I've managed to heal up after last week's rather pitiable mishap with an extra Thursday night class; my quads have returned from union break and my hamstrings, while grumpy, have indicated a willingness to play along for the time being.

I have a couple of hours left to decide if I want to attend tonight's class or not; like last week, I'm not sure it's a good idea, but I know that the extra midsection work wouldn't kill me.There are apparently two types of exercisers: the gregarious, and the lone wolves. The gregarious ones flounder when pointed to machines, alone; without others to push them, they fall. The lone wolves like their headphones and their solitude, and would rather battle a set of weights one-on-one than figure out what kind of chatter would be best to get through a class.

I'm the latter.

I saw a couple of people in last week's class that I think I might enjoy getting to know, but I'm still not terribly certain that now is the best time to rejoin that class. Even now, as I sit here, I can cite equally good reasons for going or not going; I have a feeling I won't know what my decision will be until 6:20, when I'd have to leave to make it to the class on time.

* * * * *

It's not been an easy week. Good things, bad things; they mingle like the notoriously fickle Southern springtime weather. Rainy, sunny, bad days, good days. After having to take several days off, I've resumed my full cardio + weights regimen. I am still trying to find the correct weight point for several of my current weightlifting exercises. I've had to raise the inner/outer thigh sweeps 20 pounds each (to 70) and the glute/hamstring rolls up 35 pounds so far (to 70); the rolls may still need to go a good bit higher, because the muscles never felt stressed.

I'm contemplating further changes but won't know until Friday. If I can perform fifteen reps at the new weight, I may add ten to the gravity row, another five to the Arnold presses, and the one that really surprises me - another ten to the bicep curls. It needs to be work, but not so much that on Monday, I won't struggle too much when I move from one set to two.

Bad news: sum total of weight changes is the loss of half a pound. In truth, it's a loss of two and a half pounds, since I gained a pound each week when I started the regimen.

Good news: the scale doesn't show much, but my clothing fits differently. Shorts that weren't terribly comfortable up until even a few months ago are now comfortable (I'm wearing them right now). My pre-workout jeans haven't been worn in a while; I've shifted to just wearing the one-size-down jeans that I'd had stashed in the closet for a few years.

Good news: Today I went up another level on cardio, to 45 minutes at level 5.

Bad news: it totally kicked my ass...but as soon as I got off the machine, I was fine.

Good news: finally got new workout shoes.

Bad news: breaking them in is going to suck.

* * * * *

The worst part still remains the food issues. I'm starting to think that next week, I need to begin trying to force some more variety into what I eat, because I'm afraid I'm going to burn out on what I'm currently eating. I wish I could say that food intake was anything but a struggle, but it's still a daily fight to get up to somewhere between 1200 and 1600Kcal/day.

I'll talk more about that later. I'm keeping a few friends abreast of how it's really going, but that's an entry for another time.

I've decided to do tonight's class. Cross your fingers. Hopefully it'll be better than last week's.