A week and a half ago I discovered that my scales weren't giving me an accurate reading because a cable had gotten stuck under there (yes, that part of the house is a mess, and will be for a couple more months). I nearly cried when I realised that I'd only lost 1 kilo instead of the 2 I was so happy about. I had a bit of a slump, where I felt like it didn't matter what I did and I was supposed to have reached that goal by now, blah blah blah.

But I got back on the bandwagon after a few days, and I'm seeing good results again. My 7-day average looks a bit flaky but a few more days will put it back on track again.

re: exercise bumping up your calorie allowance - I'm using LoseIt! which keeps your allowance at the same level until you meet your goal, but subtracts from calories eaten for that day if you do exercise. It makes more sense to me that way, because you've worked off a portion of what you've eaten. And because it gives you a weekly graph as well, I treat being under my daily amount as a way of offsetting the days when I miscalculate and end up a little bit over.

I put off posting earlier in the week because I haven't come up with any good rewards. Exercises are going well, and I stocked up on almonds and toasted soy beans that are in my desk drawer so that when I get hungry at school I much on some of those rather than going down to the vending machine and buying junk.

One exciting thing is that my guy and I have started working out together. He made a comment on Monday that he wanted to wait to exercise until I was in the shower so that I didn't judge him. I offered that we could workout together so that I would be too busy with myself to watch what he was doing, and he thought it was a great idea! So far (just Monday and Wednesday this week) we're doing the same routine, and then he just ups the number of repetitions on some of the exercises (pushups and crunches come to mind). We don't need to workout together every time, and it will be fine if our workout routines become a bit different, but it's been a lot more fun exercising together than I thought it would be! He appreciates the consistency and focusing on muscles he usually neglects, and we both enjoy the company!

Thanks Anne & Kari - I'm feeling a little better today already which is a really good sign! A friend reminded me last night that the last time I did a huge amount of decluttering and rearranging furniture I got sick too - it got me thinking - I suspect I feel good, over do it (rearranging furniture alone is probably a little silly!), and stir up all the dust in the house - and on top of being a bit run down from a stressful and hectic past few months it all just got too much for me.

I just can't help myself though - when I get the bug to clean and rearrange, I get the bug LOL