Day 8: And the Magic Number is...

4.3

4.3 is the number of pounds I've lost over the last week. It's a respectable number to be sure, after all, slow and steady wins the race. Anyone who has ever spent any time dieting knows how easy it is to obsess about that number on the scale. Of course you hear people all the time say, "Don't worry about the number on the scale, concentrate on how your clothes fit." So I will say that I was pleased today, when I finally moved down to that last notch on my belt.

So the first week is down, now I just have to keep my head down, keep eating healthy, exercise and try not to obsess about that damn number.

I have to apologize about no blog yesterday. The day completely got away from me. I didn't even get any specific exercise any, unless you count dragging the laundry to the laundromat. I'll tell you more about the day and dealing with my family at another point, because I want to tell you about my hike today. It's one of my absolute favorites.

Today's exercise: hiking

A 6.6 mile "lollipop" hike in the Black River County Park out in Chester, NJ. (click for the description I followed).

A lollipop hike is a hike where the beginning and end of the hike follow the same trail, but somewhere down the line you make a turn that takes you in a big loop before bringing you back to the spot where you turned off.

There are several reasons why I like this hike. It starts and ends with a relatively level and easy 1.2 mile stroll through the woods. It has a decent amount of ups and downs to really get your heart going. It has a great variety in the places it takes you, creeks, rolling meadows, a pine forest and a rocky river gorge. And most importantly it's quite beautiful.

It was really hot today, in the upper 90's so I wanted to get a nice early start. But I ended up sleeping until 8, so I was already and hour behind. Then of course I started off on the wrong foot by driving off in the wrong direction, whoops! And it takes a little over an hour to get out to the park. Another one of the pluses of this hike is that there are bathrooms by the parking lot. Never underestimate the value of an actual bathroom at the beginning and end of your hike. Because of the heat, I put three 1.5 liter bottles of water (one frozen to keep the others cool) in my pack and left a 4th in the car. I hit the bathroom and then headed out. The trail starts out behind an old historic mill and then follows a along a creek, crossing several foot bridges.

This was nice way to start. The path was wide open and I started to relax as I walked along at a pretty good clip. I was starting to glisten a bit as I moved, but nothing too bad yet. We've gotten a lot of rain lately and there was a big storm last night so there lots of "seasonal wetness" to be found. The foliage was very green and lush. I was the only person on the trail. Of course one of the bigger problems with hiking solo is that you get the face fulls of cobwebs and such that the insects like to string across your path.

I don't mind hiking by myself, but there are very set rules I use when I do. I print out at least 2 copies of the hike I'm doing and leave the hike on my screen at home. One copy I carry with me of course and the other goes into a ziploc bag with my last name, date and start time and gets left under my windshield wiper (this was a tip I picked up from a boy scout troop I ran into on a hike while I was looking for a place to pee. Guess that boulder wasn't as screened as I thought!) I always carry at least two 1.5 liter bottles of water, more if it's hot. I never wear headphones on the trail because I need to hear what's going on around me, (you've got to be able to hear a bear crashing through the woods, or the rattle of the rattlesnake you almost stepped on!) And I always make sure my cell phone is fully charged.

The hike passes a lovely little pond, but on a hot day like today you don't stop near standing water. Because if you do, you get surrounded by lots of little flying things. And the bugs were out in force today, I had to reapply the bug spray 3 times to keep them away from me. By the time I hit my first real up, I was pretty warm already and by the time I got to the top I was drenched. The first half of this hike is not all that different from any other hike. But once I hit the red trail, I got to one of my favorite parts.

The pine forest. This part of the trail is wonderful. The trail is covered in a thick layer of pine needles so it feels like you are walking on a very soft carpet. And the smell... it's just amazing. It's what every car freshner aspires to and never can achieve.

Today the pine forest had a few surprises for me however. This trail is a less used trail and obviously not many people had been down it recently so many parts of the the path were overgrown and I had to do a bit of bushwhacking. Then I came to a real obstacle. Two trees about 6 inches in diameter each had fallen across the path about waist high, too low to go under. It was so over grown on either side that there was no way to blaze a f*ck-it path, so I had to go over. When I put my left leg up and over the trees to straddle them, I ended up almost getting intimate with the remains of a broken branch. (If the tree had any sense of decency it would have bought me dinner first!). I felt a stabbing pain on my inner thigh and heard my shorts rip as the branch went right through. This is the second hike in a row that I've ripped my shorts. Thank goodness both pairs were already too big. After adjusting my position, I got my other leg over, thanked the trees for a good time and headed off down the trail.

