A few months ago, I noticed that the ring was harder to get off. I play with it on occasion, twist it around my finger and then slide it up and down my knuckle. Just an idle toying-with when I'm watching TV.
But then... slowly, over time, I noticed that I couldn't get the ring over that knuckle. And it was a tight twist on my finger. What the heck?
Did the ring shrink? Did my finger swell? Was I perhaps retaining water? Did I have early arthritis starting in my knuckle? Or had I gained weight?
It's not been an easy year, 2025. It's actually been a brute of a year. My Mom died, my aunt died, and there was another death. On top of work. And running an Airbnb. And other stuff.
Looking back... I see how I turned to Starbucks hot chocolate for comfort. It was a well-trodden, comforting routine that made me feel cared for and soothed. I turned to chocolate, because... why not!?
Add to that, my feet have been bothering me this past year. And the advice was to ease up on the walking and hiking. So I have been more sedentary this past year, waiting for the feet to feel better.
That might explain why my belt is now in a different hole... and why I've had to wear the stretchy jeans rather than my regular ones. Ugh.
So... when I gathered my courage in my hands this morning and stepped on the scale, I wasn't shocked to find myself a good 10 lbs over my stable, standard weight. Bugger.
The clouds have been brewing for a while... emotionally turbulent year... belt holes... stretchy jeans... shrinking ring... less walking... more chocolate. It's a perfect recipe for weight gain. But I've been here before and I've turned the ship around.
It's almost the end of the year... a perfect time to take stock, assess priorities and directions and choose a different path. I don't have to wait for January 1. I can start now. Today. Which is 12/12/25...
Faithful readers of this blog will know that I have gone on various sugar detoxes multiple times. Sometimes they work. For a while.
On a positive note... 15 December (tomorrow) marks 150 days with no hot chocolate. Which is a major win. Now I need to work on the chocolate cravings that pop up elsewhere. It's kind of like whack-a-mole. Sit on the hot chocolate mole and some other chocolate mole pops up... Lindt 85% dark chocolate squares (far too many in one day) or Ritter Sport dark chocolate with hazelnut... also too many in one day...
I guess mindfulness is the key. It's been too easy to ignore the belt holes... and the tight jeans (they're always tight after being washed)... but the ring thing... it's in my face, in my view... all the time. And it's not comfortable. There's no way to make it bigger either. No stretchies... no extra hole to make it expand. It's firm and immovable. There's only one option... shrink the finger!
It's time to turn this ship around. To pivot and make different choices.
