208.8

Could be worse. Considering by the end of last week I thought I was doomed to a very high weigh-in weight. So - not HORRIBLE. In fact - this weight is lower than any of my September weights last year... but not by enough. I ended last September at 210-ish - with my lowest weight at 209.2. I guess with THAT idea in mind I can approach my weight loss as starting right here. Depressing if you think I have been at it for over a year.

Here is what I will do differently. First - I will not allowe 30 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in my house. I am giving out yucky candy and little toys for Halloween. I am meeting with the endocrinologist on November 1st - so maybe something will come to light. I don't know what is wrong - which is why I am not a specialist - but I doubt that they will say it is PCOS. Other than my irregular period I don't have other symptoms. My blood sugar is normal, my testosterone is normal, I have no evidence of cysts. One symption does not make a syndrom. However, my friend Bunnie was telling me about a friend of hers who was also weight loss resistant and a specialist DID help her. So I guess we shall see in a little over a month.

I was doing the math last night and between Sarah's wedding and my 30th birthday I gained 30 pounds. That was after losing 20 pounds the year before her wedding - so you could argue that I was just making up for that loss. Then I went on Jenny Craig and lost about 10 pounds. Then by the time I started at TESSCO in 1999 I was up a total of 40 pounds since Sarah's wedding (I was 145 at Sarah's wedding - my low point). Since starting at TESSCO (seven years ago) I have gained a total of 30 ADDITIONAL pounds. This is after I went into panic mode about 3 years ago - where I started really watching what I ate. I remember this because Katie and I started carefully planning and packing our lunches using the Glucerna menu planner when I was over in TAB after the flood in October 2002 - so that was around April of 2003. So - in the past 11 years I have gained about 70 pounds. That is a whole half of a person. If I had had a baby 11 years ago it would probably weight about 70 pounds now. It is ALL of Emily's children put together. Hummmmmm. That is a scary thought.

I scheduled a meeting with my trainer to plan a work out that I can do at home. He was trying to convince me to freeze my membership (where I only have to pay 1/3 the cost) and can start up again in 1 to 3 months. I told him I couldn't afford $50 or $60 a month for me to do nothing but feel guilty for not going to the gym. I do know that if I WERE to go back to a gym it would be that one because I really like it - as gyms go - but it is still too expensive.

Last night Katie and I had spinach ravioli and acorn squash. Katie made the squash and the directions say use as much butter and sugar as your conscience allows. Katie's allows much more than mine would have. 8-) It was very yummy. I want the same thing for dinner tonight!!!

Not doing so well

My weight has been all over the place the past few days--down to 132, up to 135. I didn't get to the gym at all last week. Wednesday, of course, I went running while Claire was in swimming lessons, but my Friday gym visit didn't happen because I left work early so that Brian could get enough sleep (he had been up all morning with Connor getting his gammaglobulin, so he only got to bed around 1:00 and I didn't want him to have to then get up at 3:30, especially since we knew he'd have a day of no sleep on Sunday). So no running that day, but I did take Davey for a long (55 minute) walk in the evening.

Saturday was a slug day--housework, reading, a bit of shopping to get the kids out of the house. Then Sunday I was on my feet all day working at the college's Grand Prix, but I made up for that activity by eating too much--cheeseburger, chips, and a brownie for lunch, plus two beers and a large cookie later in the day. Then Connor and I shared a bunch of pringles while Claire was at CCD and then I ate MORE cookies in the evening. I don't know why I was packing away so much junk food yesterday.

So no excuses this week--I have to get to the gym today and Wednesday. I may leave early on Friday again so Brian can sleep (Claire has an all day field trip with the Brownies on Saturday so Brian will be home alone with Connor not sleeping again all that day, then he has to stay up all day Monday since the kids don't have school that day) but Saturday's field trip involves a downtown hike, so that'll get me some exercise. My other goal this week is to do pilates just twice. That's all--I should be able to manage that. I could even do two 25 minute videos in one evening if I wanted to (which is one thing I used to do), but I really need to get back into it!

Talking to myself

I hate it when I check the blog and the last entry is from me - and that doesn't change for days!! 8-) I feel like I am talking to myself. But that is OK - I DO talk to myself.

Kristy's wedding was on Saturday. I was actually pretty good on the eating front. I had t crackers, four little cheese cubes, a bite of cantalope, then for dinner I went vegetarian. I had salad, green beans, potatoes, cheese lasagna, and I think that is it. I didn't have any rolls or anything. I ate about 8 m&ms (that was the favor) and then I had my wedding cake at 2 o'clock in the morning when I woke up hungry. I ate Katie's wedding cake at about 2pm the next afternoon (she never eats it and I hate it to go to waste). Yesterday I was heavy on carbs. I did make the baked sweet potato on Friday - with minimal butter and sugar, skim milk to mix, and almonds on top. It was REALLY good. A tad on the dry side - so I will use more milk next time - and a tad on the sweet side - I will use even LESS sugar next time (I use about a table spoon for two large potatoes). Next time I think I will just mix it with the spices, and use the sugar to sprinkle on top with the nuts.

I forgot to weigh myself Sunday morning. I was 210.4 on Saturday and then 210 this morning. I was a big slug on Sunday. I THOUGHT about taking a walk around 5pm (between rain showers). Sadly, with exercise, the thought really doesn't count. Sigh.

I cancelled my gym membership on Friday. I decided it was just too expensive at $59 a month. Even if I went EVERY day (which I don't) that is still $2 a day. It is over $700 for the year - and I would probably do much better putting that money into more permanent exercise equipment - videos, a ball, heavier weights, etc. I just need an exercise room. I really need to purge my house! I had pre-paid a training session with the trainer at my gym. I don't want to lose that so I left a message for him to call me to set up my next session. I am going to ask him to think about things I can do at home.

And Now its Gone

Today I was 209.4. I give up. I just don't get it. I am just weird. I know it isn't my scale, because there is justification for the drop - but I am tired of talking about my plumbing, so I will spare you the reasons.

Last night Katie and I had black bean and spinach enchilladas for dinner. They were really good. I ate more fudge - but not a ton, and a few pieces of taffy at work. I had a PB& P sandwich for lunch, and mini wheats with skim milk for breakfast. I had a snack cup of pears for a snack. I also had my normal coffee with skim milk - and then I had a Caribou large skim vanilla latte early in the day.

I need to get back in the habit of eating ALL of the food I pack. I don't know if that really made a difference or not - but that was my focus this time last year - and September and October were the two months that I showed an overall loss. I think what I need to do is take all of my food out of my lunch bag and line it up on my desk. I know I am an out of sight out of mind kind of person - so if I SEE my food maybe I will eat it more readily. Of course -I have a pretty small desk - and so I really can't do that. Or - what probably would happen - is I would eat all of my food within the first two hours and then be starving for the rest of the day. Yeah - that sounds like me.

We had our groceries delivered again yesterday. This time we had Safeway do it because I had a free delivery coupon. Katie said this guy was REALLY nice - and when she tried to tip him he refused. Big change from the Peapod guy who said "I am supposed to tell you we are allowed to accept tips." Rude! So - from now on I will have Safeway delivery my groceries. I like the Lucerne brand of cottage cheese better anyway.

I did the produce run to Boordy last night. I love the fall stuff. I got acorn squash, sweet potatos, egg plant for mom, basil and raspberries. I gave the basil to mom, but split the rasperries between Sarah and me. I am going to make the sweet potatoes tonight, in a modified version of my Thanksgiving potatoes. I am not going to use butter and half and half and tons of brown sugar - but I am going to mash them, spice them up, and bake them with nuts on top (well, and maybe a LITTLE bit of brown sugar). I will let you know how they turn out. Cinnamon is one of the spices that Fat Flush has you eat regularly. I can't remember why.

Still no exercise. Sigh.

THERE it is!

I got on the scale yesterday and was tempted to pretend like I forgot to weigh myself. I was up - finally, sad as it may be - to 211.2. Ugh - all that fudge and stuff. Then today I was at 212!!! Sigh. My boobies have been sore - so I decided that it was because my period was coming. As you know, the past two months I wasn't getting my normal 4 pound weight spike with my period. (BTW - how come I will totally believe it if my weight goes UP by four pounds - but not down?) Anyway - my period DID start today shortly after I got to work. I was totally surprised by this because today is 27 days since my last one. Last one was 28 days (like a normal girl and everything!) but normal for me is usually 31-33 days!! I don't know what is screwing me up. Anyway - so now I am all crampy and I only have one tampon with me. BUT - if I lose four pounds now it will take me back down to 208 - which is not as bad as 212... but I never seem to lose all of the gained 4 pounds.

I was NOT GOOD yesterday. I did a Stampin Up party last night (I never do REAL partied anymore) and so I spent most of the day prepping for that. I don't remember what I had for breakfast - probably fudge or Fisher's popcorn (which is gone now), and curried shrimp for lunch - very yummy, even left over. I didn't eat dinner (the party was at 7pm) and I didn't snack at the party hardly at all! When I got home I was hungry but too tired to make something. Katie was out (it was Bones, or something, night last night so she was at Tracy's watching TV). I had to go out to get milk - and I looked at the sandwiches at Royal Farms - but I ended up going to McDonalds (I am blaming THAT craving on my period!). I wanted something hot and salty. I got a double cheeseburger and a small fries (off the dollar menu) and I ate it all!! Sigh.

