Losing a part of me

What a great day yesterday was! I got amazing news from my doctor (huge weight loss), I spent a lot of the day with my loving wife (who had to work, but she was still here); I went for an amazing power walk with these tremendous stats!

• Distance: 7.25 km (5.00 km)
• Duration: 1:17:03 (54:41 minutes)
• Average Pace (Min/km): 10:37 (10:54)
• Steps: 8.8k (6.1k)
• Calories burned: 419 (288)
• Elevation gain: 27m (16m)
• Average cadence (steps per minute): 114 (112)

Being able to cut 17 seconds off my per-kilometre pace felt great. Yes, I was pushing myself… but I should always be pushing myself! The encouragement comes at one-kilometre intervals when my phone reads off my time for the last kilometre… and how far I have gone. My fourth kilometre yesterday was my best per-km yet… 10m12s. By the seventh kilometre I was back down to 10m42s, but that is still an amazing pace.

I should mention that at the end of the fourth kilometre, I stopped for a few minutes. I forgot to bring a bottle of water with me, and so I stopped at the gas station on the corner and bought one. Unfortunately, their computers were down, and so everything was slow. I did not intend for it to be a seven- or eight-minute break, but I am not too upset by it.

I came home and took a shower (obviously). Leslie and I then got dressed up and she took me out for a birthday dinner at The Keg, which was delicious! I did not go crazy; I started with a Caesar salad, and then had the 12-ounce New York Strip Steak with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. It was a very nice treat! For dessert, the waitress (who is not a collectible!) brought a complimentary piece of Billy Miner Pie, which was absolutely sinful. Leslie and I shared it, and I appreciated the help because… yeah, had I eaten it alone I could imagine the number on the scale this morning would not have been a good one.

Yes, after all that, the number on the scale was down! Not by much, but down is better than up, right? I will take it happily!

This evening Leslie and I are going to meet my ex-wife and sons for dinner. She has met my son the elder, but this will be the first time she meets my son the younger and Theresa. It feels awkward to say the least. We will get through it, but to make it more palatable for my son, we are going to a restaurant which he loves… and where there will be a lot of temptation to eat poorly. I remember taking my son to Buffalo Wild Wings a couple of times while on diet, and I have been able to resist the temptation to splurge. This evening the temptation will be greater because of the stress of the meeting.

Because I know that I cannot go nuts, and I cannot let my guard down, I decided to plan ahead. I went to their website and decided that I will order the grilled chicken salad. It has 640 calories and is pretty high in fat, but it is still a smarter choice than… well, anything else on the menu. Planning ahead is often a key success factor with dieting, and I think this was a smart choice. Leslie told me that she woke up in the middle of the night and had the thought that our choice of venue would be dangerous to my diet. I told her that I was planning to eat well and surprised her when I told her I was going to order a salad. As I always say… Lead me not to temptation! I know exactly where to find it.

It is nearly 2:00pm and we are not leaving until 5:15pm. Leslie still has to work, so I am going to go out for another walk. I really want to keep that habit going. One thing I learned last night is that of the several pair of athletic shoes that I own, the ones I wore yesterday are not conducive to power-walking. Indeed, shortly after the 5km mark my feet started to complain about them. I will switch them out for a different pair for today. As well, Leslie just ordered a new pair of shoes for me which look like they will be much more comfortable.

Have a great day folks!