Been a while. I got down to 129.5 just before Thanksgiving (the 25th) then I went kind of loony with the food. So from Wednesday to Sunday, I had a free for all. I finally started damage control on Monday, where I weighed in at 132.4. Here it is Wednesday, where I have dropped to 130.6 - I have lost the water weight I have gained. As far as I can tell, I put on a half a pound of fat.

I didn't stop going to the gym!

One thing I have noticed is that the gains (if you wish to call them that) I made when I did a periodization cycle (in a nutshell, do a few weeks of high reps -low weights, a few weeks of med reps - med weight, a few weeks of low reps high weight - total for me was about 8 weeks) just before vacation seems to have stuck. I have a lot of improvement in some areas. I was benching 3 sets of 75 lbs for 10 reps, now I'm doing 3 sets of 80 at 10 reps. I'm pushing it at that very last rep, but damn that's good for me!

Any way, I have been reading a lot about Cyclical Ketogenic Diets, and I may try that eventually. I'm thinking it may be more useful if I'm trying to bulk up but don't want to add fat, or if the Targeted Ketogenic Diet I'm essentially on now quits working for me.

The combination of moderate calorie restriction ( I'm eating about 1350 a day, and my maintenance rate seems to be around 1700 ) and a small boost or carbs on workout days has not sapped me of strength in the gym. This is big for me, because I was doind a straight low carb before and my lifting got to be way off.

I am working on stiff-legged dumbell dead-lifts finally. I tried some Monday -light weights, 15 pounders, but I must have done something right because the back of my thighs were sore! I did 3 sets more today. I'm concentrating on not rounding my back. Proper form, always!

I also need to start putting more weight on the squat, the bitch goddess of all exercises. My husband informed me that when he went to the dentist's yesterday, one of the assistants who is a trainer, told him that squats will make my hips wider. Guess whom I will never hire.