Last night I went to bed with damp hair. I thought it was mostly dry. But I was wrong. And this beautiful hairdo is the result. Why did I go to bed with damp hair, you ask? Well, I've decided to write a new page in the book of my life...I'm going to wake up early (6:00 a.m.) and get an hour of work in before my kids wake up and we begin the hectic morning routine. If I wanted to shower before all this, I'd have to wake up around 5:30, and that's clearly not an option, so... More »

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about motivation for weight loss. It's a question I get asked a lot, and one I frequently ask myself. What made it work this time? Why have I (and my husband, too) been able to stick with a moderate, healthy eating plan for six months with very little difficulty, when every other attempt at changing my lifestyle has failed? Why is it working for us when it doesn't work for other people? I was talking to a friend about this very issue yesterday. This is my friend who inspired me to... More »

So this past weekend I went away on a scrapbooking retreat. Yeah, yeah, say what you want you non-crafty peeps out there, but I happen to LOVE scrapbooking, and nothing was going to keep me from my paper trimmer, ribbons, papers and adhesives! I drove about 3.5 hours to get there (btw, listening to podcasts ROCKS on a long, boring drive!) and stayed at a friend's house. Love! We had ages to get caught up, managed to fit in a hot stone pedicure (luxury!) and dinner in a fabulous (and famous!) local Greek restaurant, Koutouki Ouzeri. While -- if truth... More »

Well. It's here. The hardest day of the year for dieters. V-Day. Valentine's Day. The day on which your lover is supposed to lavish you with affection at least partly in the form of fancy dinners, chocolate, champagne or edible aphrodisiacs...help! What's a dieter to do, then, when faced with this barrage of culturally sanctioned pigging out? I decided to do a bit of research to prep for this year's V-Day. Of course, I came across all of the usual stuff you'd expect...bubble baths, lingerie, a single red rose...all very valentiney, yes, but - apologies to those of you out... More »

Week: 34Pounds Lost: 50.8 Well, first things first -- YAHOO! I lost 5.6 of the 5.8 pounds I gained on vacation! YES! I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I'm happy I did. Not as happy, of course, as I would have been had I not gained nearly 6 pounds in one week in the first place. All I could think was "what a waste"...a waste of a week that I could have used to good purpose...a week I could have used to make some progress inching towards my final goal, which is so unbelievably close now.... More »