Losing a part of me

Author: Mitch Garvis

  • Day 161

    I did not lose any weight this morning. I did not gain any either, so I am happy… especially knowing that not only did I have fried chicken nuggets with lunch, but also had a couple of (small) cookies, and then at 10:15pm Leslie and I shared a bag of microwave popcorn. Every day that I do not gain anything back after cheating the day before is a success.

    On my walk today I expanded my radius, as I have done every walk so far. While the distance I walked today is exactly what it was Monday, I did a bigger square. The difference is that when I arrived back at the apartment complex, on Monday I still had another half-kilometre to walk, while today I got to the door of our apartment at exactly seven kilometres. I am going to try for an extra kilometre tomorrow, but I need to look at a map to see how I am going to do that. It would not be hard to say ‘Oh, I’ll walk one more block’ only to find out it adds an extra three kilometres to the walk. I am sure I could walk 10km… but no at a respectable pace. Here are today’s stats:

    • Distance: 7.00 km (7.00 km)
    • Duration: 1:19:42 (1:21:17 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:23 (11:36)
    • Steps: 8.7k (8.7k)
    • Calories burned: 396 (287)
    • Elevation gain: 31m (28m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 110 (106)

    If you have not yet figured it out, the numbers in brackets are the statistics from my previous walk, and not an average or whatever. I am happy with the progress that I am making, but I am especially happy with the increased frequency of my walks. From my first walk (April 2) to my last walk in Canada (May 5) I walked four times, for a total of twenty-one kilometres. Since arriving in Dallas (and recovering from Covid) my first walk was on June 23; as of today (June 29) I have walked four times as well… for a total of twenty-three kilometres. My goal is to keep the cadence up, and gradually improving the distance. I am curious to see what effect the cooler Canadian weather will have on my pace and endurance when I arrive back next week. I am excited to keep going. As well, when I am back in Canada I will get back to my Taekwondo. I expect that between the walking and the martial arts, I will start to see significant victories… both on the scale and off.

    Today has been a good day for me with regard to food… so far. I had cereal for breakfast, which is not really a good start but is also not terrible. For lunch I had a piece of leftover fish with some cauliflower, and some macaroni and cheese (a very small amount). For dinner I made a delicious arctic char that I marinated in lemon juice all day, and Leslie prepared some rice. I suspect that between the food and the exercise, I should be happy with the number on the scale in the morning.

    Speaking of scales, I made an appointment for next Wednesday to see the doctor. He will weigh me, but I also have a couple of other things to discuss with him. Say what you want about the Canadian national health system, when I want to see my doctor it is never a long wait… and I have never gotten a bill from him!

    I joined a cigar lounge today. I spent the afternoon there chatting with some of the members and staff, and of course smoking cigars. I have always said that cigars are a great way to get to know people. When I first moved to California, my then-girlfriend was shocked by how quickly I was able to meet people. Three or four of the people I met my first month in California are still friends to this day. Today I met a couple of great people that I look forward to getting to know. Tomorrow I will head down there for a couple of hours again, but I am going to a movie with a friend of ours in the early evening, so it will only be a quick cigar.

    Have a great day folks, and stay positive!

  • Day 160

    My weight was that has been creeping back up these last few days finally dipped back down this morning. Yay. I did not go for a walk – I have a pain in my side that I am wondering about, and I will relax for today. Hopefully Leslie and I will spend some time in the pool relaxing again. We’ll see.

    I do not have a lot to report… Have a great day!

  • Day 159

    My weight keeps creeping back up. This morning it was back to where it was the day that I left Canada. I guess there was a weight loss effect to Covid, and I have recovered. I am not worried… I know that I am snacking on some things that I should not, but I am also eating mostly pretty well, and I am walking a lot. Today’s walk was my longest since I got here and tied for my longest. Here’s the breakdown:

    • Distance: 7.00 km (5.00 km)
    • Duration: 1:21:17 (56:10 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:36 (11:09)
    • Steps: 8.7k (6.1k)
    • Calories burned: 394 (287)
    • Elevation gain: 28m (25m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 106 (108)

    As we can see, I am not walking as fast as I could, but I think the distance is important. Tomorrow I will try to speed it up a little… my first 7km walk I had a pace nearly 40 seconds per kilometre better than I did today. I should also remember that it was probably 15 degrees (Celsius) cooler than it was today. Yes, there is room for improvement… but I also have accomplished something!

    Breakfast today was cereal. Tomorrow I will go back to preparing omelets, which I suspect is a lot healthier for me. Lunch was leftover salmon with salad… and two (very small) Japanese chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They were so good! I will make something reasonably healthy for dinner… although I am thinking of making air fried potatoes. We shall see

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 158

    We had a Bonney day today! Last evening we went for sushi, and it was really delicious. We then went to Cigars International, where it was packed! We met another couple who were on their third date, and when they heard we were celebrating they bought us drinks and cigars. We really enjoyed our time with them!