After some more climbs and descents I ended up at my other favorite part of this trail. The Black River Gorge. The trail runs along the side of the river often becoming very narrow and fit for not much more than a billy goat, but the water rushing by on your left is so lovely and soothing, it's worth it. By this time I was soaking wet. I mean completely soaked through. My tank top was totally wet, there was a small area around the bottom hem that was still dry. My shorts were soaked. My hat was soaked. I wasn't glistening, I wasn't perspiring, I was full on sweating, it was literally pouring off of me. But I knew at this point I only had about two miles left so I pushed on. There was a lot more up as I climbed out of the gorge. Then headed back to the path I came in on.

When I got back to the mill, there were two older couples who had just finished a tour of the mill. One of the men, just stared at me as I came walking by, you would think the man had never seen a sweat drenched woman wearing a sopping wet tank top, ripped shorts and knee braces, arrive out of the woods before! Sheesh!

By the time I reached my car, I had drank over 3 liters of water and my trusty pedometer read:

Miles: 6.60
Steps: 15506
Aerobic steps: 13139 for 142 minutes
Calories burned: 699

But what floored me was the time, just a tad over 3 hours! I don't know how I maintained that pace! I felt like I was moving a lot slower. But hey I'll take it. I was tired, my right knee was a bit achy, but I felt really good. My lungs felt really open.

I stopped at a favorite farm market on my way home and picked up some freshly picked strawberries and asparagus. And this is just the beginning of the summer produce season, I can't wait for the rest to come in.

All in all it was a good day and a nice hike. Not a single DHP sighting (the wusses!) I only ran into three other people on the trails all day. This won't be the last 90+ degree day I hike this summer, so I guess I better get used to it.

Happy trails!

Day 6: I did it My Way

Today's exercise: None! Today is a day of rest. It's also date night, so Scott and I will be heading out to dinner... uh oh.

Breakfast: 1 c. PostRaisin Bran, 1/2 c. 2% milk, 1/2 large banana

Mid morning snack: 1 apple

Lunch: The last of the French Potato and Chicken Salad, 1/2 c. couscous mixed with sauteed spinach and garlic (It's clean out the fridge day! lol!)

Mid Afternoon Snack: 1 c. green grapes

Early evening snack while waiting for Scott to get the hell home from work!: 1 banana

Dinner: 2 mozzarella sticks, 1/2 portion of chicken marsala, about a cup of angel hair pasta with marinara

Scott and I have our little routine. One morning every weekend we go out for diner breakfast at our favorite diner, the Park West. And every Friday is date night and we go out to dinner. Hoboken is only 1.2 miles square, but there are a million restaurants. Oddly enough we tend to frequent the same handful. Tonight we went to one of our regular spots, Leo's Grandevous. Leo's is a neighborhood Italian joint. Typical Italian fare for a decent price. They have the best veal parmigiana in town.

I know, I know, it's veal, little baby cows that are treated so terribly, but damn they are tasty. One of my favorite "South Park" bits is when the kids go to the cattle ranch on a class trip and when they go into the veal shed, there are all these little baby cows drawn with great big eyes, looking all sad. Cartman goes up to one and goes, "Awwwww, look at this one... He looks delicious!" I don't mind eating vegetarian, but I do like meat. My line is always, "If God did want us to eat animals, then he wouldn't have made them so darn tasty!" But that is a personal choice.

Anyway, Scott got the veal parm and I got the chicken marsala. I went a little bit off the rails by eating two mozzarella sticks and half a piece of bread and some of the pasta. But it ain't gonna kill me and I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Hoboken, for the one or two of you not from this planet or two young to know about the Rat Pack, is the birthplace of Frank Sinatra, ol' Blue Eyes. And this town loves its favorite son, even if he did hate this town. Once Sinatra got out, he never set foot back here again. But nobody talks about that. We have Sinatra Park, Sinatra Drive and the Frank Sinatra Memorial Post Office. And places like Leo's, that have dozens of pictures of the man up on its walls and a jukebox loaded with everything he ever sang. Tonight while we were eating Scott's favorite Sinatra song "Summer Wind" came on. I'm not sure if I have a favorite Sinatra song, but don't tell any of the old timers around here that. A couple of years before Frank passed away he collapsed on stage during a concert. I was coming home late that night after being out with friends, so obviously I had not been privy to that news. But when I got in a cab at the train station, before even asking me where I wanted to go, the cab driver turned to me and said, "Did you hear? Sinatra collapsed on stage tonight!" Yes this town loves their Frank.

