It’s much easier to track your weight properly when your scale doesn’t occasionally decide to take a day for itself. When mine registered that I gained 6lbs in a week, I thought it might be having one of those moments and thought better of trying to record what seemed REALLY UNLIKELY. Well, either it was on the fritz or I managed to gain 6lbs and lose 5lbs, all in the span of 2 weeks. (I think my first theory is more plausible.) In any event, only one pound has really been added to the tally, and I’m still almost 4lbs below where I started.

For someone who hasn’t been working out and who hasn’t made radical dietary changes, THAT’S NOT BAD.

When I read Elizabeth Comeau’s latest Get Moving blog post, her comment about “When I want to do something, I will do it” really resonated with me. I’m much the same way. Sure, there are times where I’m cajoling myself into it, but then once I’m there, I’m either into it or I’m ready to bolt. If I’m ready to bolt, I didn’t really want it. I do want to lose weight and I do want to be healthier, but it’s not about a specific number in the end, really, so much as it is about not feeling like a schmoo.

Of course, I don’t have the energy to get up at 4am, as she does, and then keep going until 10 or 11pm. I typically get up between 5:30-5:45am and the race begins. Shower-makeup-get dressed-get kids up-get kids dressed-make lunches-get everyone to wherever they’re supposed to be…and then after work, it all starts up again: race to get the kids-make dinner-eat dinner-bathe kids and/or do dishes-put kids to bed-…whatever I have energy left to do (often not much).

So, I want it, but maybe I don’t want that go-go-go life that Elizabeth has just yet. And the good news is that’s okay. Pushing yourself into something you don’t yet want may be a great thing if all you need is a nudge…but if you don’t really want or require the nudge, it may push you in the complete opposite direction, and I don’t need any more disincentives beyond the standard exhaustion.

As far as the books go, I have another one down! I have started reading my fourth book, “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie. It’s a bit slow-going right now, but I can’t tell how much of that is Rushdie’s writing style and how much is my going to bed too late to get more than 2 pages before I start to faceplant into the text. In the meantime, while I try to figure out which it is, here’s my take on the third book in my reading series this year…

Book #3: “Sunken Treasure” by Wil Wheaton

A collection of short pieces from other books, stories, and an amazing production diary from an episode of “Criminal Minds”, “Sunken Treasure” is just a fantastic (and quick!) read. There’s so much about Wheaton’s writing that really speaks so well to me. Having acted in high school and college (but nothing since then, and only ever on stage), I keenly felt his elation when he landed parts that made him want to sing and his frustration when parts he wanted didn’t come together. I laughed out loud at his retelling of a “Star Trek: TNG” episode done in an MST3K-like fashion, poking fun at his castmates and generally picking apart the plot as though it were oratory roadkill. When you’re giggling in bed as you read, disturbing (or keeping up) your sweet dh, who then looks over what you read and laughs well enough for himself, you know you have a great book. I’ve read several of Wheaton’s other books, including “Dancing Barefoot” and “Just a Geek”, and I highly recommend picking up any of his work. He’s funny, snarky, sensitive and sharp – not just a writer, but clearly an artist.