Everyone seems to be super motivated currently - mom said she was at the beach, Bunnie (a woman at work) said that she was inspired by The Biggest Loser show that was on last night. Sarah and Emily seem to also be hitting things hard... I just can't get up the energy to focus on this anymore. I hate it that I am seeing a loss of muscle tone already, I hate it that I have no resistance to cravings like fudge and McDonalds, I hate it that I can't think of any exercise to do that gets me back into the groove, I hate it that my gym fee has gone up to $59 a month - and I hate it that I am not doing anything about any of this. In the past I have let everyone else getting re-motivated spur my energy level - but it ain't happening this time. HELP!??! Please?

Sticking with the program

I didn't succeed in getting any official exercise yesterday, because we went straight from French class back home to babysitting, and then the baby was not feeling well so she was difficult much of the evening and by the time she went home we were in the middle of bedtime and cleaning up dinner, and by that point I'd long since given up. So today I was determined again to exercise, but after Cecilia's nap we ran errands that took longer than I expected, and by dinner I'd about given up again. Then Daniel went running after dinner, which left me with just the kids underfoot, and a nagging sense of guilt, so I decided I had time to do some aerobics. I don't get as good a workout as I do running or on an exercise bike, but it's better than nothing.

Meanwhile I've been trying very hard not to overeat. As always, it's starchy foods that seem to be my undoing -- I had cereal for breakfast and goldfish crackers with lunch, and a few tiny pretzel sticks in the afternoon, and a slice of pizza at dinner (more white flour!), and another helping of goldfish crackers just now. Hmm. Not as bad as I thought. I must be forgetting something. Oh, yes, a few bites of the kids' macaroni. No whole grains except breakfast. The pizza was not healthy, but I only had ONE (yay, me!) and it was a fairly thin crust and had vegetables on it, and I ate two slices of cantaloupe to fill me up (though that's why I'm hungry now). I had tuna for lunch. I also ate a handful of raisins this afternoon, and two sets of almonds (8 each time). I'm short on vegetables again, but at least I've had some fruit.

Am I good or what?

So I didn't make it to the gym last Friday (zero sleep the night before) and I didn't make it on Monday (went home sick) but I had every intention of going today. Except that I got to work and my boss asked if we could push back our 11:00 meeting--he had another meeting that would probably run late. Fine. Then he caught me after that late-running meeting to say that another thing had come up, could he catch me a bit later? Sure. And it went on like this all afternoon. I finally decided I'd go to the gym at 3:00 when I *knew* he had another meeting, figuring I'd have the hour free. He called at 2:48 and asked if I could come to his office right then. I asked about his 3:00 meeting. It had been cancelled! And by the time I was out of the meeting with him, it was almost 4 and too late to go to the gym. Sheesh!

But then I had a brilliant idea--I had to take Claire to swimming lessons tonight and normally I'm just sitting there waiting for her, so I changed into my running clothes and spent the half hour she was at her lesson running around the UMBC campus. Yay me! It wasn't quite the same distance or intensity I do on the treadmill, but at least it was exercise. And then I came home and had poached fish, steamed broccoli, and a baked potato for dinner. Could I possibly get any more virtuous? Oh, and then I had a piece of fudge and a piece of taffy for dessert. OK, so not perfect.

Whew!

I lost 3 pounds yesterday. I was 140.5 this morning. That's still terrible but it's within what I expected after last week -- I was bracing myself for about 141 yesterday. The good thing about yesterday's 143.5 was that it woke me up and shocked me into getting back with the program. Yesterady I ate well all day and I even exercised.

Let's see, food: after lunch yesterday I had two more helpings of almonds, fourteen mini pretzels, and a few goldfish, but I think that was it on snacks. For dinner I had a Caesar salad, largeish, and a small helping of spaghetti with our usual sauce (ground turkey, green peppers, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, seasonings), and milk to drink, and then another piece of taffy for dessert. As the evening wore on I was genuinely hungry so I ate twelve tortilla chips (the bite size) and a tiny bit of salsa. Today I've had breakfast (honey nut shredded wheat and skim milk) and lunch (yogurt and 14 pretzels, and two scraggly pieces of ham) and a piece of taffy. So I'm OK so far.

Yesterday I did as I threatened and put Mary on her bike and the others in the stroller and went for a walk. Mary was slow getting started but once she was moving she went a lot faster than I could (she did great!), so I did a lot of jogging to keep her in sight (more than I wanted to, since I was wearing my jeans) and it was a pretty interesting workout, if only 2.5 miles. Today we'd love to go out again but we're babysitting starting at 4, so I'm not sure how that will work -- Xander can only go so far on his tricycle, so I couldn't just put both babies in the stroller. I might have to wait until Daniel gets home for me to go out, or I'll have to figure out something to do at home. We will at least walk to French class today, so that's a half mile or so round trip. Better than nothing! No excuses...

Real Age calculator

http://www.realage.com/

Here's the real age calculator I used. It's pretty thorough--asks about health, lifestyle, habits, stress, family history, etc. And then when you get your results (you DO have to create an account and have the results emailed to you; I don't yet know if I'm now going to be inundated with irritating email, but anytime they asked, I opted out) you can click on any of the areas and get more information about how to adjust that area to your benefit.

It also told me I should take multivitamins, which I KNOW I should do, but I can't find any I can swallow! They all make me gag, so I tried the chewable kids' vitamins and they tasted so horrible I couldn't stick with them.

Oh, and the other thing that might reduce my age more would be to get my cholesterol reading. I had it tested a year ago and I know I was either normal or low, but I didn't remember which and didn't know the actual reading, so I couldn't fill in that information.

Back up

I was 134.2 this morning, up two pounds from last week. But last week's 132 was an aberration--it only happened that one day and then every other day I was back into the 134 zone.

I've been eating badly--too many goodies, although my meals have been pretty good. I made it to the gym twice last week, then missed Friday since I had been up all night (literally) with Connor and missed again yesterday because I left work sick at 11:00 and slept all afternoon. I still feel like something the cat dragged in, but at least I feel better than I did yesterday! I still could use another eight or ten hours of sleep, though.

I really want to get back to doing pilates. It made such a difference in my strength and flexibility but I haven't done it regularly since February. But now that Brian is around more (and can keep Davey out of the way) I should go back to doing it three or four times a week. It's one of those things that I put off doing but then don't mind it *while* I'm doing it.

I did one of those "real age" calculators yesterday and it said that my real age is 32 years, 5 months but that I could reduce my age further by eating more fiber, vegetables, and fruit and doing more strength building exercise. And flossing more. That one kind of bothered me--I answered truthfully that I floss 4 - 6 days a week because I don't usually floss every single day, but it's generally more like 6 days a week and not four, so I didn't think that should count against me so much.

Weird Weight

OK - I stepped on the scale this morning and it flashed for a long time - like it was thinking about it... (I was thinking about it too and sticking with 211.8) and it finally popped up an answer of 203.2! I KNOW I didn't lose 6 pounds over night. So I did it again and this time it came up with 205.2. So in 30 seconds I gained 2 pounds. I COULD have stuck with that - but it wasn't right either. So, I tried again - and again got 205.2. Hummmmmm. One more time - 210.6. Sigh. So I took my shower. Then I tried again - this time it came up 209.6. Better... So, I tried a minute later and again got 209.6. So that is what I am sticking with. I think I'd better replace the batteries on my scale. They are about a year old. Or - maybe I will just stick with the 203.2 weight. That IS supposed to be the deal - go with the first reading, right?

Katie and I were going to have grilled salmon for dinner last night - but it looked odd (a little too pale) and smelled fishier than we like. After it was cooked it STILL looked odd - and smelled fishy - so we threw it out and got sushi. 8-) I also ate some left over Fisher's popcorn for dessert. I had about five pieces of taffy at work. Other than those beach carryovers I was pretty good yesterday... Mini wheats with skim milk, coffee, mixed frozen veggies, and chicken and wild rice soup.

No exercise. I think I am losing muscle weight. I need to go to Play It Again Sports today to see what they have - although, SERIOUSLY, I am not sure where I would put a treadmill. I probably could fit it into my room, but Katie and I would have to do some serious re-arranging!

NOT good!

I was up FOUR POUNDS this morning over where I've been. Eeek! So all that weight Amy didn't gain went onto me, which is fair enough because I ate all the same junk she did and really had no exercise. Bleah. So now I am really back on my diet, because this cannot continue.

Food today: I had raisin bran and skim milk for breakfast, a smallish bowl; for lunch I had yogurt and a wedge of beer bread. For snacks I've had 9 almonds and one kiss piece of taffy. I honestly haven't been hungry for more, though I have definitely been munchy; I'm sure I will develop a genuine appetite as the afternoon progresses, and then it's a matter of eating healthy foods, not the junk I've been having.

Daniel has promised he'll give me an opportunity to exercise today, though I may not wait for him -- I think I'll just go for a longish walk and hope Mary can keep up on her bicycle. No excuses for me!

I don't get it!

OK - So, Taffy - check! Fudge - check! French Fries - check! PLUS Fisher's popcorn, pizza, deepfried seafood, HUGE cheese stuffed omlettes, and whipped cream stuffed crepes, and seafood potatos (Emily and I went to Bayside Skillet TWICE for breakfast). Goldfish crackers, brownies, Uh-Ohs, cookies, pretzels, etc. The only vegetables I had was in the pizza sauce, I did have fresh fruit (cantalope and peaches) but the bad definitely outweighed the good. Even my exercise was minimal (miniature golf one day, 1/2 mile walk on Assateague, playing on the beach two or three days, short boardwalk walk). So - all that being said - explain to me why my weight is only .2 up from last Tuesday? I was 209.2 today. I was doing the whole "guess the weight" thing this morning and I was guessing 211.8!!! (So imagine how good the 209.2 looked to me.) I bet it will all show up tomorrow morning for weigh in day!

