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Jon and I went out to Dante’s to see Cr?xshadows Monday night. We’d missed them at Dragon*Con, but here was our second chance, and we took it. First challenge was what to wear. I’m just girl enough to worry about that. Though, one of the things I like about Goth men is that worry about clothes, too. And make-up . . . You can ask a Goth male, who is not husband or boyfriend, is your eyeliner straight and they’ll give you an informed opinion. Though never ask a Goth if you should wear colored eyeliner; black is the only color. I went through my closet and decided I’d wear a new outfit. It had been so long since we’d gone to a club that I had several to choose from. I tried on this great leather two piece. There was good news and bad.

Good news, I’d lost enough weight that my back looked great in the backless halter top. Bad news, I’d lost enough weight that the breast area no longer fit. The top was too big. One of the reasons I determined to loose weight was I’d gone up to a F cup, yeah, you read that right. Tops ceased to fit, at all. Double D is fine, thank you. Though Jon’s a little boo-boo faced. He’s adjusting. But here I had this great outfit and I’d put it away in the closet, waiting to be able to wear it later. Now, if later comes, I’ll have to find someone to take the top in, and finding someone who works in leather in St. Louis is not easy.

I’ve been reluctant to talk about the weight loss, because of the obsession we have with weight in this country. People have noticed that I’ve lost weight, have asked about it. So, here goes. I got to the point where I was ten pounds heavier than I had been at nine months pregnant with my daughter. Wow. So, Jon and I started an exercise program, and a nutrition plan. We got a personal trainer and we made the Cooking Light magazine and website our meal planner. We also visited Calorie King on the web, because it would tell you the calories in the things you were eating, especially fast food. Oh, My God. Jon and I had no idea what we’d been eating. Armed with these two web sights and a husband that cooks, we began to task of getting back in shape. We both lost forty pounds, and I kept off thirty. It’s been three years now. Jon, unfortunately, has gained back his weight. Part of that is due to the fact that his knee is not good. Every time we get him back on an exercise routine the knee craps out, and he can’t do it. Or the pain is great enough that it just isn’t worth it to him. His MRI came back with not great news. We go Thursday with the options visit to a new doctor. A doctor that does surgery. But the pain and lack of full motion has just gotten to a point where we’ve got to do something. But one of the problems is that he is carrying too much weight for his body frame on his joints. So, I decided we had to get it off, one way or the other.

Now, I am against dieting, but not against a nutrition plan. What’s the difference between a diet and a nutrition plan? Diets you stay on, until you loose the weight, then you go off of it, and you gain back all the weight you lost, plus five to ten more pounds. A nutrition plan is a permanent change in how you view and interact with food. You can change your eating habits and become healthier, and loose weight that way, but you have to keep the change going. You also need to increase your exercise at the same time. First, you loose weight faster, and second, you get stronger, healthier. Especially as thirty gets in your rearview mirror, the work you put into your body now will determine, in a large part, how well you age. Think of it as putting money into a bank account for retirement. The more you put into your account, the more you can take out later. Exercise is the same way.

We stopped doing the personal trainer, and we began to fall away from the exercise routine. One of the few areas that Jon and I are not helpful to each other in, is this one. The one exception to that rule is pedometers. We wear those daily, and when able-bodied aim for so many steps a day. If you work in an office, I recommend putting one on and forgetting about it. Just see how many steps you take in a normal day. Then slowly try to up that count. (this predicates on there being no medical reason why you can’t do it; your doctor is your friend before starting any new activity so check with her) But we walk every day. It’s not new to our bodies. Start at what’s normal then slowly add. I’ve had days where I hit 12,000 steps, that does count a 45 minute trip on the treadmill. My ankle is still not a hundred percent, so it likes only going to about 10,000 steps. More and it hurts the next day. Oh, and on the treadmill, watch a television show you only get to watch while exercising. I hate the treadmill. I find it boring, but the television keeps my mind occupied while my body works, so I do it. Right now I’m doing NCIS first season on DVD. Without commercials it’s almost exactly 45 minutes. Start out with less time at first, I’ve worked up to my ankle and body being okay with this much work out.

But, Jon can’t do the treadmill, and most weights are hard right now. We’ve given up cooking at home almost, so busy. What to do with his weight issues? I asked around, and we joined Jenny Craig. They don’t make you give up fats, or carbs, or anything. They actually tell you, your body needs all of it. It’s true. The food is convient, mostly microwave, and it tastes good. No, honest. Jon was waiting for it to taste bad so he could stop doing it, but, much to his disappointment, it tastes great. They also have a purse size eating out guide, so this weekend when we went to a movie and couldn’t go home to use their food, we knew to go to Arby’s and get a ham and Swiss melt with bottled water. (We could have had a diet soda, but we don’t do the artificial sweeteners) The plan is designed to help you ease off of their pre-packaged food gradually and do more of your own cooking. Even now, they have us add salad and veggies of our own from the store. Jon’s down three pounds, and I’m down two. It hasn’t been a week yet. And, some meals, our complaint is that it’s too much food. Can’t possibly eat all that. But if you don’t, then you’re hungry before the next meal. I got permission to cut some of the meals in half, like the blueberry muffin, and use the second half as my mid-morning snack. That is one filling muffin.

Jon is doing the nutrition plan, and no exercise. His pain level is too great to force it, but I think I’m going to go back to exercising alone. Jon hates weights, and though repetitive I find them soothing. He grows impatient at the stretching exercises, but again, I like them. Maybe it’s time to divide and conqueror on this area, like we do on so many other things.

Oh, and dressing for the club: I wore this great leather dress that we bought in Toronto at North Bound Leather. I’d not worn the dress before, but when I put it on, it was not as snug through the chest as it had been when first purchased. I’d been saving it for Archon where I’ll be guest of honor in about two weeks, but I thought, what if, I loose enough weight that it doesn’t fit, like the first outfit? I would be sad to never get to wear this dress out. So, I did. Charles called it a leather mini dress, but the mini was not as mini, because the skirt is full like a 1950’s dress. So, the three of us went to see the concert. I don’t mean Charles, he came later and met us there. I mean Jon, my breasts, and me. But just in case all this nutrition plan makes me go from a double D to a single, I thought I better wear the low cut dress while it still fits. It did indeed fit.

I’ll blog tomorrow about the concert and the club.