My week

Sorry it's been a while since I posted--new job and child care crisis (still not completely resolved) kept me busy most days.

I'm keeping to my diet and exercise routine with no problems (even managing a work party with little effort--I ate the fruit and one cookie instead of lots of cookies and one piece of melon as I would have in the past!). A couple of nights this week I didn't have the opportunity to do my pilates videos (because Connor was up late and I've discovered I can't do these videos with him around or he uses me as a human jungle gym) so I did other exercises instead--crunches, squats, triceps dips, etc.--for about 20 minutes each night. This morning I increased the distance I covered during my walk by about a half a mile (so up to 3.5 miles) and ran part of the way. I discovered that Boudreux's Butt Paste slathered on my toes prevents blisters. Great stuff, that. Unfortunately, they're still out of commission from Hurricane Katrina so I'm worried that my supply will run out! We're also investing in a used jogging stroller so I can walk with the kids in the evenings.

My weight is still dropping, not daily, but still enough that I think I'm on the right track. For those with worries about having hit a plateau (although I agree with Amy that it isn't a plateau unless you've been there for a couple of weeks) the obvious thing to do is kick your exercise up a bit and cut more calories. Also keep careful track of your intake--it's easy to go way beyond your limit without being aware of it. Most diets I've read say that 1400 to 1500 calories a day is optimal for weight loss. There's an article in one of the Fitness magazines about weight loss plateaus (plateaux?)--I'll see if I can find it.

Katie, I'm in the same boat that I'm not sure what my starting weight was. There seems to be a 3 pound difference between my old scale and new, which would put my starting weight at 160, but that feels like cheating to me, so I'm using 158 as my starting weight, which was what I weighed at my annual physical in the winter. What I'm really looking forward to is breaking the 150 pound mark, but that's still several pounds away.