132 even

That was a nice thing to see on the scale today! It actually flashed 131.8 for a second before settling on 132, so I'm feeling pretty good about life. I've been back to exercising this past week (three trips to the gym) and counting calories (not as anally as before, but making educated guesses and keeping my intake to around 1400 calories). The weekend was actually good for me because I wasn't snacking mindlessly, and when mealtime came around I was legitimately hungry. having Brian home in the evening helps as well--I'm not as likely to eat junk for dinner or snack all night long when he's around.

Everyone at work seems to be back in fitness mode. They started up a Weight Watchers group on campus last week, and the campus-wide Wellness program is getting in gear as well. A lot of people participate in that, so there are constant reminders to exercise and eat well, and at least three other people in my immediate vicinity are always going off to yoga or aerobics classes. The students are back packing the gym too, which is depressing. Yesterday the girl on the treadmill in front of me was keeping up a pace of between 6.8 and 7.3 m.p.h. and her heart rate didn't go over 160 the whole time. When I arrived she had been on the treadmill for 20 minutes, then I did my 35, and she was still at it when I left! She did occasionally "cool down" with a 4 m.p.h. walk with a 9% incline. Sheesh.

I don't have any fruit to eat at work today. I took Claire to the allergist this morning and it took way longer than we thought it would and she was hungry on the way home so I gave her my grapes. Other than that, I had my usual cereal for breakfast, almonds for snack (in the car while Claire ate my grapes) and I just had string cheese and pretzles. I'm saving my yogurt for later.

New Challenge?????

OK - It looks like we are all in the exercise-less mode... which isn't good. I suggest that we start a new challenge.

What do you all think? Miles travelled (not steps - Katie has us all at a disadvantage)? Bikes go faster/farther than walking, so maybe we could figure out what the equvalant is. Or how about minutes spent? I can do 6 10 minute videos (I like them!) in a day - or squeeze one in every once in a while... What do you think? Obviously this can't start until we are all back in our home places.

We could kick off something next weigh-in day and then do weekly "prizes" followed by a GRAND PRIZE on Halloween - or something. What do you think?

Weightless

I don't have my scale at the beach so I can pretend I've lost three pounds since last week. Or ten. So I finally weigh 129. I haven't been eating fabulously well but I have been eating less than usual, because I've been so impossibly busy. I thought vacations were supposed to be relaxing! Yesterday I drove all the way to the airport and back without any food at all -- and then I ate about five Oreo cookies when I got here, so that part wasn't so good. I have done some walking every day -- on Sunday the big kids and I walked a mile down the strip and back again in search of paper and markers (and then we gave up and I took Mom and Dad's car out). Most of that way I was carrying Alexander. On the other hand, I'm not going up and down stairs the way I would at home, so it probably evens out, and I'm just a slug as always.

I dreamed last night that Amy was making fun of me for starting to gain the weight back now that I've stopped exercising. She said that the weight I'd lost so far was water weight. And in the dream it was 90 pounds, not 35. I'd be seriously dehydrated if I lost 90 pounds of water! We ran all over the stockroom of an enormous Toys'R'Us that was under construction while I argued with her. Hee hee! I must be feeling guilty about not exercising. (Actually, I know I am -- I didn't need a weird dream to tell me that.)

155

Food has been awful, but hasn't been in great quantity, and I haven't been exercising at all. Definitely not the way to go.

Amy--Travis took our old treadmill nearly a year ago. It was a low end model that came from Wal Mart for about $250. We upgraded to a better one that was like $600.

Starting on an up note

But not in a good way... My weight today (while lower than the past few days - I was 209.8 yesterday and 210.6! on Sunday) was 209 even. This is a little over a pound up from last week. I was thinking that this morning when I weighed myself - the problem with having a good - lower - weight on weigh in day is that it is more disappointing the next weigh in day when I go up!

Food has been same ole same ole. Last night Katie and I had Coconut Curry Shrimp from Let's Dish. It was very yummy! I love that dish. It is very hot (and I don't love hot!) but in a sweet - very flavorful way. I can't get enough of it - but we divided last night's into dinner and lunch for today - so I will get more of it today. Then (after all of the spicy) I was craving ice cream. I would have ignored that craving - except when we were packing our lunches last night I discovered that we had no milk! So I had to run to the Farm Store - and since I was there anyway... I got a Ben & Jerry's Vermonty Python pint. Katie and I each had some last night - but even so there is about 1/3 of the container left - so not TOO bad.

My stomach is growling now - so I guess I should eat my breakfast. Still no exercise to report. Sigh.

Quick Post Before I go

My weight was 208.4 again today. I looked up treadmills on the internet. That was my exercise. I am seriously thinking of SOMEHOW cleaning my room enough to have a treadmill in there. I am thinking of rearranging altogether... Then if I quit the gym I will save $600 - and the treadmill sitting in my bedroom will always remind me of how bad I am for not exercising. Of course, I won't have money to do this with until after the holidays. Maybe this will be my 40th birthday present to myself instead of a trip to Italy. Ugh.

Julie - what did you do with your old one?

OCEAN BOUND! Fudge! French Fries and Taffy!!!

Friday update

I'm back to exercising! It's about time, huh? I've gone to the gym twice this week (not bad for a four day week, I figure) and walked Davey twice as well. And the gym wasn't as bad as I was worried about--I was able to run the full time on the treadmill (although I built up gradually, starting with 4.8 m.p.h, then 5, then 5.2 for only a short time) and stay at level 10 on the exercycle yesterday. I've also been eating fairly well--my usual stuff during the day and real meals for dinner. Of course, the Coffee Crisp on Tuesday and the Godiva milk chocolate hazelnut praline ice cream last night weren't exactly stellar, but nonetheless I'm down a pound since Tuesday, and since I'll be away this weekend, I will probably come home to discover that the rest of the Godiva ice cream is gone.

Stuff

I don't really have anything to report really. My weight was up today - 208.4 - but I hardly ate anything yesterday!! Dry cereal for breakfast, PB&P for lunch, Beans & Rice for dinner and a Caribou granola bar at some point. That was it all day. I was 207.8 yesterday.

Still no exercise. I am looking forward to the beach this week because default exercise always happens on vacation. I am hoping THAT will help motivate me to get moving when I get back home. I am not wearing a bikini, however.

I got my new glasses yesterday. They are pretty cute - similar in color to my last pair - and still narrow lens, but these are oval and wider hoizontally. They are cute. They are progressive lenses - which I am still getting used to.

Oops

I forgot to post yesterday. Busy day. My weight was 139.5 -- I'm having my period and my weight went up, which is not a good thing. Daniel and I cursed the gym again this morning -- we can't do anything about a new place or equipment until we get our money back, and they're still hanging onto it! Grr. Very annoying. That doesn't mean we can't exercise at all, but when it's cold and rainy and there are kids underfoot in the house I have no chance of doing aerobics or getting out for a walk, and that's been a lot of days lately. Phooey.

Hmmm...Can't remember what the scale said...

I am pretty sure I weighed myself this morning, although I have no recollection at all of what the scale said. I am very distracted lately. I was 155 even on Saturday, but then I ate tons of Indian food (authentic--visited my friends Sharad & Ruchi!!) and then topped it off with random junk yesterday. If I had to guess a weight, I'd say 156.2. I'll try to remember the weight tomorrow. I did run yesterday. Amy Mantay burnt me 2 cd's (entitled 'Amy's Booty Jams 1 & 2') and they are fun to run too. Lots of trashy hip hop, but I have to say the beat is awesome. At the same time I am sure I am being severely corrupted on a subconscious level--those lyrics are just truly awful.

I bought jeans on Saturday. I have a "field trip" for work Thursday and nothing appropriate to wear to a water treatment plant. Got 2 pair that I am happy with, one from Old Navy and one from gap. So even if my weight isn't going down a lot my butt is changing shape because I have never been able to find jeans at either of those places.

134.2

Apparently I gained a pound and a half over the weekend. I was 132.6 every day last week, but didn't weigh myself over the weekend, and now look where I am.

Today is the beginning of my more normal schedule. Kids are back in school for full days, Brian has started his new job. We actually ate a family meal last night! Connor was even at the table for a couple of minutes! I eat much better when Brian is home in the evenings--having another adult around helps curb my snacking, plus he expects to eat actual dinners and not just french fries. I don't know what his problem is.

Anyway, my weekend weight gain kind of surprised me. The only overeating I did was at the fair, and that was a hot dog, ice cream with peaches, and cotton candy. It could have been MUCH worse. The rest of the weekend was the normal stuff (or the weekend version of normal--I had popcorn two nights, but no breakfast for any of the three days, and unhealthy daytime snacks all three days--cookies mostly--but dinners were o.k. Last night was baked chicken, rice, and cauliflower, the fair food was dinner on Sunday, and we had veggie lasagna for dinner on Saturday. Lunch on Saturday was peanut butter and pickles, then eggs and toast on Sunday and grilled cheese on Monday (o.k. none of those were great, but they weren't terrible either). Oh, and on Friday for lunch I ate picnic food at work--hamburger (with lettuce and tomato but no cheese or any other added fat), pasta salad, raw carrots and tomatoes, and potato chips. So anyway, the food all weekend wasn't great but should have been o.k. for maintaining weight.

I also stayed pretty active--did a lot of inside cleaning on Saturday, walking on Sunday (at the fair and then a two mile walk with Davey later), yard work on Monday and a short bike ride (it started raining almost as soon as I got on, so I only did a mile or so).

