I’ve never been too enthusiastic about working out, but I finally got to the point where I was tired of being out-of-shape and wanted to do something about it more than just the minimum to pass my physical fitness test. 

So about a month ago, I started going to the gym.  I have been going for at least an hour a day, 4-5 days a week, every week.  I’ve been playing racquetball, running or using the elliptical machine every day, adding in pushups and situps and some weights, a little at a time.

For the last month that I have been working out, I have not lost one pound.  Not one, single, stupid, measly little pound.  And I’m not overeating; in fact, I’m eating quite a bit less than I used to, and still - not one pound.  I’m (so far successfully) resisting the urge to soothe myself with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a few bags of Cadbury mini-eggs.

To say that I’m frustrated would be to say that the Mississippi River is a little stream. 

Add on top of this that I have hurt my back now for the second time since starting (and no, I am not doing too much too soon; I’ve been adding things very gradually) and succumbed to going to the doctor who prescribed Percocet AND Flexiril AND 800mg Motrin (of which I’ve been taking 2 at a time), and still I can barely walk by the time the Percocet wears off. 

I’ve cut back to using weight machines for doing crunches and have cut back to a low resistance on the elliptical machine, because I cannot stop working out with the physical fitness test looming ahead.  I was doing so well (weight loss aside) and had improved my run by 15% and this is just such a big setback for me. 

Mississippi River, meet Karyn.