1/29/04 7:48 AM

Wow, this has been a crazy week. I feel like I have been blowing and going all of the time, but when I look back on the week, I really haven’t gotten much done. That’s always a strange feeling.

Yesterday was a very, very successful day with the BTD. It was one of the most successful days this week, and I am sure it is because I have added back in some starches. I have been trying to keep my starches to mostly Ezekiel bread, with some rice thrown in for good measure. Eating a little at each meal has helped me to avoid some really big potholes. I'm looking into making some adzuki beans, I just haven't found any in the past few days. I'm not much of a bean cooker, but I guess I'll learn.

Things are so much better. For instance, several times per week I take my daughter to a cafeteria near us called, Luby’s. Luby’s is one of those cafeterias that drive dieters nuts. All of their food looks good (though some of it doesn’t taste that great to me) and is fried or sugared or something. It’s “old fashioned” cooking. I take my daughter there because she loves…. LOVES…the steamed broccoli with cheese sauce on the side. I know that the cheese sauce is a major avoid for an O, but she’ll eat a ton of broccoli and I figure it is better than fries with ketchup. Anyway, I have a hard time resisting the bread and the deserts. This past week I have succumbed to the temptations several times, but yesterday I was fine. In fact, I just had a romaine salad with lemon and olive oil, some spinach and some broccoli – minus cheese sauce – and that was it. I felt SO good after that. I ate a little meat when I got home and I was fine. That was SO great. I feel much calmer now. The best part about giving in when I did was that I found that I really don’t even LIKE that stuff anymore. In fact, it tastes mediocre, at best, going in and feels HORRIBLE after it hits my stomach. I can really see the day when deserts hold no interest for me. This is a major step because I have always been a desert nut and have always had a wicked sweet tooth. That I could crave an apple with almond butter on it just as much as (no, more than) chocolate cake is nothing short of miraculous.

I’ve been a little pooped out the past few days. I’m due for my period to start tomorrow, and I’m interested to see how the chocolate/ sugar/ starch cravings go. So far, I feel really good. I tend to be tired at this time of the month and this month has been no exception. The past couple of days I have crawled back in bed after putting my daughter on the bus, and enjoyed an extra hour or so of sleep. I have worked out every single day for the past 10 days or so, each day increasing my level of activity, and it DOES make one tired. I know, I know, some people think that working out each day is too much, but all I can say to that is that for 10 years I rode horses for 6 hours each day, 6 days per week for years. I was training them for polo and I rode them hard. Additionally, I would probably hit several hundred polo balls each day. After finishing at the barn, I would often go to an aerobics class or two. This was my regular fitness routine since before college. The fact that I only do 1 aerobics class each day now, plus lift a few weights here and there, seems almost like inactivity to me. I just can’t do, in my 40’s, what I could do in my teens, twenties and early 30’s. However, that being said, I feel GREAT each day that I work out. I wish that I had more hours in the day, but that would mean getting up earlier, and I just don’t see that happening. I really admire the people who can get up at 4 AM and start their day. I am completely incoherent at that time of day, and, getting up that early affects me for days. Odd, isn’t it?

OK – gotta get BACK to the website stuff. Post more later!