I came to work today prepared to go to the gym for the first time in more than a month, but now I don't know if I'll make it--our regular weekly staff meeting is a lunch meeting this week. I hope I can get away after that meeting to get to the gym, but that depends on the work I have to get done. But with the school year started and August's craziness over, I should be able to get back to my normal exercise schedule.

Happy New Year!!

I was confused yesterday thinking THAT was weigh in day. That would have been slightly better - I was 207.8 today - but 207.4 yesterday. I was 207 even on Sunday.

I think I must be losing muscle mass. That is the only thing I can think of to explain my weight drop from solidly in the 210's last month to pretty established in the 207's this month (so far). I still haven't been drinking (I skipped Christopher Daniel on Saturday night) since Pennsic - so I am sure that has helped. And we haven't been eating out as much either (neither of us has any money).

I didn't eat really well over the weekend - but it wasn't horrible either. I found myself seriously craving cookies last night - but we had none, so I had 94% fat free popcorn instead. (Poor substitute - but I didn't eat cookies!) I ate lots of Let's Dish stuff. We went on Friday night - so we have a lot of new foods - but I ate mostly stuff from past months. I had the spring time egg bake (like quiche), chicken parmesean, a gouda burger, and pesto pizza. Since Katie was out and about all weekend, most of those I ate for a couple of meals. I also ate 2/3 of our strawberry margarita pie. That isn't as bad as it sounds - I have stuck to just one piece a day - and it is one of those frozen cool-whip based pies. And strawberries! That's a fruit - right?

Anyway - so losing muscle mass. I haven't exercised since before Pennsic... probably WAY before Pennsic. Well - being at Pennsic is exercise it and of itself... but it is counter balanced by the drinking and goodie eating. Sigh - I don't know what to do to get me motivated again. Katie and I DID clean the living room yesterday. Maybe I can use that as a motivation to work out at home. I don't know...

Checking In

Let's see, so we've been doing this a year. That makes me a bit sad--it seems like only yesterday we started. Time goes too fast sometimes. Guess I must be getting older :^)

My goals are pretty much still the same, although I suppose I should go look up exactly what they were a year ago to make sure. I am definitely better about how much I eat, and my exercise has been fairly consistent over the past year. My next step is to increase what I can do. So I'm going to focus on running I think, and on improving my speed for a certain amount of time. I don't want to run a marathon or anything crazy like that, but maybe some short races. We'll see how that plays out. I first have to get up the courage to run outside and get off the darn treadmill!! I am completely dependant on the speed settings to control my pace.

An update on this week since I think I only posted Tuesday. I survived Wednesday's class as well. One guy is going to be a pain in my butt. My first "homework" assignment was for everyone to send me an email so I could put their address in a contact list. Well, he STILL hasn't done it. Is that really a lot to ask? And he doesn't listen for crap. Asked me to repeat myself like 5 times. Finally the guy sitting next to him was just like "Go on--I'll take care of him." It was crazy. My food on M-W isn't great. I have to figure that out. Monday I had a nutragrain bar and Wed I had a muffin. Then I munched when I got home after 9 pm. Plus there was zero exercise. There's no way I can run or walk or do a video at 10 pm and then get up at 5 am to start all over again. I was soooo tired yesterday at work it was ridiculous.

An update on yesterday--no exercise and food was poor. I met some friends after work and we went to Pei Wei in Towson and then to Caribou. It was fun, but the asian food was higher in calories than what I would usually eat AND we had campfire mochas for dessert while we hung out at Caribou. I estimate the day at 2000 calories. And then all that garbage caused havoc in my stomach. Blah! It took several Tums to be able to get to sleep last night.

Down again

I was 207.8 this morning. I was also mildly motivated to make that number go lower!!!! Since I seem to have been stuck at the same (higher) number or in a steady INCREASING pattern for the last MANY MANY months - I have been very discouraged - or more accurately, not very encouraged. Now that I have had a slight downward dip I want to make it KEEP going downward. Sadly - I am not thinking that way when I am snacking on Pringles (I like the single serving packs - they are usually JUST enough) or thinking about exercising.

I am back to my quandry about continuing at the gym. I have had ZERO motivation to go lately. Beyond zero in fact. I - half the time - don't even THINK about going. The other half I have "good" reasons why I can't go. So - is it worth the $50 a month to me? Sigh - feedback would be nice here. $50 a month is $600 a year - which I could get a treadmill for - or a tri-cycle. 8-) Or a HELL of a lot of videos, new shoes and lots of exercise clothes.

I am starting my new charts today. Septemeber is our 13th month of doing this. I have decided that my spreadsheet collecting is plenty big enough containing one year of data - so a new one is called for. Sort of a Back to School spreadsheet.

Guess what I just did?

Pulled my old bicycle up out of the basement, washed it, filled the tires, cleaned and lubricated the chain, and hit the sidewalk with it. For about 100 feet. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion and it wasn't exactly the best timing--I was wearing wedge-y sandals and boot cut jeans (which, as it turns out, are JUST as likely to get caught in the chain in 2006 as they were in 1976!) and it was close to 8:00 so the light was fading and the kids needed to be getting ready for bed. Oh, and I didn't have a helmet on and the next 48 hours are supposed to be about as rainy as weather around here gets.

But still. I didn't fall off (largely because I kept one foot on the ground most of the time) and it was just as fun as I remember--I love that not-quite-in-control feeling you get on a bicycle. The brake cables need adjusting a bit, and I have no idea how the derailleur is (need to get up more speed and cover more distance to check that) and we'll see in the morning if the tires are going to hold air for more than a couple of hours. But with any luck, I'll have a rideable bike again, and an hour on a bicycle is WAY more interesting than 35 minutes of running!

Mom's Post

I just noticed that Mom's post from a few weeks ago is there now. I KNOW it wasn't there before - because I talked to her after she did it - and so I looked for it. I also know it wasn't there because I read the posts before and after it and THEY were both familiar to me. I usually read posts a couple of times - so I am sure I would have noticed it eventually.

Anyway - thanks for trying Mom. You should KEEP trying - and maybe then I wouldn't be so shocked by a post from you!!! 8-)

Emily - do you know if there is anyway of sending new posts as emails to Katie and Mom. Katie because she can't access the blog at work and Mom, just because?

Too Bad, So Sad

I was up this morning - 208.6 - so not up by the four pounds I have been expecting! I guess this serves me right. I was pretty bad yesterday. I was babysitting for Sarah yesterday - which always gives me the muchies. I guess just because I am alone in a space that is not my own - with virtually nothing to do (I read - but since I wasn't in my reading place I am easily distracted). Anyway - I KNOW this always happens so I brought with me healthy snacks - cottage cheese and fruit, Wheat Thins, and V-8. So - I ate them within the first hour!! This was also my lunch. Then I started scavaging. Luckily - since Sarah is watching her foods too - I wasn't that successful. I ate a Care Bears fruit snack, and some crackers. On the way home I stopped and got yummy coffee from Caribou (large, skim, Campfire mocha). Then Katie and I promtly had dinner (chicken risotto with peas - yuck!). I didn't snack TOO much last night - but I did eat a serving of Pringles and a serving of cereal (no milk). So - I am not AT ALL surprised that my weight was up this morning.

I legitimately over slept this morning! This NEVER happens to me. My window fan was on Medium - and I guess it was loud enough that I didn't hear my alarm clock go off. It was only 7 minutes past my time - but still! THEN - I had planned to wear a cotton circle skirt - which needed ironing. After I was half way dressed I remembered that I planned to shower this morning (instead of last night) and really needed it! So - I did that. THEN I dropped my hairbrush in the toilet... Luckily it didn't need flushing. Sigh. Other than all of that - my day is going great!!! 8-)

Again

I keep expecting my spike from my period to show up. I know at this point it won't - but I keep expecting my weight to go back UP since I haven't really been doing anything to keep it down. I was 207.2 this morning - which is the lowest I have been in the past two months! I know it really isn't much to write home about - but I am going DOWN for the first time since my cruise!!! So I am pretty happy about that.

The only thing I haven't been doing that I was doing all along is drinking. Now - I really don't drink much - but one or two nights a week Katie and I usually will get a few drinks at SOME bar. I can't even remember the last time that happened... I did drink a little at Pennsic (a lot one night) but nothing since we came home. Maybe that is the difference. I don't know. Maybe it is my cold. I certainly don't feel like I have been eating less. I KNOW I haven't been exercising. I also know that all told 207.2 isn't that great - but it is down from the 211-ish that I was seeing pre-Pennsic.

Speaking of drinking. I finished the 20oz Coke I started at Pennsic this morning. I am funny about soda. I definitely prefer it flat and room temp. And then I usually only need a few sips. I guess that is a good thing.

I took my car for its emission test today. Whenever I have ANY professional look at my car they ALWAY comment on how quiet it is. A couple of times I have been told that they can't even tell if it is running. Hee hee. They didn't run my car over the tire spinny thing. I must have really passed with flying colors or something. It was so quick that my first thought was that I failed right off. Well - now that is done for the next two years.

What is up with blogger? Weird

As of this morning I hadn't seen any new posts since Friday, and I've reloaded, not to mention rebooted, numerous times since then. Then today when I posted that didn't show up either (and it took all morning for it to let me on to post and then to accept the post), and when I reloaded it and four days worth of postings appeared! Sheesh. I feel so out of touch!

138.0

Again. So far I haven't had one of those scary 139s show up for a weigh-in day (I think), but they have been sneaking in on the weekdays. I haven't seen a 140 yet. But I'm not doing much about it. :-(

132.6

I couldn't ask for a better weight for my one-year-post-start-of-diet weight. It's smack in the middle of the weight range I wanted to be in. Still no exercise, but we went shopping over the weekend so we're stocked up on yogurt, fruit, almonds, etc. again so I can eat normally during the day.

