203(-11.5lbs)

I am going to begin my training for the Avon Walk today!

I am so excited to be on this journey again. The Avon Walk is April 10th and 11th this year and even though I am still ahead of schedule, I am beginning my training a few weeks later than I did last year. I got my shoes yesterday. They are Saucony Grid Cohesion NX cross trainers, the same shoes I wore last year. This year I could not find them in a 9-wide, so I have regular old size 9's, but I think they should work. It is important to be sure that you have a large amount of room in the toe-box, the area around your toes, when shopping for shoes for a walk of this length. If your toes are hitting ANYTHING of real substance, you will end up with bruised toe-nails and can lose the nail in the end. I did not have this problem last year and only ended up with a couple small blisters, so I decided not to mess too much with what worked for me last year. My brother, Adam, was thoughtful enough to give me a git card to Academy to buy my shoes, and they were only $40!!! I am still using my shoes from last year for my regular work-outs because they are sooooo comfortable.

My friend Sarah and I will begin our training with a four mile walk today at Terry Hershey park. This is a park on the west end of Houston that runs between Beltway 8 and Highway 6, with an expansion currently in progress to bring it out to I-10. The trails are just off the bayou, so it is very scenic and serene. I prefer to train here over Memorial Park because it is less crowded and has an overall relaxed feel to it. Just watch out for bikers. There are many people who use proper etiquette and warn you by yelling ahead to tell you what side they are coming up on, so you can more over and afford them a little space, but some people are rude and do not make any sounds or give you and warning. Some of us have almost been knocked over by these riders, which would be more hurtful to them if it actually happened. I mean they are farther from the ground that they will eventually be landing on, face-first and are going twice our speed or more. So, now that I am off that soap-box, on to my further weight loss.....

I said I was going to "treat" myself when I lost 10 pounds, and I finally made good on this promise to myself last night. I dug out the Tim Tam cookies that I received for Christmas and had ONE wonderful, chocolate covered, caramel filled, amazing piece of Heaven with a nice hot mug of Gingersnap tea. Tim Tams are originally from Australia and I was turned on to them by my friend, Milena, when she was on her Trip Around the World and visited there. The secret is to nibble a little piece of the cookie off of 2 of the corners diagonally. Then you sip a hot liquid, i prefer hot tea, through the cookie like a straw. The cookie then proceeds to melt into a yummy messy chocolate and caramel goo and you have to get it in your mouth before it falls apart in the cup of tea. They call it a TIM TAM SLAM! I had gotten very good at this technique prior to beginning my diet and I clearly have not lost this special talent, because I managed to get the entire cookie into my slightly smaller belly without losing any. It was very enjoyable, and I purposely stretched it out into two lovely bites, which was not an easy feat with a melting cookie! I was very satisfied after the ONE cookie and I will not have another until I lose ANOTHER 10 pounds.



The gingersnap tea is another secret to curbing sugary cravings. It is caffeine free, so when I get a sweet tooth late at night, I can brew a mug and it serves two purposes. It takes time to brew the tea, at least 7 minutes, so you preoccupy yourself and then you usually sip slowly, so another 10 minutes or so. At this point, your craving for something "unhealthy" should have left your mind and you should feel warm and happy from the tea. It may sound ridiculous, but I have fond that it works for me. They only negative, is that I associate the smell and flavor of the ginger with my yummy Tim Tams and have had to learn to separate the two in my head. It also helps that the Tim Tams are in the top of my closet ans hard to get to.......

Well, that is probably enough babbling for today. I know I can go on forever and I am not sure that any of this is actually doing anything but keeping me occupied, but I do appreciate the feedback you all continue to give me. Keep it coming!!!