I hope all is well as we are in full holiday mode! My week included some unexpected travel plans to New York for a death in my family. My Aunt, my Dad’s sister and my Godmother, passed away and so I was on a flight to Philadelphia Sunday night. I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday up north and was on a plane headed back to Miami Wednesday evening.  To say I’ve been out of the loop is an understatement. Although this trip was an unexpected one, the bitter-sweet truth of the matter is I was able to see family that I haven’t seen in a while, ranging from months to as much as decades! Many families handle death in different ways. For my family, we tend to handle it with food and/or alcohol and although I did eat, I did not drink,  and it was during this trip I learned something new about myself regarding my relationship with food,  which is  the roll food plays in my life is different.

I did make sure to have some of my local favorites, the sort of things you cannot get anywhere else. Whether it is for nostalgia or just plain old hunger, what I did eat while on this visit, I enjoyed immensely.

 

So now without further delay, here are last week’s holiday weight challenge results.

Kim 181.0  gained 0.07

Nancy 117 lost 2 lbs

MmBe lost 3 lbs

Panman weight stayed the same

Master of Music weight stayed the same

Nannybins lost 1 lb

McBloomers lost 1.5 lbs

lilJess lost 1 lb

likemike lost 1 lb

Wber gained 1 lb

If you look at the overall results, we had more weight loss than weight gain. As everyone described their week with me, one of the common themes was that they were all moving more, doing more as the holiday season is busy with shopping, visiting family and friends, getting the decorations and house ready for the holidays as well as participants involvement in their local communities and Churches.

Nancy went away for the weekend and although she dined out and drank, she says she attributes her  weight loss to making good food choices and not overindulging.

MmBe and lilJess volunteered for a fundraiser fun run 3 & 5K so although they didn’t participate, they were active in their volunteer work. They also did get time to hit the gym which really helped them lose weight consistently. MmBe says that by motivating each other and making better food choices, their team work effort has been a major factor in their success

Nannybins and McBloomer both emailed me saying essentially the same thing, in that, getting their homes ready for Christmas with decorations was the main reason they had lost weight. They were both more active which gave them both less time to snack.

Wber told me he was happy he only gained 1 lb because he admits to having little too much fun at a holiday party with friends and a family dinner.  He said he knows he will need to keep a strong focus this week and plans to get more exercise in and watch what he eats, especially his portions.

As for my week, this was one of the first weeks I can remember where I didn’t actually go to the gym. I did get some walking and exercise in, but it wasn’t the intensity of workout I normally do. I had appointments and other activities almost every night last week, which is one of the challenges we all face and presents the question of how do we really get exercise in with hectic schedules especially during the holiday season?

Saturday, I volunteered to wrap Christmas presents for the children of over 800 families that my Church community, St. Louis Catholic Church, adopts each Christmas. So many people are involved in this event and I was so moved by the outpouring of both young and old who gather to give their time and money to purchase gifts for the children, wrap the gifts, deliver them along with food for a nice holiday meal to the families.