Starting weight (7/15/08):  279.8
Monday:  267.8  Tuesday:  268.4   Yesterday:  268.0   Today:  267.0
Change today:  -1.0   Loss-so-far: 12.8 lbs.

“Exercise is non-negotiable.”  That was Dr. Atkins talking.  I know this.  I internalized it even.  I get the plan, I get the logic, I understand the why of it all.  Yet, as I have continued to whine about how I haven’t lost any weight for eight days, I haven’t gotten off my butt for most of those eight days.  Sunday I worked outside in the heat, that was the exception.  It’s supposed to be the rule.

So Tuesday there was a big project to do.  The retaining “pond” at my work (not that there’s water in it, it’s more of a retaining ditch) needed to be mowed, the grass was a foot deep.  I volunteered to do it because, geez, what a great workout that will be!  The sides of the pondditch are so steep that the riding mower can’t do it, so it would have to be done with a push mower.

Okay, actually I volunteered to do half of it.  It was a big job.

So my son mowed the first half.  I reminded him, “Don’t touch my half!”  (I really wanted to do this, how strange!)  He laughed, like a sixteen-year-old needed to be reminded to not do something.

I waited until after 5 pm so the sun wouldn’t be beating down so hard, put my hair up in a ponytail (a really small one since I got my hair chopped off), went outside, took a deep breath, and fired up the mower.  Oh.  My.   God.  LOL, I wanted a workout but I totally wasn’t expecting the job to be that hard!  Since the grass was so deep, every inch of it had to be mowed like three times (back and forth and back and forth) and though it was quicker to mow from the bottom up (pushing the mower above me), it required considerable strength.  Not that it didn’t require strength to mow from the top down (dragging the mower up the sides over and over again), but both maneuvers were … um … draining.

I was almost done - just two little strips of grass remaining - when I pooped out.  I have a lot of energy “for a fat woman,” but I’m just not used to that kind of exertion!  Plus, it’s about ninety-five degrees and the humidity is at like ninety-five percent.  I stopped to catch my breath and my husband finished those last two little areas. 

The point of all this is… yesterday we went bike-riding (4.3 miles) and this morning my weight had finally dropped again.  Surprise!  Exercise is not negotiable!

I just went outside and took a picture of the pondditch, and it looks… like not a big deal!  The sides don’t look all that steep and the ditch doesn’t look all that big, but I’m not a weenie!  My sixteen-year-old son about passed out when he did his half, too!  Maybe we’re just not used to any hills of any kind here in Florida, LOL.  Anyway, here it is:

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Oh, and while I was out there with the camera, I took a shot of the infamous dumpster enclosure that my husband and I built (and then unbuilt) (and then built again lol).

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

1226