Challenging time

This is a challenging time of year for me. The food issues are pushed to the forefront, and it takes a lot of energy to deal with it. Add in the holiday madness, driving to Seattle this weekend for my grandpa's 90th birthday (which I'm looking forward to, but it will be hard food-wise and will take more energy), and the late sunrise/early sunset, and it's just a bummer.

I love Advent, actually, so I want to have fun. We did get out the Christmas decorations, the Advent wreath, and Advent calendar, and we decorated the house. I made hot cider and hot buttered rum, listened to seasonal music, and attended the Messiah sing-in at Abravanel Hall with my friend Elizabeth.

Still...it's not been easy. I have been exercising very diligently, which helps my mood. I shudder to think what it would be like without that. I woke up super grumpy this morning, but 15 min into my workout (exercise bike 35 min, elliptical 30 min) I felt a lot better. I've been doing better on the food, but not good enough to lose the weight I gained a couple weeks ago when I ate a large excess of cookies and candy for a week straight. I was 148 lb this morning, which isn't too bad, considering.

I miss racewalking a lot. Haven't found anything yet that holds a candle to it. The elliptical is at least tolerable. The stationary bike? Ick! Swimming? So-so, probably better than the bike, but the hassle factor is higher. Today is December 1st. That means I only have 18 days until I can start to add in some racewalking again, when my two months of rest are up. And I will be counting every one of them! Even when I can start to RW again, I will have to build up slowly and carefully to make sure I don't re-injure my foot or hurt something else by doing too much too soon. So I'll still be in the gym for a while, doing the elliptical and the bike.

I'm muddling through, I guess. Just keep on going, one foot in front of the other, and look forward to the little things in life.