And after today things will get easier at work--if I get my Department of Labor grant in, I'll have successfully submitted over $2 million in grant applications in the past 30 days, including two federal grants. Not bad for a month where I wasn't even around for a week! So this means I can go back to taking lunch breaks, which means I can get to the gym again. Yippee!!

What's going on???

My weight today was 208.2. I was surprised because I woke up at 4am this morning and got up and ate a granola bar. I wasn't terrifically hungry - but enough so that I knew I wouldn't fall back to sleep without something. I am SOOOOOOOOO tired today. I was up a little too late reading last night, and then couldn't fall asleep. Once I was asleep it was that random, not quite deep sleep (thus the waking up at 4am). Then I started waking up again around 6am (I normally get up at 6:30) so I reset my alarm for 7am instead. I ended up getting up at 6:50 - but I should have stayed in bed until 8am. And so - as I said - I am SOOOOOOOOO tired.

So 208.2 is well within my "normal for me" range that I have been seeing lately - but it is still going down steadily over the last week or so. This is the lowest weight I have had on a weigh in day in six weeks (since July 11 - 208.4 or June 13 - 207.8). So this is pretty cool for me.

Katie and I had a really good dinner last night - citrus tilapia with almonds and then fresh mozzerella with orange tomatoes. I stuck to eating just what was packed in my lunch yesterday - with yogurt and chocolate chips as a snack last night. I have been pretty good with sticking to my designated allowed foods. I think my weight loss can really primarily be attributed to my cold. There is something about being full up on post nasal drip that contributes greatly to weight loss. I wonder if they make that in pill form? I have been eating as much as always - but yet I am losing weight. Hummmm. MAYBE, I actually lost weight at Pennsic - but since my period was coming I didn't see the loss until now that it has passed (is passing). I don't know. I just hope the trend keeps up for a few more months. 8-)

155.4 and I survived Day 1

I flew through my material last night. Now I am all freaked about Wednesday's class. There are 8 registered students, of which 7 showed up. 5 of them will be fine, even enjoyable to work with, 1 is too passive, and the other is a loopy old lady that is going to be a handful.

No exercise yesterday, and food wasn't great but also wasn't in large quantities.

I also found out last night that John (I'll call him my mentor at the community college for lack of a better description) could have taught this class and had planned too, but then decided he wanted me to do it. He's definitely grooming me...I can tell. He hasn't come right out and said it, but I had a conversation with his boss last week and some things he said just make things add up. I guess it is nice to be "hand picked" for something. Hopefully I live up to his expectations. We'll see...

Stressing

I start teaching a semester long credit class tonight at CCBC Essex. I didn't realize how freaked out I was until this morning as I was driving into work. I am a nervous wreck. I know what I am teaching tonight, and Wednesday night, but I have NO IDEA how to schedule material out across the semester. This is not good for the control freak side of me.

I exercised Saturday, and then walked about 12 miles around Arundel Mills with Amy Mantay yesterday. Food hasn't been great, but it hasn't been in large quantities either. There will be no time really to exercise tonight. Class is 6-8:30, so I won't get home until at least 9:30. And I am sure I will be exhausted, mostly from stressing.

No Spike

OK - yesterday I forgot to weigh myself until after I had eaten breakfast (cereal with skim milk and juice). But even so my weight was 209.8. This morning I was 209.6. I was surprised that my weight was still holding steady today. I did nothing but read and snack all day yesterday. I suppose in some ways that is good - I mostly chose healthy snacks and none of them were over 140 calories. I even ate fruit at one point. I didn't have any structured lunch - so the yogurt, fruit, granola bars, and one small container of pringles I guess weren't so terrible. I had Happy Family chow mein for dinner around 8:30pm - and that was my only serving of vegetables that I had all day. I was again craving ice cream last night - but didn't eat any - not even my substitute yogurt with chocolate chips and nuts!!!

Still no exercise for me. I am feeling a little better today - and my cough is much better so far - but yesterday it was still bad. I am still feeling really achy and exhausted. Maybe I just need coffee right now.

Grocery Shopping

Katie and I went grocery shopping today and stocked up on everything! We have been low on foods for quite some time - so it has been challenging to pack my lunch each day. Now we have about 30 yogurts, a new loaf of bread, cereal, vegetables, fruit, etc. I feel rich when we are newly stocked up. Kind of like a squirrel set for the winter.

My weight was 209.8 this morning... so if I am going to have a weight spike it should come tomorrow... However, I didn't notice one last month either. I also havn't been eating well with my cold and all. I can't taste much and my stomach is acting up - so it all makes sense. Katie and I went out for sushi last night and for the first time EVER I brought a doggie bag home.

I still have no energy. I took my gym bag with me to work yesterday, but didn't use it. Actually - I didn't take a lunch break. We had an after work happy hour scheduled for our summer intern who is going back to school - so I left work early instead. I really hope this cold passes soon - because I will have to start exercising again, regardless of how I feel. Right now my muscles feel as though I have done a major workout!!!!

Pennsic Threw me off

OK - I am not sure how this happened to me too!! My period just started. I was feeling mildly crampy for the past couple of days - and I had a weird craving for ice cream a few nights ago. It did cross my mind that maybe my period was about to start - but I dismissed that thinking that I JUST HAD IT. But maybe not. No - no. I was right. I just had it (by my standards) on July 27th. That was 28 days ago. Keep in mind that my period doesn't EVER come sooner than 32 days apart. Hummmm. Oddly - my weight was down by a pound today (209.4). So maybe I won't have my traditional 4 pound gain this time around (I have been a little worried about that this month). Of course, my weight spike usually comes two days after my period starts - so I will know on Sunday.

I am thinking

of signing up for a month or two of the Nutrisystem food plan. Sigh. I am thinking that if I go back to the very controlled portions and foods I might see a change in my weight loss. I don't know - but I am tempted to give it a shot. My only deal is that it is pretty expensive - and I am not sure if it would make a difference. I would have to spend over $10 a day on food and have nothing to show for it in the end. I don't know what to do!!

Where I am right now

Well - between last year and this year, as we all know, I have made no weight loss progress. I have had teasing glimpses of getting to below 200 (my lowest point was 201.8 back in January or February). My weight seems to have completely settled in the 210 range (I was 210.6 today 210.4 yesterday). This is ALL MY FAULT... in the past several months I have completely lost focus on my well planned meals. I still pack my lunch every day - and my calorie levels have stayed consistantly lowish - but the balance I achieved earlier in the year (fruits, veggies, whole grains and dairy) have gone completely away. In fact - I think I must have left them on the cruise ship, because it FEELS as though it has been that long since I ate a healthy meal. I know this isn't true - but I never really regained my focus after I got back from the cruise. I also have started slacking on my exercise. That isn't quite right. I was never the most dedicated exerciser - but I was doing several days a week at home in the beginning - and then once I started going to the gym in January - I was VERY good - up until (again) the cruise - when I backed my gym trip to two a week - OR LESS!

So - where does that leave me? I still really want to lose weight. I still feel like I am in a better place than I was this time last year. I have a better sense of my weight loss problems not being just me. Yes - I can exercise more, yes, I CAN eat better - but I know that my current eating and exercise habits are much better than my peers. They tease me at work because I DO go to the gym periodically and I ALWAYS bring a healthy lunch with me and when we do group eating (pizza, cake, etc.) I am the one who eats the smallest piece and no seconds usually. I am also the only one who even THOUGHT to look up the calorie count for the Coldstone Milkshakes!

So what now? I have an appointment with the endocrinologist on November 1st. I don't have a lot of expectations from that area. I don't really feel like there is anything WRONG with me - I just don't lose weight. Or - as Sarah described it once - my body is just VERY GOOD at retaining calories - or storing energy - or however you want to word it. The fact that I DO have a "surprisingly firm ass" or, as I see it - my DD boobies are surprisingly non droopy - indicates that I am not just a big blob of fat. But - I am still not losing weight and I want to be.

So - My goal now - keep on keeping on. I dont' want to completely blackslide because I know my experience with that indicates that I will gain 25 pounds to make up for the 5 that I lost. I want to improve my food again. I want to do structured menus for the next several months. AND EXERCISE. Sigh. I don't know what to do about that. I want to get back to daily exercise - but I am SO over going to the gym. I want to have a treadmill in my home - but I have no money - or space for it. I COULD put it in the sewing room - or even my bed room if I could really clean it up. Maybe I shoudl think about that. I also want to start doing the videos at home again. Maybe we should do an exercise video library on the blog here - we can review them for each other and do a monthly - or weekly - swap.

My final goal - I want to get Katie back involved here. She doesn't really need to lose more weight - but while she was reading and posting here she was also more committed to keeping ME committed.

Restating my goals

A year ago my main goal was to get to a healthy weight range (below 154), which I've done, and my dream goal was to get to my wedding weight of 135, which I did, but it's been drifting away. My BMI is currently 22.3, but at my low point it was 21.3. Both are healthy, but I don't like the upward trend! So my new goal is to get down to the range of 130 and stay there, with a 3 pound allowance on either side -- if I go above 133 it will be time to take action.

At this point, however, I'm less concerned about my weight -- unless I can't reverse the upward trend; I'm 1.5 pounds away from something very alarming to me -- and I'm more concerned about fitness. When I went running this weekend my body was really not up to the level it had been. I was sore for the next two days, too. Yesterday I took a walk of about 2 miles, so that's some exercise, but I need to be doing it every day. I'm going to make a fitness goal of exercising five days a week -- by this time next year I'd like that to be completely consistent in my life. I also want to be able to jog 5k in under 30 minutes again -- just a month ago that was possible, but I about died on Sunday (even without the killer hiding in the woods right there -- I nearly did myself in!) and I don't want that to continue.

