Still half-assedly at it.  But I am showing slow progress.  Took off 8 pounds since my last entry.  At least I am getting rid of some of this.  It's still hard.  I still keep cheating.  But typically, now I can go for a few days sticking with it.  Then the weekend rolls around or a holiday or somebody comes to town.  Then there are problems as I can't say no to eating out and eating a lot when I do.  And even during work.  I've had a couple of weeks where I just thought, "Screw it," and ate a lot of lovely fatty, sugary stuff.  I went through a phase of buying an expensive, huge slice of deeply rich chocolate cake from Zio's every day that I got a chance for about 3 weeks.  And for 2 weeks I started buying Heritage Dr. Pepper (made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup) even though I'm not supposed to consume caffeine.  If my cardiologist knew, he would be the one having a heart attack!!  Never have got my exercise program back regular.  I do about 20 minutes of cardio 4 days a week.  My work schedule changed which hasn't made it any easier to find time to make myself go to the gym.  *Sigh*  But of course there are grandiose plans for the future when I finally get hold of myself. 

     I finally made it back to serious diet mode.  It took all month.  I joined another weight loss contest at work, as part of a team this time.  But I continued to hem and haw through most of the ten weeks of it with my moto "I'll forget about it for now and just start over in the morning."  Eventually I was down to having no more tomorrows left!  Three weeks to lose my promised ten pounds!  Impossible!  Especially for me.  So we lost.  BUT.  During those three weeks, I finally got back in the diet way of life again.  I had to force myself to stick with it at first.  After the first week, I realized I felt a little bettter-not as tired.  I had missed eating so many fresh vegetables instead of junk.  Lucky time of year with so many fruits and berries coming in season.  Many days I still struggle.  Have to talk to myself like a child, "No!  You may not have that candy bar,,,Just forget about that pop, you can drink water."  The biggest help is having food already prepared at break times at work.  Than you don't go to the fat ladden cafeteria or over sugared vending machines.  (Love those little chocolate doughnuts, it's best to not even LOOK at the vending machines!) 

     I'm sticking to planned meals during the work week.  Weekends I am limiting to 2 meals out with friends and 2-4 snack type items, managing to eat a healthy, planned breakfast those days.  I am not quite back on Body For Life just yet.  I still have trouble with snack items left around the house when I get home from work.  I sometimes still nibble on potato chips or cheese and crackers while fixing dinner.  At least I do battle with self instead of saying, "oh may as well forget it tonight, I'll start over in the morning."  Instead I keep saying stop that and no more, and eventually quit.  I'm ahead enough that I've taken 3 pounds off this month. 

     Since I haven't started lifting weights again yet, I have kept protein down to a minimum.  I'll add in two more servings once I get back in enough shape to start visiting the gym again.  STILL bothered by my hamstrings!  I know what it is.  I just have to start carefully working them again.

     Trying to get back on my favorite weight loss plan, Body For Life.  Since I last wrote, I spend about 3-4 days sticking to it and 3-4 days, slacking.  So, I lost about 4 pounds, which for me is not bad, since the new year started.  I gradually had to implement my rules.  Small changes can help, especially if you add another one in periodically.  It seemed too hard to jump in all at once which just goes to show how badly deteriorated are my former good practises!  I have got back to being able to ignore the vending machines at work.  I don't eat breakfast in the cafeteria unless I get up too late and don't leave enough preparation time to eat something at home and pack decent food.  I do good at work when I pack meals.  At home though, I still have trouble snacking while I fix dinner or afterwards.  My Mom isn't interested in being cooperative about avoiding filling the house with junk!  I think if I can get that part of it down ( avoiding eating extra stuff at home) I will be well on my way to losing more weight.  Good luck to everybody else out there fighting these battles.  

     Over the holidays regained even more weight.  Drat it, I'm heavier now then when I even started this blog.  I now have the last 37 pounds to go.  Grumble, grumble.  I really haven't been trying.  (Duh, you say?)  Everyday seems like I say, "I'll start tomorrow, but today I'm going to eat these cookies.  In fact, maybe the whole box while I'm at it." 

     NO MORE.  This morning, I am starting all over, my eating plan for the rest of my life.  My hamstrings are finally well enough that if I am careful and don't push them too hard, I can start exercising them again.  Along with everything else.  I haven't done anything except the walking I have to do at work anyway.  Which miraculously has been enough to keep my blood pressure normal. 

     Yes, I really don't want to do it.  It is push time.  Push, self, push!  Get in there and eat that measured serving of fiber cerial.  Forget all about the bakery...I don't care if you don't want to...Because I said so!  

     No, I don't want to continue the way I have been either.  I'm getting tired of a lot of the food I eat, anyway.  But I am especially tired of the way I feel.  Puffy, having to turn sideways again to go through some spaces, busting out of my size 14's, starting to lack energy, going through blue spells more and more from too much sugar, and I am sure from the imbalance of it all. 

     Bleah!  

     Oh, not much different to tell.  Still on vacation from dieting.  Yet another attitude problem to tackle:  Thinking I can just take off from my diet.  It must become a way of life.  I did it for a while.  Years ago, when I started this blog I was sticking with it, even when taking trips or holiday time off of work.  A diet can't be temporary.  repeat to self:  A diet is a way of life, not a temporary fix!

     On a happier note, one of the ladies in our scootering club is still finding rides we can do.  Five of us did a charity ride of 110 miles through a few small towns (like a poker run only drawing colored marbles then being scored by the color.)  It was posted on motorcycle sites but invited any vehicles.  Most of the particpants were leather-clad, bandana wearing guys on choppers and big motorcycles who just couldn't seem to get over the fact that we kept showing up on those colorful little scooters at all the stops! 

