Swimming

I have a love/hate relationship with swimming. On the one hand, there is nothing quite like the feeling of floating, being supported when gravity usually isn't my friend. On the other hand, I have to stuff my sausage-like limbs and torso into something that shows every cupcake and fast-food meal I've eaten for the past 10 years. Every single flaw.

Yesterday for a birthday party, I stuffed my lycra at the Lehi pool. That place was tons of fun, and I even came in under the weight limit for the really cool water slide. 3 whole pounds under, baby!

I tried to do a similar pose, and here is the result. 3 months and 40+ (almost 45 of fat!) pounds later:
It's so nice to have people say they can see the difference. Even if that means they noticed just how fat I was before, I still like the positive attention. My husband likes it that my chest is the most prominent feature on my front side now (instead of my belly).

I keep telling myself that the daily stuff is what's important. That cheating on the plan isn't doing me any favors. That I'll be happier if I stay strong and don't give in to the urges to eat and laze around.

Don't worry. I believe it most of the time. :)

Summer Bike Rides

You know what's great about exercising in the summer? You can do just about anything you want till really late at night (relatively).

You know what sucks about exercising in the summer? Sweating. Blech!

I'm sure there are some of you who might suggest I do some swimming. I have lusted after a good swimming pool of my own for a long time. Why my own? Because I don't like all the hassle of packing everything up to go to the gym, only to share dressing rooms with much better-looking naked people and athlete's foot. But that's only half the problem. See, I'm, well, buoyant. I don't have to work to keep afloat, so it's not much exercise. I do love biking though. You can bike in the summer and the breeze will keep you cool. In the late evening before it gets dark it's both safe and pleasant. Then you stop and there's no breeze good enough. No AC works fast enough.

Thank goodness for cool showers and clean cotton sheets.... mmmmm