# 70 - First You Sigh and Then You Walk

I have had the most personally amazing two months of my life in Israel. No, in the past two months I didn't win any awards, or take over any hilltops or star in a show. I had a solid two months of family. That has never happened to me in almost 20 years of living in Israel.

The two most precious people that I tearfully left behind in America - my dearest Mother ad 120 and my dear sister - each came to spend solid time with me over the past two months. So I put work on hold (I'm on good terms with the boss), cut back on just about all my responsibilities, and kept phone calls with friends to a minimum. I spent as much time with my family as I could. That was great.
The only thing that wasn't great was that a lot of our socializing time we spent surrounded by food. We went out to restaurants. We sat around the table for hours - talking and noshing. I never ate candy or cake. I never had ice cream with the gang, but I did overdo it anyway.
In addition to all that, I was off my routine. So I talked more and walked less. My exercise was down to a minimum.
When my mother, and then my sister and brother-in-law left, I cried my eyes out because I missed them so much. Then I got on the scale to see the results of two months of company, and I cried some more. Aghhhh!
But you know what? I wouldn't have traded the past many weeks with my mother and sister for anything - even a few pounds less on the scale. So I sighed, looked in the mirror :~/ and ... got on the treadmill. I can't knock off my "company weight" overnight, but I didn't put it on overnight either.
B"H I have learned good eating and exercise habits at the Efrat Women's Health Center that will help me get back on track. I'm excited to start again. Really.
So, if you ever find yourself slipping, don't panic. It happens to the best of us. Just remember: first you sigh and then, you get up on the treadmill and start walking back on to the road to good health.

# 69 - Walking with Doris Day

I made it to "6 kilometers" on the treadmill today. Six!! That's the most I ever walked. Usually on Tuesday mornings I walk outside in the fresh air with my friend, but she got out early and I got up late. So I made a real effort to get on the treadmill today. It's kind of boring sometimes to walk on and on alone. But my sister (who always thinks of these kinds of things, and is very encouraging) sent me a bunch of MGM musicals for treadmill time. So with Doris Day happily dancing more in Lullaby of Broadway than in any other movie, I walked onward. 
I almost quit at four kilometers, but I've gone quite a few days without any exercise (B"H, I have had lots of company lately), and I really needed the exercise. Besides all else, Doris was singing "Somebody Loves Me" adorably with Gene Nelson, so how could I stop? Five kilometers was another benchmark for me. But I didn't quit because Doris was just about to be reunited with her mysterious long-lost mother, so I walked through their tearful meeting. 

I started to wonder how long I could go on at the pretty good clip I was doing on my treadmill, and I made it 'til Gene and Doris (who had broken up a few songs before) got back together again and took Broadway by storm. In a gorgeous golden lamee dress, Doris and Gene did an incredibly difficult routine up a flight of stairs. And I kept them company from my treadmill. 
It was a great finale for all of us. Boy and girl dance into each others' hearts, and I did six kilometers on the treadmill, and feel like dancing myself!

# 68 - A Running Victory

I ran home a quarter of the way from the Efrat Women's Health Center tonight. Okay, that's no big deal. You'd know that it's really no big deal if you saw how close I live to the Health Center. But I don't usually run. Sometimes I've walked at a nice clip on the treadmill. I tap dance. But I don't usually run.
So, tonight the weather was beautiful. I was all energized from our exercise class with our trainer Daphne Kupietzky, and I felt very inspired by the Mountain to Valley Run that Daphne and zumba teacher Tanya Richardson had just done in the north of Israel. They ran for 24 hours (on and off) up mountains and through fields, over all kinds of terrain. I just had to get home, up the block, and I thought, "I'll try it."
I started running. I ran to the corner. Then I walked. I ran half a block, and walked. Then I ran a bit more, and walked. 
Someone called out from a car across the street. "Sharon, do you need to get somewhere?" "No," I replied. "So, why are you running?" "Because I want to see if I can," I said. And off I went. B"H, I guess I can.
So, this week I made it a quarter of the length running. Next time, maybe, I'll try for five-eighths, or at least five-sixteenths. :)
I'll keep you posted.

# 67 - Turn Back the Clock

I woke up this morning the same weight I was when I was nine months pregnant with my daughter. You might be saying, "aghhhhh, oh no!!!" But actually I have almost never weighed as little since then. My now nineteen and a half year old was born just before we made Aliyah, and I brought my newborn and all my weight along to Israel. 
I never found the food I liked or that I had been used to in America, and I was so busy with a new baby, and confused by a foreign life that I never had the ability to organize myself enough to take off the "baby fat" (mine, not hers). 
Well, finally after 19 years in this blessed land, and almost two decades of doing solely for others, I finally found the time and the desire to do something for myself. I made my husband buy me diamond earrings, :), I learned to tap dance, and thanks to the persistence of my tap teacher Judy Kizer (she's also my nutritionist) and the support and brainwashing of the Efrat Women's Health Center I am finally turning back the clock - at least where the scale is concerned. 
And guess what I am wearing to my youngest son's upcoming wedding? The dress I wore to my oldest son's bar mitzvah 18 years ago! And you know what? B"H, poo poo poo, it looks really great!