Last night's dreams were better than going Lorena Bobbitt on Tom. I showed someone how I could touch my nose to my knee. In reality, I'm about 3" from touching my nose to my knee, but that's the third "skinny" dream I’ve had since moving in here. Any dream psychic will tell you that recurring dreams are often signs, though I don’t ever expect to literally be skinny. At this point, additional weight/inch loss is strictly a bonus. I don’t mind staying big. I just don’t ever want to return to the 150s. It's very hard to get around up there at my height.

But even though I’m not dieting, I am still losing weight. When I woke up, I stretched, yawned, and casually rested my arm across my stomach. "I’m thinner," I thought to myself. That’s another thing about being short; just a slight gain or loss and you notice it. Well, scales aren't always accurate but measuring tapes are, and I'm now down from a 38” or 39” waist to a 34”. Wow! I didn’t expect that. Ideally, I should be 24” - 28”, but 34” isn’t that big a nightmare.

It's gotta be the running, though, because I haven't been dieting at all. Running is very serious business, and a lot of people don't realize it until they get into it. It's one of the best forms of cardio, and it usually takes months of training just to be able to do half a mile. I'm still surprised at the loss of inches because, running my ass off or not, I'm still older and I'm still female.

Since the camera always adds a few pounds and I’ve come down a bit since Andy last saw pics of me, I don’t doubt that he and I would both agree we didn’t look as big if we could see each other in person, even if we also could see we were far from skinny.

I noticed my ass and gut don't stick out as much as they used to when I caught my profile in the mirror. Maybe someday I'll get my washboard abs back, but I’m just glad I’m fit and healthy. My poor sister, though, is still bedridden and in a lot of pain. She has a beautiful bedroom, she says, but the walls are closing in on her. Hell, I’d go stir-crazy immobilized like that, AND I’d gain a ton of weight! I know for a fact I’d go back to a slow steady gain of 2-4 pounds a month if I couldn’t run or do other forms of cardio.

Speed control gets harder as you become more fit but is VERY important. You train your body to run, and that's exactly what it wants to do—run! But if you start off too fast, you could burn out and be at risk for injury. My foot came down in a way the other day that could've very well caused injury had I not had strong ankles.

People say just running to the next room to get the phone leaves them winded, but that’s a different kind of running. To get the phone, you’re usually running as fast as you can. On the streets, running our fastest is unnecessary and excessive and just not sustainable as it is if we just barely break into a run. I keep it at a comfy 3.5 MPH. This way, my heart and muscles are working, but not overdoing it either, and I can go 30-60 min.

I’ll be out there at night in the summertime as I’m not running with no 108° sun beating down on me.

You don’t have to stuff yourself first, but never run on an empty stomach! A car needs gas to run and so do you. Running on an empty stomach can cause dizziness, and you may even pass out. I don’t count calories, but I try to go easy on the sugar and starches. Tonight was strength-training night – arms and abs.

Haven't had a period since mid-October. Tom said all the running could also have a part in throwing off my hormone levels, as athletes often don’t have periods at all. It's hardcore exercise, alright, that seems humanly impossible for beginners even at slow speeds. Start with indoor stationary jogging if you do get into it. Damn, *shakes head in remembrance* there was once a time I couldn't do 5 minutes of stationary.

As I’ve done numerous times since 2010, I’m really questioning my friendship with Andy and just how much he truly cares about me. There’s just no appeasing this guy. He always, always has a problem with me. Don’t know how much more I can take before I get fed up and walk away. His life may have changed dramatically as far as his activities, income, job, and living arrangements go, but he’s still the same old person. Same old judgmental, immature, moody whiner I’ve always known him to be. Who the heck is he kidding when he harps on me for not trusting people enough to have more in-person friends? He has his own trust issues. Think he’s alone for the fun of it? He may enjoy his solitude, but at the same time, he doesn’t have a boyfriend because he can’t trust anyone. He wouldn’t trust a darn thing the guy said or did, and he knows it. Yet he doesn’t get why I don’t have in-person friends?