Day 72 - Time to catch up....

No, I didn't fall off the ends of the earth....or off the step :).....again.....here's what's been happening since we last "talked"....or "bloggered" (I love making up new words and sounds more fun than "blogged")...

-Went to NYC for work for 8 days - made it to the gym or pool every day but on the weekend instead of the gym, we walked miles (and I mean MILES!) and managed to survive the pouring rain and high winds (in spite of the no less than 150 "dead" inside out umbrellas littering the streets and subways) both Sat and Sun....kept a very clean diet (do you even know how hard it is to go to dinner each night and be the ONLY "non drinker" boooooorrrrrrrrrrinnnnnnnnnnnng, not to mention passing up daily trays of rolls, bagels, chips, cookies....but I did it....Thank goodness I packed my healthy food! It came in quite handy on a daily basis!

-I stayed at the Milennium Hotel, located immediately across Church street from the twin towers site, now referred to as the "pit", where 24-7 construction is going on to erect 6 new buildings there.....it was overwhelming to see it all and hear more stories, and walk through St. Paul's Cathedral, where the firemen/women and policemen/women would go to rest inbetween shifts during that time, they still had cots set up and boards with letters and pictures...went to the Sunday morning service there and after walking around afterwards, reading the letters, broke down in tears, unbelievable what happened here...You may remember it as it was site we saw daily on TV back in 2001 where the tall wrought iron fence was, covered with letters, pix of people looking for their loved ones, or leaving a tribute there....

The hotel we stayed at was closed for 2 years due to the impact.....my work building 195 Broadway is located immediately behind the hotel, so walking down the street everyday to the office, I envisioned all the people running down this exact same street that day covered in dust from head to toe....all so much more real now.....even almost 9 years later...

-My uncle Omar is in Heaven now with his folks and many of his siblings......He was such a sweet Uncle, always had a smile on his face which made you sort of wonder what he was up to :)....
We will miss him dearly and will keep his sweet wife, Ginny and wonderful kids (and grandkids and great grandkids) in my prayers.....

-Good news - The boot is OFF! The broken bone from Feb 14th is healing......At my appointment on Wednesday, I got the go ahead to abandon the boot once I could get my foot into a shoe...he told me I may want to use it as needed, but come Thursday, I kicked the boot off! I got back on the eliptical for a little bit on Thursday, kicked it up to 45 minutes on Friday and was on the treadmill and ARC trainer today! He said do things "as tolerated", so even though my foot is speaking to me a little, I am plugging through! Soooooooooooo excited to have it off and get back to a better workout..,

-Although my training sessions went away with my "tv elimination", I'm biting the bullet (actually biting the wallet :)) and treating myself to some more training sessions at least through the end of April. We go back for the "final weigh in" on April 27th where I found out today that we will be "blindfolded" with the weight loss "reveal" aired live on Friday, April 30th on Show Me St. Louis....that should be fun!

-Leaving for Abu Dhabi April 15-26, so will definitely be walking my 2 granddaughters every day which will help keep the weight thing going for the final weigh in....with the weather perfect over there, it will be a great way to wind down the contest! Not to mention having 11 heavenly days with my kids and grandkids....cannot wait!

In the meantime, full steam ahead.....had a great workout Thurday and today with my trainer....I only know that because I can hardly stand up or sit down without feeling it -ha!
But it is soooooooooo good to feel that soreness again....seriously did I really say that?!!?

Still keeping tabs on my buddies still on the Lose A Ton Contest on TV and rooting them on via phone calls and emails...miss them a lot!

So 72 days into this journey, I'm feeling better than ever.....with more than 20 inches of FAT gone from my body, I'm more energized than ever.....so I guess the bottom line is you CAN do it if you set your mind to it....so if you have been doing this with me from the beginning, a big congrats to you....if you have been THINKING about doing it with me, NOW is the time, don't wait any longer......YOU are the only BARRIER to making this critical change in your LIFE!
PLEASE take this opportunity to make a change in your life starting TODAY!!! You will never regret it....you may FEEL it, but that soreness will only remind you of the great choices you are making to a healthier, happier you!!! You should be doing this for YOU, but if it takes more than that, do it for your KIDS or GRANDKIDS!!!

Ok, stepping off the soap box now....but hoping that just for today, if you haven't made the choice to come along on this journey, you HOP ON RIGHT NOW!!! Have a great weekend, Spring arrived today!