Back from the Road, yet again!

Well, sports fans, I'm back from a 4-day trip to Detroit. And I fared pretty well, considering I was at a regimented class and eating out with others from the class. But what I really want to share with you was the wisdom I learned in the class.

I will be the first to tell you that I fall off the wagon and get off track, just like everyone else. That goes for diet AND exercise. So when the instructor in the class began talking about staying on track, even though it had nothing to do with diet or exercise, I listened.

Usually I expect wisdom to come from those who are older and wiser than me. But Andrea was young and cute and extremely bright. She said to the class "Close your eyes and imagine that you are taking a trip to a really wonderful place. It is a place that you really want to visit and you can't wait to get there. But as you're driving along, you suddenly get a flat tire. What do you do?" Someone offered "Call AAA." But she continued.

"You stop and change the tire. You have to approach everything in life in that way. But a lot of people get off track and give up; instead of changing the tire, they get out of the car look at the tire and tell themselves they have failed to get to the destination. Then they proceed to slash the other three tires. You don't fail if you change the tire and continue on down the road."

I've been thinking about Andrea's analogy ever since. She is absolutely, 100% on the money with her observation. So the next time you fall off the wagon, be it diet, exercise, education, job or life in general, make sure you change your tire and get on with it! M.E.

Home Again, Home Again

Well, Week 4 is over, as is my road trip. And it was a wonderful trip. I didn't lose any weight on the road, but I didn't gain any either, and that is a very good thing! Half the battle is not eating fast food while driving. In order to combat that eventuality, I kept a small cooler seat-belted into the front passenger seat loaded with bottles of cold water, fresh fruit and Kashi Go-Lean bars. It worked. I ate small normal meals where I was staying, but on the road, it was fruit, water and Go-Lean bars. I was even able to have a few glasses of wine on the trip with no deleterious effects! Works for me!

Total loss remains at 7.7 pounds. Hopefully I will get back on track quickly now that I'm back to the day-to-day routines. How are you all doing, now that we're four weeks into the challenge? I hope to try a few new things this week and I will share how they are working. M.E.