12/10 update

Well, I regained.  I am still going to the gym every day, except a couple times I missed it.  I think the blame mostly lies in not being so attentive to the food going in my mouth.  That loss of focus started when Mom came back.  Now Dad is back.  We all share the same kitchen, they tend to choose cheaper, bulk products that are pretty easy to grab and full of the wrong carbs, like microwave pizzas and crummy chicken pot pies.  Sweets that aren't really *good* but have enough sugar and refined flour to keep me reaching for them.  Now that they are home, I need to try harder.  They both say they want to "go on" "my diet" - I think having realized that would help.  However, they are possibly going to balk at the cost, if they ever figure out which are the wrong foods, and that bringing the wrong foods in the house and hoping I will be able to train myself to have "just a small portion and then stop" is not where I am right now!  Also, I should stop buying movie theatre popcorn.  I've been going out to the movies kind of a lot - 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Thor 2, last night a great flick called Rare Exports.  Today I'm thinking Frozen.  For some reason all my Facebook friends are going to see it and oohing and so on over it.  I actually did high school theatre with the lyricist, and I am kind of enchanted with the idea of a female lead with secret enchantress powers.  So my reasons not to go to a Disney animated movie are dwindling, despite the fact that I *usually* am less responsive to kid's movies than some of my friends.  (I have this debate thingy with a friend who says Pixar is awesome, and I'm ready to agree it's great and all that except I don't want to see any of their movies.  Most of them just plain look ugly to me.  For instance, Toy Story - looked ugly, nothing about it attracted me, and I figured I'd just never see it.  EVERYONE says it's JUST WONDERFUL and someone told me I really should check it out despite my misgivings.  Having seen it, I figure it's fine for kids - rather dull tale for grown-ups, despite revolutionary tech behind it and the star-studded cast - but I'm more convinced than ever that I should listen to my inner voice when deciding which kids' movies *I* want to see or not.  I did love Wall-E, by Pixar.  But that's it.)

Anyway, I gained a little weight back which is sad.  I stopped tracking my exercise and calories at LoseIt, so I can't point out the reason, but I'm sure it has to do with reaching out for too many of the wrong foods.  The slackening probably started around Thanksgiving!

I need to start working in weight lifting.  I tried yesterday.  I found that attempting to use the heavy weights I'm used to on my legs (especially the leg extension) was kinda crunchy and painful on my knee.  So I used lighter weights and lifted for a while.  It was all a bit more freestyle than I'm used to - I need to find the right system at the gym and hopefully be able to track my proper weights for each machine.  Today, I only feel it in my triceps.  And I'm looking at myself sitting on my bed now with the amount my belly is sticking out, my fat upper arms.  But I am resigned that now it's no longer about appearance, it's about maintaining a system for improving my health and then living healthily.  It's just that I hope that will involve taking some weight off these joints eventually!