    This morning we had the leftover breakfast from yesterday. We did not eat badly today, and I am hoping that tomorrow the scale is nicer to me. As it is, I am up four pounds in two days.

    With regard to that number, I should mention that I have been a tad backed up these three days, and that is likely a huge contributing factor to my weight gain. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 157

    I just failed my renewal assessment for one of my certifications. It is for a technology that I use, but I do not use most of the features. I will have to re-take the certification exam at some point in the future, but it is not something that I am particularly worried about.

    Last night was great. Leslie and I had dinner and drinks with a close friend of hers, and it is so good to get to know him. Leslie has met a few of my friends, but he is the first friend that I met.

    Let’s get this out of the way… my weight was up this morning. Yes, we ate and drank yesterday, and that might be a contributing factor; however, I suspect it is because I did not poop yesterday, and today I only had a small one. Tomorrow will be better! Well… I hope.

    Leslie and I went to an Asian shopping district today. She and I both share a love for Japanese (and other Asian) confectionaries, both of us having lived (briefly) in Japan. We picked up some great snacks, although we only had a very small bite of one. We also picked up Japanese doughnuts, and we had one after lunch. Oh my lord they are good! I am glad we did not buy more. I am really glad that Leslie reminds me when I seem about to fall off the diet cliff!

    I did not walk today, but we did sit in the pool for a couple of hours. This evening we are going for sushi, and I will not go overboard.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 156

    It is hot out there! Today is an important day, but I started out with a bowl of cereal, and then I went for a walk. I wanted to push myself further than I went yesterday, and I did… to a point.

    • Distance: 5.00 km (4.00 km)
    • Duration: 56:10 minutes (46:17 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:09 (11:33)
    • Steps: 6.1k (5k)
    • Calories burned: 287 (226)
    • Elevation gain: 25m (22m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 108 (108)

    I did take a bottle of water with me today and thank G-d I did because it was hot! I was hoping to go further, but I realized a couple of things. Firstly, I needed to pee after the second kilometre. Secondly, it was hot out there! My phone registered it at 35°, and it is going up to 38° today. Wow.

    The bathroom scale continues to be good to me. This morning I was down another pound and a half… despite the fact that I ate pizza for lunch, and chicken wings for dinner. I did not gorge myself, but those are foods that one does not associate with weight loss. I also had a dram of whisky with my cigar last night.

    Leslie have an important meeting to head out to now, so I will post more tomorrow. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 155

    My walk this morning hit a lot of firsts. It was, firstly, my first post-Covid walk. I know I am not yet 100%, but I did want to give it a try. It was my first walk in Dallas, and my first walk in 36°c heat (that is about 96° Fahrenheit). All good starts. I took it easy, so it is also the first time I am posting my stats here where they are worse than the previous attempt.

    • Distance: 4.00 km (7.00 km)
    • Duration: 46:17 minutes (1:15:57 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:33 (10:51)
    • Steps: 5k (8.7k)
    • Calories burned: 226 (402)
    • Elevation gain: 22m (22.1m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 108 (114)

    All in all, I am extremely happy that I did it. I will try to do it tomorrow, but I have to remember to bring a bottle of water with me. Yes, it is bloody hot out there!

    Breakfast was good… I had an omelet with onions, broccoli, and cheese. After I came home from my walk, Leslie and I decided to be bad… we ordered pizza. We do not cheat often, and I have been jonesing for a pizza for months. It was delicious indeed! For dinner, I will make chicken wings and a salad. Leslie is still new to the air fryer, and I want to introduce her to new ways to make food for her son. We bought the wings the other day, and I defrosted them overnight. She has a great sauce that we will use, but air fried is so much healthier than regular fried!

    My downward trend on the bathroom scale continues, and I hit another low this morning. I am thrilled by it! Leslie said that every time my weight hits a plateau, I just have to come to Dallas to see her. Maybe she is right? I doubt that Covid is having a real effect on it, but who knows? I am now three pounds down from my last weigh-in at home. To make things even sweeter, after my walk I stepped on the scale and was another two pounds down… I know that I lost a lot of water during the walk so it does not count… but it is still cool. If I were to have gotten weighed by my doctor at the same weight as I weighed in this morning, I would be 3.5 kg down from my weigh-in just over two weeks ago. Woohoo!

    I did enjoy my first cigar last night, and I was able to taste it, although I am not sure that I got the full effects. I got a strong note of cinnamon from the very first puff to the very last, which is not what this particular cigar should taste like. I will stick to a cheaper cigar for tonight if I decide to have one.

    It does get hot down here in Texas, that is for sure. A few people warned me about it, and I knew… but I forgot. Yessir, summer in Texas is not like summer in California. I will absolutely get used to it, I just forgot that the heat can be oppressive here.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 154

    I did not sleep well last night, and so after I had breakfast, I went back to sleep. I got up and showered, and while I am staying awake, I am wondering if I will ever regain my energy levels. It is seldom that I am this tired for having done nothing.

