I thought it would be interesting, instead of starting with weights like I did last time, to start with nothing but body weight -- even my arms are pretty damn heavy -- and do some basic exercises without dumbbells and see if, for example, I felt nothing and could do 100 or what. To my surprise, all the exercises I tried definitely I could "feel it" in the muscles, and although I could do ten (fairly slowly) easily, it was just starting to affect my heart rate and breathe when I stopped.

That is boring trivia that could only entertain myself, I know. But last time I got into this I think I dived too fast into heavier weights and too many deadlifts and suffered some overtraining, so I think since I am dedicated to this right now, I should trust that "I have time" to do this at whatever pace I need to. If that means very gradually working through weights I consider too easy for me, even the process of the motion -- and to me the big deal being 'the consistency of paying attention and DOING something like this' is the big deal -- is useful, and the harder stuff will come.

I'm less likely to avoid hard stuff, than not to when I should and hurt myself, so I'm pleased at this unlike-me sudden interest in going really slow through it just to see how my body "feels" while doing something.