Losing a part of me

Category: Cigars

  • Day 1283

    I did not expect to see another huge drop this morning, so imagine my surprise when the numbers on the bathroom scale were another 1.4 lbs. down from yesterday!? That puts my loss-to-date at 31.8 lbs. on Day 27 of my latest attempt. I am thrilled with that! As well, after dropping only 3.2 lbs. last week, So far this week I have dropped 5 lbs.! What I am not thrilled with is that I am still well above the terrible mark. I hate that I let myself get so out of hand this calendar year.

    Analyzing the past data, while my weight first crept above the terrible mark at the end of September, in October it was higher than that for fifteen days, and then November it was fourteen days. In December I was doing better for a while… only seven days above that terrible mark. And then there was January… where I dropped below the terrible mark only once – and not since that day have I been there.

    If all goes well then by the middle to end of August I should drop below it once more. I will breathe a sigh of relief when I do.

    As it stands, the clothes that I ordered in June are a bit loose on me. I am wearing them comfortably, but you can tell I have lost a pound or two… or rather 18.4 lbs. to be precise! I am still disgusted that I cannot even button up the biggest of my sports jackets (although I am more comfortably able to wear my suits), and have reluctantly made a decision. Each time I have lost all of the weight, I have said ‘I will never gain it back again!’ and I have given away all of my fat clothes… which is why I had to get a new sports jacket and three new shirts made for me in June. When I can finally wear my slimmer clothes again I am going to take these new shirts and jacket and put them in a garment bag marked ‘If I am ever Fat and Ashamed again.’ I will not throw them out… but I will put them away in my storage locker.

    (I should mention that while I gave away the largest of my sports jackets, I am currently wearing a shirt that I had made in 2022, when I was first losing the weight. I have several shirts that do not fit yet, but I now have several from the down swing that do. They did not fit a month ago.)

    I mentioned yesterday that I had not moved my bowels in the morning… well in the afternoon I had what was probably the best movement since I stopped eating solid foods. I would not be surprised if that was a big contributing factor to this morning’s significant weight loss. What a relief! This morning I have thus far been unsuccessful, but there is still hope for the afternoon.

    My sleep score was up to an 87! I was surprised because of a number of factors:

    1. Even though I was in bed at a reasonable hour, I had a lot of trouble falling asleep.
    2. There was an Amazon delivery driver who decided to phone me at 6:30am to let me know he was leaving a package at my door. That is really my fault for disabling Sleep Mode on my phone… but I did not think I was going to get back to sleep after that. I did (phew!)

    I cannot think of the last time I had three nights in a row with a sleep score in excess of 80… Saturday night through Tuesday morning I registered 86-84-87. Woohoo! This, in addition to the nap I took yesterday afternoon.

    Yes, I took a nap. I spent most of the day trying to record a video for the course I am writing, and there was not one minute when I was not holding back a yawn. I could not figure it out, and finally I decided to walk away from the computer. I took Her Floofness out for a walk (she did not really feel like being out, so we only walked the perimeter of the building before coming back inside). She ran to Sue’s (the neighbour) for a visit, and I sat on the balcony with a cigar and a book. I thought that just maybe a break from not only sitting at my computer but also from studying computers would be beneficial. After my cigar was done I was feeling no more awake, and gave in to the temptation. I slept for an hour.

    While the nap certainly did my body good, I was still yawning all evening. On something like take 87 I was finally able to submit my video. (There was one take, maybe twenty or so takes earlier, that was definitely good enough… only for me to realize that while the screen and the mic were working, my camera was not. ARGH!) Video work is a lot more frustrating than teaching a live class… when I stumble over my words in class I can make light of it. That would not work for a recorded class.

    I did have a handful of peanuts yesterday…and I will again today. I am, as I said a few days ago, eating them in lieu of my fourth meal replacement. Three shakes and a handful of peanuts is not a bad compromise. I also suspect (with no scientific basis for it) that the peanut oil is helping the fibre in easing that last part of the digestive process. Maybe yes, maybe no… but I had the peanuts yesterday and recorded a huge weight drop, so maybe in moderation even if it doesn’t help… it doesn’t hurt.

