Exercise is a Great Stress Prevention Tool!

Privet and Heyyya! Long Time!

How are you doing? Anyone have a nice Thanksgiving holiday? You did not eat too much, did you? NAW, come on, you didn't have a couple pieces of pie and some yummy bread stuffing? haha! Well, I did, so I am up about half a pound. Uh-oh.

The truth of the matter is that I will never reach the crazy goal of losing 40 pounds by THIS Christmas. But if I continue to eat better and work out, maybe by Easter! How's that for not giving up?

This morning I was on the elliptical for over half an hour. I burned about 350 calories and distanced over two miles. I bumped it up a couple levels so I got my heart rate up to an aerobic rate and it felt great! Afterwards, I worked my arms on the lifting machines. And it was a really good thing that I did work out this morning because this afternoon I was robbed!!!!

I feel that, because I had worked out so hard and really put a lot of effort into it, the stress of being robbed did not affect me that much! It was my cell phone that was taken from the table of a busy restaurant as I turned my back on it to chat. It must have been somebody really swift who lifted it. As soon as I discovered it was missing, and it was very soon, I used someone else's phone and dialed it up. We could not hear it ringing so I ran outside but there was nobody in sight.

Because I felt so "centered", I quickly put it into perspective that this was only a phone. Yes, all my contacts were on it. No, it wasn't password protected. No, I didn't have the tracking system activated. Yes, the robber now had access to all my emails and social media. But, you know what? After all things were considered, it was still just a phone.

As I processed what had happened while trying to eat some lunch, I actually felt bad for the person who stole it. He or she was the one who would ultimately feel bad about it sooner or later. I said a couple of prayers for the person, asking that their heart would be softened and return my phone. Then I called to have the phone deactivated. I stopped by the phone store and learned it would cost $100-$300 to replace it. Then I went home to change my passwords and email my friends to let them know they may get some weird emails.

Someone contacted me only a couple hours later to say she had found my phone. The whole thing that she described sounded fishy and I doubt I will ever know what really happened. But I am grateful to have my phone back. I am also grateful that I had remained level-headed and quickly put things into perspective. I attribute my calm demeanor to having worked hard this morning at the gym.

Hard exercise is a great stress prevention tool!

I Want to Hear From YOU

Google has this little tally sheet of statistics showing who is reading my blog. I have had something like 548 page views since I started at the end of September. So, I know that you guys are reading! Relax, though, Google's analytics does NOT tell me who you are, only that you are out there! I know that I have had visitors from Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, the United States, various European countries, and Canada. Did I forget to mention anyone?

So, how about writing a little comment? I have heard from a couple of friends that they are not able to post comments for some reason. If that is the case with you, just email me at lose40byChristmas@gmail.com and if you indicate that you would like me to, I can share it on my blog. May I remind you that if you write to me in another language, that is no problem! I can get it translated. I live in a place where we have language speakers of almost all other languages!

Again, thanks for reading! Hug the people you love today! And if you want to hug me, just send an XO to my email. ;D

Love.

Hello Dear Readers!

Hello my Dear Readers and Supporters,

You all have been great! Thank you for your support.

Tomorrow is weigh-in and I am expecting that the scales will say I have lost 7 pounds. That kind of momentum is not going to get me down 40 by Christmas. However, the scales are migrating in the right direction and I am grateful for that.

So, even if I don't make my 40 by Christmas, I will be happy with whatever progress I do make. I hope you will not be too disappointed. Let's look at the bright side. Eating healthy and exercise is always a good thing. Even if I can't do the extreme weight loss. I have always heard that healthy weight loss is one pound a week and that is about what I am doing. So, this way, most likely, I will be keeping the weight off.

Again, thank you for being there for me and I'll keep you posted on continued success, even if it is not going to be as grandiose as 40 pounds by Christmas.

With love.