No wonder I was feeling so fat and bloated last week-- it was PMS! (Mr. Ointy. Bringing news of my menstrual cycle to the people.)

I weighed in on Thursday at +1.8 pounds and for once, this hasn't fazed me at all. (Every other time I have had a gain, I have put some pithy, positive spin on it and then had a bad week of overeating all the same.) The thing is, last week I weighed in first thing in the morning, instead of my usual time of 5:30 p.m. Body weight fluctuates during the day, and I know that's almost certainly what it was. This puts my loss at 14.2 pounds over all and that seems about right.

Today I am happy to report that I have tons of energy. I feel absolutely fabulous today, sweetie, darling. I am wearing pink! This seems significant. I had a very good week last week and am on track (mentally) to do likewise this week. I did a relatively short (4.3 mile) bike ride this morning, and maybe it was the distance-- not too long, about half an hour's ride-- that gave me the boost of energy instead of wiping me out.

I hope to get some stability in terms of these numbers (down seven! up six! down nine! up two!) but I can tell what's really going on by paying attention to my body, and that's all to the good.

I was thinking today of putting up a "before" picture, except it will be one in which I look fabulous. You know, as opposed to those ones where the "before" picture is this badly-dressed, depressed, miserable looking person. I want people to look at "before" and "after" and think there's something to be said for both states of being. (Curvy and slightly less curvy.) Curviliciousness is beautiful!

But I will admit that the extra energy is a good feeling. As is the prospect of lower cholesterol next time I make it to the doctor.

I did that thing-- you know, I bought a pair of jeans that is super cute but too small. I was going to get the size that actually fit, but it was too big and it was all baggy in the ass area. That is an unappealing look unless you are a waif. I need jeans that hug my ass just right.

A-ny-way... so I got the jeans, and they are really cute with the funky fading and all. I can zip them up, but they make my thighs look unfortunately like sausages, and the words "camel" and "toe" might not be completely off the mark. Plus, I can't bend in them. (I guess "they're too small" would have been a much easier way to convey all this.)

But I bought them as a sign of confidence that, at some point in the near future, I will be able to fit into them. In hopes of achieving this goal, I went for a short bike ride today, a 5-miler. My next ride is scheduled for Wednesday, and I might go even shorter than that. The one thing about the Point Isabel trail is that quite often, there's a strong wind blowing off the bay. It's a more difficult ride than the Way of the Mighty Chicken, or at least it seems that way because of the wind. I may cut my rides down by time-- just do a 30 minute ride instead of a 40 minute ride.

Of course, if I got road bike tires, I'd be able to go a hell of a lot farther in 30 minutes than 4 miles. I didn't know much when I got my bike, and god knows that Britney has served me well, but if I had it to do all over again, I'd probably just get a road bike. As it is, all I need to do is find a magical $60 to pay for the tires. I could use the $100 that my mother gave me (which is specifically for anything to do with me losing weight-- the woman has a goal, people) but I can't bring myself to spend it quite yet. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for.

In other news, I think I might get a scale. The WW scale is so erratic, it might be kind of nice to have my own data. On the other hand, this is the type of thing I am wont to obsess over. There's a reason I don't own a scale, and it's possibly a very good one.