    I do have some more video work to do today, but I also have an exam to prepare for this afternoon. As such, my plan is:

    • Head out after publishing this journal entry to visit with my son, stopping for a handful of peanuts along the way.
    • Come home, study for my exam for a few hours.
    • Clean off my kitchen table so that it will be completely clear for my exam.
    • Set up the exam computer.
    • At 4:45 I will either drop Her Floofness at Sue’s, or if she is not home I will put her in my bedroom so that I can take my exam.
    • After the exam, I will try to record the next video in the series.
    • After the sun goes down I will sit on the balcony with a cigar… if I pass my exam it will be a celebratory cigar (yes, it is a pretty advanced certification); if I do not pass then it will be an everyday pedestrian cigar. Let’s hope!

    Okay, it’s time to get moving. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 1291

    With regard to my weight loss and health, this morning is a big one. My sleep score was an 86, which is absolutely wonderful for me. I had a very small bowel movement, and on the bathroom scale my weight was down… about 1.5 lbs.! Happy day!

    I expected yesterday to be more of a challenge than it was. I took my son for lunch at his favourite restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee. I did not eat so much as one chip! I did eat the carrots off his plate of chicken wings… and I confess that I did not try to wipe off the very small amount of barbecue sauce that had found its way onto one of them. Yum! I did not stop for peanuts – not on my way there, and not on my way home. I did have a little bit of grated cheese that I share with Princess Sophie, but that was it. Oh, and I only had three meal replacements, and not four as I normally should. I will not make a habit of that, but I know that the cheese compensated for the caloric deficit.

    I am going to see my son again in a few minutes, and then I will drive out to Hagersville to pick up some cigars. I have been smoking them way too quickly. It is not an addiction by any means, but I do use them as a nervous crutch – when I am anxious or nervous – in addition to just relaxation, and occasionally for celebrations. My humidor is not empty by any means, but most of the cigars I have are not to be smoked… at least, not yet. I have five boxes (which might amount to 50 cigars) of Davidoff Limited Edition cigars… I am going to sell them eventually. What I can earn off of these fifty cigars would conservatively buy me six hundred everyday cigars. No, I am not smoking those. Additionally, I have 46 Davidoff Limited Edition cigars (two cigars each of twenty-three releases) that I was planning to save for a decade… to see how well they smoke with ten years on them. I am not ready to break into those just yet – the oldest of them still need another couple of years.

    There were times when I would smoke high-end cigars on a daily basis, but right now times are lean – and because I cannot travel either to the United States or to Cuba (the State Department still has my passport) I am forced to pay Canadian retail prices. To give you an idea of what the difference is: I have two boxes of Davidoff Year of the Dragon (2024). The two boxes that I have still have the retail price sticker on them – they were selling in November, 2023 (when I bought them) for USD$59 per cigar. If we converted that today it would be CDN$81.30 per cigar. One of the stores that I shop at on Native land (which is not bound by import duties or tax laws as we would be off the rez) sells them for $190 per cigar. That is a significant markup. Davidoff pulled out of Canada a few years ago because the import duties and tobacco taxes are so ridiculous as to price their cigars in the stratosphere (in Ontario, because of those taxes, a box of 20 cigars that sells for USD$250 (CDN$345) in the United States will retail for $1,067 in Canada. Thank you, I am going to mostly smoke decent but not great cigars for the time being… until I can buy them abroad, or until I win a very huge lottery jackpot.

    The cigar that I smoked the night I passed my CISSP exam was a USD$500 cigar. That was a special occasion cigar. I still have several of those, which I will smoke when I pass a very significant exam or celebrate another milestone. For the every day smoking… Yeah, it’s the more pedestrian cigars for me.

    All of that to say I am driving out to pick up cigars after I see my check in on my son, and then I will come home and study for an exam I am sitting on Wednesday. I will try to not cheat, but I also will not short myself on meal replacements. The only reason I will do that is if I do cheat.

    Speaking of cheating, I need to stop at the supermarket to pick up milk, and I am going to pick up more grated cheese. The cheese is not for me, it is for Sophie… but I do enjoy the spoils 😉 I have a lot of it left in our current bag, but I found a whole lot of mould in it, so a new bag is in the cards.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 1274

    Last night was not a good night. I do not know what happened, but shortly after I got into bed I realized my back was uncomfortable… and then in pain. Between 11:30pm and 2:30am I got up several times to

    1. Take a couple of Aspirin
    2. Rub Votaren on my back
    3. Remake the bed ensuring the bottom sheet was taut (Princess Sophie did not appreciate being interrupted by this)
    4. (only ever a last resort) grab a THC gummy

    In the meantime I tossed and turned and just fought to get comfortable, which was just not happening. The discomfort was not at all pleasant, but nor was knowing that the morning was coming too soon and that I could not handle another lousy night sleep. It was only out of desperation that I took one of the gummies that a friend had given me. I was worried that I would have trouble getting going in the morning (every time I have taken one of these I have spent the night in extreme thirst and woken up dizzy and with a bit of a headache) but that beat waking up without having gone to sleep, so I went for it.

