"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

I seem to have mysteriously lost about 6 pounds (nearly half a stone ;-) in the past two weeks. I'm terribly chuffed, though I don't quite understand it. I haven't gotten nearly enough exercise lately, and I've not done quite as well as I meant to with food and drink. But I am eating a bit healthier, and a bit less, so that must be part of it. I'm back three notches on my belt, to the last hole; I may have to get a smaller one! :-)

I had a very pleasant weekend, spent mostly with my inamorata, the lovely A. We toasted the New Year together, watched stuff on the telly (she enjoyed Sports Night and a series of Nick Aardman short films, and she has apparently memorized most of the dialogue to "Room with a View" :-), played some games (she liked Odin's Ravens; she found Twilight Struggle a bit much to take in), made a run to Balducci's for yummy cheese and bread and other stuff that we noshed on over the weekend. We talked a lot and snuggled a lot and went walking along the Potomac. It was a lovely time.

Now the hard work begins. Not with A, but with myself (in fact, being rather athletic, she'll probably provide support and encouragement). I successfully avoided gaining any weight over the Gorging Season (in fact, I appear to be down 4 pounds from 11/20). But I want to lose 20 pounds this year, so I need to move from maintaining to shedding. Eventually, my long-term goal is to work up more muscle tone and more aerobic stamina and take off about 50-60 pounds, but I figure 20 is a good place to start. I managed to lose 20 last year, but 10-11 of them have snuck back. >:-( So Measures Must Be Taken. Once I'm OK to get back on the bike regularly, that will help. A. enjoys running, but I'm not sure if I'm quite up to her level of fitness (OK, let's be real--I *know* I'm not); that will probably take some work. In the meantime, I think I may make another attempt to inculcate the South Beach Diet; I need at the leat to get back to the principles of Phase 3, and starting a Phase 1/Phase 2 cycle would probably be a good idea.