Anyway, not real sure what any of that has to do with this diet, except now I have Sinatra riffhead, a weird mash-up of "Summer Wind" and "My Way".

Tomorrow should be a fun day. It's my "cheat day" (although tonight was kind of that) where I allow myself to eat things I wouldn't on a normal day (of course in moderation). You can't deny yourself all the time! And tomorrow is a family get together out at my sister's place in the middle of nowhere near the border of Pennsylvania. One thing my family does is eat. So I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell tomorrow. Lord help me, if I survive.

'Til then...

Day 5: Common Sense for Sale

Today's exercise: walking

Breakfast: 1 c. oatmeal with 1/2 c. fresh blueberries and 1/2 c. 2% milk

Mid Morning Snack: 1 apple

Lunch: Another serving of the Chicken Tagine plus steamed green beans (cooking for 1 is a pain and you end up with lots of leftovers, since a lot of what I make Scott doesn't like)

Dinner: Grilled tilapia with yogurt cashew sauce over 1/2 cup couscous, sauteed fresh baby spinach with garlic. And the last Kozy Shack No Sugar Added Bananas Foster Pudding (interesting but I don't think I'll buy it again.

"Common sense is not so common." - Voltaire

Okay, any guys that might be reading this should probably skip this paragraph and move quickly on to the next one... ready? Ladies, do you know what's a good day to give up sugar, chocolate, and all those yummy comfort foods? Any day that you are not PMSing! Jeez, this timing is terrible. When I get cranky and miserable at this time of the month I always used to be comforted by my good friends Ben & Jerry. But alas that avenue is now closed. And I believe poor Scott will bear the brunt of it. But this too shall pass. Urgh.

Right, boys, you can come back now... For my walk this evening I did essentially the same 3 mile loop that I did on Tuesday night with one small difference. Instead of walking straight down Sinatra Drive, I looped around through the new Maxwell Place development and through the park they created on the river there. This new set of luxury condos is being built on the space formerly occupied by the Maxwell House Coffee plant, a Hoboken landmark for many years. Now the developers did not build the park out of the kindness of their hearts, it is part of the deal when the city gives them permission to develop an area. The idea is to have unfettered public access to the whole waterfront. They did a nice on job on what they built, but it's a lot smaller than was promised. Typical Hoboken, developers gloss over their responsibilities while the city officials are busy counting their bribe money (well, Hudson County, New Jersey is the most corrupt county in the country! WhooHoo! We're number 1!).

But I digress... While I was walking, I was thinking about what I've been eating this week and what I was eating before that, and wondering how I ever got so off track. I've done the diet thing a million times over but never really stuck with it. I know what I should be eating. I did the dietitian thing after my diabetes diagnosis. I've even read the books. For a long time I lived with my close friend Catherine. Cath is a medical writer (and one of the smartest people I've ever met). About 10 years she worked on a book called "Thin Tastes Better" with a "diet doctor to the stars" Stephen Gullo. Now, Stephen was not a physician or dietitian, he was a psychologist and in his work he would help people do things like identify their trigger foods (you know, those foods that you just can't eat a little of, like oh, say... ice cream) and teach them to avoid those foods. He also gave them little mantras to recite, like "Thin tastes better." or "Green is lean, white is light." or "It's better to wear Italian than eat Italian." Catchy, right? Even after all these years I remember them.

Okay, I have to interrupt for a moment... funny story time... The other thing I remember about that book was the book release party. It was held at the Waldorf Astoria and hosted by Ernest Borgnine's wife Tovah. There were a few recognizable people there, but not a lot. In deference to the fact that it was a diet book, the food was all light nibbles, and the only alcohol was white wine. After a few glasses of wine, I found myself talking to some random gentleman. I asked what he did and he told me that he was the head of the Meadowlands (a big arena/stadium/race track, it's were the Jets, Giants and Nets play). Anyway, I'd had a bit to drink and not a lot to eat, so of course the first thing that pops out of my mouth is "You've got great parking lots!" He looked at me kind of funny and said, "Uh, thanks?" I blathered on, "No, seriously, I can always find my car and it never takes long to get out of the lot after a concert!" Not my finest conversational moment.

Back at the point... The other thing I took away from that book was, "Wow, that's just all your basic common sense." And he gets paid for that? This whole common sense aspect to eating was driven home a couple months ago when TLC ran a series called "I Can Make You Thin" featuring Paul McKenna. When I saw the ads, I recognized him and I realized that Mr. McKenna is a hypnotist. He used to do entertainment hypnotism shows, I saw him at a theater in Times Square several years ago. But now it seems he's has gotten into to helping people with weight loss. He now has books and videos and CD's and this TLC series all to pimp his "Four Golden Rules of Weight Loss." As I watched that first episode, I could hardly wait for him to give me these 4 rules that would unlock the mystery of weight loss for me. After much fanfare and build up he revealed them:

1. When you are hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want
3. Eat consciously.
4. When you are full, stop.