    (I did wake up at 6:15am and decided that I would pee quickly then get right back into bed because despite the light of day shining in through the window I was definitely still… intoxicated.)

    Despite all that, my fitness watch still gave me a sleep score of 72, which honestly makes very little sense to me considering how little sleep I got. It is possible that before I realized I was in pain I did get some sleep, so who knows?

    It happened too late to affect my morning weigh-in, but I was happy to have an amazing bowel movement this morning. It was not painless, but it was well worth the strain. I only wish that it happened first thing in the morning… before coffee and meal replacement, and of course before my weigh-in.

    Today marked the one week milestone of my renewed program. In that week, with my daily pinch of cheese and yesterday’s peanuts, I have dropped an astonishing sixteen pounds. While I certainly have a long way to go, and while 16lbs is only a drop in the bucket compared to what I want to lose, it is still a huge accomplishment for seven days. It is encouraging, and gives me the strength to keep carrying on… despite all of the obstacles that life continues to throw my way.

    I mentioned yesterday that I weighed myself a second time after my second sleep, and that based one whether or not this morning’s weigh-in was higher or lower than that I would decide whether or not to keep it. In fact my weight this morning was slightly higher than yesterday afternoon, but I am still not going to delete that measure from yesterday. Hopefully by tomorrow I will drop below that number again, but either way I am still quite pleased with my progress.

    So let’s see… yesterday I went shopping to pick up coffee, and I also picked up a little cheat of some peanuts. I know, I should not be cheating, especially so early in the program. If after all that happened the last few days the worst thing I did was eating a handful of peanuts then I am going to chalk that up as a big huge win.

    While I did some studying yesterday, I confess it was not a lot. As I wrote in my journal, I got a whole lot of sleep yesterday during the day, and after the stress and anxiety of the previous day I did not need to push myself. I also knew that the new novel in my favourite series was downloaded onto my Kobo and ready to be dived into. I spent quite a few hours reading. I plan to continue reading it until the end, at which point I will resume my deep-dive studying for the exam.

    Before I sit out on the balcony to read, I need to make a trip out to my (not-so-local) cigar shop. While I have as many as a hundred cigars in my humidor, most of them are high-end special, rather than every day cigars. I do not want to sit outside smoking a $100 cigar… especially when I have so few of those left. I will prepare my meal replacement to enjoy before I head out because I do not want to find myself hungry and tempted to cheat along the way. I need to stay on track and so I need to minimize my exposure to any temptations, which are everywhere despite my best attempts.

    I am hoping that my body does not repeat last night’s debacle so that I can get some good rest. I plan to proactively strip my bed and do laundry – a freshly made bed is usually my best chance for good sleep, or at least of the physical factors within my control.

    Have a great day folks.

  • Day 998

    My weight dropped another pound this morning, bringing me back to exactly the evil mark that I swore I would never hit again. I did not expect to drop below it today, but it would be nice if I could do so tomorrow or Wednesday.

    I am still having trouble falling asleep, but once I do fall asleep I am sleeping pretty well. I might consider taking a sleeping pill this evening… but that is a pretty drastic measure for me, and one that I would not do lightly.

    Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for. I miss my wife, but I will see her in less than a week. I am going to spend the afternoon at a buddy’s house in Grimsby smoking cigars… an unofficial Lodge herf.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 798

    It is going to rain soon so I am sitting comfortably in the upstairs lounge of Johnny’s bistro. In a little while I’ll head out to go replenish my cigar stock, and then will go hunting vittels for lunch. I have a phone call to make around 2:15 so I will make my way to my friend Gloria’s hotel (even though she is not working until later) because it is traditionally the place with the most reliable Internet.

    I was disappointed to realize that I did not bring a charging cable for my fitness watch, which means that either today or possibly tomorrow will be my last day tracking steps until I am back home. Oh well… I will still do a lot of walking!

