THE BEST LAID PLANS

I am truly blessed in many ways. Not only do I have a beautiful wife who I adore and who loves me, I have a great job and work for a good boss. Over a year ago, the McNay Museum offered its employees free memberships at Spectrum Health Clubs. They also extended reduced pricing to spouses for $30 a month.

Before we accepted, I asked my boss if it was okay for me to take extended lunches on workout days as long as I stayed late to offset. Since he also works out and tries to be healthy, he said sure. Mel and I signed up and I have been working out off and on since then.

Since we went back to Weight Watchers, I've tried to work out two or three times a week in addition to riding my bike on the weekends. Best laid plans....

Yesterday I hoped to cut out around 10 AM, work out, shower, and get back to work by noon. No such luck. I am part of a special committee of eight at work who meet every Tuesday morning. The last two meetings have run long, so by the time I got back to my office, I had a dozen emails to return and couldn't leave.

That shouldn't be a problem, you say? Why don't you work out after work, you say? My job is very stressful. Not brain surgeon stressful by any means, but by the time I get out of work, I am spent. That's why working out mid-day is best for me. That is when my energy levels are highest. Why don't I work out before work, you say? Because I already get up at 5 AM to be at work by 7.

Since yesterday was blown, I was looking forward to working out this morning. Instead, we were hit by the perfect storm of misfortune with my staff and due to circumstances beyond any one's control, half of them were out or missed part of the day. Two workouts down the toilet.

I still have faith, so I keep my workout bag and iPod Shuffle in the back of my truck just in case. Tomorrow is another day! Hopefully I'll be able to work out tomorrow and Friday to set myself up for a good weigh in Saturday morning.

Now that I'm older, I can't lose weight fast enough through cutting calories alone. I need exercise. Not only that, it lowers my stress levels so I don't scream at sales people or kick the dogs when I get home. (I exaggerate; I don't kick my dogs.) Pray for me....