Can you say, "D'OH!" I mean seriously. He's making money for that? Okay, I suppose the real moneymaker is number 3, because in general, people don't really think while they eat. His thing is to put your fork down between bites and really chew your food and taste it. Which again is not a new concept, but I guess somebody needed to point it out. So all those times your mother yelled at you for not chewing your food, maybe she wasn't just worried about you choking.

I suppose somebody needed to point all these things out. I know I forgot them. And they are such simple little common sense things. So I feel kind of silly.

I mean, ultimately, I'm sure there are some issues I have with food that I'll have to recognize and deal with. But in the meantime I'll try to remember a little common sense.

By the way, on my walk tonight, Mister Softee was totally dogging me. I passed him at 8th and Park and Tony waved to me and I waved back. Then he moved the truck down to 10th and Park. As I passed again, Tony waved again and I waved back. Then he moved the truck to 12th and Park... three times I was tempted! I felt like Jesus out in the wilderness. And let me tell you this is not the time to be tempting me! (see the first paragraph, except the guys, you really shouldn't look).

That's all for this evening. But before I go, I want to share some of the views from the 14th Street Pier where I walk (these shots were taken when the 3 Cunard Queens were in New York).

Day 4: Not Exactly The Girl in the Red Velvet Dress

Today's exercise: yoga class

Breakfast: 1 cup of Post Raisin Bran with 2% milk (Does anyone else remember when the raisins in Raisin Bran used to be coated with sugar?)

Mid Morning Snack: 1 Red Delicious Apple (You know what they say about an apple a day... and I hate doctors, they always find something wrong with you)

Lunch: Another serving of last night's Chicken Tagine and steamed broccoli with a tbsp of fat free feta cheese to make it interesting

Mid Afternoon Snack: 1 Kozy Shack 60 calorie No Sugar Added Bananas Foster pudding cup

Dinner: 1 serving of the French Potato and Chicken Salad and steamed broccoli with a tbsp of fat free feta (gotta be quick and easy so I can get to class on time)

Any woman who has seen the movie "The Fabulous Baker Boys" with Jeff and Beau Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer will know exactly which scene I am talking about. Any piano man probably will too since they've likely had to deal with the fantasies that resulted. It's that New Year's Eve scene where Michelle Pfeiffer is crawling on top of the piano singing "Makin' Whoopee" in that red velvet dress, ohmygod SO sexy. Topped only by the scene a few moments later where Jeff Bridges is sitting on the edge of the stage with her afterwards and he starts massaging her neck and eventually moves down her back and unzips her dress and moves his hands forward underneath... I'm getting all flushed thinking about it. Give me a moment...

Okay. Anyway, that movie didn't start my fascination with piano players and piano bars (for that we can blame My Brian, my best friend from college, my great unrequited love and a talented piano player), but it certainly helped it along. I mean after seeing that scene how can you not fantasize about writhing on top of a piano in a slinky red velvet dress while Jeff Bridges plays? I'm only human.

Now I've never actually writhed on top of a piano in a slinky red velvet dress, but I have ridden a piano or two in my time. And for that you can blame Ron Pass (Rides on the piano are free, but rides on the organ will cost ya!). He let me ride my first piano in the Lindy Hop piano bar on the Carnival Valor in July of 2006. On the newer Carnival ships the piano is on a platform that rotates (and on the newest ships, it goes both ways!), so I could say that it's a great vantage point from which to see the entire room. But the truth of the matter is I'm just a big ol' ham and when I go out drinking I occasionally cut a little too loose. (Plus, I will admit, I enjoy the vibrations... LOL). Riding the piano has been sort of a habit with me ever since.

On the next cruise I took on the Carnival Valor again the following summer, the piano man (Carl Evans) not only let me ride me the piano, but he gave me the damn microphone and had me sing "Makin' Whoopee". Oy vey! So I sang it, in the key of C apparently. I was just happy that there was a key involved. I know I embarrassed my niece, who happened to walk by the piano bar just at that point. And I would say I embarrassed myself, but I think I had a little too much gin in my system for that to happen, so I do have some fuzzy fond memories of the performance.

I've tried to limit my piano riding to the Carnival ships (they don't call them the Fun Ships for nothing!) however, I managed to end up on top of the piano at Howl At The Moon in Orlando a couple of weeks ago. So it seems to be spreading... hmmm.