    I slept slightly more last night than the previous two… but not by much. I find that I can go longer here than I usually do in Canada… despite the walking. That might have something to do with how much coffee I drink here!

    Johnny and I will have lunch and then another friend and I are hopefully going to have dinner this evening. We have missed each other twice, and if it does not work out then it will just not happen this trip because of work schedules. What can you do?

    I am feeling good about my food intake and choices this week, and hope that when I finally step onto the bathroom scale next Wednesday I should be pleased with the number.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 797

    What a shock… the Internet is not working today. Why not? Cuba. I am only very slight pit off by the inconvenience, and will not lose one minute’s enjoyment for that. I will have e to try to tether at some point to speak to someone, but other than that I have no real need to be connected while I’m here.

    Yesterday was a typical day for me insofar as a lot of things did not happen as planned, and I had a lovely day nonetheless. The only issue that I had was the disrespect shown to me by two groups of people… sometimes it happens from Cubans, but tourists seem to take the concept of Cuban Standard Time a little too quickly. A couple that I met on the airplane were supposed to meet me in the morning but they did not show up. I was not bothered one bit by that because the plans were very fluid… I knew when we discussed it that either we would connect or we would not. They reached me by phone at 2:30pm and asked to meet for lunch – they would meet me in 30 minutes. They showed up 75 minutes later, which only slightly irked me in that I was not hungry, but I did not want to eat lunch at 4:30pm knowing that I had dinner plans (which fell through because of someone else disrespecting my time).

    I want to be clear that the couple did not intentionally disrespect me. They were in Cuba for their first visit, and thinking that their credit cards would work, they brought almost no cash. This was a huge and disastrous mistake for an American tourist to make when coming to Cuba. Fortunately I was able to bail them out before they went hungry – they transferred money to my US account and I got Cuban cash here. Again, I am only happy to help. What inconvenienced me was that they told me we were probably going to have dinner (my other plans fell through). At 9:15 they promised they would confirm or cancel within 15 minutes. They decided to eat in their hotel which was not a problem for me; the problem was that they did not call to tell me, so I waited over an hour before cutting bait and going to eat. I do not ever like to eat at 11:00pm.

    With the exception of the times I ate reasonably yesterday. I hate that I ate late at night, but other than that I did fine. I also walked a lot – I believe I did over 15,000 steps before midnight, and I know I walked 5,000 steps before calling it a night. I am not worried about my weight but I know I am not gaining this week (so far).

    I could write more but I’m just trying to enjoy my day. It is sunny and hot and I am loving it.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 796

    Yesterday was a wonderful day from beginning to end. IY”H every day should be as good.

    After the ridiculously long, stressful, and expensive two-day span that was Saturday into Sunday, I landed in Cuba only one hour later than I had originally planned for, and was at my apartment by 4:30pm. I did not unpack, but I did go into my suitcase to find a pair of shorts and my sandals (I had changed into a short-sleeve shirt on the plane from Toronto to Houston) and I went out to meet my buddy only a few minutes later than expected. He and I spent the evening together, enjoying a coffee and then dinner… followed by another snack a little later. I was back in my apartment by 11:00pm, and while I was quickly running out of juice, I had to unpack and organize my kit before turning in. I turned on the water heater so that I would be able to shower before getting into bed, which I was finally able to do by 12:30am. I slept like the dead.

    I seldom eat well on travel days, and what with all of the stress and anxiety of the entire ordeal Sunday was no exception. After everything, I should have turned it off… but as we sat in the cafe-bar toward the end of the evening, as Johnny devoured his desert I compounded it by indulging in a plate of French fries. I knew it was wrong… and I did not and do not and will not feel bad or apologize for it. My step count for the day was 14,000, and my stress count was through the roof. I deserved every morsel and every calorie that I ate Sunday.

    Yesterday would have to be better… and it was. I did not eat breakfast, partially because the restaurant I had planned to eat at was not open yet, but also because I met a few guys from Kentucky at my buddy’s cafe and nibbled on a piece of their toast. For lunch I had a plate of pasta (which in Cuba is a reasonable size, and not what one might get in a restaurant in North America). Dinner was a plate of fried plantains and a chicken dish that likely had the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of an order of General Tao’s chicken… but again it was a reasonable size. I walked 17,000 steps throughout the day, enjoyed many cigars and cups of coffee, and the company of a few friends I always see when I’m here. In the balance, yesterday was a weight-plan success.

