Ok, though very preliminary - good news! I realize most of the loss is because I ate at the restaurant the day before yesterday and some of that bloat went away. However, when I was dieting before, I could go out and run 15 miles PLUS have my normal 500-600 calorie deficit, and the next day my weight would be EXACTLY the same to the tenth of a pound. As would the next day. And the next...

So the fact the scale now went down in response to a caloric deficit is encouraging. It is a sign that my 8 days of eating at maintenance level probably had a recharging effect on my metabolism. I just need to figure out the right combination of factors to ensure I continue to lose weight without slowing my metabolism down.

Because of the new schedule with Tuesday being a high calorie day, I so far have cut back calories just yesterday. However, when I eat higher calories, I don't pig out. I eat the same way I normally do, just eat more to maintenance level.

Today was my cross training day. The past several weeks I've been considering my remodeling work as my cross training to help keep the overtraining at bay. I think it was a good move - moving bricks and rock to set up a new brick patio burned over 900 calories.

Tomorrow is a lower calorie day as well as the next day. I've decided instead of doing a 700 calorie deficit on both days, I will do a 600 tomorrow and an 800 on Thursday. The first day will then have a lesser effect on my metabolism, the 2nd day more, but then Friday is another higher calorie day so should absorb any impact.

I'm running 8 miles tomorrow in the pool. My Achilles has been tight and my knee sore since falling last week on the trail. I'm going to try an audio book while running in the pool, or, a music mix that is set to 180 beats per minute. 180 is an ideal running cadence and it would help to make sure I keep leg speed up in the water.

Alright... time to get to bed. Will keep you guys posted on how things progress...