Morning musings

So I'm sitting here this morning as Michael sleeps peacefully in the next room, waiting for the furniture guys to come pick up the loveseat that supposedly will be repaired under warranty. I am dubious, first of all about the possibilities of them actually showing up in the 8-10 a.m. "window" (especially since an hour of that has gone by), and about this piece of furniture actually returning to me in some condition that I'll be happy about. But we'll see.

Anyway, with nothing better to do, I've been sitting here read all the blogs of People Who Are Actually Losing Weight. Which would be pretty much everyone except me, I think. I mean, let's recap here. Since the beginning of January, I've lost about 15 lbs. That's an average of something like 1.5 lbs/week, which would almost be ok except that it was more like 10 lbs. and then nothing. The only thing that I really kind of consider something of a victory here is that I haven't seen a reading that's over 290 in a while, even with the daily up and downs. Michael has lost more like 30 lbs over the same period, which is better... and on the whole, he's been doing better since he started eating fruit again, even if he didn't lose anything last week.

So, what is wrong here? If I were losing 1-2 lbs a week, I wouldn't be complaining. But I'm not. And lately I've been a little tired again, too, not my racing-with-energy low-carb self. The only good thing is that I've been a little less crazy since I stopped obsessively charting. But since I'm eating about the same thing that I was eating before I started doing that, I can't see that there's some great leap here. The only real difference is that I've been eating a few more relatively carby vegetables, like a few carrots, and a little bit of berries... marginally more paleo, I guess.

The possibilities as I see it:
1. Exercise. The big one, unfortunately. I'm playing racquetball 2-3 times a week... probably not the most strenuous racquetball ever, but even lazy racquetball requires a lot of movement. But racquetball is essentially anerobic in the sense that it's all start-stop. Maybe that doesn't matter, but the fact of the matter is that this is all I'm getting for "daily" exercise. Most, though not all, of the people who seem to be losing weight are getting a lot more exercise than me. (On the other hand, there's that whole "exercise doesn't matter" school of thought.)

What to do about this one is a bit of a puzzle. Some percentage of this is an excuse for not doing things I don't want to do, too. I tried doing aerobics tapes again, and let's face it, I just hate tapes. I have never ever been able to make myself do these things for any period of time. I'd be perfectly happy to go to a class. I hate tapes. Unfortunately, there IS no convenient class any more, not that I know of anyway. I should look into this some more, I suppose. I could go back to the gym, and I definitely would if Michael would go, but this is something of a problem at the moment... he pulled something badly in his leg and wrenched his knee, and just moving around is hard. I don't know what to do about any of that. But I'm reluctant to just go by myself... in addition to the boredom factor, I hate leaving him here to contemplate the things that he can't do, essentially. We toy with buying a treadmill... or a treadmill and an elliptical walker... but the cost for one that would be suitable for him is staggering. If he could get below 425, that would change... but that's a little under 100 lbs. away. I'd gladly spend the money if it would work, but it is far more likely to be an expensive clothes rack.

All of the solutions about this seem less than optimal.

2. Too many carbs. So, ok, I'm not charting. BUT, what am I really eating? Usually eggs etc. for breakfast, sometimes some mushrooms or salsa. Lunch lately is salad maybe but more often just grabbing some meat. Dinner... meat of some kind and usually about a cup of vegetables. The occasional protein shake. And maybe 3/4 c. of berries in the evening and about 1/4 c. Greek yogurt. There's not a lot there, but any measure.

3. Too few carbs. I keep reading things where people say that they had to up their carb intake to lose weight. Now, my guess is that I'm really, on an average day, eating more like an induction level of carbs than anything higher. Maybe I need to be eating more carbs? This seems goofy but not inconceivable, especially with my level of fatigue lately. I don't know.

Ugh, I am really wearing out on this. I've gone over this ground so many times that I'm just worn down. You know the other choices. Wrong food mix... not enough fat, too much protein? Too many calories. Not enough calories. And so on. What is it really going to take to lose some real amount of weight?