Plateaus Suck . . . Again

Ok, it's not so bad. I've only been stuck at 231 for four or five days, but it's time to move on. I am going to the gym during lunchtime today and I'll probably go for a bike ride this evening - if my butt can take it. I rode yesterday for the first time in several years and am rather saddle-sore. But it felt good to get out and ride again. I plan to start doing it regularly.

I am still doing fine with eating. In fact, I have been exercising more self-control than I thought possible. For example, on Friday I ended up going to a restaurant twice - once for an office lunch and once for a family dinner. For the office lunch, I ate halibut with very little sauce and a little bit of rice. I passed on the dessert while everybody else ate cheesecake in front of me. I've never done that before. It wasn't even painful. In fact, I think the satisfaction of having resisted the temptation felt better than the cheesecake would have tasted.

Then came the bigger challenge. We took the kids to Old Country Buffet for dinner. I have never been able to exercise control in that place. I always pig out on fried foods and many, many desserts. This time, I started with a very large salad with only a tiny bit of ranch dressing. Then I had a piece of salmon, without adding any sauce. By then, I was pretty much full. I decided to reward myself with a bit of dessert, so I had a tiny bit of ice cream and one cookie. Normally when I walk out of that place, I feel bloated and miserable. That night, I felt like a new person. Satisfied, but not stuffed - and very proud of myself for eating well in the worst possible environment.

Now if I could just exercise as much self-control with exercise. For some reason, I am having a really hard time getting up in the morning and getting exercise. I seem to be unusually tired in the mornings. It's very strange because up until about a month ago I was often playing World of Warcraft until 2:00 in the morning (or later) and getting up at 7:00 or so for work. But about a month ago, I decided to take a break from Warcraft and have since been getting to bed by about 10:00 or 11:00 most nights. So I would think I'd be able to get up at 6:00 and exercise. But most mornings I can't seem to drag myself out of bed before about 8:00. I'd even sleep 'til 9:00 if I didn't have to get to work. I've been eating better and exercising more, so it seems I should have more energy. Maybe I just need to take my vitamins more regularly.

I'm still planning to join a Karate class. It starts next week, so I will probably go down and sign up today. Coincidentally, my oldest son asked me out of the blue the other day if he could take a Karate class "or something." I don't think he knows about my plan, so it was rather surprising. When I thought about joining a Karate class a couple years ago, I took my older boys with me to the various dojos in town. I thought they would be excited about the idea, but they were not the least bit interested. It appears that may have changed - and that I may have to figure out a way to afford classes for more than just myself.