WHERE'S THE REST OF ME??

So I weighed in at 201.4 yesterday, which means I have lost MORE THAN 10 PERCENT OF MY WEIGHT HURRAY FOR ME!!

I'm very proud of myself, although to be fair, it's my body that did most of the work. So hurray for my body! Thanks, body/buddy, and sorry about that bowling episode the other day.

See, I signed up to participate in this Bowl-A-Thon next Wednesday at work, so since I had some time off on Friday, and since I haven't actually bowled for at least ten years, I decided to go practice at a nearby alley. (Aptly named, since the one I went to kinda resembled an alley - dirty, trashy and kinda smelly.)

But I digress! Anyway, I bowled nonstop for a full hour and it felt really good - till about an hour after I got home, when my muscles started singing ("Ow-leluja - Ow-leluja!"). They're still sore, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bowl when I'm actually SUPPOSED to.

Though since my highest score, out of 5 games, was only 83, they might not care whether I do or not. I'll let you know how it went next week!

Another Monday morning ... but not too bad

I know, it's the biggest cliche in the world, right? "I hate Mondays!"

I really don't hate them all that much, though, especially today, since I'm taking the afternoon off work ALL WEEK LONG! Hurray!

So what am I going to do with all that free time, you ask? Well - not really that much. It takes me about an hour of commuting time to actually get home and by that time there's really not that many places I can go shopping, etc. without hitting the afternoon rush hour traffic which I took the time off to avoid.

Still - it's nice to know I'll only have to be here for a short time. Sort of like taking a realllyyy long lunch hour!

And since I am indulging myself during these last 3 weeks of August by taking a lot of short days, I've decided not to go to Curves on Monday-Wednesday-Friday as usual. Instead, I'm going to go on Tuesday & Thursday, then do something different on weekends. Like walking. Or perhaps half an hour on my "stationary bike" in the back yard.

I put the "quotes" around it because it's actually a real bike -- I bought it last year but was afraid to ride it because it was too high for me to stay balanced on. So there it sat in the garage, gathering dust and spiderwebs. When I went out one morning and saw the words "Some Pig" in one of the webs, I figured I'd better do something!

I found a neat device called a "bike trainer". It's basically a stand which attaches to the back wheel, holding it firmly in place. So you can ride it to your heart's content without actually moving an inch!

I set it up out back next to our Tuff Shed, where there's an electric outlet. I can put my ancient 13" TV/VCR combo with separate attached DVD player on a table in front of it, pop in a "Green Acres" or "Father Ted" DVD (or even "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", as I did yesterday), and pedal away! It's really a fun way to get in my every-other-day exercise.

Nothing against Curves, but as anyone who goes there regularly knows, once you get into the exercise habit, there does come a point where you want to do something different. So this is my "something different" - for now. In the fall, like the kids returning, grumbling, to school, I'll return, grumbling, to Curves 3 times a week.

(Oh, the weight loss thing? Down two more pounds, to 203!)

What goes down must (occasionally) go up ...

Oopsie ... went UP by 0.8 pounds this week. Oh well, I think it's probably just a blip in the overall scheme of things. At least I hope so!

But given that I've established a fairly regular exercise program and streamlined my daily menu so it's no problem to stay within my POINTS range, I'm not too worried. (Of course, if it goes up NEXT week, and the NEXT week ... but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!)

Speaking of exercise, I've been kinda sorta getting into biking. What I mean is that I'm charmed by the *idea* of biking, but haven't actually gotten too good at the actual *pedaling* and *balancing on two wheels* thingies that go with the idea!

I did buy a folding bike from Amazon - and managed to pinch off a chunk of the flesh on my thumb while closing the kickstand - YEOWWW!!

Then yesterday, I was testing an Electra Townie 3-speed with 26" wheels in the parking lot of a bike shop; and was doing great till I noticed I was heading right for a parked car. So instead of just hitting the car and taking my chances, I hit the brakes and tried to jump off the bike - landing directly on my left ankle, which really, really, REALLY hurt! Sniff!

Fortunately my husband was there with me, so he was able to drive me home. And it didn't deter me from wanting to get a bike. But (a) I think I'm going to hold out for 24" wheels and (b) I'm going to avoid any test drives - and perhaps walking in general! - for a few days, till I'm sure my ankle is OK.

Sigh. Could it be that the Bicycle Gods are trying to tell me something??