     Been so busy with the scooter club.  Actually active on the weekends.  Took two road trips.  Last weekend, a few of us went out of town on our scooters for a rally.  We road 100 miles on an old state highway and stayed over two nights/three days.  I was nerveous about going that far, for fear of a possible breakdown.  But one of the women in my club let a guy use her car and trailer to transport his scooter down, and he followed us.  That way we still had room on the trailer, too, if one of us broke down.  Mostly, it was really fun and a great getaway.  When you are traveling or staying somewhere that isn't home, do you find yourself so caught up in the moments that home and work feel like they were left behind ages ago?  You know, your usual routines don't work and everything is in different places so you are more conscious of every moments activities.  Anyway, now I am back.  The days are cooling off fast and the "season" is coming to a close.  The only riding activity people talk about until spring is one of the toy runs.

     Unfortunately, I have been careless in my eating, and I haven't lost anymore weight or eaten right.  It isn't just because I was busy.  I just sort of went on vacation there, too.  My motivation just isn't what it once was.  Time to knuckle down and get back in the groove for real.  I need to pursue a low fat way of eating, anyway.  I think it is supposed to help prevent fibroids.  And I am at that age.  When winter starts looming on the horizon, I feel like settling into everyday life, anyway.  May as well settle into healthy habits, eh?

     I took a few days off work around the holiday, as I was reaching burn-out stage.  Not good for my weight.  I ate out with friends too much and I lose a lot of activity when I don't work.  (My job is very physical.)  So my weight was back up a couple of pounds, though it has slipped back down to 157.5 this week.  Even though I stayed busy, got some things accomplished, saw some friends, rode the scooter and got a brand new, exciting camara, I felt increasingly blue.  I worry about my retirement years.  How am I going to keep this weight off and avoid depression without my run-your-ass-off job which I don't even love?  Actually, I read back over some old posts and decided what I really need to do is watch the sugar I eat.  I've been quite a bit more lax than when I first started this blog.  Back then, I strictly avoided it except for Sundays.  Although after many months this phenomena eased off, at first I could really tell the sugar affected me cause I had blues on Mondays, sometimes even into Tuesdays.  Is chocolate layer cake really worth it?  Yes?  No?  I hate these kinds of questions?!? 

     Of course, there is another reason.  Our company surprised me this year.  We didn't expect OT due to the economy.  Yet, our heavy season is here as usual and we are scheduled for extra-day overtime.  In fact more overtime than usual.  I have exactly three days off the rest of this month, IF I'm lucky and my department keeps up!  

     Not much money, no place to go, I thought I would catch up on a variety of things during my vacation that I had been meaning to do for some time now.  My list:  shop for a digital camara, refinish a table, reorganize and feng shui my room, sort through my stashed pile of bills, receipts, articles, magazines and statements, clean Carmine's aquarium (my goldfish), try on some old clothes pulled from storage, get the scooter serviced, find a clothesline, string it and wash my "line-dry only" sofa covers, sew some buttons on a coat, look for a ventilated pair of motorcycle gloves, clean up the phone numbers and photos stored on my phone, contact a friend about ordering a T-shirt for our club, register for the Race For The Cure (our team will be doing the UNtimed one), transplant some houseplants, take my sewing machine in for repair, clean out the car and take a huge pile of newspapers, cans, jars, batteries and magazines to the recycle center.  *Whew*  I got a lot of it done!!  Still have to take in the sewing machine, still working on cleaning and organizing the "family" and "health" baguas of my room, got one more plant to transplant, got the clothesline, now I have to wait out the rain, and I never got close to refinishing the table.  Eh.  Paltry stuff compared to Linda's Mission 100.  Mine is mostly the sum of procrastination!!  

     Not doing good.  Eating too much to-go food again.  I got busy and slipped right back into the habit.  And it is higher on the calories and fat than what you could fix at home.  So I have stayed just the same, 157.5.  But I am still exercising.  Good.  Going up on weights.  My hamstrings are still achey and my hips get sore and stiff.  But they are keeping up with the exercise.  Now I need to add in some extra cardio.  I am still doing the arm rows with resistance bands for cardio, but I intend to add in some stationary cycling again.  I have a friend who rides Free Wheel Oklahoma every year.  I would like to be able to do that someday.  It is hard enough just building up to riding at the dang gym for 30 minutes, three times a week!

     Happily, though, I have stayed busy with a variety of activities this summer.  Riding with the scooter people, lunching with a few long lost friends and attending a few art exhibits. 

     157.5  I had a few days last week where I ate junk.  But not a lot.  Actually I lost my half pound!  Probably keeping up with the exercise helped.  Getting back on the plan, again.  Already feeling better.  Soreness went away, and I was able to work-out as scheduled.  I sleep better this week.  I didn't get in any more trouble about the unreported overtime.  I fessed up to my boss in a lighthearted-joking kind of way and he brushed it off.  The run schedule at work eased up a bit.  Putting off investigating the scooter noise until oil change time next month.  I decided not to take the remark at the scooter club seriously (unless it continues to occur). 

     Meanwhile I am working on an idea of my own for a scooter outing.  Our president discussed assigning a month to each of us or to a pair of us next year to come up with an activity.  While reading some other sites on the internet I found one of a photographic scavenger hunt by the Pharoahs Scooter Society of Alburquerque.  As I perused the snapshots of ethnic or quirky or historical sites, I kept thinking of weird and wonderful places right here.  I started scribbling up a list and I have enough places to offer a similar contest for the next four years!