Heather Shrinks in Houston!

[Houston Heather]

I've noticed a definite theme in my posts:
I didn't sleep well, got up early, went to work. When I got home I was tired but I went out in the garage and did my weights anyway.

A week ago I was squatting with 45 pounds. I'd felt daring and gone up to 55 on the last set. I didn't kill myself.

Today I started with 55 and finished with 60 pounds - I did 8 reps with it on my last set of four! My form got a little sloppy so I cut it off. I feel like some kind of animal on the right diet and exercise program, I just improve! My leg extensions went up to 35 pounds (25 last week) and my hamstrings did 25 (17.5 on the last set, last week). Wow!

I even had enough juice to do a barbell clean and press, just for fun.

I put some glutamine in sugarfree lemonade during my workout and had my Syntrax Nectar (zero carb whey isolate drink) afterward. I'm giving the whey a lot of the credit. I am very very pleased with my program.

[Houston Heather]

Tired today, so tired I got into the coffee machine at work. I NEVER drink coffee.

My "squat muscles" are a little sore from yesterday so I'm taking today off. Tomorrow will be a fairly brutal workout day of run, followed by deadlifts and back work.

I'm tired enough that I'm actually looking at an "energy supplement" online. I found one that seems reasonably safe. I'll see if I still want to buy it after I get paid next week.

I've been eating right - even got all my veggies today.

[Houston Heather]

I got up at 5:30, had an awesome run.

I came home, had some Syntrax, and went out in the garage. I did deadlifts and back.

I can now deadlift 15 pounds more than I did last week! I can also barbell row 15 more pounds, too!

My cat kept throwing up in the house during my workout. So the workout ran a little long. I think he's OK, just indigestion.

I have today off so it's just relaxing and taking it easy for the rest of the day, except for cleaning up cat puke.

[Jean@125]

Heather,
Can you give me some pointers on deadlifts. My DH saw me doing these with 50 pounds (2 25lb. dumbells and he freaked out. He was like what are you doing! You are going to hurt your back doing that! Thanks Jeanie

[Houston Heather]

No, you're going to make the back stronger! Here's a good link: Look under "barbell" It demonstrates all 3 types of deadlifts. My lower back feels great today... everything else is pretty stiff but my lower back is fine!

"Stiff Legged Deadlifts" are particularly good for toning up the back of the thighs and the butt. What woman DOESN'T need help with that?

If you're using 2X25 pound dumbells you could use a barbell, if you want. I got mine at Walmart for $20. The plates are cheap, too. The last time Ron wanted to get me a present I said I'd love another barbell so that's what he got me.

That's the great thing about weights, you can really adapt your program you to fit your supplies or desires. I started out using only dumbells, but when Ron got a small settlement from Social Security he wanted to get me a present. He was thinking jewelry, I said home gym. He got me a nice home gym system for a couple hundred bucks. I love it. I can do just about anything out there.

Yesterday I did some intense work and today I'm pretty stiff, except for my lower back. Good, that means I had a nice challenging workout. I've been stretching out to keep from getting too stiff.

But this morning I started getting a little queasy. Huh? Yesterday my cat was throwing up all day and we almost took him to the vet, but he miraculously improved. I often share a bite of my cube steak with him. When I bought my cube steaks, I cooked them, kept them in the fridge a few days, ate most of them, but after 3 days I put one in the freezer. I took it out, let it thaw, and then I ate it yesterday morning.

Not surprising we got sick. I didn't throw up but I slept a lot today and didn't eat much. Tomorrow will be a better day, even if we do get up at 3 AM. We'll be done early, and then it's off to Walmart for lunch. We agreed that we enjoy a Walmart McDonald's meal just as much as a sit-down-restaurant meal and why make 2 trips? I have to get some pills at the pharmacy anyway.

Oh, and when I woke up I lost a pound. YAY!

Tomorrow will be chest weights, I'm giving them their own day - I get a better workout. Saturday is some kind of cardio and then arms and shoulders.

