The Dreaded “D” Word and the Hated “E” Word

Uncategorized

Yep—here we are at a brand-new year. The pages are nice and clean and ready for whatever good deeds or questionable deeds to be recorded. With all the wonderful holiday foods and desserts, I am faced with the dreaded “D” word and even the hateful “E” word.  Oops, guess you’re maybe skinny and slender and hate desserts, so you’re not familiar with “Diet” and “Exercise.”

I know there are lots of us out there because the gyms are suddenly filled with guilt-stricken people like me. I will be walking and doing the stairs more now that my wonky knee is better. I think all us newcomers to the gym, lean on each other for support, because we tend to glance over at a chubbier person and think, “Not me, Buster–I’m that lean, skinny thing, wearing the spandex and pedalling away on the bicycle.”  Well, okay—we can dream while we sweat off those extra pounds with the weights and pulleys and ellipticals and treadmills.

I don’t make New Years resolutions, but I will be curtailing the doughnuts, biscottis and dark chocolates for the next month or more. I figure that’s how long this enforced “D&E” will last. All those batches of butter cookies, mince tarts and almond cherry biscottis will be a faint memory–and darn it all, this was the Christmas I excelled at making them.

I always thought that to make this plan work, I would have to have a “gym buddy” to suffer along with me. Lucky me—I have two and we are all early-risers. So, no excuses not to meet at the gym because you always have 2 gym buddies to move you along. I’m hoping we will all last the month or more, at least, until we get into the routine of  gym workouts on our own.

One positive thought is that Chinese New Year will be much later this year—not until February 16th. In my foodie books, that means I have a month and a half before I can celebrate with the tasty pastries and feasts of the “Year of the Dog.”

Happy New Year, Everyone—I’ll be thinking of all of you as I’m rowing away at my rowing machine, strolling along on the treadmill, doing the elliptical thing. . . .  BUT, come February 16th, I will be indulging a little bit again. . . . .

 

8 thoughts on “The Dreaded “D” Word and the Hated “E” Word”

  2. Happy New Year, Judee!

    I spent years trying to lose weight – exercise, cutting down on foods, and it didn’t work for me. The more I tried to force myself the more my body and mind rebelled.

    Then I found another way. First of all – and even now – I fast one day a week. Total fasting, only plenty of warm water and/or herbal teas. Twenty four hours of no eating between one dinner time and another. It feels like resetting my body once a week. Then I taught myself to eat slowly. Funny how much less you eat that way. And then I discovered Qi Gong, which also made me start losing weight very gradually. It taught me invaluable self-awareness and so I didn’t feel like eating many of my fattening foods.

    And, there’s something else. I learnt to bake with dates instead of sugar. You can bake loads of delicious sweet things without using an ounce of refined sugar.

    Good luck with your weight loss plan. Having buddies to hold your hand does help!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Happy New year, Katia! Thank you so much for all the timely advice that worked for you. I love dates so will definitely try substituting sugar for it. I am doing the Taoist tai-chi which certainly relaxes one’s body and mind. And, I’ll try to remember to eat slower–also, fasting one day a week sounds worthy of a try. Here’s to maintaining and being a “skinnier” Us! AND, yes, “gym buddies” are definitely a treasure in this war. . . .

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Dear Judee, You always make the most difficult tasks humorous – I think that most of us over-indulge, even if it is “heathy” food like fruit and veggies – and it is an excellent plan to invite friends to attend exercise at the gym with you. Then, a black coffee or tea with friends to discuss your successes always does the trick sand there is incentive to meet again later in the week for the second go-around! Good for you, friend! Look forward to Chinese New Year’s! xo Diane

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.