Of course, all of this means I have to stick with it. When I say I spent a lot of money on this, I am not exaggerating. I bought 15 weeks worth of training. I got a deal but still: expensive. So I need to keep that in mind the next time I go for that third beer or hunk of cheese. The most I will ask of myself is six days of total clean eating and a day where I splurge on something if the mood strikes me.

When I last spent the money on a trainer -- and never this much, mind you -- I stayed in the groove. Nothing motivates better than money for me. Screw fitting back into my clothes well; it's all about the dolla', baby. Whatever works, I suppose. The important thing is that I've caught my stride again, after so many stops and starts. And while I'm firmly resting at 150 pounds right now, I'm happy that I managed to kick those seven extra pounds I gained over the summer and that I'm back to business.

More later. The White Sox just took a HUGE lead with a Paul Konerko grand slam. I must go finish watching. I was in Bridgeport last night, just steps away from Comiskey, and while I'm no huge baseball fan, it was super-sweet to be in that hood during this time.