I made it (yea!), then I didn't (boo!)

Earlier this week I reached my BMI goal.  Yea!!!  This was a stretch goal I wanted to reach before I left for New Mexico.   But with this being a bad week - I'm up 1.5 pounds from that goal .  This has been a tough week for me with a fair amount of stress eating and less exercise, plus throw in Father's Day and an evening with my friend Scott.  I do think this is a temporary gain and normally I would be back down in a few days. But this is family vacation week which I think will push me up even more.   Boohiss!


The exercise is less due in part to the weather being 90+ and humid.  This has greatly reduced the distance of the dog walks.  Zeus gets too out of breath and pants so much that I usually try to get him back homeward as soon as he does his bathroom business.  I still have high personal hopes that one day he will be able go miles, but this is not the week!  I think I have to push out my goal of turning Zeus into a dog that loves to hike the trail - maybe try this in September or October as it gets a little cooler.

The exercise has also lost out on the priority list to the trip preparation - both packing and trying to get the house and yard stuff done before I leave.

And you can add in a couple days of drinking. It's not that I drank that much, but I really have stopped most of my drinking so now having 2 or 3 beers in a night is a big night.  And not only is that a lot of empty calories, it also leads to eating more.  Some of that is because I feel the need to eat to 'soak' up the alcohol and the other part is when I've been drinking my food judgement can be swayed too easily.    

So what does this mean....in no particular order
- I'm getting better at knowing myself and being able to select good stretch goals 
- Need to find a way to get in more exercise this week to compensate for the family food frenzy (that these family vacations include) and the increase of alcohol

• I think I will have 4 days of good exercise - Friday at White Sands, a day Bandelier National Park, a day hiking in the Santa Fe Forest, and the last Saturday at Capulin Volcano National Monument
• I'm also going to try to get in some healthy long and fast walks on 3 of the mornings when at the Santa Fe rental house
• and hopefully this will also give me some personal time away to help me recharge
• I also usually get some good walking when I'm at the airport waiting - both Friday (which also already has White Sands) and Sunday, July 1 will benefit from that  
• Eating will be hard but I need to keep focused on the light weigh method and really just work to eat less - sounds so simple, but we all really know how hard this will be

St Joseph's Staircase

This is the first of a series of New Mexico location details and links in preparation of the Family 'bacation trip

At last night's Light Weigh meeting, Lisa and Krissy shared about this miracle staircase in New Mexico.  Turns out it is in Sante Fe, the city we will be staying in for most of the trip.  So there is a very good chance I'll be able to make it there.

The Loretto Chapel
207 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 982-0092

This is from their website - http://www.lorettochapel.com/index.html

Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

Over the years many have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the television movie titled "The Staircase."

Lisa asked that I pray for our Light Weigh group while I'm there - especially through the Intercession of St Joseph:

For the Intercession of Saint Joseph

O Joseph, virgin-father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray every day for us to the same Jesus, the Son of God, that we, being defended by the power of His grace and striving dutifully in life, may be crowned by Him at the hour of death.