Fashion find?

I have found it! After years of seaching through store after store and trying on thousands of pieces of clothes, I have finally found the style of clothing that best fits my body shape. It's light and flowy, yet it hides all of my "trouble spots". It also happens to be very modest and feminine. I can't tell you how excited I was to discover this. My family is in agreement with me, and I'll begin sewing immediately! Curious to see? Here's a picture of me, sporting my new find:

Okay, so it's a joke. I won't be wearing a hoopskirt from now on. But, my sisters and I did agree that it was very slimming! So, there you go. Got hip and thigh trouble spots like me? Then maybe we should all ban together and bring hoopskirts back into fashion. If people could wear bell-bottoms, why can't we wear these modest (but also very big) skirts?

By the way, the pictures are from a picnic that we had out here on Sunday afternoon. It was a fun way to wrap up the 9 month class that I taught, which was based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Our picnic was complete with games, a Spelling Bee, and a pie contest. And each of the girls from class recited a poem they had memorized during class. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a fun time being together...*sniff*...for the last time...*sniff*...as a class........**sob**! I'm going to miss those girls! We had some fabulous times together!

Now, at that picnic, I had to make smart choices about what I ate. For one thing, I gained a pound last week. Not quite sure why, but thinking I must have enjoyed too much liberty on the weekend with my calories. So I tried to be extra careful this weekend, but I still wanted to enjoy the special yummy food from the picnic. We had a crazy day on Saturday, and I wasn't able to exercise, which worried me a little - but that's life. Sometimes I just can't do what I want to, even though 95% of the time I can. I have to work with our family schedule, and it was pool day - not Bekah go exercising day. But I did climb up the stairs to the water slide several times with the girls, so that had to burn a few calories. Anyway, at the picnic I had a bowl of vegetable beef soup, (homemade by yours truly) some grapes and watermelon, a few carrots and broccoli florets, two homemade wheat biscuits, and a piece of the healthiest pie there. (Thank you, Gibson girls! I didn't feel guilty eating it, and it was delicious!) Overall, I was proud of myself for not "pigging out", because that would have been so easy to do. For some reason, when there is an abundance of food present, I get this feeling that I have to eat it all. Or at least, a lot of it! I'm trying to break that mindset, because it doesn't tend to bring weight loss. :-)

Because of a schedule change, I've been going earlier in the morning to exercise these days. On Mon-Fri, I'm to the fitness center by 7:45am, which makes me part of the "early morning crowd". Four other old ladies and me. Yep. While they spend the whole time chatting with each other and riding the exercise bikes, I'm in there sweating my heart out. They are pretty funny, especially one of the ladies that can't seem to multi-task very well. Anytime she talks while riding the bike, she stops pedaling till she finishes talking. Every time! Then she has to start up the bike and select her program again. And this happens several times in the course of 30 minutes! Somehow I don't think that's very effective. LOL It's always interesting, to say the least!

I'm keeping focused on the goal this week and continuing to lay aside that which hinders me. I pray that you are as well! ~Bekah