That's it for now! Thank God I have a stash of diet 7up!

Jean, how's your son doing?

[Jean@125]

Thanks for the link Heather. I think I need to work on my form my lower back does hurt a little today.
DS is getting better each day pain wise. He is still tired and needs lots of rest.
We are a little nervous because one of the drain sites looks inflamed but so far no fever or pus. We had a scare in the hospital with the pain meds (pain pump). He was able to infuse dilaudid (sp) every 8 min. as needed for the pain. He became confused and didn't know where he was and that he had had surgery.
The docs said it must have been related to his TBI but I don't know.
We are hoping for a full recovery without any touch ups. Dr. said no lifting over 8 pounds for 3 months and not to expect complete recovery for a year. Jeanie

[Houston Heather]

Oh, don't worry about the confusion, Jean. Ron was totally out of his head after a couple of operations. He would rave about the Iraqis were out to get us, why was I talking to the nurse - we were undercover drug agents and I was going to blow our cover, etc.

My personal favorite: the doctors realized very early on that it was a lot better if I stuck with him 24/7. They wrote it into the orders. One nurse got all "By the book" and refused to let me back into ICU because "Visiting Hours are over". I told her he was going to have a fit if I wasn't there and she'd better let me back or he was going to have a heart attack. He was in the coronary ICU, waiting on an operation.

About half an hour later, she had me paged. I could hear Ron shouting from the back of the unit. "I don't like this restaurant! Give me my check so I can go home to my wife! I won't stay here without her! Where's my wife!?!" He thought she was a waitress in a restaurant and was holding him hostage. He kept demanding to see the manager. He even threatened to call the health department because everyone knows you can't draw blood in a restaurant.

All his alarms were going off and the other nurses were watching him. As soon as I got in there, BAM, totally well-behaved patient. He was a sweet little lamb although still confused about our location.

She never gave me a hard time again.

I understand.

[Houston Heather]

Today I got up at 2:45 AM - ACK.

I packed some food and went to work. Worked, then went to Walmart. I had to pick up my medication. One of the meds, Risperidone, is generic now, saving me $50 a month. Coolness. That means I can buy another jar of zero-carb whey protein when I get paid.

I was feeling like chicken today so I ate a plain chicken sandwich, grilled, off the bread. I didn't eat the bread, but I used the bread as a handle. I had some cut up cheese in my bag and they went great together.

I slept really horribly last night so I came home and took a nap. I had a good nap.

In about an hour, when it cools down in my garage, I'm going to go out there and do "chest weights".

Tomorrow, I'll run and then do arms/shoulders. I have tomorrow off and I plan to enjoy it.

[Houston Heather]

I did yesterday's weights - they weren't too bad actually. It was hot but do-able.

Today I got up at 5:30, did not want to get up, but I want to be healthy. I had the whole park to myself, NO ONE wants to get up early on a weekend to exercise. I ran for half an hour at the park. My endurance is way up, I ran a lap and a half without stopping. That's unusual for me. I ran 7 laps in my half hour. I figured out recently that each lap is about 1/3 of a mile, so I run about 2.33 miles each time. I'm a slow runner, I know that, and I'm fine with it. I'm a runner, that's what matters.

I have a bright, reflective mesh vest like you see the roadside crews - people working by the side of the road - wearing. I'm going to bring it home. One road I know for certain is exactly 1 mile long - it's pretty quiet. But my husband was run over by a motorist who ran a red light while Ron walked to work. I'm a liiiiitle paranoid; I'd feel a lot better wearing that vest. I can run the road a time or two, average out my times and find out I can run, on average, X miles per hour. I'd like to know.

I don't need to worry about my water intake today. I just sucked my one-quart jug completely dry. I filled it up when I got back from my run.

I still need to go do my arm and shoulder weights. More later!

[Houston Heather]

Weights done, took about an hour.

I lost a quarter inch off my butt and my waist - I forgot to mention that! Yeee-haw!

My goal measurements are 30 and 40, I'm at 35.25 and 44.25. Awesome.

