I've been Serious about my diet and exercise program for two weeks now, and so far I've lost 5 pounds, half an inch off my hips, 3/4" off my thighs and an inch off my waist. The trainer at the gym let me borrow her bodyfat measurer (the electronic kind which basically sends a low pulse of electricity through your body and measures the resistance and gives you an approximate bodyfat analysis.) It's about as accurate as the skin caliper method (i.e. +/- 4%) but a lot faster and easier. I was a tad disgruntled to find that my bodyfat percentage was 28.9% (though not too surprised,) and the trainer told me that really wasn't that bad, since "normal" for a woman is 18-24%, so with the error factor, I'm probably on the high side of normal. Still, though, that means I'm carrying about 45lbs of fat, and I plan on testing myself again in a month. I'd really like to get down to the low 20s.

I'm consuming (or at least attempting to consume) approximately 150-200 grams of protein a day (since I'm not just trying to lose weight, I'm trying to increase my muscle mass.) As I quickly discovered, this level of protein consumption is nigh impossible with regular food alone, and therefore am supplementing my diet with protein shakes--specifically the Met-Rx Protein Plus powder. I compromise the diet slightly for the sake of palatability by throwing in a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter into the blender when I do my shakes. (I also discovered that the big secret to making the shakes non-disgusting is to use milk (some people use water... ugh!) and to blend the ever-living shit out of them until there's no trace of graininess.) The peanut butter only adds a small amount of sugar, has "good" fat, and is also high in protein.

I've also started keeping a food diary so that I can get a general idea of what I'm consuming in what quantities. I don't really intend to do this forever (since it really is a major pain in the ass) but I'd like to try and keep it for a week or two just so I can get a feel for where my diet might need adjusting.

I know... you don't really care. But I did warn y'all in the title of today's entry that it would be this boring!

Anyway.

I'm also starting to get something resembling definition in my abs, thanks to my workout partner's concept of time. Zack's a great partner--good motivator, knowledgeable about fitness, with a delightful tendency to occasionally lift up his shirt to check out his nicely scuplted abs (he's 23...waaaaaaay too young for me, not to mention the fact that he's on my shift and I won't date a co-worker... but this older woman can sure look!) However, Zack operates on Zack Time, which is about 15 minutes later than Normal Time. So, we'll usually set up a time to meet at the gym, and while I wait for him to show up, I do my ab workout.

My ab workout today ended up being forty minutes long. I'm going to be dead tomorrow!

In other news, it's Not Hot anymore down here, and in fact is approaching Friggin Cold. (You do have to understand, though, that I am a Southern Girl and intensly dislike being cold, and therefore anything below 50 is Friggin Cold to me.) Fortunately, I did not have to work this weekend, though I have had details every day this weekend (2 on Friday!), and am also working details on both my days off next week. Heck, if I'm not going to have a Life, I may as well earn as much money as possible. One of these days I'd really like to buy new furniture. My dining room set is actually patio furniture covered with a homemade tablecloth, and my bedroom set is the stuff I was using back in high school. (The top of one of my dressers is being held on by duct tape!)

And still no word from the publisher. I may have to actually get on the phone and bug someone in a more direct fashion.