144.5

I am finally below 145 again! This was the most frustrating month on that front. I should have measured my waist, because I know I've been getting into better shape. But except for that one time my pants haven't improved dramatically in fit, so I don't think my weight is a lot slimmer, either.

Yesteray I went to the gym and did 10 minutes on the bike and then thought of running for three miles, but when I wasn't quite up to two it was clear that I didn't have the enthusiasm for it. So I quit at two, for a time of 19:02 (only reached by an all-out sprint, for me, on the last lap). Then I did 12 minutes on the elliptical. I don't usually use that machine so I spent most of it just trying to find a level that gave me some resistance. It was a different model than the one I tried last year sometime, but I still didn't like it -- I feel like I'm on a bicycle with no seat or handlebars. Or wheels. Just pedals. I don't know where to put my weight. So I have no clue why these seem to be the most popular machine at our gym!

Anyway, after my 41 minutes of aerobic exercise, give or take, I did some upper body work -- two rounds with the shoulder press and three with the chest press. Then I tried for the fly machine (I'm sure it has a better name, but that's what I think of it as) but after the other two machines my upper body was too wiped out. Oh, well.

My food yesterday was good. I ate my usual breakfast, lunch of tuna and toast, dinner of brunswick stew, three rounds of almonds, a ginger snap, a bite of Cecilia's ice cream and a fingertip full of fudge sauce (I didn't want the jar to drip), and then about eight thousand mini pretzels (not really, but Daniel and I polished off the 1/3 bag that was left, so it was more than a serving, and probably something like two). And a glass of milk and a banana and a few clementines, but I don't know how many -- I need to take better mental notes. But that's all I can think of -- I just know I didn't go overboard at any point.

Today I've had my usual breakfast (again), lunch of macaroni and cheese (made with skim milk, but still not terribly nutritious; Daniel came home for lunch and cooked it for us), three rounds of almonds, 1 1/2" of banana, and two clementines shared with Cecilia. Dinner will be brunswick stew for me again; Daniel's out and I'm just having leftovers. The kids are having fish sticks. If I can stay out of the junk otherwise I'm in very good shape. I also plan to exercise today but I am, again, seriously unmotivated -- it is so hard to put exercise clothes on when it's so freezing cold outside (and seeping in!).