I thought I heard voices, and yep, there's Bess, walking around in my head again, muttering about losing those five stubborn pounds. I'm laughing because just yesterday, the same day she was writing that post, I'd written a note to myself - five pounds by the end of the month. I'm up about 3.5 at this point from my lowest of the year, which is still not at my goal - Hurricane Eating and no real exercise did me in.

Hurricane Eating was a phenomemon we all succumbed to - convenience food, comfort food, the only thing that will get me through is salt and vinegar potato chips, that sort of crazy eating. That stuff is gone from the house, but its memory lingers on my ass.

It's not that I don't know how to eat right. I do. It's not that I don't know proper portion control. I do. I simply let myself get lazy, and quit thinking about portion control, and let little bits of this or that (or sometimes entire honkin' bags of this AND that) creep in. I still eat a healthy South Beach style diet (except during hurricanes) but my metabolism definitely has slowed in my mid-40s and I have to think about portion sizes. Oh, and exercise. Exercise is so critical, and that, too, was a casualty of the heat and endless battering of rain.

My weight loss sputtered, stalled and died due to simply not paying enough attention, then the battering of hurricanes and PMS eating and business lunches and all the rest moved in to finish it off, but good. I know my own "I can't stop if it's in the house" trigger foods, and I have to simply ban that stuff, cold turkey. I know exactly what I have to do to break this stall - but I haven't done it. Yesterday I decided that I'm going to set a small goal - just five pounds by the end of the month. November, another five.

The weather is changing, it's cooler in the mornings and evenings, great sleeping weather (I suddenly have gone from insomnia to wanting to sleep ten hours a night), great walking weather, great biking weather, and my self-discipline woke up yesterday. This weekend temps will drop into the 50s at night. I'll want that poncho when I take the dog out Saturday morning, and it will be done by then.

The tiny timekeeper says it's time to get into the shower. He's amazing.