Monday, Monday

...and the paleoblogosphere has been DULL recently!  I usually find something to write about easily, inspired by either the brilliance or idiocy of things i've been reading elsewhere, but not this week.  The most stimulating material i've seen are rants, and i'm not very good at responding to those.  Blame the Mercury Retrograde?  :-)

Weight loss stalled last week, too.

There comes a time in every human enterprise, when things just seem to bog down.  Like trying to run in a nightmare, you can't seem to get any traction, and the monster behind you gets closer and closer....  It happens after you start a new job or hobby; you've learned the basics, the shine of novelty is dimmed, and it's time to buckle down to the grunt-work.  It DEFINITELY shows its face, in every dietary plan i've ever utilized. 

It's easy to backslide at this point.  Take a "vacation," and the next thing you know you've regained the last five pounds, and what you had to do to get rid of THOSE doesn't work anymore.  Resign yourself to always being a butterball, or treat yourself to a goodie you've been fantasizing about, and say you'll get strict next week?  NO.  You can't let intellectual or dietary boredom derail you.  Ground lost may never be regained, at this time in our lives.  This is one of those moments when you HAVE to dig in your heels, refuse to wimp out, slog on through.

You need to have a fallback strategy -- something that you know will inspire and encourage you.  The first thing that always comes to mind, for me, is watching movies in which the hero conquers her/his own demons to succeed, like "Aliens" or "The Goonies" -- just make sure it's a movie that doesn't require popcorn consumption.  ;-)  Go outdoors and do light work in the garden, so that it'll be more of a "break" than a chore.  Search out a restaurant like those Brazilian grill types that became popular a decade ago, where you can get a carnivore's feast on a day you don't feel like cooking, yourself.  Do something you know you're damned good at, no matter how "silly" (a favorite of mine is Freecell, in which almost every game is winnable -- and i have to figure out HOW).

I will quote Jack Lemmon, quoting Billy Wilder:  "You're as good as the best thing you've ever done."  [Assignment:  memorize this.]

You ARE.