Not exactly Michelle Pfeiffer, right?






So now, I'm thinking if I make my goal by the time the Bloggers Cruise v.2.0, perhaps to celebrate I will buy a slinky red dress (I think velvet would be a little too heavy for the Caribbean, lol) and really do the piano ride right. It's always good to reward yourself for accomplishing goals, isnt it?

My yoga teacher tried to kill me tonight. Now, I know you're thinking that's not very "yogi" of her. And you're possibly thinking that I might be over exaggerating a tad. Well, you might be right about the exaggeration. But on the first count, well, Jody is not your typical "yogi" and I think that's why I like her so much. I know for years my perception of yoga and the people who practiced it had a lot to do with crunchy granola, ultra mellow, vegans. In the past few years as yoga has come into vogue as an exercise, that obviously has changed a bit. Then I met Jody. Jody is, as my friend Ray is fond of calling me, a sassy, brassy Joisey girl. And bit of a smartass to boot. She can curse a blue streak, freely admits that she can be impatient and obnoxious but she's working on that through yoga. And if you make smartass remarks to her before class, she will try to kill you with the poses. It certainly seemed tougher this week than weeks previous, plus it was hot as hades in the room and I was sweating like two dollar hooker at a Shriner's convention. I didn't sign on for Bikram yoga! When I got home my muscles were still quivering, which, ultimately, I suppose is a good thing. But still, I think I'll keep my smart comments to myself next time until after class.

We're over the hump and halfway through week one! Hooray! But it's a long road ahead... Happy and healthy travels to all those on that road with me!

Day 3 - Battlefield: Midtown

Today's exercise: Walking

Breakfast: Oatmeal with 1/2 cup fresh blueberries and a little 2% milk (which we now have two containers of since we both remembered to pick it up) I know the oatmeal is getting a little repetitive, but I like it and quite frankly, in the morning my brain is not fully functional and not inclined to be creative.

Mid Morning Snack: 1 Red Delicious Apple (I get it from the fruit guy outside my office. I really want a banana but those are high in sugar so I limit those.)

Lunch: Another serving of the French Potato and Chicken Salad. (it was tasty!)

Mid Afternoon Snack: 1 Jello 70 calorie sugar free rice pudding. (I loves me the pudding!)

Dinner: Chicken Tagine with apricots and almonds over 1/2 c. couscous (Another Weight Watcher Recipe and three more servings to use this week.)

Dessert: Kozy Shack No Sugar added 60 calorie Bananas Foster pudding cup (just trying some new things to curb the sweet tooth)

This time of year is a good time to start a "lifestyle change" like this. Fresh produce gets better, farmers markets open up offering great locally grown fruits and vegetables. There is very little better in this world than a nice ripe Jersey Beefsteak tomato and sweet Jersey corn fresh picked from the fields. New Jersey isn't called the Garden State for nothing! Stop snickering all of you, there really is a lot more to this state than just the tour you get during the opening credits of the Sopranos. I'll be taking pictures on my hikes to prove it!

The unfortunate part of this time of year is that Midtown Manhattan, always dangerous to a diet, seems to grow a Mr. Softee or a Mr. Softee impostor on every other freakin' street corner. And I have to say, the one on the corner of 6th Avenue and 45th Street makes a damn fine chocolate shake. Prior to the start of this, I stopped at his truck once or twice a week. It was way yummy..... mmmmmmm..... chocolate shake.... Okay, sorry, I'm back. But in the two weeks leading up to this dieting adventure I started weaning myself off of some things like diet soda, bread, and chocolate milkshakes. In fact when I ordered my last one, I said to the guy, "I've got to break this addiction. This is the last one." And he replied, "You keep saying that!" But I've stuck to my guns and now there has been no chocolate shake for almost 2 weeks.

We have Mister Softee in Hoboken too. He's a really cute guy named Tony. Tony has been doing the Hoboken route as long as I've lived there (16 years!) He's very sweet and when ever I visited his truck (which was quite often in the early years) we would chit chat about life and such. I had crush on Mister Softee. I'll never forget when he told me that over the winter he had gotten married. I was a little crushed. So I paid him for my sundae and as I turned to leave, I jokingly said, "Well, I can't buy ice cream from you anymore, you just broke my heart." I got a couple of steps from the truck and he leaned out his window and yelled, "Does this mean we can't be friends?" And my heart melted just a little more. He's just a genuinely nice guy. And of course, now I'm very fond of Mister Softees in general.

