it. The rest? Well, God and time will reveal all...the day tomorrow is simpler...the walking will be healing. The time out with one of my students will stretch me and there will also be a deep sense of "doing the right thing"...balance will be found again tomorrow...tomorrow with all the choices keeps circling around every blessed 24hours...