Evils be gone!!

Greetings from sunny and warmer-than-Mississauga Phoenix! I arrived last night with my sister (Dianne) and nephew (Craig) and headed to Sun City for dinner at my sister, Rita's. It was a lovely night, but it started me on the beginning of my Temptation Hell.

Rita made a lovely, healthy dinner of salmon, asparagus, sweet potato fries and salad. My decadence was the 10 sweet potato fries and a 1/2 glass of wine. I avoided the chocolate cake for dessert, but couldn't seem to keep my hands off of the candies in the dishes all over the living room. Before I even realized what was happening, I had inhaled about 10 Christmas hard candies, 3 mints and 4 chocolates...YOWZA!!! I had to sit on my hands to keep myself from grabbing more candies. Not a good way to start my vacation....

Today, John & I got up and walked 8 KM in the morning, then we had a hearty everything-but-the-kitchen-sink omelette for breakfast. Then we entered the human rat race of last minute Christmas shoppers and bought all our stuff for Christmas dinner. What a mad house out there! Now, I've always said that it's my gift to humankind to stay out of shopping places at this time of year. So, what do I find myself doing? Cruising around Costco, Frys Supermarket and Trader Joe's. Add to it, I was a bit cranky because I was still tired from taking too many Tylenol PMs last night. Come 2:00, it was not pretty. Many a curse words were said and scowls were given to unsuspecting people who happened to rub me the wrong way. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the exchanges... well except for John who had to put up with my whining...bless his wee heart!

Our last stop was to Hi's Health where I picked up protein powder for my shakes. I've decided it's time to take back control of my eating....so far, so good! We went to "Glendale Glitters" tonight, which is an outdoor event where they have all the trees lit up for Christmas and lots of little booths with trinkets, trash, & tasty treats. Temptation abounded! Do you think I could find something healthy to eat?!? It was either a chicken pita from the Greek place or cheddar chili fries..those were my temptations. Or else I could've had Indian Naan bread with chocolate and powdered sugar...or maybe a big ass bag of Kettle popcorn...or there was always the caramel apples with chocolate chips or coconut or peanuts....or better yet, I could've gone for the frozen cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate..seriously. Do you see my hell, people?!? So, I settled for the Chicken in a Pita, a big jug of water and a piece of gum, which I chewed like a cow with an overactive cud. Like chewing my gum REALLY loudly with my mouth open would make me NOT want to mug the old lady with chocolate dipped strawberries. Sheesh!

So, here I sit at 10:11 pm reminding myself of all the food I missed out on tonight. It's a bitter sweet victory, really. On the one hand, I'm glad my only indulgence was the pita bread. However, the flip side is that I missed out on chocolate covered frozen cheesecake on a stick. When will I ever get a chance at that again?!?

Tomorrow, John & I are meeting some folks and hiking Squaw Peak in the morning. I'm curious to see how I do this time...20 lbs lighter and with 3 hikes under my belt. Wish me luck, poppits!! In the meantime, if you're one of those last minute Christmas shoppers, remember to be patient, to turn the other cheek and that elbow pads soften the blow to the person you're fighting with for that absolutely-perfect-gift-for-mom. Practice safe shopping, poppits!
(a) yt xox