A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me an email invitation to a girls-only dinner of wine and pasta. It was supposed to be for yesterday evening. I really hesitated at responding to the invitation. I really enjoy the women involved. We often golf and go the theater together. But, usually any meals we’ve had together are at restaurants. That way I can quietly choose BTD compliant food. But this invitation threw me for a loop. I did not want to eat pasta. I don’t like what pasta does to me. And I have been trying really hard the past few weeks to stay away from avoid foods. Also, I have been avoiding wine, as it has started to turn my nose pimply. (Must be from preservatives, or sulfites, or something in non-organic wines). So, finally, on Wednesday, I emailed her back and declined the invitation. I gave her the lame excuse that I had to work late. I really didn’t have to stay late, but I did anyway…..just so I wouldn’t feel too guilty about fibbing to my friend.

The first of the local strawberries are being sold in the stores this week. They are so incredibly sweet. I prefer just to eat them alone. Hubby is talking about strawberry shortcake tonight. It is the anniversary of my late father’s birthday. We always had the true and real strawberry shortcake, whipped cream and all, for his birthday instead of cake when I was growing up. In honor of Dad, I will indulge in the treat and enjoy fond memories of childhood.

I think it’s finally beginning to work. I dropped one of those nasty vacation pounds this week. I added more aerobics to my week. I think I took three long walks in addition to the regular Pilates and yoga. I don’t think I did very well with portion control. I eat too much meat with dinner. I need to cut whatever hubby makes in half, put it on my plate, walk away and be happy. He’s my little Atkins Addict, so cooks piles and piles of meat. Meat is my friend, but I certainly don’t need to go overboard with the portions!

I ventured out onto the home golf course this weekend. Friday, hubby and I just played nine holes. The temperature was in the 90’s, so it wasn’t a day to be exerting hard in the sunshine. Did okay. I beat him at putts. Today was another story. I played with a couple girlfriends, and it was the first time I’d walked our 18-hole course since September. It was absolutely abysmal! The golf, that is. The company was wonderful, and I enjoyed the hike. The weatherman had promised us 76 degrees today, but I don’t think it got above the low 60’s. I had dressed for warmer weather, and got a bit chilled. (Maybe that’s why my golf was so bad!) Had a lovely Copper River Salmon Caesar salad after the round. It tasted quite beneficial, even though it is neutral for this nonnie. I also indulged in a rare glass of beer. It tasted neutral…which it is.

I’m going to keep plugging away at these nagging pounds. More aerobics and less meat.

Hmmmmm, what gives here? I’ve been home for almost two weeks. I am firmly entrenched in my routine again, yet not one lousy little pound has dropped from my body!

This calls for action! What kind of action? Aerobic action! I must force myself on the old treadmill on rainy days and out for walks on the good ones. I have to stop using work as an excuse to not get it done.

Oh yeah… and portion control.

Later.

I think I’m back home for awhile now. I just spent the last six weeks coming home between trips. There were four of them. I’ve written about the first two already. At the end of April hubby and I went to an industry conference in Palm Springs for four days. It was really good. Every minute was packed with good information. You didn’t dare be late for breakfast or lunch, because they had one or two speakers lecturing and discussing topics during the meals. Very intense, but good for us. It kind of lit a fire under us to go in some new directions with the business. The hotel catered the meals, so there was no choice in food. I took boomibars to tide me over the rough spots. There was the obligatory chicken for lunch one day, and french toast at breakfast another day…. Things like that. One of the few avoids that I choose to eat whenever it is presented is bacon. I really can’t resist it if it’s sitting in front of me. So, I did have some of that with scrambled eggs for another breakfast. I can’t be super-strict diet-wise at these things, so I don’t push my cortisol levels up by stressing about it. There was no chance for formal exercise on the trip. My body was aching quite a bit by the end. Lots of sitting, airports and bad air conditioning.

Three days after returning from that trip, we left again for the California desert for a real vacation. Originally we were going to drive down and trailer the motorcycle so we could do some desert riding. But, the items hubby had ordered for the trailer that would hold the big bike on securely didn’t arrive in time for him to put them on. That was kind of disappointing. He had ordered them in February, and the company was just too flaky to get them here in time. They arrived the day before we left, and that wasn’t enough time to get the trailer ready. So, we flew. We stayed at a friend’s condo that we had bought time from several years ago at a charity auction. We finally got a chance to use it. Except for one big windstorm, the weather was perfect. Temperatures were mid to upper eighty’s and sun, sun, sun! We played golf three times, and things went pretty well there. I was afraid my shoulder wouldn’t deal with it very well. But, I remembered to swing easy, and was able to keep from injuring myself. We went to a casino one night and each got fifty dollars to throw away. I lost mine pretty fast. California slot machines are not as friendly as Nevada’s! Hubby played black jack and won back my fifty dollars, so we came out even. It just reminded me that I really don’t like gambling.

We were able to exercise at least every other day. There was a facility with machines nearby for hubby. I preferred to walk around the condo complex. It took 45 minutes to get around it at a fairly brisk pace. I did a lot of floor Pilates and yoga, too. There was lots of time to do those things.

Food wasn’t nearly as much of a problem this trip. We cooked our own meals for the most part. One of the culinary highlights was the grapefruit tree outside the condo. It would drop from one to three fruits every day. They were so good! I’d never tasted such sweet grapefruit. They were great for breakfast, and most evenings I would squeeze one into a glass and mix it with vodka. Very refreshing.

For Mother’s Day, hubby let me buy some calves liver and onions, and cook it for myself. That doesn’t sound very special, does it? But you have to understand his loathing of liver. He can’t stand to be anywhere near it when it is being cooked. I absolutely love liver, and have missed being able to cook it for myself on a consistent basis. This time, he said he couldn’t even smell it. Probably because it was fresh calves liver instead of older beef. He cooked chicken for himself, and we were both very happy.

Okay, so now I’m home for awhile and can get back into a routine. My weight is up a couple pounds from the trips. Portion control ya know!

I’ll let you know how it goes.