I've gained weight. Not all of the weight I lost last year, but a good 15 pounds of it. My skirts are tight and my shirts are snug. The jeans that used to be huge on me, not fit again. It's so depressing.

Last week I decided I needed to start exercising again, so I went to the gym three times and ran. I ran for two miles during my first visit to the gym, and then did two miles on the eliptical machine. Then the next time I went to the gym I decided to just walk two miles and do another two miles on the eliptical machine, because my knees were starting to hurt. Then during my third visit I ran again for two miles, and then did two miles on the eliptical machine.

On Saturday afternoon, I started getting the sniffles. I was thinking I had worn my body out and I was paying for it by coming down with a cold. I vitamined myself out Saturday night, and woke up on Sunday feeling better and able to go the baseball game without having to take cold medicine. On Monday, I stayed at home and lounged around in my jammies and watched TV all day.

I woke up this morning feeling like I never had a cold. So I went back to the gym and ran two miles and then did another two miles on the eliptical trainer. I'm like clocking four miles a day, which is a lot for me.

My weight hasn't changed, but on Friday I wore my Tommy Hilfiger size 8 jeans and they were loose. My size 8 Ralph Laurens are still snug, but not uncomfortably so. Maybe the running is taking the weight off my hips and legs at least. Now if I can just unstress myself and stop the chocolate binge eating I've been going through.

I only crave chocolate when I'm stressed out, and I have no idea what I'm so stressed out about. Chocolate calories go straight to my waist. Maybe I have that cortisol problem that they keep talking about on infomercial tv.

I have problems digesting food so I'm going to try some herbal formulas to improve my digestion. Supposedly I have a hard time absorbing nutrients from my food, so no matter how much I eat my body thinks I'm starving it to death. I have to test whether this diagnosis is true, because something has to explain my chocolate binging.

Chocolate is like a drug to me. No matter how much I eat of it, I can never get enough. I jsut love the taste of it, and if I had my way, I wish I could it constantly and not gain weight or have bad skin because of it.