Operation St. John - It's On

Two of my favorite people in the world got married last April on St. John and decided to spend their first anniversary there as well.

I was thoroughly touched when they invited me to join them, but also thoroughly horrified over the thought of being in a swimsuit in 7 weeks. When one does almost nothing active for 15 months AND eats and drinks like a king, it takes a toll.

Drastic measures had to be taken. Here's what I did:

• Stopped drinking. I know, it's shocking. I had a big, fun night out in DC Saturday with many wines and that was it. Aside from one pre-planned allowance of wine Thursday I've been a teetotaler. My nightly glass(es) of wine have been replaced by seltzer or plain water.

• Stopped skipping my workouts. Again, shocking. I even went to the pool. I had to move a few workouts due to schedule, but overall have adopted a no excuses mentality.

• Stopped eating sugar. Aside from some dark chocolate covered almonds and a bit of a stress binge on dark chocolate chips yesterday, I've been sugar free.

• Greatly minimized my consumption of grains. I love wheat. I know I shouldn't eat it, but I do. But this week I only had 1.5 whole wheat English muffins, some panko crumbs and a small serving of egg pasta from Piedmont. Oh, and I did have some biscuits during a business meeting, but trust me, they were worth every flaky, carby calorie.

The week isn't over, but I already look and feel better. I'm less bloated and down about 3 pounds. I really don't feel like I've given anything up and being super busy helps. The teetotaling plan was originally through March 8, but I may extend it. I have a business trip to Sonoma on the 10th so I'm sure I'll have a glass or two then, but will continue to limit overall consumption and keep following the above plan. With a little luck I'll be down 10 (or more) pounds before I visit this glorious place.