Day One: Dreaming of Kauai

And here we go. Today is August 11th, and on September 11th, my sweetie and I will be on a plane to Hawaii. We're going to a great little condo resort in Kauai - one of the most beautiful places in the world. I am excited, but a bit nervous. Here is the lovely pool.

I woke up this morning feeling surprisingly good after my vigorous G-Ball workout with my boyfriend. No soreness or stiffness anywhere! This workout was developed by Mitch Gaylord, an Olympic champion gymnast. The G-Ball is 2-lb, cantaloupe-sized basketball that is integrated into all the exercises, such as squats, lunges, push-ups, crunches, and a series of complicated pass-the-ball-through-your-legs-and-around-your-back arm-killers. Yesterday we did two of the three workouts: "Cardio Burn" and "Sizzlin' Abs." We both had fun groaning and wise-cracking our way through these workouts as Mitch and his two attractive droids made it look so easy. Tomorrow we're doing the hour-long "High Calorie Melt." I tried it once on my own last week. Ugh. It wasn't pretty.

But as I was getting dressed this morning, I looked down and saw that my upper abs looked flatter - almost as if a little "2 - pack" was trying to assert itself through the flesh. However, further down from that 2-pack sat a fallen sack of potatoes - mashed potatoes, at that. Ah well - baby steps. They say you lose weight from the top down and gain it from the bottom up. True enough.

After school this morning (Have I mentioned that I teach college English?) I came home and listened to my newest hypnosis recording: Removing the Negativity from Weight Loss. Boy, was that one made for me! You see, losing weight is a big, hairy, thorny, convoluted mess of a demon issue for me. I do not recall a time in my life when my weight was not a subject of interest - not necessarily to me - but to my family and everyone else, it seemed. Imagine one of those "Kick Me" signs taped to a kid's back. Mine said, "Judge My Weight!" I learned very early to despise any reference to weight, diets, calories, scales, clothing sizes .... but worse, I even grew to hate the praise that would come when I did lose a few pounds. I just wanted the whole weight thing to disappear and not be associated with me at all. Interestingly, when I look back at pictures from my childhood, I don't think I looked that fat. Sometimes I think I started getting fat after I became convinced that I had "a weight problem."

So, this hypnosis tape is a particularly helpful one. After all these years, I know that my problem is not with my body, or even so much with what I eat. The problem is in my mind. No, the problem IS my mind. But again, more on that will come. I finished the hypnosis session and then did my Pilates Body Ring Workout. It's a much gentler and less sweaty program, which was nice after yesterday. Still, this one also concentrates on the core muscles, which I really need. (Mashed potatoes, I tell you .... . ) Then after dinner, I even took my dog for nice long walk. Sounds virtuous, no? Well .... there is just one more thing to report about today. I have to confess: I ate brownies this morning. Stupid, I know! I brought them for my students because they are all doing presentations this week. If it's one thing I have a hard time resisting, it's brownies - even bad ones! But I hadn't had time for breakfast and they were calling out my name, singing their siren song!! Having to admit that here will keep me from slipping like that any time soon. So yeah - could have been worse, but still - no more sabotage. Tomorrow is weigh day. We'll see if I have to pay in poundage, or if I atoned enough with all that exercise and temperate eating for the rest of the day. Wish me luck.