Wellness, Post Eight. Back on Track

No beating myself up this time, I promise.

I'm actually proud of myself so far this week. Looking at this whole approach to wellness like a racetrack, I was the car that started out ahead but spun out after a few laps.

Thankfully I have an awesome pit crew and I'm back at it, pulling up to the front of the line again.

Hit the gym with great force on Monday. It feels so good to be there, so good to be moving and sweating and listening to the music on my iPod. Getting my ass there is 99% of the battle. Once you're there, it's all good. I fiddled around with my iTunes, when I switched back and forth from my iPod to my iPhone some of my favorite songs were left out. It's amazing how just the right tunes can get you through the hard parts on the treadmill, isn't it?

Right now I love The Black Keys, my good old Beastie Boys and for the cool down, sweet sweet Jack Johnson. And nobody gets it started like Black Eyed Peas, but for some reason I really only like the Elephunk stuff for the workouts. There's random stuff in there from Beyonce (don't judge me. Girl can kick it.), The White Stripes, Johnny Cash, Maroon 5 and many more. I inherited my sassy pink iPod shuffle from my daughter, so I find myself skipping over the Hilary Duff and Carrie Underwood but did find out that Molly is a fan of Eminem. Apparently she's received mommy's eclectic musical taste.

So far so good on the adios to booze. There was a carnival planning meeting on Monday night, at my BFF's house. This is traditionally a hazy night for me, in the past I've gone over early to "help" her, with the word "help" meaning opening up the wine and getting good and buzzed before the meeting began. This year Molly and Henry had their conferences at the Junior high after school so I had to forgo the early arrival, which was probably a good thing.

There were four, yes, FOUR boxes of wine. Bota Boxes, which I love. These aren't your grandma's boxed wines, folks. They are actually yummy, good wine in a recyclable cardboard cask. One of the selling points of these boxes is that once they're open, the wine stays fresh for something crazy like a month. I wouldn't know, the longest a Bota Box ever lasted here was a week or so.

Another selling point? That recyclable cardboard cask sure lightens the load on recycling day.

Anyhoo. So there were four of these tempting sirens lined up on the kitchen counter, and to my delight and awe? I didn't even blink. I had a couple Diet Cokes, and I did polish off the mineral water, but I wasn't seduced by the boxes. And you know what?

I still had fun. I was still able to carry on a conversation, I was still able to be witty (in my head, at least) and best of all, I remembered every single detail about the night. I did eat some deeelish peach/mango salsa and yes, that was me anchored by the sushi plate for a nice long while, but I kept it under control. Something I wouldn't have been able to do had I been drinking.

Today marks my first week without imbibing. I'm undecided about how long I'm going to abstain. I can't say that I feel remarkably different, but I'm excited to see if cutting out my liquid calories helps with the whole muffin top thing.

On Tuesday I went skiing with William and the rest of the 5th grade class. I've never been on skis before, and some of the mommies and a bunch of the kids talked me into strapping some on. I will never be one of those lovelies swishing down the slopes, that's for sure. My first trip down the bunny hill started out ok, with me leaning forward, arms out and muttering "PIZZA SLICE PIZZA SLICE PIZZA SLICE" (that's what the instructor told us to imagine our skis as, wedged like a pizza slice). Ended with me wiping out spectacularly in front of a gaggle of 10 year olds, sounds like Darryl Hanna made in Clan of The Cave Bear coming out of my mouth. But I enjoyed it. I'm terrified of letting go of the control, and skiing seems to be doing just that. We got a free pass for a later visit to the same hill, so next weekend I'm taking William and Henry and whoever else wants to come along.

Worked out at the gym yesterday. Today I'm subbing in Special Ed. all day long, but plan on hitting the gym tonight. I'm back on track, people. Watch out.

Be well, my friends.