I think if I get back to regular exercise the weight will take care of itself, but I'm also not eating a whole lot better than I did a year ago, which means if I slow down my weight will catch up to me right away, and I'm not doing my cholesterol levels any favors. This week I've been trying to make sure I get some fruit in my diet every day. I have successfully reduced my portion sizes at meals, particularly dinner and breakfast (my lunches were never unreasonable) so food changes aren't completely impossible for me, but I don't think it's realistic of me to say I'm going to change my eating much more than that. I enjoy food too much! I'll watch it vigilantly when my weight is going up, but I can't promise anything else, long-term.

Water retention

Remember I speculated on Tuesday that some of my weight gain might be water retention? Apparently I wasn't paying attention to the calendar--my period started that day when I totally wasn't expecting it, and since then my weight has dropped like a stone. 133.8 yesterday; 132.4 today. That's with no obvious effort on my part--I'm not eating much because I'm too busy at work (and work is spilling into home) to take the time to eat, but what I'm eating is junk. And of course I'm not exercising.

So about revisiting our goals of one year ago: my immediate goal at that point was to get down to 140 and my ultimate goal was to get to between 130 and 135. I've been at that "ultimate" goal for a couple of months now, maybe more. And I do seem to have settled into this weight--I fluctuate up and down, but haven't been above 135 for a while. My BMI has gone from slightly into the overweight category to resting on the borderline between "lean" and "healthy" (went from a BMI of 26 to 21). But, oddly, my actual weight is just slightly above the midline of healthy for my height, age, and frame size. The healthy weight range for me is between 117 and 143, and they say for my frame size (based on my elbow width I'm considered to have a small frame) I should weigh closer to the low end of that range. But frankly, getting down to 120 again is just not going to happen.

My goals now have more to do with fitness. A year ago I was panting from walking "fast" at 3.5 m.p.h. for 30 minutes. Now 3.5 m.p.h. is my cool down speed. I'm still trying to increase my speed so I can complete 3 miles in 31 or 32 minutes, but I have a ways to go. I've stopped doing pilates and I regret that--I need to go back to doing regular toning exercises because even though my weight is o.k. I feel myself losing strength again, especially in my abs, and as the muscles slacken, my clothes get tighter. I don't like that. So for the next year, I'm recommitting to exercise--back to three days of running and three days of either Pilates or some other strength building exercise every week.

One more weigh in day

We are just one week away from completing a full year of Tuesday weigh in days. I am impressed with us for sticking to it... even if not ALL of us are showing the results we hoped for - we have all made progress in some form or another.

I noticed that in at least one group shot at Pennsic this year my face looked considerably thinner - and I don't think it was just the hair cut. A couple people commented that they thought I looked like I was in better shape - so that is good. At one late night drunken party Anne grabbed my butt and then told her husband that I had a surprisingly tight ass. 8-) I told her it was because I am uptight. Actually I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I was standing on what was basically the same as a trampoline (very muddy ground filled with LOTS of wood chips) and was trying not to fall down - but maybe my butt is tighter. I didn't grab hers to compare. Hee hee. I also ended up walking around the whole camp that night (the WHOLE camp - all 5 miles - or whatever - of it) trying to prevent getting bed spins. I didn't have bed spins but I did end up with a blister from my flip flops.

Anyway - I think we need to all revisit our original goals and re-examine them. I think we need to see what we accomplished - what we have left to accomplish - and how we think we may go about doing that. The new school year starts this week for Katie - so now is a good time to set new goals!

156

I saw the 155's last week. but then I ate pizza last night for dinner. I haven't really been exercising either. The whole sinus headache thing gets in my way.

Completely unrelated but I imagine you'll appreciate this--my friends from County Planning (where I worked before JMT) sent me a scanned copy of one of O'Malley's campaign brochures yesterday. It is about health care and the quote says something like "Your health care should be influenced by doctors and nurses, not coporate profit margins." WELL--the "doctor" he is posing with in the picture is actually my old boss Izzy Patoka, who is his department head for a planning office spin-off called the Dept of Neighborhoods. I nearly peed when I saw it. Guess he couldn't get any real doctors to take a picture with him. he could have at least used someone that isn't a department head!

138.0

Not good. But I went running on Sunday, 3.1 miles around town, in 30:53 for the whole distance, even though I had to slow down to a walk three times -- I overdid the second mile and it really killed me. Yesterday I was so sore I could hardly move, and today I'm feeling a little better but still very sore, so I know I'd better go for a long walk today. We still haven't received our refund from the gym, so no new equipment or membership yet.

School starts for us tomorrow so I'll be too busy to keep snacking during the days. Yesterday I didn't eat all that well -- we had veal scaloppine for dinner, and wine, and a salad, and garlic bread, and I had an Oatmeal Stout later, and some cheddar -- it was our anniversary, so we felt free to indulge. Today I'll try to eat a little more sensibly, but we still have leftovers of all of the above, so no promises!

I'm glad you're all back from Pennsic!

210 even

That is all I have to report. I have been full up on post nasal drip - so I haven't been eating much in the last couple of days. The only things I can taste are super salty stuff - and even that stuff tastes off. I was 211.2 yesterday - and 209.4 on Wednesday morning when I weighed myself at 5:30am the day I went back to Pennsic - so I am pretty much holding steady.

Like Sarah I really feel like I need to get back on track. Katie is starting back to school today - so I think that will help us to plan better meals - although, our dinners have been consistantly pretty good all summer. We need to get more vegetables we are currently out.

I haven't eaten anything yet today. Again - I am in cold mode - so am not really feeling very hungry. I also have decided NOT to go to the gym today. This is premeditated gym blowing off. I just know I wouldn't be able to manage it. I also am thinking that if I can get away early today I will. I have not been sleeping well lately. Colds usually last 7 days and this one started on Saturday for me - so I am almost half done. I am feeling better today than yesterday - but I am still feeling pretty wooblely.

134.4

I can't remember what I was two weeks ago, but I know it wasn't that high. I don't know how much of my gain is from actual Pennsic-related weight gain (thanks to a diet consisting almost entirely of empty calories from chips, cider, and s'mores) and how much from water retention (my rings have been stuck on my fingers since returning from Pennsic and I was 135 on Sunday morning). I guess it really doesn't matter--I'm still backsliding.

My diet has been horrible, even after vacation. We haven't gone grocery shopping in a while so there is no yogurt, fresh fruit, healthy snacks (not even almonds), or really anything around the house. I was even out of coffee this morning, if you can imagine! Yesterday I brought the last of the almonds, some applesauce, and pretzles to work and then planned to go to the cafeteria for yogurt and fruit but by the time I got there the cafeteria is closed and I had to get vending machine food to eat. For dinner I had pizza left over from Sunday night's dinner, and then this morning I had none of my usual stuff around to pack for lunch so all I have with me is another slice of leftover pizza. And with the 8/29 deadline looming for this grant proposal, there's no way I'm getting out to the gym at all this week or even to the grocery store in the evenings--it's pretty much going to be me chained to my computer for the next week. So I'm just not even going to worry too much about my weight until after I get this proposal in and can return to a more normal schedule.

Speaking of normal schedules, Brian will be switching to third shift after Labor Day so I can count on less mindless snacking and more balanced meals in the evenings since we'll be eating together again. Yay! And with both of us home in the evenings, we'll also be able to get out to go grocery shopping on a more regular basis, so maybe we won't run out of healthy food again.

Good news!

Daniel talked to the owner of the gym yesterday (and it took only two calls to get ahold of him), and the guy was completely reasonable. When Daniel asked about grandfathering us in, he said it was impossible due to finances; they estimate that it's more than $40 per month per child, on the assumption that the child is there twice a week -- so even our $80 per month for the three kids wouldn't really cover their expenses. But when Daniel requested a prorated refund, he said he'd be happy to comply, and that they're doing as much for a number of other people. Whew!! Why couldn't the managers have been willing to say that would be the policy in the first place? Sheesh. Now we just have to wait for the refund -- I'll be on edge until it arrives.

We're looking into other gyms; there's one in town that's not as nice, but the costs are comparable and the childcare is free after a one-time fee of $5, which is incredibly cheap. But this time I'll know to get the childcare info in writing! We might instead purchase our own stuff, since we mostly use the bikes and an occasional treadmill, but that gets expensive, too, and we wouldn't have the weight equipment to use when the mood strikes us. We do have some hand weights around the house, but they're not as good.

I haven't exercised lately and I'm still eating badly. I'll be so glad when I can get back to a routine!

I'm still here

And my weight this morning was 137.0. I've been eating pretty poorly -- though not vast quantities, fortunately, except for this morning's breakfast of French toast! -- and I haven't been exercising. I did walk to Kroger yesterday, pushing the stroller, and it held 20 pounds of milk in addition to the kids for the uphill trek home -- so that has to count for something. But before that the last exercise was a week ago yesterday. Daniel is working on reaching the gym owner; so far he's been unavailable! I don't think much of this new guy yet. :-(

Nothing else to report -- it's been a quiet week!

Just Checking In

I would like to say I came home from Pennsic for the day JUST to weigh in - but sadly, it was for work. Sigh.

