It's been really frustrating for me. I have hit a plateau. As I have said before, I am trying to lose another 5-10 pounds. Every time I loose 2-3 pounds I gain one pound back.

Well, at least I am not gaining any of the original weight back. I'm not sure about anyone else, but it's a busy time of year in my house. It's the end of the school year with all the activities that go along with it. With that being said, getting up at 4:30 a.m. to workout has not been easy.

I've been a little tired, so when the weight doesn't come off, I have to psych myself up to workout. I have to remember how good I feel afterwards. And that although I'm not losing the last few pounds as I fast I would like, the overall benefits outweigh the bad.

Every morning I get up and remind myself that this is the right thing to do. I love to eat, so I've just got to keep plugging along.

It's so nice to finally have the warm weather. I love getting out with the kids, playing baseball, throwing a frisbee around, and bike riding. Way back when, my husband and I used to go to a state park and ride. But it's been a while (10 years!). Nevertheless, I took my bike out, got it tuned up, and went for a 7.1-mile ride.

Now, I know for most people who ride regularly that's no big deal. But it wasn't easy for me. My legs felt like jelly, and I was a little wobbly. It did, however, feel good to do something different. Running on the treadmill was starting to get a little old. And I was hitting a plateau. I haven't lost any weight in a month or two. Plus, bike riding's giving me the kick start I need to try for a another 5-10 pounds (it's my little comfort zone for those times when you get that sudden urge to eat a whole bag of dark chocolate peanut M&M's.)

Recently we went out of town to visit with family. Which means it was a road trip.

Five hours of driving, which also means "special" road trip snacks for the drive up and back. Not to mention, we ate pretty much all weekend. The breakfast at the inn we stayed at had all sort of things that I would not normally eat: pastries, bagels, muffins etc...

Oh yeah, the occasional sneaking of candy with the kids.

So is it any real surprise that I came home, got on the scale, and saw that I gained a pound or two this weekend?

Thankfully I was able to work out a few mornings over the trip, or else the weight gain would have been much worse. And so I told myself, when we got back it was a new week. This is the most helpful thing I can do psychologically, and I remembered it as I started Monday off bright and early with a run on the treadmill. Breakfast was the usual whole grain toast with peanut butter, fruit, coffee and juice.

Phew.

Forty by 40. That was what I called it -- my resolution to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday. So I talked to my doctor at my annual physical. The plan was simply to exercise and eat better. I started going to the gym five mornings a week.

I’m not going to lie to you -- it was really tough getting started. I would workout after my children had gone to school, but soon found that it cut too much into my day. Working out and then getting cleaned up -- half the day would be over before I knew it. I needed to make some adjustments. Instead of working out for one hour at 9:30 a.m., I started going to the gym at 5:15 a.m. and working out for 40 minutes. And since I’d cut down on my time, I had to make the most of it. On Saturdays and Sundays I would work out for about one hour to 1 1/2 hours.

Of course, I also needed to make certain adjustments in my diet. The only thing I gave up completely was soda. A can of regular soda is 140 empty calories. No nutritional value. I also needed to learn portion control. My feeling is everything is fine in moderation. For example, my husband and I make our own thin-crust pizza and sauce. I use to eat eight pieces without batting an eye lash. Now I eat four pieces and make a salad. I still get the pizza that I love, but also more nutritional value with the salad. Another thing that I like to make is tacos. I used to make tacos with ground hamburger and my own spice mixture. The thing I that I’ve changed ? Now I use ground turkey, which is far leaner. (My family and I can't even taste the difference in the meat mixture.) We then add chopped up tomatoes, onions, a low fat sour cream, and low-fat cheese. Eat it in moderation, and it’s good for you. (Substituting in ground turkey when making sloppy joes, or anything that calls for hamburger, works too.)

After six to seven months of working out and eating right, I’ve finally made my goal. 40 pounds. Now mind you I am not some skinny mini, but I feel good. Comfortable. I feel good about myself and how I look. I’ve never been thin. I have managed, especially in my late teens, 20s and very early 30s to keep my weight down. I like playing sports. Now having children, I want to be able to play soccer with them and not poop out after 10 minutes.

Now the trick is to keep the weight off. And as any doctor will tell you, maintaining is the biggest challenge. Getting up at 4:45 a.m. isn’t my idea of fun. And running three to five miles on the treadmill isn’t all that exciting. But as my quest continues, all I can say is, Thank goodness for my iPod.