Plateaus, Peaks, and Valleys

All right, why can I not lose these last few pounds to reach my 10% weight loss goal? This is driving me nuts!

I hear when you reach a weight loss plateau the thing to do is to shake things up. So at the beginning of June we got a membership to the Y. I've been going 5 times a week for the last two weeks, effectively adding 30 minutes of more intense working out each day, not to mention some time playing basketball. I'm doing fairly good staying in points on eating, but I don't seem to be losing anything. It's starting to make me angry, and like the Hulk, I'm not that likable when I'm angry.

Goals for this week:
1) Stop eating out! It seems like we do it a few times a week, and not only is it a money sink, but it's hard to always control myself and get the "good" menu options. (Tonight we're supposed to go out to dinner with some friends, so we'll see how I do)
2) Add strength training into the routine. I hear that can be helpful in increasing metabolism and lean muscle. So ok.

My goal, as I've mentioned before, is to buy a new laptop when I get this 10% goal. And then, of course, to keep working after that. Here's to perseverance in the face of stagnation.

In other news, the writing is progressing. The draft I did last summer died after about 50 pages. I only have 11 pages of this new draft so far, but it's got a lot more direction, I think I've found my tone a little better, and I'll still be able to re-use several chunks of the old version. So it's progressing. The goal is now a little more consistency. I think I'm starting to find my groove, though, and that's a good thing.

Add the Xbox, the guest room tv, and Amelia's car brakes to the list of things that are suddenly breaking. The first will be free to fix, the second is toast, and the third we obviously took care of right away. But all these hopes for a little increase in disposable income are just going right down the drain (I hope I didn't just jinx myself--the plumbing has been ok).

Finally, we went to the late show of Get Smart the other day. It's a fun movie. Obviously most spy movies are filled with impossible moments, but it was fun, Steve Carrell is really likeable, and Anne Hathaway has definitely grown up since the Princess Diaries. Besides, Amelia didn't mind me developing a little crush on her during the movie since she had The Rock to look at. I have to admit, even that guy's muscles have muscles. Yet another reason to start some strength training.