lost another 3 - now I'm up to 12!

I got the best compliment last night from a lady at the gym. She's really nice, and always smiles and says 'hi'. I met her in the parking lot when we both pulled in at the same time, and she made a comment about having to force herself to come every day. But she told me that she can tell that I've lost a lot of weight and inches, and that I'm looking good! That was very sweet of her :)

I had gained 2lbs at last week's weigh-in, but as of this morning I was down 3.25! WOOHOO... so I lost what I gained, plus an extra 1.25lbs! That doesn't seem like much, but I'm proud of myself.

I was talking to Sarah about dieting and weight loss on Friday night, and she gave me some great tips about calorie intake. I didn't really reduce calories greatly in my diet, just did some strong portion control - which has led to me really put on muscle. Which doesn't help when I'm trying to get rid of the weight, but damn my legs look great! I'm going to strongly watch my intake, especially at dinner, when I have a tendency to indulge in the starches. Hopefully that is the right step I need!

I've also discovered my favorite way to work out. I've gotten into a habit of trying all the aerobic machines, i.e. treadmill, elliptical, and bike. But could never last very long on the treadmill or elliptical. With the treadmill, I think I have to warm up on another machine first, because starting on the treadmill cold makes my legs hurt after a few minutes. After 10 minutes on the elliptical my heart rate is out of the zone and maxed out the range, so that can't be too good for me either. But - the bike, Amy the loves the bike!

I did 16 miles last night in 45 minutes on level 2, which roughly puts me at 21mph. I also got to catch up on Southern Living magazine while doing it, and found some really interesting places to visit in the South. They are all going on my travel list too. Then I went on to do some work on the weight-machines, ending the work out with some Pilate's and yoga to stretch.

I'm excited, my workout plan is coming together!

However, I am kinda upset, as I'm having a henna tattoo dilemma. When you last heard the beach story, we all got henna tattoos on that Saturday evening. I normally research things before deciding, but I went with the flow and got one. Well, the ink is now gone, but I'm left with a red rash in the shape/design of my tattoo. Apparently henna artists have been adding PPD, which is a black dye, to the henna in order to make them darker/black on the skin. Which looks great, but causes a huge reaction to humans. PPD is not supposed to be used directly on human skin, and according to some websites may even be illegal to use.

I'm assuming mine is not itchy like other people's, but it's hard for me to tell because I have a large collection of mosquito bites around my ankles from this weekend. I've been putting hydrocortozone on it anyway, but I'm told that it will fade over time, hopefully not leaving a scar.

I vaguely remember this happening years ago when I had one on my other ankle - but I thought the redness was from me getting sunburned on it. Note to me, don't do that again, unless they are using true henna, which is brown/reddish - not BLACK!