Well, things may be improving. After a week of working out every day (although I did take yesterday off as a rebuilding day--I have a nasty cold and just didn't have the energy to work out), I weighed myself in the middle of the day, only a few hours after eating lunch, and found myself at 180. That means I managed to drop 4 lbs somewhere somehow this week. That's good.

It's my eating that continues to be a problem. All this working out makes me hungry, and so I'll eat and eat and eat. My food choices, while not necessarily horrific (it's not like I'm binging on Twinkies or anything) are not super-healthy, and the size of the portions definitely will cause some problems. Here's what www.shapefit.com says about portion sizes:

* 1 oz. meat: size of a matchbox
* 3 oz. meat: size of a deck of cards or bar of soap-the recommended portion for a meal
* 8 oz. meat: size of a thin paperback book
* 3 oz. fish: size of a checkbook
* 1 oz. cheese: size of 4 dice
* Medium potato: size of a computer mouse
* 2 Tbs. peanut butter: size of a ping pong ball
* 1 cup pasta: size of a tennis ball
* Average bagel: size of a hockey puck.

I don't know about you, but I couldn't tell you the last time I consumed a piece of meat that was only the size of a bar of soap, unless it was then followed by several more similarly sized pieces. I LOVE meat. I have a number of friends who are vegetarian, even vegan, and while I can certainly respect the reasons behind their choices, I cannot follow suit. I agree with comedian Dennis Leary: "Broccoli is a side dish, folks. Always was, always will be." I have actually had physical cravings for steak when I haven't had much red meat in a while. My vegetarian friends are quick to point out that the foods that tend to induce cravings are the unhealthy ones. I agree. Never in my life have I craved celery. But I've craved Oreos for sure. But as long as I exercise to compensate, and don't overdo it, I should be able to indulge my cravings occasionally. The problem is, the restaurants don't seem to agree with those portion sizes either. Come on, have you ever ordered a steak (that wasn't a super-expensive filet mignon or something) that was the size of a bar of soap? I usually order the prime rib that ends up being half a cow.

So I guess the lesson I must learn is, if I'm not willing to cut back on portions, I must compensate with even longer and more strenuous workouts to make up for it. I wish my gym was open 24 hours a day. I could just sleep on weekends...

So. I have a mixed bag o'blog today.

First of all, I want to trumpet to the heavens my success in working out this week. I actually made it to the gym at 5:00 a.m. for five consecutive days. Hooray! I will admit that yesterday and today were pretty rough, though. Both days there was tremendous temptation to shut off the alarm and go back to bed. But I made it, and I'm pleased with myself. Monday, Wednesday, and this morning I gerbiled on the elliptical machine for thirty minutes and then shut myself in one of the racquetball courts for the other thirty minutes. You wouldn't naturally assume that a game of racquetball against yourself could be much exercise, but when you have as little control over your shots as I do, it really is quite a workout, running all around the court, bouncing off walls and such. I'm sure anyone who walks by thinks it sad that I have no friends to play with (actually I do, but they don't want to get up that early), but heck, it's a pretty good workout, so I'll keep it up. Then Tuesday and Thursday I swam for the hour I was there. Pretty pathetic since I haven't been in the pool since the beginning of last fall, but I haven't drowned yet so that's a good thing. I am totally bushed, though, with all these early mornings. Coupled with my Lenten sacrifice of any and all caffienated beverages, I am one pooped puppy.

But here's the downside to today's entry. Somehow, I've gained weight. When I weighed in the other night, I actually hit 184, the heaviest I've been in about a year. I am beside myself with fury! My scale measures body fat and hydration, both of which have been excellent (as a matter of fact, I believe my body fat is at it's lowest point in this experiment). But although I know academically that the body fat percentage is more important than the actual poundage, it's the pounds that are pissing me off. I'm a solid ten pounds heavier than my lightest weight to date, and that makes me very unhappy. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I'm actually exercising seriously for the first time in probaby six months and am therefore building muscle back up, but it's so incredibly disheartening I could cry. And what makes me more worried is the possibility that it isn't just building muscle. Since I've been exercising at least once every day this week (and a couple times I even made it back to the gym at night), I've been hungrier. I've really had to fight the urge to snack all throughout the day, and I don't think I've been as successful at it as I could be. I think I've been exceeding my self-imposed caloric limit; by how much I can't say because I don't track my eating. It's just a little bit here, and a little bit there, and then a late dinner because we've gone to the gym and *POOF* I'm back in the mid-180's. I'm really going to try to cut back on my snacking at work. I need to find some low calorie snacks that really are very filling. So far microwave popcorn seems to be the best bet. Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Well, I'm going to give it another week. I plan to try and make it to the gym every morning next week as well, along with any evenings I can squeeze into my schedule. I will also really try to check my eating habits. But if the weight remains at the end of next week, well, I really don't know what I'm going to do.

Whew! Sorry for the nearly whole month of non-posting! I've had good reason to be busy. The annual research papers were due on Feb. 20. I postponed grading them during that week because I had other things to do (namely, prepare for and attend the state swimming championships that next weekend). Then, I discovered that the research papers had a problem--they were terrible. In previous years the papers took me approximately 20-30 minutes each to grade; this year each paper took me about an hour apiece. Ouch. Last year's were about the same. Many of last years papers were poor because the kids had difficulty following directions; this year the papers were poor because the kids were too lazy to follow directions. I don't know where the change has come the past couple of years; the first three years I taught at the school the papers were on the whole pretty good, with the average amount of not-so-good and fabulous. Last year and this year: few fabulous and a hella lot of not-so-good, with a horrendous amount of really, really bad. Anyway, I frantically graded, returned the papers, and kindly gave the students the option of correcting the mistakes and resubmitting the papers. They did, which meant I had to regrade them before the end of the quarter (which was last Friday). Between the grading, regrading, and frantic housecleaning (my parents visited for the week), I haven't had nearly the time to do any blogging.

I have not done a good job keeping up with my New Year's resolutions. I did not make it down to 170 lbs before Spring Break started (I did have a doctor's appointment last Friday, and fully dressed but without shoes I weighed in at 174, but that isn't close enough). I could still make it to 160 by the end of the school year, but it will mean I really need to get back into working out regularly and eating less than I did this week (taking my parents out to eat a few times really didn't help matters I'm sure). I'll weight myself tonight to get a new starting number for this part of the experiement.

I also haven't done a great job with my grading. I postponed grading a number of assignments because I was working on the research papers. I was pretty stressed last Friday trying to get it all done. I need to do much better this last quarter. I will try to grade all assignments on the day they are submitted and enter them into the computer within a day.

On the plus side, my house is in pretty good shape. My husband and I frantically cleaned and primped all last week. We put up some artwork and picture frames we'd been given for Christmas but hadn't done anything with, we got some new rugs and curtains, and we cleaned up the guest room, kitchen, and bathroom more than we probably have in six months. Sad, but true. Anyway, it should make the house a little easier to keep clean, since we've got it in pretty good condition right now.

Anyway, I'll try to be better about blogging, weight loss, grading, and general life. Hopefully I can survive until summer vacation. It looks so far away...