Anyway - my weight this morning was 210.6 - exactly the same as last week. I have been doing the Pennsic eating and drinking thing. We had McD's on the way up on Friday - I had a cheeseburger Happy Meal. Then I have no idea what all I have eaten at Pennsic. We tend to eat fairly healthy meals - and not all that much. It is too much darn effort to make food - or even get it out of packages. I haven't eaten in the food court yet - so my meals have been small and infrequent. I did have A doughnut for breakfast on both Sunday and Monday. I had scrambled eggs twice too - so I must have had second breakfasts on one day - maybe Sunday. Katie and I made dinner on Sunday night - Mediterranean Pasta - which I had as leftovers for lunch on Monday. Saturday night dinner was BBQ ribs and pasta salad and grilled vegetables. Last night they had beef stew - but I was already on my way home. I ate too much coming home. I had a sub from Sheetz - and a little can of Pringles, and a Heath bar and a Frappacino (the kind in a bottle). I was sleepy so I was eating to keep me awake. It was like a vicious cycle though. I was groggy so I ate - then I would perk up for a bit - and then crash, which made me groggy, so I ate. Sigh. I was home at about 8:40 - a little under 5 hours. I went by Sarah's to pick up some stuff she needed. I went to bed a little after 12 and was sleeping like a rock when my alarm went off this morning.

So far today I have only had coffee. I think I need to eat something.

Adventures in Davey-sitting

So while the gang's at Pennsic, I am now a 2-dog woman with Davey visiting for the week. Harry pretty much hated Davey the first day, but now he has at least stopped howling at him. No agression--just lots of noise. I imagine Harry to be shouting "Who let that dog in my hoooooooouse????" No matter how hard Davey tries to play with Harry, Harry just refuses. The one thing they do well together is beg for food. Davey also decided to get up at 3:30 this morning. I was not pleased. But he had to pee. So I was outside in my bare feet and pjs at 3:30 this morning walking around the yard. He's getting cut off from the water bowl at 10 pm tonight. I had dumped what was left of a bottle of spring water in the water dish last night and Davey must have thought that was the best tasting water ever--he drank it all. Then when Davey got up, Harry was in mid-dream and woke up pretty startled, so he was bruffing and growling until he saw that it was Davey making all the racket and then he curled back up and fell asleep again. Oh--and Davey will only eat Harry's food and Harry has been eating Davey's. So far there has been no consequences to that. I figure its all Iams dog food--Davey's is just the puppy formula and Harry eats the lamb & rice.

I did feel bad for Davey Friday night. Sarah, Claire & Connor dropped him off I guess around 7 pm or so, and he was all happy and checking out our house. About 2 minutes after they drove off, he realized that his people had left him and he was whining and pacing by the kitchen door. Poor puppy. he just had this look on his face like "Where'd they go?????" I bet he will be very glad to see everyone come Sunday.

So, that has been life so far this week. I am hoping everyone sleeps through the night tonight...

My weight--156.5. I have been eating like crap though and not exercising as much. My allergies are driving me nuts--my sinuses hurt so bad my top teeth ache as well, and running just makes the pressure build. I hope this goes away soon, although I heard on the radio this AM that the weather has created quite the crop of ragweed, so I am probably doomed until it frosts. Ick.

My weird diet

My food last night was like the "bad" women in those frozen food commercials (you know the ones where a bunch of women are standing around talking about what they ate for dinner and two of them always ate stuff like microwave popcorn and other junk and the third had some fancy gourmet thing that is actually a frozen meal although in real life if this conversation happened the frozen meal woman would say "I had some frozen thing that tasted like chemicals and I was starving again 45 minutes later so I ate a box of Oreos."). Anyway, my dinner last night--about eight chocolate chip cookies and a whole pile of deep fried zucchini. Healthy, huh? I came home from work starving because of a food failure at work (afternoon snack of fruit and yogurt fell through--the fruit was going bad so I only could eat half of it, then I took a bit of the yogurt and realized that what I *thought* was raspberry was actually strawberry banana and it made me gag) so ate all the cookies because they were there (which really is my problem) and then of course I wasn't really hungry for dinner but around the kids' bedtime I was getting hungry so I tried this fried julienned zucchini recipe because I have a ton of zucchini. It was really good (I ate about half of a zucchini's worth), so much so that I even got Connor to eat a few of them (the first green vegetable he's EVER eaten!). But then they sat in my stomach like lead. Ugh.

The dog food diet

This seemed appropriate for our blog. I saw it posted on one of my boards:

I have a Labrador retriever, and was buying a large bag of Purina at Wal-Mart and was in line to check out. The woman behind me asked if I had a dog? (Duh!) On impulse, I told her no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital the last time. But I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy who was standing behind her. Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me. I thought the guy standing behind her was going to have to have help as he laughingly staggered to the door.

Surprise!!

I decided to post and publicly admit that I am 155.5--exactly where I was when I started! I haven't been exercising much, with my broken ankle and still somewhat weak husband, but today I did do some heavy scrubbing of part of my basement floor. We got flooded again last night, even though I tried to dam up the door with a rolled up rug. We started pulling furniture around last night to get to some of the water and discovered that the corner near the fruit cellar and the floor behind the sofa were really filthy. So this morning I scrubbed them with straight Formula 409, and gave them a good rinse and they look better. I also did part of the area near my sewing machines and it looks a lot better. I have more to do after we put the funriture back, but that can wait a day or two.

I ate cereal for breakfast, and orange juice. I snacked on almonds several times during the day. For lunch I had a yogurt, a banana, a piece of zucchini bread, and a 1/4 of a dark chocolate bar--not a big one, but I can't remember the weight. I grazed all afternoon--more almonds, s string cheese, a can of diet non-caffeine Coke. For supper I made chicken marsala, and we had it with yellow squash and a big green and tomato salad. For dessert later we will have another piece of zucchini bread. For lunch I had a glass of milk and for supper I had a glass of orange drink--low calorie.

Maybe I'll try harder!

I lost the top half of this silly thing! I wrote that I am right back where I started--155.5--because I haven't been able to exercise and I have not been monitoring what I eat.

I did exercise today. I scrubbed a big part of the filthy basement floor, and I moved some furniture, with Dad's help. The last time I wrote this it was more detailed and more interesting!

All of us accounted for

Well - all of us die hards. We only have three more weigh in days until we hit one year at this. I am pretty proud of us. I am especially proud of you all who have lost good amounts and have improved your eating and exercise habits. I guess that would include me because I DO eat much better now than I have since I was 18. I also am in better shape - although I have not been great at the exercise thing the past few weeks. I did much better at not getting exhausted setting up at Pennsic. I was pleased.

Anyway - my weight was 210.6 this moring. So - still no noticible change - although it is still about 5 pounds down from my starting weight - which MAY have been inflated - but even so - I haven't GAINED over the past year - which I guess is progress.

Katie and I had SUCH a good dinner last night. We had the Mohito grilled chicken from Let's Dish, fresh corn on the cob and fresh tomato salad.

I did have a bit of a binge yesterday. I got a bag of those strangely compelling gummy peach rings. I ate several - and then several more this morning. They are - indeed - strangely compelling (Julie - was that your phrase, or Emily?).

I didn't go to the gym again today. I finished off most of my pre-Pennsic errands. I just have to get money and I am all set for the external stuff to be done. Now all I have to do is get myself organized and packed. Some of that is already done from last week, so I don't feel particularly panicked. None of my errands today were really Pennsic related in anyway - they were just things that I have been meaning to do for a while (returns mostly). I think it is kind of like returning home to a clean house. I just feel like I need to get these bits done before I go anywhere. I have plenty of those things left here to do at work too.

Next week I will be home on weigh in day. I think that is the only thing I am GLAD about in connection to the mid vacation return home thing-y that I have to do. I am sick. I am truely OCD about my weight charts. I HATE it when I miss a day.

Julie - I am sorry work has been stressy lately - but good for you sticking with your exercising!

156.5

Stress induced weight loss...Ugh. I can't even begin to explain so I just won't bother. I've been eating and exercising, but not eating that great and exercise has been normal amounts each day. 2 or 3 miles on the treadmill in some combo of walking & running.

135.5

Which is where I've been hovering the last week or so. I've been getting out for walks every once in a while -- yesterday I walked 2 1/2 miles with Cecilia in the umbrella stroller, and it's definitely not as solid a workout as having Alexander with me and both in the double stroller! But it was still moving, and it's better than nothing.

I called the gym today and they said the owner won't be back until next Monday. Grrr. After I'd gotten my nerve up to call, too! They have no idea how much I HATE using the telephone. I'm actually shaking about this confrontation and now it's still a week away. I'm starting to realize why people sue for compensation for "emotional damage". Imagine if this were something that really mattered, like the mess with the hospital last year!

My eating is not so good today -- because of the lack of decent bagels in Blacksburg I finally made some of my own today, and I've already eaten two and a half. That's almost my entire grains food group for the day! They're yummy. :-)

Happy weigh-in day!

Wanted to get that in my title so no one can "forget" that today is Tuesday and thus the day to report their current weight.

I was 132.8 this morning, holding steady from yesterday and the day before and a pound down from last week. Two pounds to go before I'm back where I want to be.

I haven't done ANY exercise since running in Williamsburg. I've just got so much going on at work that I haven't been taking any breaks, and this week I have double meetings every day except Friday in addition to all these deadlines so I probably won't make it to the gym this week either. Irritating when you think about it in real terms--if I managed to lose a pound just by reducing my intake in the past week, I could have lost another half pound at least if I had exercised as well. I think I'll force myself to do pilates at night--if I can get in three sessions this week, I won't beat myself up about not getting to the gym.

Oh I forgot...

