Weeks #27 and #28

Why, hello there!
Yes, my dears, I am back from the beach. Oh, my goodness I had so much fun! The sights, the sounds...the food! Ummm....yeah. About that. I hate to tell you this, but I didn't lose and in fact gained. I will tell you how much I gained, because I think by letting you know and getting it written down, I see it and see/hear your reactions to it and it sinks in that much more. I know you guys give me encouragement during times like these, and it's greatly appreciated. I just hope you don't get frustrated with me because I keep yo-yoing.
I think last I weighed in I was 238. This week I'm at 246. And really, I'm actually amazed at how LITTLE weight I gained! I honestly thought that after three weeks of not going to the gym and two weeks of not weighing in it would have been more than that.
One thing that hit me a little hard last week, however, was when Jimmy, Katie, Jason, Stephanie, and I went up a dune down near the Hatteras lighthouse. It was a very large dune, and then still had to walk a couple hundred yards in the sand to get to the water. I was panting quite heavily by the time the first wave came up and hit my feet. Panting is very embarrassing for me. Even more so than my appearance for some reason.
On the lighter side, however, speaking of my appearance...I was looking in the mirror one day last week while I was getting dressed. The first time I noticed this was when I was putting on a bathing suit. I have tankinis...halter tops with short bottoms. I had the shorts on and was putting on the halter top. I happened to look up in the mirror before I had a chance to pull my top down over my stomach. I was amazingly pleased with what I saw. I have an hourglass shape! It's true! And my stomach doesn't protrude quite as badly as I portray it in my head. Needless to say, I felt good about myself. I actually, truly, honest-to-goodness felt good about myself for just about the first time in...well, a long time.
Now that I'm back, I'm getting back in the gym which I had been ignoring lately. Oh, and about that...I went back today. I only did half an hour on the treadmill like I used to do. Why, oh WHY did I ever stop going to the gym. It's soooooo freakin hard to restart! But I did it. I wanted to stop oh so badly when I'd realized only ten minutes had passed, but I didn't. I kept going. I started panting, which, as stated above, is very embarrassing for me. But I kept my feet moving on that thing. Then, to top it off, Mike and I walked the dogs tonight. For anyone who knows Culpeper, we walked from our house on West Park Avenue, down Blue Ridge Avenue, crossed Business 29 at the light (Southgate Shopping Center, where Wachovia and Luigi's is), and walked all the way to just about the light at Meadowbrook Shopping Center (where Mama's Pizza and Subs is), then, obviously walked all the way back. It was a long walk. But it was great! And the dogs are learning to walk on the leash...especially Sprite, who always tugs.