Scott almost ruined that for me once by telling me about a guy he knew who used to run a Mister Softee truck in the inner city and often traded ice cream cones for... well, you know, attention for his own personal popsicle. But I resolutely hold on to my image of Tony as Mister Softee.

Since today's exercise is walking, I decided to put on my pedometer and see how many steps I walk in an average day. You know they say that you should take 10,000 steps a day for optimal health. I clipped on my pedometer as I headed out the door. As it turned out, by the time I get to work. I walked almost a mile (.93).

Living in Hoboken and working in NYC means a lot of walking. I walk from my house to the bus, from the Port Authority to my office and back again at night. I walk to the grocery store and carry those bags home. Often when we go out on our Friday night dinner date, we walk to the restaurant. In fact, if I didn't have a car, I could still live my life pretty much as it is now. (But I'd miss weekend diner breakfast at the Park West Diner, best diner in Jersey in my opinion) .

It's just such a part of normal life that I don't even think about it anymore. It never occurs to me that most of the country does not walk everywhere until I have someone come for a visit. I was leading a friend from Indiana out of the subway one day and when we got out onto the street. She looked at me and said, "You do those stairs everyday?" Again, it never occurred to me that this wasn't normal life. Now if I do all this walking, why am I still 60 pounds overweight? Because I ate a lot of crap and didn't do much besides the necessary walking. But I always said that if I didn't live where I lived and work where I worked than I would have ended up weighing over 300 pounds.

With the price of gas these days, I'm pretty happy being able to walk most everywhere I need to go!

When I got home this evening my pedometer read 2.64 miles and about 6200 steps. That's not bad for just everyday life. But if I want to lose the weight I've got to get more in. So I made dinner and then hit the pavement around 8:15. I find it so much easier to walk outside than on a treadmill. If I'm walking outside at least I feel like I'm getting somewhere. Plus the scenery changes. (I think I mentioned that I get bored easily.) So my walk took me up to the North end of Hoboken then over to the riverfront, then South along the river, then up the godforsaken wooden steps up the cliff to Stevens Tech, through the campus which has a nice incline, then back downtown to my house. I'd never measured before but it turns out the it is almost exactly 3 miles. Now at the end of the day, my pedometer reads 5.63 miles, 13217 steps taken, 10285 of those were "aerobic" steps, 551 calories burned. At least that's what it says, and I really want to believe it. Call me an optimist, just don't call me late for dinner... ba dum dum... Thank you folks I'll be here all week!

Day 2 - I Have Not Yet Begun to Crave!

Today's exercise: yoga class

Breakfast: oatmeal with sliced strawberries, but no milk because someone who shall remain nameless (Scott) used up the milk in one of his late night cereal fests.

Mid Morning snack: 1 red delicious apple

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli and 1 peach. I know those frozen meals aren't the best option, and are usually very high in sodium, but as I am not a salter, I'd like to think I can get away with it. Plus, I'm not a morning person, so unless I have something ready to go the night before, I'm grabbing what ever I can get my hands on.

Mid Afternoon snack: Jello Sugar Free 70 calorie Rice Pudding (satisfies the sweet tooth, sort of)

Dinner: French Potato and Chicken Salad (recipe from WeightWatchers). I know, potatoes, but seeing as how the serving size allowed for maybe half a small red potato, I'm not gonna sweat it. I had to cut the recipe in half, and I still have 3 more servings for lunches or dinners.

So about this yoga thing...

Anyone who knows me has probably had to listen to me expound on the virtues of yoga. And even though most of you reading this know me, I'm gonna expound all over the place again.

One of the nasty consequences of being overweight for most of my life, is that I've ruined my knees. About two and a half years ago, I injured the left knee for a third time and ended up on crutches. When the orthopedic surgeon looked at my x-rays he told me I had old knees. Too old for a person my age. This injury had torn my meniscus and ACL, but in addition I had arthritis building up and lots of bone chips floating around in there, so he scheduled me for surgery. During the surgery he repaired and cleaned up what he could and then it was off to physical therapy to strengthen it. But when the visits ran out, I did too. The knee was better but still not real strong and often gave me little twinges of pain. Stiffness was also a way of life (and had been for years).

A little over a year ago my brother Chris told me he had started a yoga class and was really enjoying it. Now Chris is not a physical guy so I thought the idea of him doing downward facing dog was amusing enough to check it out. When the next beginner class cycle started, I signed up with him at Become One Yoga and Pilates Center in Rutherford, NJ.

