You know what I learned today? Taking antibiotics causes weight gain because not only do they kill off whatever infection you are fighting (in my case, a middle-ear infection), they also kill off all of the helpful bacteria in your gut that helps you effectively digest food. I had finally been trending back downward in weight until mid-December, when it started to spike back up again. You know what else happened in mid-December? I had to do a round of antibiotics due to diverticulitis. So, there's at least a partial reason for spiking up again. On the upside, today not only did I do 200 push-ups, but I also managed over 4 miles on the treadmill for the first time in ages. So that was nice. Also today, I jumped back to finally start watching the infamous Shada for the very first time.

Let me tell you about 200 sit-ups, at least for me: It ain't easy, and it takes a solid half hour to get it done.  Frankly it almost qualifies as a complete workout all on its own. Today was my second time reaching 200. I hope it gets easier over time, because right now it totally kicks my butt. As for The Sarah Jane Adventures, well, I wasn't emotionally prepared to cry today. I thought that wasn't going to happen until Wednesday.

It's not about the weight. I have been saying that from Day One of this ridiculous project. Literally. On my very first post I said: I don't care about any particular goal weight, I don't want to be "skinny" or "healthy" (whatever that means). I just want to feel good about myself physically and mentally. So it's not about the weight. I keep saying it, and keep saying it, and some days I even believe it. But damn it is frustrating right now. Going into Thanksgiving I was making forward progress and set a goal to be below 150 by Christmas. Not only am I nowhere near that goal, but I am back up well over 260. I can tell myself that some of that is muscle mass from the strength training that I have added back in, but...

I dunno. It's just frustrating, that's all I'm saying. Anyway, I did watch a new episode of Sarah Jane Adventures today, so there's that.

Ugh. Really, Sarah Jane Adventures? This is how you are going to end your third season? Ok.

Here it is, not only a powerhouse Sarah Jane Adventures episode but also the very last thing that David Tennant filmed during his tenure as the Tenth Doctor. Yes, he would later return for the 50th anniversary special, but this right here was the very last episode he shot before handing over the TARDIS to Matt Smith. And somehow I never got around to watching it until today.

So, can I just say.... a hundred and twenty eight sit-ups this morning! That is easily the most sit-ups I have done in one session since I left the Army in 1990. So, that's pretty cool. Also: as of today I am on vacation until January 2nd, 2019, which is also pretty cool. On the not-so-cool side, my low number of workouts over the past two weeks has certainly had the inevitable result. I hope to turn that back around in short order. We'll see how that works out. As for The Sarah Jane Adventures, well...  apparently Rani is not amused by my referring to her as NotMaria.

Weird day today, workout-wise. I just couldn't drag myself out of bed early enough to get it done in the morning, so I put it off until after work. Even so, I manged over 90 push-ups today which is awesome. I expect I should be back up to 100 by next week sometime. I also wrapped up the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures today, and it was freakin' awesome.

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and I can tell you one thing for which I am truly thankful: After two months of grimdark Torchwood viewing, as of today I have moved on to the (admittedly childish by design but) extremely cheerful and optimistic The Sarah Jane Adventures. Hurrah!

So... I took ten days off. That was weird. After crossing the finish line last Monday, the next day was all prepping to leave on a trip. Then I flew to Las Vegas for work, spent several days running around like a madman (I registered 22,000 steps one day, going back and forth between Aria and Bellagio), then got home a couple days ago and still kind of avoided the treadmill. But this morning I was too antsy to ignore it any longer. This morning I started in on Doctor Who spinoffs.

So let's talk about that.

Today is the first time in the fifteen months of this ridiculous project that I have completely mis-timed my treadmill session length. I always set it for 55 minutes, except for specials that run longer than a normal episode. What I forgot was that today's episode ran a full 65 minutes as the season finale. So as I was watching my treadmill abruptly stopped with its programmed time finished. I was so wrapped up in the ending of the story that I literally stood there for ten minutes transfixed. 

So let's talk about that.