New Year's Maintenance

Happy New Year Everyone!

I think I am finally getting accustom to writing 2013.  I always find there is a learning curve during the month of January.

I spent the holiday in San Francisco with friends.  We found a beautiful path by the bay that provided great photo ops and plenty of exercise.  It is so much more enjoyable to exercise out in nature rather than on a stationary machine.  For New Year's Eve, we pre-purchased tickets for the NYE International Ball held at the Palace Hotel near the Financial District and Union Square.  My New Year's Eve's of recent past have been relatively low-key (i.e. celebrating the occasion through REM sleep).  So this was an exciting change.  We dressed up and I actually survived the night in heels.  With four different rooms and music venues, there was plenty of variety to entertain.  Most rooms had DJ's, but there was also a live salsa band.  We danced from about 9:30pm until about 1:30am, barely stopping to rest.  I enjoyed meeting people and moving on the floor!  I almost forgot how much fun it is when you are with other people who like to dance as much as you do.  At one point, a brave soul climbed up onto the stage above the main dance floor to dance.  Before I knew it, I found myself being hoisted up on the stage, and several others followed suit.  The dance crowd grew until the narrow stage was packed, and a security officer escorted everyone down.  (It wasn't until after the midnight countdown were people allowed to dance on that stage.)  At the stroke of midnight, there was a balloon drop, and of course cheers, party favors, and young and old couples engaging in NY's lip-lock greetings.  Everyone seemed to be sweating bullets from the dance frenzy, so the dry ice "snowfall" was a welcomed surprise.  My friend and I both found little dry ice burns on our arms the next morning (and were grateful that we didn't look up and get any of that in our eyes).  But long story short, it was a good time.  My head finally hit the pillow after 3am.

The next morning, I found myself grateful not to be amongst the masses who were likely to be suffering hangovers.  As much as I thought a glass of wine or champagne would have been nice, I didn't need it and was glad that I stuck to my program. 

Thursday night was weigh-in.  I was very hopeful.  I stayed on plan all week and doubled my exercise during my San Francisco trip.  To my dismay, the scale had not budged since the week prior.  I was told "don't worry or get discouraged".  But of course that is easier said than done.  I was also told that it was very common for people to increase their exercise and not notice any difference on the scale.  And some have mentioned that people typically see a drop in weight about 2 weeks later.  This could be due to water retention from the muscles, but the cause is still a bit of a mystery.  Muscle, as we know, also weighs more than fat.  Looking back over the week, I did have chicken broth and miso broth when I joined my friends at restaurants.  The sodium in these soups was likely a contributing factor to the lack of weight loss.  Upon further scrutiny of my claim to be "on plan" all week, high sodium soups are not really on the plan.  I believe HMR approves low-fat, low-sodium broths.  I also ate more than I typically do on the Wednesday prior to weigh-in day.  The "more is better" practice is acceptable and encouraged, as long as it is with HMR approved foods.  But again, this might have been a contributing factor. 

So the good news is, I did not gain!  I am good with that!  Weight loss should be measured over the course of a 4-week period to get a more accurate picture of what is really going on, and to rule out the typical monthly water retention issues.

I am off to visit my Sister-In-Law who is recovering from a stroke.  Her recovery process is truly miraculous.  She now is eating again so her feeding tube has been removed.  She is trying to relearn speech.  Despite all the scientific progress we have made, the brain continues to be a mysterious organ.  There is something to be said for the connection between faith, hope, will, and progress!

Grateful for the gift of life today!  Enjoy your Saturday!!  
     


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