After long months of intermittent exercise brought on by family craziness, business trips, bouts of novel writing and a dozen other excuses, I'm finally getting back to a consistent exercise regime. I had been getting to the gym and pool intermittently over the spring and summer, but for the most part, I've been slacking.

And it shows.

After reaching a personal best (at least in the modern era, which I'll define as beginning at age 30) of 196 lbs., my weight's crept back up to 213 lbs. Actually, it was 214 lbs. last week, but it inched back down again after a solid week of exercise and a few less Mountain Dews.