Weight, or did you say wait?!?

The other night we went to seafood restaurant and pigged out on decadent shrimp stuffed with crab and covered in melted Parmesan cheese. Plus we had a frozen drink that gave me an ice-cream-headache. Felt stuffed to gills after that. Then today we went to another restaurant for their champagne brunch. Did not get quite as stuffed, but certainly ate a lot. How am I ever going to lose weight doing this kind of eating? Yesterday morning I had a thought, "I'm not going to get my hair cut until I lose 30 pounds." Then this image of myself came to mind.... an eighty year old lady with long gray hair trailing behind her. Not a pretty sight, but realistic! I know that most of the weight-loss articles tell a person to think positive as in, "Upon losing 10 pounds, I'm going to treat myself to a pedicure." Heck! I treated myself to a pedicure yesterday for making it through a work week without hurting myself or someone else! Now, I've got a trip planned in December to the Caribbean and a sailing boat cruise. So what do I think about, "I wonder if I can lose 30 pounds by then?" I know! It has to be a lifestyle change. But I've got almost 60 years of life style to change! I know! It's just one day/step at a time. But I don't make it through one day and I don't take that first step. I know. It only takes 30 days to develop a habit. But I can easily break a good habit even after 30 days. I walked every day for over 3 months, missed one week and have rarely walked a mile since. I know how to lose weight and exercise. But do I want to lose weight and exercise? Apparently not. I think I'll just wait until after vacation to think about this again!

I have lived 55 good years on this earth. As you can see by my picture, I have lived to eat!

Now, I have gotten tired.... tired of trying to squeeze my body into large size pants that I just bought two months ago. Tired of trying to get my leg up on my knee so that I can put on knee-hi socks . Tired of walking across the parking lot and arriving at the front door of work all winded & hyper-ventilating.

Yes, I have lived-to-eat for many years. I've experienced yo-yo and roller-coaster periods of weight loss & gain. Regretfully, more gains than losses as last Saturday, my scale tipped at the tip-top of my poundage. I saw the "magic" number on the scale, the one that I never wanted to see and the number that said, "this is serious, Rayna."

It's ironic that when the scale tip-toppled at that huge number, I was not upset. I knew it was coming some day as I have lived-to-eat for too many years. Any time I have thought about a diet or even went on a diet, it's always been me whining, "It's not fair!" I sure could do a great imitation of a spoiled rotten kid that wants their way. Yes, I got my way, I ate what I wanted and when I wanted. Now it is time for a big change in my lifestyle or I will not have many more years of life to style!

So far, I have focused this day's blog on my physical weight and appearance, but there is more to this change in lifestyle than what I do or don't put into my mouth and how much exercise I do each day. Physical is part of my lifestyle change, and so is the emotional and spiritual aspects of my life. All three areas need to be in balance, in order for my life as a whole to be in balance. I want my life to be full of peace.

I am an old child of the sixties, but PEACE means so much more than a good, warm, high feeling. It signifies balance to me. If you look up the word 'peace' in the dictionary, the pronunciation is "pes." P, E, S, are the first letters of the works physical, emotional and spiritual. When those three aspects of my life are in balance, I will feel, think and know PEACE.

Join me as I journey to a life of balance and peace!