I got up before work and went to the gym yesterday. I had to have a stern talk with myself after I hit the snooze for the 2nd time, but I got up, and went. Did back and chest lifting and I can really feel it today. I think tomorrow might be worse, but it really feels good. Today wasn't as hard. I lollygagged a little before leaving tho so I only had 45 mins at the gym. I got in 45 minutes and 16 miles on the recumbant bike. I'm not sure how good that is on time, but I was nice and sweaty after. I ended up collapsing at 9pm last night and I bet I end up doing the same tonight. Its ok though, worth it. If I keep this up I'll be in much better shape for our trip to Tahoe during the week of Valentine's Day. Its a higher elevation than Sierra Summit land, so I have to get my lungs in shape. I have a feeling I'll be sending Keith packing off to the lodge after half a day up there. He's in terrible shape. Getting him to go to the gym is like dragging a donkey. Bleah.

Ok, that hot chocolate made me feel a little dumpy. Woot, my dump-o-meter is back! That will make it MUCH easier to cultivate an aversion to sugar and flour. Back in the beginning it wasn't so much that I was being good, but how sick I heard it would make me, and later when I tried it, how sick it ACTUALLY made me.

Man, I'm tired. Keith has been stuffed up at night, and snoring. When he remembers to take Alavert before bed, he's fine and I sleep through till the alarm goes off. Last night he forgot and sawed logs all night long. I didn't let that deter me from getting up for the gym tho. Usually working out invigorates me in the am and I cruise through till about 3pm then start running out of gas. Errrrgh. I'll get used to getting up early after a while I think...

I, like an idiot, drove to work on Monday and discovered that for the 1st time in my 6 years of employment my job, we had the day off *smirk*. So I went home and once again, spent the day doing mostly nothing. It was great. I did some shopping, got some stuff for the house etc. Found some really cool small shadowbox type frames at Target in their $1.00 area. I've been really frustrated trying to find artwork for the house. I have some black and white photos all framed up and I put those up, but we have a lot more wall space to decorate than I'm accustomed to, so there's more to find. The artwork I like tends to be incredibly expensive. When we were in Tahoe we stopped by a couple of galleries and I found some artist Giclees for 1k or so. They were really cool, but a thousand dollars? I really have to think about that. I look at our savings account and guard it pretty jealously these days.

Since we got back from vacation I haven't gotten my sleeping pattern back in order so no workouts yet. The last time I worked out was the 6th and that was a totally half-assed attempt. I got in there, did some shoulder work and went home. At least I got exercise last week doing snowboarding. 4 hours of that a day is a workout, for sure. I want to have my Fred-removal this year sometime, and I want to lose at least 10 more lbs for that. I'd be totally fine having Fred removed now, but if I did that, my thighs would still be too big, and I have to lose weight in my lower body. I can tell I'm getting close to losing it there, cause I can see my ribs somewhat now. Once that kicks in, then the lower body starts to let go.

I'm hitting the protein drinks and vitamins again. I slacked off for a while and really started to feel bad. My skin is papery, I swear my hair is thinning (lots of it in the shower drain and around my bathroom where I do my hair), and I just feel like crap. So I'm building up the habit, once again. I just called Alvarado to get a lab slip for my 5 year labs. I have to fast tonight and get the blood drawn tomorrow. Whee!

After posting here about Fred removal, I had a talk with Keith about pursuing it again. He went for it. We were going to finance a new car, but I told him I'd rather finance a new body. I think we can do it without much debt actually. I have a consult with one of the surgeons I saw last year in early March. I had a short talk with my boss about needing a couple of weeks off and he seemed to think it would be fine. Sooo.. I'm hoping April/May timeframe. I think running is going to get me into the shape I need to be in prior to any surgery. I'll do that and lifting. It feels good to know its coming up! Finally!!!

I still haven't had my labs done. I normally take my meds and vites in the am, and the last two mornings I've taken meds only, but I have a habit of eating a handful of peanuts when I take them. I've forgotten not to, and though I don't know if the handful of peanuts would really skew the results THAT much, I don't want to take a chance.