[Houston Heather]

My Dad just asked me to be his personal trainer!

Not formally, but to find a few exercises (4-5) he could do without too much trouble, time, or equipment. I went to exrx.com and found him some good videos.

Since he's in his late 60's, I went with strength, with a strong back and lower body focus:
Dumbell squats
Dumbell lunges
Bent over Dumbell rows
Situps
Pushups

I also gave him some exercises if he gets a bench (they have a small home):
Squats
Leg extensions
Hamstring curls
Rows - dumbell
Situps
Dumbell chest presses

Hopefully he finds it easy and fun. I want him to be healthy and he wants the same thing. I'd much rather have him do 4-5 exercises consistently and well than to have him get burned out on 10-15 different exercises.

We'll see. I had a BLAST doing it and I was thrilled he trusted and respected me enough to do it.

[Houston Heather]

When I measured today, I'd lost another 1/4 inch off my waist. That makes half an inch off my waist this week, and 1/4 off my butt.

That's a good feeling, as I know I'm ovulating and the whole PMS thing will bloat me a bit as it always does.

5 inches to go off my waist, 4 inches to go off my butt.

So far, I've lost 7 inches off my waist (since March!) and at least 7 inches off my butt. I was too much of a coward to measure my butt when I started.

OK, enough about my butt! My ribcage was very slightly tender yesterday. I had to take Ron to the ER once for horrible chest pain. It turned out to be Costal Chondritis. The cartilidge that attaches the ribs to the breastbone can get tender (from weightlifting) and inflamed. It then hurts. Solution, rest until better.

For me, generally a day off will do it. Considering all the poundage I lifted last week I'm not surprised. The cartiledge will get stronger and it won't be an issue.

Today it only hurts when I push on it (so don't do it!) but I'm still taking the day off weights. I had some nasty twinges yesterday and the end goal is BETTER HEALTH. So, don't be stupid and heal faster.

Anyway, I'm off. Have a good one!

[Houston Heather]

So queasy today... bad headache... I think I can't drink the Atkins shakes. I had one yesterday and it's my only new food.

Ugh. Miserable.

[Houston Heather]

My gallbladder's been acting up. I've been pretty queasy and achy the last couple days.

Got up early, went to work, got paid, went to Walmart. I was able to buy a plain grilled chicken breast at McDonald's. It stayed down and kept me happy until I was done shopping, then I ate another one before we came home.

I slept pretty badly (see aforementioned gallbladder) and took a nap as soon as I got home. Later on, I'm going to do squat day in the garage (squats and leg work).

I'll probably cook up some more plain chicken breasts. I need to eat, and it needs to be something my innards won't object to. They like chicken? I'll give 'em chicken.

I also lost a quarter inch off my butt this morning. Yeah!

[Houston Heather]

Wow! Happy squat day!

I matched my personal record on squatting today - 75 pounds for 8 reps. I did other things too but that was the "best". I also did pullovers, leg extensions, and hamstrings.

It was a good workout, I was so wiped out at the end that I fell off my weight bench trying to change a plate on the leg attachment. I believe my butt will be killing me tomorrow.

Anyway, awesome workout! Glad I went out there and did it! But then, I always am.

[Snowman]

Heather!!

Your are the workout queen, my hat is off to you!! I need to get back to the gym now that our vacation is over.

Take care and keep up the good work!!

[Houston Heather]

Thanks! You'll love this:
This morning I got up and ran for half an hour - I can do over 7 laps now. I walked 15 minutes going to and from the park.

I came home and my legs and back were sore from squat day, so I did chest day today. That took about half an hour.

I ate, cleaned up, and now I'm waiting on our ride to go donate blood. They are so desperate they'll take Ron's blood, and he can hardly walk since his stroke! Then we'll go to the mall and get him a new cell phone. He loves my new phone and wants one for himself.

Lucky we have inexpensive tastes! When I get home today, I'll have EARNED the nap I'll take.