    My weight this morning was excellent… I dropped to my lowest weight of the year. I did not trust it, so I got onto the scale again, and sure enough… same number. Yay.

    For lunch today we had the rest of the chicken soup with matza ball, and we each had half a deli sandwich. They were wonderful… but I will not be rushing to pick up more of them. We may assume that I have been losing weight in part due to my illness, and the fact that I am eating smaller portions because of it. Even eating the terribly unhealthy sandwich, as I am only eating half of it, is not terribly bad. When I am healthy, I would be devouring the entire sandwich. Bad idea.

    There is another school of thought to consider. While I am eating with Leslie, I am moderating my portions. While I should be doing that even when I am not with her, having her with me forces it. Before anyone asks no, Leslie is not forcing me or guilting me into smaller portions. I know that the smaller portions are what I should be eating, and so I am trying to eat that while I am with her. Maybe being with Leslie is not only good for my soul, but is also good for weight loss?

    I have not had a cigar since Saturday. I am thinking I might try to have one today, but I will see. I will not be pulling out a very good cigar, rather I would smoke something that is less expensive, just to see if I can taste it properly, and if my lungs are okay with it.

    Speaking of that, I am disappointed that I did not lose my sense of taste. Leslie did, and that is a very common symptom of Covid. I would have been happy to lose it… it is easier to lose weight when you do not get any pleasure out of food!

    This evening I am going to prepare breaded chicken breasts with a salad. Tomorrow I will have to do some shopping, as we will be out of a few of the vegetables. For today, we have everything we need.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 153

    I have posted on my blog these last few days, but I have not written in my journal. Why? Here’s what has been going on.

    Friday, I thought I was just exhausted because of the release of anxiety from being allowed back into the United States. I also felt I was catching a cold, which at the time I attributed to sleeping with the ceiling fan on high. Leslie and I went to get our marriage license, and we went shopping for a few things. I am honestly having trouble remembering some of the things that we have done… reasons to follow. Because Leslie is not a coffee drinker, we decided that we would stop at Starbucks on the way to get our license. They did not have the usual low fat turkey sausage sandwich I would usually order, so I decided to try the Impossible sausage something or other. It was very tasty! We came home for lunch – Leslie steamed dim sum for us, which was really tasty! For dinner, Leslie had marinated chicken, and I made roasted veggies. Afterward we went down and sat by the pool with a cigar. It was lovely.

    Saturday morning, I made us an omelet (which turned into a scramble). We made a valiant effort at making coffee in a device she had, but that failed… we decided to buy a French press coffee maker during the day. We went to a mall after breakfast, where I was able to buy Leslie something cute. After that, we found a good shawarma restaurant for lunch which was very tasty. For dinner we went out for pho, which was quite good as well.

    Sunday was Father’s Day, which is still hard for both of us. We both lost our fathers in the past few years, and we miss them. In the morning we went to a Guatemalan restaurant that her father introduced her to. By the time we sat down to eat it was more like brunch, so we did not eat again throughout the day until dinner. I made a breaded salmon with grilled vegetables for dinner which was quite tasty. We spent the afternoon in the pool, relaxing. It was when we returned to the apartment after dinner, both of us extremely sick and run down, that we decided that she should take a Covid-19 test. She failed, which is to say that we are both suffering the effects of Covid. Not fun, but at least it explains why neither of us was in very good spirits or was very energetic these last few days.

    We spent Monday chiefly in bed. We ventured out only to get the necessary supplies – that is, we found a Jewish delicatessen that makes chicken soup with matzah balls and kreplach, which we took to go (along with a couple of nice deli sandwiches). Leslie called in sick (and considering that her team had an in-person lunch meeting, everyone will agree this was a good decision), and we did little other than resting. For dinner, we polished off the rest of the soup, as well as the sandwiches (they were large sandwiches, so we only had half of them for lunch). Additionally, Leslie did her best to finish her leftover shawarma.

    Tuesday (today) Leslie decided to work… mostly because she had no customer calls, so she could log on and do research without actually speaking with anyone. We went back to the deli for more soup, and for dinner I made chicken and salad. While she is still feeling like crud, I can tell that Leslie is on the mend, comparing her ability to sit upright today to yesterday. I am really getting better, although that is not to say that I want to go for a run yet.

    I was very excited to see that my weight is where it was Thursday morning. I say that because Friday through Sunday it was up about five pounds, which I initially attributed to the travel (which always adds some weight), but also to the delicious tacos we enjoyed when I arrived. I do not know that I did anything special then through now to lose the weight – I have certainly not been exercising, but at least my portions are much smaller than they usually are. I hope I can continue with that going forward… large portions equals slow or no weight loss.

    Have a great evening folks!

  • Day 152

    Covid sucks. That is all.