    After dinner I went back to Johnny’s bistro for another cigar and a video call, and I ran into the guys from Kentucky who joined me for a cigar… and pulled out a bottle of very fine bourbon. I relaxed until closing and then walked with Johnny as far as my apartment, where I picked up another cigar and then went to see my friend Gloria at her work. She and I chatted until nearly 3:00am, at which point I headed back to my place and had a very good (if short) sleep.

    This morning I ordered a plate of fried eggs and toast, and a couple of cups of coffee. Depending on whether or not people I met show up or not, I will either be leading a tour today, or I will just do my own thing in Habana Viella. While it would be great if they do show up, my day will likely be no better or worse if they do or not… it will just be different.

    My goal is to register 15,000 steps or more every day in Havana. That should not be a difficult goal to achieve, and will likely do much more than that some days. The only thing I need to be aware of is the state of my feet, remembering the problems I had with them on my last trip. Those problems started with a lot of steps in a pair of sandals that were probably well past their expected lifespan (measured in steps, not in age). I gave that pair away, and am wearing another pair that I had… which are older, but not nearly as well worn. After a day and a half in them (and over 30,000 steps) my feet seem fine, so I am optimistic. I brought running shoes just in case, but so far so good. If I need to then I will switch out for runners, but if I can manage it then my other goal is to return to Canada without having worn a single pair of socks the whole trip. We’ll see…

    If the group does not show up then I am planning to have a pizza for either lunch or dinner. The other meal will likely be fish or pasta. We’ll see. I did not feel the need to snack yesterday and while I was peckish by about 12:30am, I did nothing about it and went to bed a little hungry. I would have had to be much hungrier to decide to eat after 11pm. If I can make it through today without snacking then it will absolutely be another good food day.

    It has been some time since I wrote about my bowel movements, but this morning was so good that I feel I should mention that my system is working well, and I suspect that it was ridding my body of all the garbage I ate Sunday. As I walked toward my buddy’s bistro for breakfast I felt five pounds lighter.

    On the negative side, I was extremely disappointed with myself yesterday morning when I put on one of my new shirts and it was tight. I could have gotten away with it, but decided against it and changed into something looser. Hopefully within a few days I will try it on again with better results. While I am well aware that hope is not a strategy, I am truly hoping I can make that happen.

    It is now approaching 10:00am and my group is not here. As I said, either they will show up… or they will not. Either way…

    …have a great day!

  • Day 793

    It was a relief to see the numbers on the bathroom scale drop significantly from yesterday morning, taking me mercifully below the dreaded 280 lbs. mark. Hopefully I will be able to drop another few pounds on vacation, which is not something I would normally say… except I know that I do not overeat in Cuba, and that I do a lot of walking.

    Yesterday was a good day. I finished my class exactly as expected, and then ran to the bank to exchange money. I then came home and made dinner, after which I lit the candles and said my prayers. I selected a magnificent cigar to enjoy on the balcony, which I paired with a lovely rum. I overpoured the rum, but rather than overindulging, I threw the last bit out. I was having such a lovely time that I decided to enjoy another cigar.

    My sleep score was high, and while I had some trouble falling asleep, I mercifully did not have an alarm set, so I was able to sleep until I woke up at 8:30am.

    I tried to check in for my flight, but I forgot that when flying to Cuba through the United States, you need to check in at the airport. Drat. Her Floofless has been walked, and I now have a few things to do, which will start with joining my friends Lyle and Dorothy for breakfast.

    Have a great day folks! I will try to write from the airport tomorrow… and if not, then Havana!

  • Day 792

    My weight dropped this morning, but not below the dreaded mark. I will keep trying. I just finished working for the week, and I have to run to the bank to exchange money. After that, I have a few things to do around the house, and I have to take Her Royal Floofness for her walk. I do not think it will be a long walk at the snow has been coming down all day, but I am going to give her that opportunity. After that… dinner, and then I have a video chat. Hopefully the snow will still allow me to smoke on the balcony… even if I need to light the heater.