Hopefully I can do my deadlifts tomorrow. I miss 'em. I need to buy some more plates, I am lifting more and more every time and I'm about out of plates! What a nice dilemma.

[Houston Heather]

The donations went great, so did the mall trip.

I ate the insides out of a calzone as a treat. I feel fine, I'll see if I'm up to deadlifts first thing tomorrow. The blood bank said to wait 12 hours before lifting weights, by then it'll have been almost an entire day.

[Houston Heather]

Today, I was an idiot.

We ran an errand this morning and then we went to work. Sales are really down, I'm glad we can live on the cheap! We plan most of our expenses to we can cover them in a month like this. It was GRIM.

We came home and I took a nap. I got a little overheated waiting on our ride and I had a nasty headache from a perfume I tried. I won't be wearing IT again!

I woke up and waited until 7:30 to do my weights. I figured the garage would have cooled off by then. It didn't.

The worst part, in retrospect, was when Ron tried to warn me it was a bad idea to work out in a hot garage. He didn't mention the fact that I donated blood yesterday.

Oh, I'm fine, I'm always fine. I had taken my lithium a few hours previous but I was fine. I've got my medication releasing into my bloodstream, which has less blood, while I'm doing extremely heavy exertion in a garage that rivals a sauna.

I was able to lie down before I passed out. Quite embarrassing, even though no one saw it. I got an ice pack out of the fridge and stuck it into my sports bra. I was able to figure out I needed to do slower repetitions, more rest between sets, and lie down between sets.

I did 95% of my workout, in about an hour. I stopped because I still felt dizzy in between sets.

I have decided to take the next week OFF of working out. Nothing. Nada.

Whenever I donate blood, I'm taking a week off of workouts. I'm doing this for my health and what I did out in the garage was not health-building.

Dave Draper, a famous bodybuilder, said it was a good idea to take a week off every couple months anyway. I like to think I learn from my mistakes.

STUPID!

[Houston Heather]

We had today off thanks to lousy sales. I went to Walmart and got some cute t-shirts. I am a Hanes Her Way size Medium. Wow. It wasn't just a fluke with the cute 3/4 sleeve turqoise jacket I saw on clearance a week ago - all they had were mediums that fit great.

I got a tank in magenta, a tank in turqoise, and a purple t-shirt. The "Seed Company" t-shirts have more accurate sizing, I had to get an XL. I also got some garlic (for cube steaks) and pumpkin for my puddings.

When I weighed this morning, I was down to 194.5. Awesome. Another half pound bites the dust. That makes 33 total gone!

We went to Cracker Barrel today and I was overcome with an overpowering urge to have some fried Cod. I don't even like Cod that much... but I ordered it. It came with 2 sides, I had one salad and Ron wanted some green beans so I ordered a side of them for him. He ate 3 sides total, I had 1.

The fish had about 25 carb grams. I don't think it will derail me but I'm worried I might get a migraine, OR blow up, or have horrible cravings. I eat fried fish about once a year so I'm not worried about a horrible spiral. I'm not going to throw my progress out the window.

I'm still feeling a little lost from exercise withdrawal, but I felt kind of dizzy today. If I feel dizzy just in normal activities (ozone watch, extremely high temps, humidity, taking 3 medications that screw with my brain), I think it's a good idea to take some time off. I feel a little dizzy right now, in fact.

I had a good nap this afternoon. Bubba the cat came and cuddled with me during my nap. I love it when he does that, which isn't often.

Tomorrow after work we are going to a good BBQ place, it's near the house, it's excellent, and it's very low carb. I love the links, Ron loves the brisket. They are good about not giving me sweet tea. I can run an errand for Ron in the strip mall, too. Then we come home. We're going to get me some more Diet RC (it has splenda and caffeine) from work, and take it there. We'll look a little odd but it's be..

Oh, yeah, Ron said he made a straight trip home, THEN the BBQ. What a sweetie.

So tired! Sounds like another lithium whine.

I can tell I'd be depressed if I weren't taking my medications so I'm glad I have them. I'll take the fatigue and dizziness, it's a lot better than wanting to kill myself constantly and being unable to find any joy in life. Yuck.

