Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

This morning was "weigh day," so I turned on the shower, and while it was warming up I stepped onto the scale. When the number that appeared showed a 5 pound loss, I stepped off, let the scale reset, then stepped back on. The same number appeared again. Just to make sure the scale wasn't messing with me, I stepped off one more time then stepped back on. The same number popped up. I figured three times in a row wasn't a fluke. The next thought that entered my mind was: did I have 5 pounds worth of flesh removed with my surgery? I'm pretty sure I did. One of the most notable changes I'm experiencing since the surgery is how light I feel. Pre-surgery, I was constantly adjusting, re-adjusting, and uncomfortable. Sports bras were the worst comfort offenders, mostly because I had to wear two to really get any support out of them. Back when I was into the sprint triathlons, I had to wear either two sports bras or one really tight sports bra to keep the melons in ch...

Another obsession is brewing. Like I don't have enough obsessions already: cycling for hours on end, eyeing the calories burned number on the Garmin, keeping the speed over 17 mph . . .. Now I'm all ga-ga over heart rate. I had an idea that heart rate is directly connected to calories burned, and calories burned are directly connected to pounds lost, and pounds lost are directly connected to my happiness. So I began reading anything and everything about heart rate, how to use it to keep the pounds off. During my reading, I came across aerobic vs. anaerobic and became all confused. I get the idea of aerobic. Aerobic is the fat burning stage. This is pretty much what my entire summer ride consisted of. Long, slow distances (LSD), hence losing 12 pounds in two months. The anaerobic, though, throws me because if I'm understanding it correctly, this is a level you don't want to reach often as it burns carbohydrates rather than fat. But the anaerobic level is necessary to bui...

When I met the man I now call Hubby, I weighed 135 pounds, which was the lightest I've ever weighed since junior high. All through high school, I hovered right at 150. After high school, college, grad school and three kids, I've hovered right at 150. Let's just say I've never been dainty. And more often than not, I'm alright with that. But I worked really, really hard to get to 135, and I truly enjoyed being able to go into a fitting room and try on clothes of all sorts, and come out feeling happy. Well, over a six year period, I put on 23 pounds. When I hit 158, I was one unhappy camper. That's when Hubby and I started our own Biggest Loser competition. I went with the P90X program while Hubby chose to walk on the treadmill. Over the 90 day period we kept track of our progress. I managed to lose ten pounds during that time. At the end of the 90 days, I switched to running. Over the next four or five months, the weight loss just didn't happen, and in frust...