As it turned out I was so busy focusing on getting my own body into position that I never even glanced Chris' way. We stuck with it together going once a week at first and now twice a week. But the changes from even going just once a week were undeniable. My body shape changed. Oh I was still overweight, but things shifted around a bit and gave me a more defined hourglass figure. But the biggest change was my knee. I hadn't been able to sit cross legged in many, many years, my left knee would get painful after just few minutes of being bent. But after about 4 months of doing yoga, I could sit comfortably cross legged. The knee became stronger than it has ever been and hasn't caused me any pain since I started the yoga. It's the little victories that count. I can reach my feet now when I sit with my legs in front of me. I haven't done that since I was young. My brother's happiest achievement was the day he discovered that he could actually bend over pick something up off the floor. It really is the little things.

So here we are now over a year later and still going on a regular basis. It's the longest I've ever stuck with any exercise type thing. And as an added bonus, my mental state has become a bit more balanced. I still get stressed, but I'm less inclined to burst into tears when I do. I honestly can't say enough good things about yoga. I could go on and on and on, but I'll leave it there for now. Besides I'm tired and it's time for bed. Mmmmmm sleep.

And now for your moment of zen:









Triangle pose
Downward facing frog

Namaste

Day 1... Off To An Okay Start

This is me two weeks ago at Disney World. I'm the one in the tiara. This is the starting point. I have to admit I'm a little ashamed to post the following starting figures, but it's only fair, so ya'll will be able to see the changes.

But here we go:

Height: 5'7" (I was 5'6" for a very long time and then a couple of years ago the doctor told me I was 5'7"! Go figure!

Starting weight: 212.7 pound (Egads! Still it used to be worse!)

BMI: 33.3 (yes, this puts me into the obese category. That hurts!)

Bust: 45" Thigh: 25.25"
Waist: 39.5" Upper Arm: 16"
Hips: 45"

Today's exercise: Hiking

I woke up this morning, knowing that it was D-day. so I got up and instead of running for bagels, I had oatmeal with sliced strawberries and a little 2% milk. It was an absolutely gorgeous day out so I planned to go hiking after I dropped my boyfriend off at work.

There are tons of places to hike in the Northern New Jersey / New York area. I chose to do one that I had done before, South Mountain Reservation in Millburn, New Jersey. It's a 6 mile moderate loop hike in the Watchung Mountains. This hike has two big pluses. First, it's only about 30 minutes from my house. Second, the most difficult parts of the trail are in the first 3.5 miles, so the last 2.5 miles, feels like a nice stroll in the woods. The one big minus is that the first half mile is ALL up.

Now lest y'all think I'm being too ambitious with a hike like this, I should explain that I'm not a novice hiker. I've been day hiking for several years, just not as often as I would like or would help. One spring and summer a friend and I managed to hike almost every single weekend from April to November, just missing a couple. I got in decent shape, but of course, I was eating crap, so I didn't lose a whole lot of weight.

Anyway, this being the first hike I'm telling you about, I should probably explain a few other things. Now, you know when you see a commercial with that outdoorsy type couple hiking through the woods and she's wearing cute little khaki shorts and cute, clean hiking boots and a tank top, lightly leaping from stone to stone across a stream, with nary a bead of perspiration marring her brow? That is SO not me. I look like I'm heading out to war. I wear a t-shirt, cargo shorts (with a big pocket on the side for a water bottle), a baseball hat to keep the sweat from running into my eyes (because I sweat, a LOT) and keep the creepy crawlies out of my hair, hiking boots that are scuffed and muddy, knee braces on both knees, and a hunter orange backpack, with emergency first aid kit, ponchos, an emergency blanket, bug spray, sun block, and at least 3 liters of water.

The hunter orange backpack was purchased after one hike during October when we discovered we were out in the woods in green shorts and a brown t-shirt on the Opening Day of hunting season. Live and learn people!

I also use a hiking stick. I have terrible knees because of years of being overweight. The hiking stick is a godsend. It has kept me from falling flat on my face when tripping over roots and rocks. It helps me balance on stones and logs when crossing streams or swampy areas. And it gives me that little extra support when scrambling up and down rocks. My friend borrowed one of mine once and the very next week she had her own brand new stick. They are just that helpful.

There are a few hiking terms you may need to know as well.