Have a good weekend!

[Houston Heather]

Still dizzy today. Ron made a suggestion, cut my Risperdal in half. If I need the whole pill I will know quickly. If I can take just a half, great. Risperdal kind of amplifies my reaction to heat and makes it almost impossible to be outside for any period of time. When I have to wait outside for half an hour on our ride, that's bad. We've had 97 degreee heat, sun, high humidity, and ozone watches. Ick.

I need to take it because I will see and hear things that aren't there, and feel invisible bugs on my skin. That's how I'll know if I can take the half, if those symptoms come back I'll increase it again.

Ron asked me if I would design a workout program for him! He has a little "ab flab" and wanted me to help him to situps. Spot reducing. Since I love him I just told him "You need a weight-training program because muscle eats fat". He said OK, could I do one for him? Sure.

I've already got a couple exercises per body part. He is partially paralyzed on one side and has a bad (weak) back so we're going to work with the good and sidestep the bad. I love this.

Want to see it? Sure, why not?
Starting at the feet:
LEGS
He cannot squat or lunge. He can touch his toes, that's about it. Balance is terrible. He can only use one hand. Deadlifts are out due to bad lower back.
Leg Extension (on my attachment)
Hamstring Curl (he may not go for this soo...)
Good morning with body weight only.

BACK:
Good Morning (he is only doing 1-2 sets of these total, but they work the hamstrings and the lower back). He can't balance a barbell so when he gets stronger he can hold a weight plate to his chest with his good arm or wear a weighted vest.

One-armed Rows: I will have him lean forward and brace his upper body against a barbell that's on my weight rack. It will support his body weight and it's safe. He can use his good arm to "row" the dumbell up and down.

One-armed Lateral Pulldown: I will attach a resistance band to the top of my weight rack. He can pull the handle down just like he would the lateral pulldown attachment.

ABS:
Leg raises off of bench
Situps

CHEST:
One-armed dumbell fly
One armed dumbell press

SHOULDER:
Seated overhead press
Seated lateral raise

Hopefully he will find it interesting, challenging, and productive.

[Houston Heather]

Cutting my pill in half did it. Thank God we figured it out, I feel fantastic again. Not too happy, that would be bad, but clear and normal.

Ron and I went out in the garage and did a workout. He really impressed me. He was not interested in working legs at all, and abs were "too hard". He loved Arnold presses, Good Mornings - oh, he couldn't get enough of them. He kept raving about how great his back felt. I turned around to get some water and he was doing them with a dumbell, which led to him eventually doing them holding a 10 pound plate to his chest. He started rowing the plate on his own and I adjusted his form a bit. Perfect rows. He enjoyed them.

He did bicep curls and Hammer curls. He didn't do any triceps, wasn't interested.

When we got to back again, he did REGULAR wide-grip lateral pulldowns. Whatever weird brain thing is messing with his right shoulder sure isn't affecting his lats! He did more reps with more weight than I use!

He liked chest flyes. The bad arm could do them even but the dumbell was all over the place LOL. He liked doing them with the good arm. He didn't like the dumbell presses but he kept "looking" at my barbells. I finally asked if he wanted to try chest presses with a 20 pound barbell. He did great, I gave him a little assistance on the right side just so it didn't lag too far behind. I think it's called "finger assistance". He grinned like a maniac the whole time.

I asked if he'd like to try pullovers as he lay on the bench, grinning. He said sure. I started him with a 5 and he loved it... then worked his way up to a 12. Both shoulders got a great stretch (he used his good hand to hold the bad hand on the barbell) and he had a blast.

He walked away, grinning and happy. I showed him where everything is so he can do it on his own. He can feel the numbers on the dumbells and the plates. The bench is out in the middle of the garage. I keep the barbells up on racks. I think he's going to enjoy going out there now and again to go through his paces.

I let him direct the workout, and didn't push... just demonstrated the exercise and let him decide if he wanted to do it. He surprised both of us tonight and I am SO SO GLAD I did this.