I also meant to say that I am annoyed at myself. I intentionally didn't bring my gym bag with me to work because I have so many errands to run today (bank, post office, target, Coldwater Creek to return stuff...) but then I forgot to bring the stuff I need to run my errands (the stuff for the post office, the stuff to return to Coldwater Creek). I guess I can still go to the bank and Target - but the post office and Coldwater Creek will still need to be done. Grrr.

I know I didn't go to the gym on Friday because I left work at 4:30, and I know I didn't go on Thursday because I went to Boordy, but it doesn't feel like Tuesday was my last trip. Odd.

I HATE That

Back to what I said last week to Sarah - I gain when I expect to lose and vice versa.

This weekend actually could have gone either way. Friday night Katie and I drove up to Pennsic for land grad. So - that means five hours in a car with little to no activity. We stopped in Breezewood for dinner (Quiznos subs and Starbucks) - but otherwise were going the whole time. We hit an icky backup outside of Hagarstown which slowed us down for about 1/2 and hour. We made Pennsic by 12:30am. We set up our nylon tent and bedding, grabbed a couple of drinks and began wandering around. There wasn't a heck of a lot going on, but we picked up a few drunk boys. It was fun. We went to bed about 3am - got up for a potty break I am guessing around 4am - and then I woke up at 7am (Katie told me to set my internal alarm - but we didn't decide on what time. I set it for 7 - but then hit snooze until 8am - and it was dead on accurate each time!). We drank the dregs of our Starbucks and I ate a brownie that I bought the night before - and that was it for several hours.

We did a lot of work on Saturday. We unloaded the truck the I went with Rod and Jeremey to load it up again while Katie and Anne sorted what we already had. We then unloaded again - and decided to stop for lunch - triskets, cheese and cheese curls. We set up four yurts and my nylon tent again. Then we headed home. We got subs from Sheetz and cold Frappacinos We nibbled on these all the way home. We left about 5:30 and got home a little before 10:30. So we made good time.

Sunday I was pissed because my weight was 210.6 (I think) and today was 211.2 again. Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing. I intended to do stuff - make shirts for Connor, or a hat for Charles - or something... but got no farther than turning on the light in the sewing room. I was groggy all day - and took several 20 minute naps. I had cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast and left over German Potato salad for lunch - and some York Peppermint Patties during the day. We went out for sushi for dinner - and at some point I had a yogurt. Again that was it for the day... but REALLY no exercise.

I am looking forward to some of the classes at Pennsic this year. There are some good sounding ones. I hope I actually MAKE it to some of them. There are SEVERAL at 9am that sound interesting that I KNOE I won't make. Katie, Charles and I all want to do a pewter casting one - and there are a couple of jewelry making ones that Katie and I will probably do.

Tomatoes coming out my ears

One thing that can be said about my diet this week is that it has been rich in vegetables. Tomatoes have featured prominently in the majority of meals--tomato sandwiches, tomato and mozarella salad, diced tomatoes with eggs, bruchetta. Last night I made a tomato and bread salad (leftovers for lunch today--very yummy) AND tomato soup that featured the exact same ingredients as the salad but wasn't as yummy. You cook up garlic, tomatoes, and basil for about 15 minutes then add bread until it turns into a sort of porridge-y mush. It was too sweet (different type of tomatoes, no vinegar) and the texture did nothing for me. But I've got leftovers of that as well. Then I gave away tomatoes to anyone who would stand still long enough for me to offer, and I still have half a dozen fresh tomatoes left. And tomorrow I have to pick some more. I think I'd better go get another loaf of bread and some more fresh mozarella. Good thing I like this stuff!

Exercise--none. I haven't managed a lunch break all week, and I shouldn't be writing this now because I have a 2:00 meeting I'm not nearly prepared for. My only consolation is that I'm meeting with people who are even less prepared.

I am FURIOUS with my gym!

I went to the gym for the first time since Saturday (I've been walking instead -- we walked to French yesterday and twice to the same house the day before) and there was a notice on the door about a meeting for all parents who use childcare -- the meeting was yesterday, though, so I asked what it was about. On August 1 a new owner took over and as of next Monday childcare is going up from $5 a month (which you have to pre-pay with your membership) to $2 per child per visit (or $3 per child under 16 months). That means $7 a visit for me -- if I go three times a week, as we did during the school year, that's around $80 a month!!! The contracts are non-refundable and I JUST renewed in June for a full 12 months -- prepaid, as I said. But part of the deal was that I'd have this childcare -- we would never, ever, ever have renewed if we'd known this was coming.

Childcare is not explicitly mentioned in the contract so they claim they're not required to honor it, and I have no right to a refund of any kind if I cancel. I can NOT afford $80 a month and I can't afford for that much money in a membership to go to waste. The new owner is, conveniently, out of town until next week, so I can't even complain to him directly. (His letter states that he's a single parent -- I'm guessing he has ONE child, which would be a huge difference!) I filled out the cancellation form anyway and stated my reason for cancelling, and I requested a prorated refund, but the owner would have to approve it.

I understand why the new guy made the change -- they were losing money and childcare was decidedly a part of that drain, since they have to employ two people in the room at a time for about eight or nine hours a day. But they shouldn't be allowed to change it in the middle for people with prepaid contracts without giving us some kind of an opt-out.

I did submit this as a "news tip" to the Roanoke paper but I have little hope that anything will come of it. I am absoultely outraged.

Meanwhile I've been eating strangely -- I've been queasy the last few days (negative, before you ask) and it seems to be better if I keep eating, so I end up grazing. The snacks aren't too bad because we don't have much on hand, and I don't want anything very greasy or heavy. But it feels like I've been taking in far more calories than necessary, and I've been drinking a lot (mostly water and milk) because it's hot, so I don't think I'm dehydrated, but my weight was down to 135 today. Go figure.

Anyhoo. Time to calm down about the gym, since I can't do anything about it today!

It's been a while

I haven't posted since July 28th! That is a long time for me. I have been thinking about the blog and my weight and my lack of losing it - but I haven't actually logged it in a while. AND - on Tuesday it did not cross my mind ONE TIME that it was weigh in day. Luckily I weigh myself everyday anyway - so I have my weight... 211.0. Sigh. I was 210.2 yesterday and 209.8 today - so I am going down again.

Sarah - I have noticed that I tend to lose when I expect to gain and gain when I expect to lose - it is very frustrating. The day after each of my Coldstone milkshake fiascos I was down. How does that figure.

My food has been pretty darn good lately. I can't think of any remarkable strays in the past few days (well - a caramel cooler from Caribou - which I discovered recently is pretty high cal - I guess I will stick with iced lattes for my "treat" coffees - like the one I am sucking down now...) and today I had a small McD cheeseburger. I didn't bring any "lunch" food today (figuring I would survive on just my yogurt and V-8 - I could live off my fat for a while. Then Melanie bought two cheeseburgers for lunch and only wanted one. So I ate the other. Sigh. Katie and I had grilled chicken and fresh tomato salad for dinner last night. Tuesday night we had baked tilapia and fresh squash. My lunches have been the same stuff as always - skim milk, cereal, yogurt, V-8 and well beans and rice on Monday and chicken cheesesteak filling (and a few bites of roll) from Let's Dish. Applesauce one day, pineapples and cottage cheese yesterday for breakfast - stuff like that.

I went to the gym on Tuesday. I was intending to go today to - but I am not - and here is the reason. I have a heat rash under my boobies. I didn't wear my sports bra (thinking that it was tighter and would aggrivate it more - but I think it WOULD have been better. The underwire on my bra is rubbing ever so slightly and continuously on the rash and it is to the point that I am trying not to move - or even breathe - because it is making me SO NUTS right now. The idea of sweaty build up at this point (and that is where I sweat the most) is NOT appealing.

Going back down

Yesterday I was down to 133, today I was 132.2. Not through any good behavior on my part--I haven't made it to the gym once this week (and am not likely to with the deadlines I have), and yesterday I ate way too much all day (work retreat = lots of breakfast food, restaurant lunch, and pretty much just sitting around all day, followed by eating leftover pasta with pesto sauce for dinner. There was too much food for one serving of the leftovers, but not enough for two servings, so of course I just ate all of it rather than saving some for later!). So I have no idea why my weight is dropping when it went UP so much last week and over the weekend when I was way more active!

137

And serves me right. We had company the last two days and I cheerfully downed chips and beer with my cheeseburger (the first night) and grilled chicken with way too many sides (the second night). Today my stomach is off, too. Again, serves me right! I shouldn't be eating Pringles at midnight.

I plan to go to the gym this afternoon -- I'm going to try to drag Daniel along. I went on Saturday morning, and I spent all day Sunday cleaning hard (we were having a couple over with their three kids, so we knew they'd be all over the house and we couldn't ignore the kids' room or our bathroom, and in the past the wife of this couple has been of a somewhat critical nature, so I was worried -- but she really was great company this time!). I didn't get any exercise on Monday, though I was on my feet a lot, as we were outside with the kids in the pool and on the slip 'n' slide much of the day, which meant constant supervision. Today I'm going to do my nice, calm bike ride -- it will be relaxing by comparison!

133.8

Yuck. Now I need to lose three or four pounds to get back down to my goal. But I still don't see how I could be 130.8 last Wednesday and 133.8 now without really eating a ton or being a complete slug. Seriously, why is it that *losing* three pounds is so much effort and will take me at least two weeks of complete attention and absolute adherence to five days of exercise and 1200 - 1300 calories a day, but gaining three pounds in one week is so easy? It doesn't make any sense.

Shrinking

157.5 officialy. And my butt is smaller because I am wearing a skirt today that I have not been able to wear since the summer before last. This butt thing has happened since I started running fairly regularly. This skirt was one of my "gauges" to see what was changing. Yippee. Now I must maintain the momentum...