  • Day 761

    After missing the mark (only by one measure) the previous day, I shot through my fitness watch’s steps goal yesterday, surpassing 20,000 steps for the second time in a week, and for the third time since I got to Cuba. With that said, the soles of my feet are feeling it a bit today. It is nothing like it was a week ago, but I am still going to take care to not overdo it too badly today. The goal on the watch is 17,420; I will not force myself, but expect if I do not surpass that, I will still come close.

    I have not been eating entirely smart, but I still expect that I will not have gained weight during this trip. I know the pair of shorts that I am wearing today felt much tighter last Sunday when I first put them on, but that could be all in my mind. In 48-hours I will know for sure when I step onto the scale Thursday morning.

    As I had planned, I did my cigar shopping yesterday. While the selection is abysmal, I still found a couple of very good boxes of cigars to take home with me. I am not disappointed! What did disappoint me was that the Partagas store (behind the Capitolo) was closed. I am told that it is going to be reopened and that they are simply rebuilding it. The store certainly did look like a construction site when I walked by, so that is certainly plausible. In the meantime, for my second trip in a row I ended up at the La Casa del Habanos in Plaza De Armas. L found two boxes with a lot of age on them which is rare and difficult. A good cigar gets better with age which is why I have a few boxes in my humidor at home that have been there for a couple of years. The two boxes that I am bringing back are from 2017 and 2018 respectively, meaning they are absolutely ready to smoke right now. I am excited to crack them open, although I will not be doing that to smoke them in the winter… they will either wait until spring, or else for a day when I am invited to a friend’s indoor lounge.

    What else did I do yesterday? I took my laundry in to be washed, lest I find myself out of socks and underwear. I took them in early in the day hoping they would be ready in the afternoon, but because of a misunderstanding (on my part) they needed to dry overnight. I am never inflexible in Cuba, but I did need to take one pair of socks which I took home straight away and hung from my fan so that I could wear them today. Owing to the damage I did to my feet on my first day, this is my first Cuba trip ever that I have run out of socks. My sandals have stayed in the room the entire time! In a bizarre twist, it is also my first Cuba trip that when I packed my suitcase, I only packed the socks that I thought I would need for working out, hence the need to do laundry. It is not the worst thing – I will have much fewer clothes to wash when I get back to Canada. I spent some time talking with the tourist friends I met who were going home yesterday, exchanging contact information so we can stay in touch. I had dinner with a friend who reminded me of the truth of what I call Cuban Standard Time, which is to say that she was ninety minutes late. No matter, that gave me ninety minutes to people-watch in Parque Central.

    We had old clothes for dinner! Okay, that needs some clarification: One of the most popular Cuban meals is called ropa viella, which is really shredded beef. It was delicious! We ate at a restaurant a minute or two from the Capitolo called Paladar Kilometro Zero – all of Cuba is measured in distance from the capital, and that is where it starts. The food was amazing and the musicians were fabulous, playing instrumental Cubanized versions of many American and European standards. I always appreciate a good saxophone, and this guy could play!

    After I dropped her off, I met a couple in the bar across the street from her who were speaking English. They are a married couple, he from New York and she is local. She is a tour guide, and we had a great conversation. As has happened several times this trip, I offered them a cigar and they insisted on buying me a drink. I eventually walked back to my buddy’s cafe and ended the evening there.

    My plans for today are very simple and uncluttered. I have two oligations: I have to collect my laundry, and I am having lunch with Johnny. After that…? I dunno. Until then? I dunno. I am going to walk back to my apartment to drop my computer off, and then I will likely walk around the old city for a few hours. Oh, and I am sure that throughout the day I will drop in on a couple of friends where they work to say hello.

    I am both pleased and shocked by how advanced my Spanish has been. Five years ago (or even two!) I was breaking my teeth to understand and to be understood… and I would avoid being alone for any length of time with people who did not understand English. This past week I have spent many hours with several individuals and groups who did not speak any English, or if they did, I did not trouble them with it. Yes, functioning entirely in Spanish is a bit tiring for me, but I did not realize until the past couple of days how it (my Spanish) has advanced. I am really happy about that, and will continue to work on it.

    As for food… I will continue to be mostly good, without restricting myself. I will continue to eat and drink moderately, and I will get a lot of steps in (without overdoing it). If my weight on Thursday is exactly what it was the morning I left Canada then I will be extremely happy, but I am prepared to be as much as 3-4 pounds heavier without getting too down about it. Whether or not that happens, I will be back on the treadmill by the weekend.

    Have a great day folks!