Glad glad glad.

[Snowman]

Heather ~ That is AWESOME that Ron wants to work out and and even more AWESOME that you are helping him! Although, I know that's what we do when we love someone!!

I see a man at the gym and it's obvious that he's had a stroke. I give him alot of credit for not giving up!!

I'm so happy your feeling better!

Have a great Sunday!

[Houston Heather]

Oh, I did.

Ron's a little stiff today but he's happy about it. He's looking forward to the next workout. He mentioned several times that he did lateral pulldowns with 30 pounds, a weight I find challenging. I also reminded him he did his own bench presses with 20 pounds.

We planned a trip as follows: Ron and I would ride to the Starbucks. He would stay and drink coffee while I walked to the used sporting goods store. I would take my cart and put my purchases into the cart. I would walk back and we'd go home.

The first part worked well, until I walked over to the sporting goods store at 10:44 and saw the sign saying they opened at 12 on Sundays. Ron assumed they opened at 10. I called him. Instead of yelling I asked him "When do they open again on Sundays?" "12" he replied. Then he realized what that meant. Ooops. He just didn't think about Sunday hours.

I told him it was OK, I'd walk over to the large sporting goods store nearby. My cart and I rolled over there. Ron had been promising me a new dumbell rack (mine is so crowded the weights are falling off), so he told me to go ahead and get it for myself today, and he'd buy me some weight plates too.

Awesome. I had planned to buy 2 x 10 and 4 x 5. He said that was fine. AND the rack.

My little rolling cart was great, but it had gaps in the sides that allowed the weight plates to crash out towards my feet. I asked the clerk for help and he gave me a box to line the inside of my cart. Now the weights couldn't get out. I bought some "bungee ropes" as Ron calls them to hold the rack on top of the cart. Before I left I put in a compliment for the guy who helped me. I believe if you get good service you ought to let their boss know.

I have enough weight plates to last me for months now.

I was good to go. I had a good walk back (I felt hot, but I didn't feel sick, thank God, I think I'm about "back"). It was funny as I pushed my cart into Starbucks to get Ron. An affluent looking family were seated in the cushy chairs in the corner. They gaped at me and my cart. I smiled at them and said "You don't want me driving!" (implied, so I have to use the cart). They all laughed and laughed, I got Ron, and we went to wait on our pickup.

The driver was able to use "tiedowns" to make sure the cart didn't escape. She was very nice and we had a straight trip home.

I lost ANOTHER POUND today! I am so stoked.

I ate a nice lunch of cube steak and salad, now it's naptime.

[Houston Heather]

I'm glad I'm taking time off my workouts. I got really sick again today - very foggy and thick-brained, hot, sweaty. Yuck.

It's very frustrating. I got some whipped cream and got stupid, but not too much so. I'm going to make some pumpkin pudding and a nice dinner later.

I hope whatever it is passes soon.

[Houston Heather]

Only up half a pound. I am PMSing so I took some taurine. Now, I'm really thirsty. It worked, though, I don't have that ghastly bloat. I hate it when my breasts are so sore I can't put on my bra without pain.

We have a hurricane making landfall "nearby". We may get torrential rain.

Good news: when I told some people at work about my weight loss, I got admiring glances and the comment "I can tell!".

The repairman finished repairing our machines today. They're all ready to go if people get stuck at work due to flooding tomorrow (it happens every few years).

Ron and I were bickering today. He's just been really negative and he has some unhealthy perspectives. Not fun. I don't like being shouted down, then having to listen to him rant for 20 minutes.

I've kind of gotten out of the habit of exercising. I'm looking forward to doing squats today, but worried I may have lost a lot of strength. I have more than I did a few days ago, but still... plus I have to wait until after 8 because the garage is REALLY hot. I don't want to cook myself, but I'd like to get 'em over with.

I have to get up either really early (to run) or early (if I don't). I want to run but I have a concern, the guy with the dog that lunges at me is walking earlier in the park now. I would have to leave the house at like 5:45 to ensure missing him, I hope. Then I come home, clean up, and see my doctor.

