Not So Melancholy
2005-06-30, 1:01 p.m.

Day 311 Not so Melancholy

Dag nabbit. Missed my workout yesterday. Been so hot here, it�s been rough getting to sleep at night. Lack of AC can do that to you. Especially when it�s 90+ degrees outside. More so when ones bedroom is on the upper floor, on the south west corner of the house. Absolutely last thing the sun touches directly. So it�s been brutally hot. Sleep does not come easily. 5am came easy, and a little too soon. Hit the snooze. Somehow turned down the volume on the radio too. Slept right through the second coming of the alarm. Even C did, and she hears everything, even when she�s sleeping.

Isn�t it always like that though? The best, easiest sleeping seems to come just as it�s time to finally get up.

Even this morning, I almost missed the second go round with the alarm. Got to get that volume turned up a bit. Still managed to drag myself out of bed, late, but moving. Got the coffee pot all ready to go, then forgot to hit the timer button. Still, went to the Y, got in my work out. Had to, especially after missing yesterday. Tomorrow I need to get there a little sooner, like really at the butt crack of dawn, instead of half past. Seem to have stalled a bit in the weight loss category. Need to shake things up a bit.

This plateau is probably due to one or more of 3 main contributors.

1 � I�m actually putting on muscle and losing fat. That translates to losing inches, but not necessarily weight. I can accept that. Just wish I had measured something more than my waist to keep track of.

2 � I�m slipping a little on tracking calorie input. I�ve been estimating portions, quite possibly deceiving myself. Need to get the scales & measuring cups back out � at least for meats and carb heavy items. Probably suffer a bit of ridicule from C, but that�s just her jealousy acting out. It�s one thing being 6�1� and 220lbs, with your weight headed in the right direction. Quite another to be 5�1� and 210lbs with your weight headed no where good. (Drinking might be a contributor, or maybe I�m just a little bitter on THAT whole subject).

3 � Double stuff Oreo�s. I can�t help myself. Hazard of having the kids home from school. Four of them fit in my hand so nicely. And they taste soooooo good with a glass of milk (skim, of course). Did you know that 2 Double Stuff Oreo�s have 140 calories?? Only 2!! All of 140 calories!! That�s barely more than a mouthful. At least this latest batch is gone. And I helped!!

I knew having the kids home would put a damper on the weight loss. Plus, being summer time, some of my food choices haven�t been that great. Potato salad, macaroni salad, other convenience type foods. It�s been so hot � no one feels like cooking. So much easier (and cooler) to pick up something pre-prepared at the grocery store. Options for healthy meals decrease drastically when you don�t cook them yourself.

So, if the input isn�t going to be decreasing, voluntarily or not, the output needs to increase. I�m thinking on the order of 3500 calories a week as an initial target. That�s like 500 calories a day � or one intense 30 minute session on the elliptical. Maybe an hour of easy bike riding. An extra 3500 calories would amount to 1 pound per week. Been trying to drop 2 pounds/week and have been successful. Until now. Actually have not lost an ounce in 2 weeks. So I�ll try the aerobic shakeup, getting more/longer sessions in. Hoping things bust loose in the next week or two. I have been decreasing my caloric intake (at least I think I have, {and yes � I do enter those Oreo�s into my food log}) to keep pace with my weight. Might have to do another re-assessment there. And lay off the freakin Oreo�s.

311 days down. But not my weight. I�m working on it though.

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