Well, I knew when I started this diet that I would hit a slump. I just didn’t expect it to be so early.

The scale in my room is excessively kind and flattering, and tends to give me a weight that is about ten pounds off. Now, I knew this, but I was never very good at reading the little notches. I assume my consistent 227 was right; however, at a recent visit to Health Services, I decided to check my weight on their scale. The result was not encouraging.

230 is more than I ever wanted to weigh. 230 is something like a hundred pounds heavier than the “recommended” weight for women my age and height, and though I don’t really have any interest in being the recommended weight, I don’t want to be gaining weight. To say I was upset was an understatement. Of course, being upset, I decided to do what any hormonal, depressed college female would do: eat chocolate.

I fully intended to eat that Dove bar, too. But then I thought about it. I didn’t know if the extra three pounds was from muscle mass, or if I was retaining water the way I normally do (I have been drinking a lot of a water, so it was entirely plausible). It could have been anything that lead to that, and who was to say it was exactly three pounds? And the scale didn’t know me. The scale didn’t know how much I amended my diet, how much my body hates me after a half an hour on the elliptical, how hard it is to NOT eat those french fries. So, finally, I decided to suck it up and buy myself a scale that measures fat percentage and water retention.

Let me explain a little how these scales work. Once you stand on them (some of the really high-tech ones want you to plug in your age and height), they send a small electrical signal through one foot and wait for it to come out of the other. It doesn’t hurt, obviously. The amount of time it takes for the signal to go through one foot to the other is how the scale measures the amount of fat and water in your body. Some work better than others in terms of measuring fat versus water retention. Some aren’t even scales, but nifty hand-held devices.

Of course, I can’t entirely blame this on the scales, as much as I really want to. My metabolism has always been notoriously slow; I can detox for a week and gain a pound. Lucky for me, I stumbled on an article that told me various ways to raise my metabolism. Some I’m already doing, but others – specifically the workout tips – are easy enough that I can do them once a day.

Morning Yoga: I fell out of yoga a long time ago, and I’ve regretted it ever since. It energizes you and relaxes you at the same time, and talk about improved posture! I wandered over to ABC of Yoga for a few exercises, and I try to do one from each group every morning, varying it to keep my body guessing.

Afternoon Stretches: Goodness knows that I start slumping come two or three o’clock. Stretching boosts circulation and eases the upper body tension you get from sitting all day, whether it’s in class or at the computer. Now, I can’t really afford to LEAVE my chair, so I do the stretches right there. Erm, here. Really! Check these out. Again, I do one from each section and change it daily for variation.

Evening Strength: The one thing that’s been missing from my workout is strength exercising. I’ve heard from everyone that building up muscle not only raises your metabolism, but combined with cardio can make the fat melt. Well, I’ve seen no fat melt yet, but I have started snagging a pair of 5-pound dumbbells (change the weight according to how much you can do; don’t make it EASY, but don’t strain yourself).

The exercises the article mentions are nice, but I’ve never been good with doing things without seeing them done…and once again, I really can’t afford to leave my chair in the evening, especially when I have to read that 30 page article for class tomorrow. After a quickie search, I found this guy on Youtube. It’s not the full video, but by the end I felt like I had done a full work out. Ouch. If you’re into this kind of thing, you might want to invest in his video.

So, that’s the story so far. This is one hell of a struggle, but I’m determined to come out on the other side. On the bright side, though I don’t have too many major changes to report, I noticed something this morning while I was putting lotion on after a shower:

I have some damn nice calves.

Current Weight: 230.
Current Size: XXL, or 20/22.