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You may have read in Sunday's North Raleigh News that I'm leaving the N&O for a new job at a sister paper in Charlotte. I may be gone, but I'll still be working to drop those last few pounds.

I'm happy to report that, despite some expected vacation over-eating that led me to gain three pounds, I'm back to my pre-vacation weight of 174 -- and still nine pounds from my ever-elusive goal.

Confession time: I've not worked out in more than a week. But in my defense, it was sort of intentional. 

I still haven't gotten back on the elliptical because my foot took longer to recover from my gout flare-up that I thought. But I still have some good news...

It took about two years, but I've finally conquered my elliptical machine. In video game parlance, I've beaten all the levels.

It's become increasingly apparent that, despite some success, I have a problem with discipline in my weight-loss quest.

Despite a birthday weekend that included entirely too much food, my weigh-in this morning showed that I somehow managed to lose another pound.

Sorry for the delayed update this week, but I've got good news: I appear to have pushed through the dog days and gotten my second wind.

I've hit the dog days of exercise. What's that? Well, I'm defining it as the time when you get bored with your workout routine, when the enthusiasm that was present for the first few months has waned significantly, when you dread it more than you look forward to it and when you're just ready for it all to be over. I'm there.