UGH. I'm still tired and hot, but I hope it's just PMS now.

I really hope this all doesn't go back to donating blood. It would almost be a deal-killer for next time. "You can donate blood, but you'll be a zombie for weeks and feel like crap".

I hope I'm wrong.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Houston Heather

I've kind of gotten out of the habit of exercising.

Me too, Heather!! I have to get back into the habit....FAST!! I'm paying about $85 a month and neither my daughter nor I have been going. I keep saying, "I'll go tomorrow" and tomorrow never comes. I do feel better when I do go to the gym, why don't I go then??!! STUPID ME!!

Hope all you get from the hurricane is rain, nothing serious....STAY SAFE!!

[Houston Heather]

Oh, I'm fine, just a little damp. Let me explain: literally 30 seconds into my run the sky opened up. Hello, Dolly - hurricane rain band.

I ran in the pouring rain (lots of large cell phone towers about 1/4 mile away to attract lightning). I wasn't alone; a very large man (I've seen him before) walked in the park as I ran. It was a fun run, the rain was very distracting.

I had to take off my glasses because they fogged up - that made the run even more interesting. I'm farsighted so it added an interesting challenge.

The path started to flood so I ran home. As soon as I got in the door the rain stopped. At any rate, I still got 23 minutes.

Now I'm going to go to chest weights in the garage. All done. 43 minutes. I even had enough juice to throw in some barbell rows.

[Houston Heather]

I really find it tremendously annoying when an obese, ill, person tries to lecture me on my diet, medication routine, etc. I had that happen today. I wanted to say something like "If you're such an expert how come you look the way you do and you keep coughing?" I was dying to tell her, I take pills because I'm "Crazy"! You don't want me skipping doses! Ignorant people are terrified of mental illness.

On the other hand, I had two drivers who didn't recognize me recently. Today's driver saw me as I came out the door and wondered who I was, because "Ron's wife is fat". I'm "looking good" she said. Another driver actually asked me my name because she thought she'd pulled up to the wrong house.

I had to get up at 2:45 this morning to go to work. Ugh. I got the junk food and stocked it all, including all the fattening stuff we have to avoid on low-carb. About the only legal thing in my snack machines are the peanuts.

My running shoes are still drying out. I plan to run tomorrow and then do some weights. Probably deadlifts. They work most of the muscle groups at once and that sounds good.

I'm not as dizzy and sick feeling but I'm back to my old enemy fatigue.

I realized I'm drinking a lot of aspartame so I've decided to switch over to iced tea with saccharine for a while. I'm drinking some decaf right now, and I can drink "caf" in the mornings until I decide to wean off caffeine too.

God knows I had can after can of diet soda this morning. Nothing seemed to wake me up. It was ghastly. I know caffeine only masks the problem, it doesn't solve it, and it's damaging in the long term.

So I guess I'll try to wean off caffeine too. I would like to get to goal soon, and eliminate all the things I do that slow me down. Caffeine and aspartame bloat me, make me retain water, add to my fatigue, and make me irritable if I consume too much. Bipolar and irritable means a terrified husband hiding in the stockroom.

I wish I were kidding.

I don't see anything good on TV tonight so it'll be easy to get to bed early. More tomorrow!

[Houston Heather]

I was lazy and didn't run today.

I did my weightlifting in the garage and I didn't have any soda. One hour, ten minutes - 12 sets of deadlifts, leg work (leg extensions and hamstring curls, plus lateral pulldowns).

Tomorrow morning I plan to run, and then do some calf raises only.

I ate all my peanut butter, thank God. I was eating a couple tablespoons a day out of that rascal. I was 194 this morning so I'm good, and my period is due any day now (probably sun-tues).

I am very pleased that I made my decaf iced tea and didn't buy any aspartame soda. I expect to lose some bloat and some pounds as a result. Now I just need to remember to STAY OFF THE STUFF.

Easier said than done.