1. DHP's (Damn Healthy People) These are those people that coming running along the trail right past you in their little running outfits and sneakers. They seem to magically fly over the stones and roots that threaten my knees and ankles with egregious injury with every step I take. And even though that level of fitness is something to aspire to, when you're sweating your way up a 45% incline stopping to catch your breath, sometime you just want to stick your foot out and trip them.
2. Seasonal Wetness When a hike description mentions that you may encounter "seasonal wetness" that could mean anything from a couple of puddles on your path, to big mud pits that threaten to suck down your whole leg if you fall off of the log or stepping stones, some kind soul before you had laid over it, to gushing streams of water crossing the path in front of you. My favorite was the seasonal wetness that washed away the small foot bridge and sinking the boards in the mud so you had to solve the puzzle of where to put your feet to get across.
3. F*ck-it Path When you encounter an obstacle in your path, it could be the aforementioned seasonal wetness, a fallen tree or a boulder and your legs feel like lead already, look to the left or right. Chances are someone has been there before you, looked at the obstacle and said, "F*ck it." And blazed a new trail around the obstacle.
4. Blazes These are the markers that you follow down the trail. They are usually rectangles painted on the trees and boulders, or colored metal discs or rectangles nailed to the tree. The color tells you which trail and the positioning tells you which way to go. Fortunately, trails that are maintained by the New York/New Jersey Trail conference are pretty well blazed and maintained. But still sometimes you really have to look for the next one (trees do fall after all).
5. Unnecessary Ups These are the bane of my existence. An unnecessary up often occurs when you miss a blaze and make a wrong turn, happily thinking that thank goodness it's downhill, only to realize when you get to the bottom that you went the completely wrong way and now you have to climb back up. That climb is an unnecessary up.

This is getting kind of long and I haven't even talked about the actual hike! Well, like I said, it is a 6 mile hike and it starts from a parking lot where you pick up the yellow-blazed Lenape trail. Of course all excited for my hike and thinking I remembered where to go, I headed off through the picnic area and promptly missed the next blaze and ended up in someone's backyard. Ooops.

The first half mile is walking up the mountain. It's not terribly, steep but it is significant and I had to stop often, taking it in small sections of 30 steps at a time. And of course it was here that I ran into the only DHP I encountered, but he was running downhill, so I felt better. I finally reached the top and was greeted with a grand view of the valley below me and the NYC skyline to the East. Up here there are a bunch of Revolutionary War Monuments because George Washington apparently stood here at some point and surveyed the approach of the Redcoats below. I've seen all this before so I soldiered on.

I wish I had pictures to post, but my boyfriend left the camera at his office...

After that the trail gets more rugged, moving up and down and it goes around the mountain. I crossed a couple of cascades that because of rain the night before had a decent amount of water running over them. I kept glancing at my pedometer thinking am I halfway yet? Nope. I was in a more remote section of the park at this point. I didn't encounter anyone for a very long time. It can be a little eerie when you're hiking by yourself.

After almost 3.5 miles I finally hit the landmark of this hike. A decent sized waterfall, complete with a shallow pool and today, two little nymphos, I mean nymphs, in white bikinis taking pictures of each other standing under the cascade, photos which will probably end up on their myspace page. Yeah, that's what I needed to see. I was hot, sweaty, I had ripped my shorts up the side, I was filthy, and not to mention 60 pounds overweight. Well, somebody up there has a sense of humor. Thanks. But I sat down a little ways away and ate my 100 calorie no-sugar added granola bar.

After the falls it was on to the white blazed Rahway trail, which follows along the Rahway River. It's a pretty easy walk after that. I encountered lots of people strolling along the easier and wider bridal trails to got visit the falls. I met one group of women on the actual trail who asked me directions to the falls. One of the women said, "We were just admiring your knee braces." I said, "I learned a long time ago. They're not sexy, but they work!"

The last mile and a half went quickly. I was happy to see the glint off of the cars in the distance. By the time I reached my car, according to my pedometer, I had walked 5.88 miles, taken 13298 steps, 9803 were "aerobic" steps (however, pedometers base on time and steps, they don't take into account inclines), and burned at least 594 calories (again only factors based on walking level), in 3 hours. I was tired.

Whenever I get off a trail the first thing I do is call my boyfriend and tell him that I "didn't get eaten by wolverines." This is a little running joke between us, after he warned me one time not to get eaten by the wolverines. Occasionally when I call after a hike, he'll answer, "Wolverine hotline!".

By the time I got home all I wanted was a shower and a sit down. Why do hot showers feel so much better when you are sweaty? When Scott got home from work, we decided to go out to eat. Ah a test of the diet! We went to a Mexican place, Charritos, I got their grilled chicken fajitas, figuring that was the safest option. And I left the sour cream alone! But not the guacamole. I love guacamole....

I ignored the kitchen after 8 pm. Tried to concentrate on everything but food, before finally going to bed.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful first day. Oh lord, how many more days of this?