Tag Archives: starbucks

Skinny Jeans and Starbucks (Day 120)

Middle Weight Loss Journey May 17, 2013 Comments: 3

Read this journal entry at your own risk!

Day 120 It was a drive Sam around and then wait kind of day–and uh, so I played.skinny jeans

When I took Sam to physical therapy I chose to shop rather than workout. How could I not? I happened to know that Target had a major clearance and, hey, I’ve lost enough weight I need some clothes! I bought  skinny jeans for $6.88. When I showed them to Sam, he snickered and said, “I guess you’re ready for Bingo.”

Huh? Then it dawned on me that he thought my super cool, flowered skinny jeans were for the older crowd who frequent his baseball team’s Bingo fundraisers.

Not a problem. I’ll just wear them in front of his friends if he continues to tease me.

I wanted a new coat I don’t swim in, but I didn’t find anything on clearance that I loved. I don’t want to buy just because it is inexpensive, which is my temptation. I want to buy because it looks fantastic.

Later it was off to Driver’s Ed with Sam. I had a wonderful time working at Starbucks while I waited for him for three hours. I wrote a scene about snow as I stared out the plate glass window at the big, fluffy flakes waltzing to the ground. (Pretty cool my WIP (Work In Progress) needed a snow scene!)

Of course snow means coffee. I did it. I ordered a yummy Starbucks. Do you have any idea how many calories are in those things?? Shocking! My favorites have more calories than I eat most meals now! I did modify what I would have bought in the past and ordered something with less calories, but I also bought one of those tiny cake pops.

I guess when a girl can fit into new skinny jeans she can handle a little Starbucks.

But when Sam and I finally made it home through the storm, I ate only a small bowl of low calorie taco soup for supper! ~ Feb. 20

Real Time:

Okay, okay. I hope that post wasn’t too risky for you. If you suddenly skip exercise to shop or can’t resist a Starbucks run, just remember yesterday’s post and make your NEXT choice to return to the path of perseverance.

Seriously, I didn’t feel badly about my choices that day. I was mindful at Starbucks. (The old me would have had a 500 calorie white chocolate peppermint!) And my NEXT CHOICE  was to eat light and healthy after my three hours with the snow and doctored up coffee.

Now that I’m a normal weight and working only to refine what I’m already comfortable with in my body, I stand by what I’ve said all along. I want this journey to be something I do long-term. I want life-change, not just weight loss.

I’m not going to deprive myself of special Starbucks moments for the rest of my life. On the other hand, the new me plans to be mindful for the rest of my life about how I treat my body. My norm will be healthy choices. My norm will be intentionality about a lifestyle that includes movement, exercise, and sunshine.

My goal is a healthier future, not just a skinnier today. (Which is why I LOVE the nutritional value of my BENew products!)

For me, the weight loss journey must be sustainable. And I can sustain an occasional Starbucks, just not a daily one.

How About You? How do you move toward your goals of a healthier you in a way you can sustain?

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The goal is a healthier future, not just a skinnier today.

The weight loss journey must be sustainable.

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Weight Loss Journey Day 25

The Early Weight Loss Journey January 25, 2013 Leave a comment

saying goodbye to flThere’s a Christmas wreath on the door to our condo when we pull away, the sky still dark. Someone must have placed it there in the night.

I am dressed in a new navy tank top I got at Wal-mart on the clearance rack next to my bikini top. I have a long sleeved shirt to go over it, dressed for Florida and Colorado.

But I’m mostly dressed to show I am skinnier. I think the tank top says it best. And I’m desperate for my husband to notice.

We get lost going to the airport—of course—but planned ahead enough it doesn’t really matter, though it makes us walk faster, lugging our suitcases, and I think of burned calories.

Exhausted once we’ve finally checked our baggage (and I’ve taken out a few pounds to carry with me rather than pay another $20), we settle in at the airport’s Starbucks to wait for our flight.  I know the calories are ticking, clanking, adding up with my sugary coffee, and the long day of flying has only just begun, but after almost a week of being 200, 300, 400 calories below 1200, I’m not worried. And after getting up at 4 a.m., I want the caffeine.

We fly to Atlanta and I fight tears as we part, each of us destined to travel alone the final leg of the journey. I am glad I packed a healthy sandwich back at the condo. I love not wasting left-overs, and I love not eating or paying for the expensive, high calorie airport food. Starbucks will be my only splurge.

I miss my five miles walk along the clear water of the Gulf, but know I must be burning extra calories lugging my carry on and rushing through the maze known as the Atlanta airport. I walk a long way to find my flight. Once aboard I finally begin the book I took to the beach, the one my counselor recommended about different ways people connect with God. I’ve been concerned about my lack of Bible study, my lack of journaling. She keeps telling me it is a season of rest, of healing, not of shoulds.  Finally she said, “new thing, Paula. He is doing a new thing.”

I wonder what it is, how He will connect with me. I want more intimacy with Him, not less. I miss the long rambling prayers in my journal. I especially miss the times He spoke, and I wrote His words onto the page. Reflective, I treasure that one day at the beach when He and I went deep. It did me good. I wonder when I’ll have the nerve to share my thoughts with those at home. When I’ll dress in a bikini top figuratively speaking.

Denver_International_Airport

Denver International Airport. Photo from Wiki Commons

Finally the plane touches the runway at Denver International, and I think I will go crazy waiting.

I need to see my man.

We meet at baggage claim. He hugs me tight. He tells me I am thinner. I thrill that he can tell.

We get home, and the kids notice too.

So it has to be true, what I thought I saw in the mirror.

I am thinner.

Real Time Update:

The new thing He is doing with me includes my adventure walks right here in my neighborhood. And the choice not to hide, I think.

How About You?

Do you have a “I’m thinner!” story? A time when someone finally noticed? How did you celebrate? How close are you to your weight loss goal?