Well, January is rather more than half over, so it's time to assess my progress.
I am losing weight - just not as quickly as I'd hoped and with more up-and-down fluctuations than I'd like. I haven't missed a single day of checking in on the Wii Fit - and most days I do 25-30 minutes of yoga, aerobics and strength training on the system. In addition, when it isn't raining or sludgy outside, I go for walks. The walks aren't particularly brisk, but they seem to be effective.
Now, the problems. Going all-liquids was a no-go. I couldn't manage to get enough of the animal protein my body requires and therefore ended up getting sick rather quickly. We rapidly modified the plan to include a sensible meal: low carb and heavy on the protein. On the days I remember to eat, I tend to do well. It is easy to get off schedule, however, and end up not maintaining the small amounts throughout the day. When I screw up, I feel it the next day. I end up sluggish and listless at best. At worst, I end up harfing violently (and often without much warning) and going through chills and fevers. So, I'm trying to stay on some semblance of a schedule. At least I'm managing to eat more than once a day for the most part - so that's a start.
I can now understand how people get addicted to exercise. I feel better when I go through my yoga/strength/aerobics routine. It feels good for a while after I've finished - even when I'm a little sore from the workout. Unfortunately, the good feeling fades within an hour or two and it is often tempting to run through the workout again just to get the feeling back. I've learned not to do that, though. When I do too much, I end up unable to move very well the following day.
I can tell that my body is slowly fading, even as I'm getting a little more toned and losing a little weight. My vision is blurring again and I'm having trouble focusing on tasks. Concentration slips easily - though I've been dealing with concentration lapses for so long that I'm generally able to force myself to keep going, even when I have to read and re-read several times. My joint pain has returned, flaring and easing in completely random cycles. Not unexpected, but still unpleasant. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a headache. And the insomnia is definitely back. I guess that's kind of obvious as I'm writing this at 2 am. I slept for a little while earlier - about 30 minutes or so. Every household noise wakes me up. I even have a fan on for noise - to drown out the sounds of puppies lapping water or crunching kibble - but since Morgana is in heat, I hear every whine and whimper of the boys trying their best to charm her through the door.
We spent an enjoyable several minutes earlier watching a towel disappear beneath the doorway. I thought that if I dropped a towel there it might block the smells and let the boys get some peace for the night. The boys had other ideas. I'd no sooner get the towel in place when a puppy foot would dart beneath the door to dig it through to the other side. As soon as it got far enough through, the pup would grab the towel in his teeth and pull. Our side of the door = magically disappearing towel and lots of giggling. We'd grab it before it went all the way through and pull it back to our side, setting it in place again. This went on for several cycles before we figured out that if we doubled the towel it was more difficult for them to drag through.
Keeping the boys away from Morgie is turning out to be more difficult than usual this time around. While we were out the other day, the boys apparently got into a fight. They mostly ended up with bruises and small cuts. Anubis got the brunt of it, though. Three of his feet were torn up, one with a split pad and another with a broken toenail close to the pad. We switched the sleeping arrangements around that night - put Morgie out with Guinea Pig and Little Bear, brought Stitch, Stripe and Anubis in with us. Gave them all baths and doctored their wounds, then let them sleep on the bed with us. They all seemed to get some good rest - of course Stitch couldn't help but "mark" the entire room - so that isn't acceptable for a long-term situation.
I'm still looking for work and still getting rejection letters. Trying to stay confident that something will turn up soon.
Peter's alarm is going off so it's time for him to get up and for me to try to get a few hours of sleep before starting my day.
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