If it's Tuesday …

I stayed the same again this week, no surprise considering that I've indulged in more than a few servings of snack-sized York peppermint patties since the last weigh-in. Making thanks-for-your-commit'mint' bags was a good(ie) idea, but I should have given everyone two – or three! – bags instead of bringing the leftovers home. Every last one of them is going into the freezer today. The freezer IN THE GARAGE. The one where you have to think about what the HELL you're doing while you're walking over there to raid it.

York peppermint patties don't taste fattening at all, in case you've never had one. They're light and refreshing and 70% LESS FAT, proclaimed loudly on the label. So right off the bat your tricky little mind thinks you can have 70% more of them. Right? Heh.

PastaQueen used to update her progress photos every 10 pounds, and that makes more sense than once a month. Even gym workouts don't produce much of a visible difference when one stays the same weight week after week after week. So no photo today. This would have been the fourth one and trust me, nothing has changed. I look just as goofy today as I did a month ago, and goofier than I did in January. At the rate I'm going I'll post another progress photo next year. That's discouraging.

Denise, you are not overthinking yesterday's three-ingredient recipe at all. I should have been clearer. Overnight Oats won't work unless the oats are the old-fashioned rolled kind. (I've corrected the recipe.) Good old Quaker Oats (or a store brand, doesn't matter), the kind that take several minutes to cook. And I know it sounds weird to throw rolled oats into yogurt and expect them to come out all creamy and yummy but they totally do! It's kind of magical, actually.

Edited to add: Diandra, my quick research yielded an answer for you – our rolled oats are the same as your oat flakes. So oat flakes should produce great results. (Who knew oats could be so confusing? And by the way, have you seen how many varieties of Cheerios are for sale these days? [My husband requested the peanut-butter kind. I had no idea there even was a peanut-butter kind!])

Back to this week's analysis: I only made it to the gym once. I worked a lot, but now that I'm three weeks into a work schedule I guess I shouldn't be counting "working" as "exercise." Once your body gets used to a routine it becomes normal activity, not intentional.

And that probably explains why, despite normal eating, the weight isn't budging. My body is used to going to the gym, too. I haven't stepped up the intensity or duration of what I've been doing for the last month or so. In fact, since I pulled that muscle in my right arm I've been lifting 10-pound dumbbells instead of 15-pounders.

A Runner's World writer suggested the Stairmaster most mimics running if you can't actually run outdoors or on a track (because of an injury). I haven't been on a Stairmaster in more years than I can count, but there are three of them at the gym. No one ever uses them. Just for the helluvit, I gave it a try when I was there yesterday.

Twenty years ago I could knock out 40 minutes at the highest level, without holding on, every damned day. I managed just 10 minutes at level 3 yesterday (look, Ma, no hands!), and then headed for a bike. Next time I'll try to stay on for 15 minutes. It was very hard.

And I am, um, very old.