Sarah beat me to it on the posting! We had a long text-chat this afternoon where we berated ourselves for our current lack of fitness and agreed that Something Must Be Done, so here we are.
My weight at Easter was down in the range of my all-time (adult) low of 129. This morning I weighed in at 145.8, so I am up seventeen pounds in seven months. All fat (and an erosion of muscle). Despite plenty of good weather at at least slightly more free time than I have during the school year, I made only marginal efforts at exercise all through the summer, and once the school year kicked in "marginal" turned into "none at all." I hit the 144-range last week, which was bad enough that I finally started getting up a half hour earlier and pulling out the Wii Fit (I can't face the cold weather for outdoor exercise at that hour, and we don't have a gym membership or any indoor equipment options at home right now). I am embarrassed to admit that I am so out of shape and weak that the Wii was enough to leave me slightly sore every day.
Unfortunately, my weight only continued its upward dance to the tune of another pound and a half in the week, which means I require (a) more substantial exercise and (b) fewer calories. The Halloween candy has been a huge part of this week's weight gain; hosting two parties in that span of time (and having the accompanying leftovers around) certainly contributed as well. Last night I divided up the remaining trick-or-treaters' candy among the three kids so I wouldn't be tempted by that anymore, and this afternoon the kids polished off the last of the brownies from the second party. Chips and cheese are pretty much gone, too. There are several other desserts around still, though, and loads of alcohol. I'm not usually too tempted by the beer and wine unless I'm drinking socially (Daniel counts as being social, but he's going to support me on this), but the desserts wear me down!
I have found in the past that I can lose weight at a reasonable pace if I cut calories substantially, tracking every bite I eat, but that if I don't exercise it's a slower pace and the weight comes back immediately when I stop dieting. I need the muscle tone to keep it off. (And to make my clothes fit better.) And if I'm not counting calories I don't lose weight at all, even if I'm exercising regularly and substantially. If I neither diet nor exercise, well, obviously, I gain at a rate of up to a pound a week, on average.
Today I was motivated enough that I logged onto SparkPeople and tracked everything I ate. I have come in VERY short on calories, though, since I'm paranoid about overeating right now, so I'm going to have a (healthy) snack tonight. I did a more aggressive and longer Wii workout -- I stopped letting it pick exercises for me, because it's much too wimpy and doesn't keep my heart rate up for long enough, giving me exercises that are only two minutes long before switching to another that's not cardio-based. And I went out and raked leaves with Daniel for a while, enough to bump my heart rate up and more than enough to make my arms and back sore tomorrow.
No idea how I'll get a real workout in tomorrow, though. Either I'll have to go out in the cold or start running stairs (dodging cats) instead of jogging in place with the Wii. Or leave the kids during the school day when it's warmer, which means no one will accomplish anything at home.
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