R.I.P. George Carlin
1937-2008


And the world is a less funny place.

Boy, just a reminder of how progress can be undone by just one indiscretion. It was looking to be a good week. I had a pretty surprising nearly two-pound drop on the last day of the week, which seemed like nothing but good news going into this morning's weigh-in. However, I probably should have questioned why I had such a large weight drop on a day that I didn't do anything particularly special (I did play boatball, a kind of waterpolo in kayaks, for about an hour and a half, which really wasn't enough to justify a loss that big); it probably meant that I was perhaps dehydrated and had some water loss. Anyway, maybe if I'd worked really hard yesterday I might have kept the loss for my weekly weigh-in this morning and gotten some cash out of it. Instead, we went to the local Chinese buffet for dinner last night. Chinese, along with Mexican, seems to be the absolute WORST thing that I can possibly eat when it comes to my weight. Even pizza and pasta don't have the effect that Chinese and Mexican seem to. I think it is the high salt content of the foods--I suspect I retain quite a bit of water when I consume them. Plus, the Chinese buffet is just an open invitation to eat way too much anyway. And the sauces, while being salty, are also high in sugar, which certainly doesn't help. So the ultimate result of the week, instead of being an almost two-pound drop, was a .2 pound GAIN. I gained two entire pounds in one night. Now, whether that was just because of the water or if I actually DID manage to lose and then gain two pounds in just two days' time, I don't know. But it sure turned what looked like a good week into a major disappointment.

We went camping this past weekend in a national forest service park campground. The first few nights were pretty quiet--the campground was mostly empty; obviously the gas prices are pretty prohibitive for a lot of people. But the last night people started to roll in, and by the middle of the night (like, 2 a.m.), the campground had filled up. And I developed some rules for staying in a public campground:

1. If you are going to come in really late (like, after midnight), consider changing your travel plans and possibly staying in a motel the first night. It's pretty much impossible to set up camp quietly.

2. If your dog barks at other dogs, unfamiliar people, strange noises, birds, trees, leaves, dirt, etc., leave the poor thing at home. You won't have to shush it the whole time and your camp neighbors will thank you.

3. If you are musically inclined, have a large stereo, or are a hippie, think twice about serenading your fellow campers. Despite your talents, you may be surprised to learn that not all your neighbors really want to hear your version of "Brown-Eyed Girl".

4. While some small children enjoy camping, you may consider the impact they'll have on the campground before taking the family on that trip. Do your children have any kind of volume control? Are they likely to barrel through other campsites while trying to catch fireflies? Do they like to poke their heads under the doors of restroom stalls even in the filthiest campground conditions? Take the kids to a motel and go to Disney Land instead. At least in a motel there are walls between your children and your neighbors. In a campground, all your neighbors have for protection is their nylon tent. Save the camping trip for when they have a little more self-control.

5. Don't be an early riser. Even if you normally get up at 5:30 a.m., try to sleep in. If you simply can't sleep any longer, bring a book to read, and don't start shuffling around your campsite until your neighbors begin to stir. If you absolutely need to get up early because you have a schedule to keep, pack up what needs to be packed the night before, so you don't make as much noise in the morning.

6. Conversely, don't be a night-owl either. Your lantern lights up the whole campground, and even the flickering flame of your campfire can be a distraction to neighbors trying to get some sleep. If you think you and your friends are whispering, you aren't.

I'm sure there are more rules that I will think of later, but take these to heart if you are planning a camping trip soon...

Just a quick "Yay me!" because I've got a lot to do in the next few hours--we're going camping. My last post was one of frustration and disappointment because I've had some backsliding lately. But this week has been quite the turn-around. I made my best workout record so far--five days, and three of them multiple-workout days. And, I ate pretty well for the week, which made for the ultimate combination of a 4+ pound weight loss for the week! Yay! I must have been a real slug the past few weeks to have such a good weight loss this week and such horrible gains/non-losses the previous weeks.

But now for one of my tests--we're leaving for a camping trip this afternoon, and as I've mentioned before, camping seems to bring out the worst in my eating, regardless of how much physical activity I get. So we'll see if I can duplicate my success. We'll find out Monday morning...

Well, I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I've now had two straight weeks of backsliding, after three solid weeks of weight loss. I've gained back half of the 6 pounds I had dropped. I'm definitely frustrated, because this past week was much better about working out than the previous two had been. I think the biggest obstacle to my weight loss is not really the exercise at all, but the eating. I'm still not good about my portion control, and staying at home for most of the day I find myself grazing all day long. I've tried chewing gum when I get the urge to snack, but all that's done is burn through one of those "big pack" containers of gum in a week and give me a raging headache. I still find myself rummaging through the cabinets. I can't decide which is worse: having snacks in the house to eat, or not having any at all, which causes me to pull out and make things that aren't really snacks and end up eating too much.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to do about the snacking thing. I try to get out of the house, but the Southern summer with it's 90+ degree and 95+ humidity doesn't make that much fun. And of course forget the driving with gas being what it is right now. My husband is driving the more efficient vehicle to work now, since I really don't have many long-distance errands to run, which leaves me with the gas-guzzling pickup. I want to be as green as I can be, which means leaving the truck in the driveway. Maybe I've got a little cabin fever in the middle of the summer, I don't know.

So, I have a few things to work on. Portion control and snacking. I'm five weeks down in my fifteen-week summer experiment, and I haven't even managed a pound a week. Need to buckle down, or I won't have much of a shopping spree at the end of the summer (and I won't need one because all the "fat" clothes will still fit).

The first couple of weeks, I actually did pretty well with my eating and working out. I managed to drop a few pounds, and even weighed in under 190. Then, I hit the last week of school. I had lots of grading to do, with research papers and exams. I was up late grading and up again early, but not to work out. I didn't work out before school because I was grading until it was time to go to school. In the afternoons I stayed at school as long as I could to grade, then came home. We had company all week, so it meant no working out at night, because they'd been at home all day long while we were at work. It also meant food. We cooked big meals at home and went out a few times too.

Then the weekend came. We did our annual family camping trip. While there was exercise involved (two days of flat-water paddling plus lots of running around the campground with my nieces), there was also food. Or more appropriately, FOOD. Something about the great outdoors makes you want to eat. Food tastes really good in the outdoors. And, you've worked up an appetite from all the activities. Finally, add in the fact that there is nowhere to put leftovers, so you hear the family battle cry of "Finish it up" after you've already had two servings. And of course, the food is the good, hot, hearty kind, with lots of meat, cheese, potatoes, bacon, creamy sauces...OK, now I'm hungry again.

Then last week I spent all my time either in meetings for the end of the school year or packing up my classroom, as well as going out to eat with coworkers. I just didn't feel like working out. Bad, I know.

So it all boils down to a slight weight gain. I'm still down overall from my initial weigh-in, but I'm back at 191 after SWEARING that my weigh-in at 189 would be the breakthrough I was looking for. Meh.

The GOOD thing now, though, is that I've officially started my summer, and I'm really going to try incorporating some things that I haven't done in a while. I'm going to try to run around the neighborhood a few mornings a week, and swim at the gym the other mornings (minimizing driving and gas and all that crap). Maybe once or twice a week I'll take my skates or boat or dog up to the big nature park in Memphis. I'm also going to try using my mountain bike to run whatever errands (small shopping trips etc) in town, and not drive up to Southaven so often. This whole gas thing is ridiculous anyway.

So hopefully with the exercise and some better eating, I may be able to get back on track. We'll see.