Losing a part of me

Category: Walking

  • 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!

  • Day 760

    After a wet and rainy day yesterday, this morning is sunny (for now) but windy. I am told that it is going to rain later, but so far there is no sign of that, nor is it expressed in my phone’s weather app. We will see.

    Yesterday was the first day since I arrived that I did not hit my steps goal according to my fitness watch’s bar. To be fair, it raises the bar higher when I keep hitting it, and yesterday’s goal was 17,250, and I was short by about 1,300 steps. A combination of the rain and a friend insisting we take a bicycle taxi somewhere – and my deciding to not push for it at 11:30pm (I could have, but decided to relax) meant that yesterday was my first day since I got to Cuba that I did not take 16,000 steps… only 15,880. I am not upset.

    My feet are not in pain but looking at them after the wet day yesterday you can see that they are blistered and calloused. I am also wearing my last pair of clean socks, and it is a good thing that I took my dirty clothes to be laundered this morning. I will have them back in time for me to ‘dress up’ for dinner with my friend. It is the first time that I can think of that I am planning to wear long pants and a long-sleeve shirt in Cuba. Even though my clothes supply will be replenished, I am still planning to wear the shirt that I saved for the occasion. I want to look good tonight! No, I am not going into detail… but the shirt is my black guayabera.

    Today is the day I am actually going to start my cigar shopping. Yes, I have bought plenty of cigars to smoke here… I mean for what I plan to take home. I have to be economical about it because I only have so much cash on me… but also there are limits to how many I am allowed to bring back to Canada. Oh well! I will visit a couple of shops to see what is available, and I will make my decisions based on that.

    I am not meeting my friend until dinner time, and my only obligation between now and then is collecting my laundry. I will also try to remember to go back to my casa after lunch to turn on the gas so that I can have hot water to shower before dinner. Other than that, I will be on my own, free to saunter from shop to shop to see what cigars are available. It would be nice if I could hit today’s posted goal of 17,110, but I will not push myself too hard. My breakfast was just served to me, and I’ll have a reasonable lunch. 17,000? If yes then yes and if not then whatever.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 758

    I think I messed up the days again yesterday so I now have two posts in a row called 758. I’ll figure it out and fix it later.

    Yesterday was another great day. I logged over 16,000 steps again. I don’t have the time right now to go into it, but if I can later I will write all about it for tomorrow’s piece.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 757

    I clocked 19,300 steps yesterday (not including the 1700 steps I walked after midnight but before bed), bringing my total since I got to Cuba to just over 99,000 steps in five days. By any measure that is a big success. I am glad that the pains in my feet are still less and less every day. I did not take any painkillers before bed or when I woke up. I am relieved that I am able to get through it without needing to take a day off of my intense walking.

    I met a friend who is a local yesterday, and he took me to a locals bar where they made me the largest (and strongest) mojito I have ever seen in my life. It had a shot of six different rums in it. Wow! We were having a great time dancing in the street outside the bar and just enjoying life… in a very non-touristy area of town. It was a lot of fun, but I had to be careful because I know how drunk I was. When he and I finally parted company I went to my buddy’s restaurant and ordered a plate of pasta to make sure I had something in my stomach that would help with the potential issues one might have when they drink that much.

    After dinner I went to my other buddy’s restaurant for a coffee, and I met some other friends and hung out for a few hours. I then went to see another friend who works in a hotel in the old city, and we had a great conversation until 3:00am. Needless to say I did not get a lot of sleep last night. Somewhere in there I was challenged to a fight by a drunk American arse who asked me why Jews are the new Nazis. If I didn’t love my friend who works there, after he decided to not come outside to ‘talk’ I would have made sure he stepped out. The encounter sobered me up in a hurry to be sure. His friends were disgusted by him – not only because of his behaviour, but one of them was Jewish. Some people just don’t get it. His friend told me that he would be ashamed of himself when he sobered up. I assured her that he might feel stupid for saying it to someone like me, but that I guaranteed that his opinion of Jews would not have changed one bit. Some people are just terrible people.

    I have not weighed myself this week, but I would not be surprised if when I step onto the bathroom scale next week, I will have lost a couple of pounds. It is hard to walk as much as I have been walking and not lose weight. I have also not been eating badly at all. Here’s hoping, right?

    Once again, I have written my article, but the Internet is down. It is now 12:15pm Friday, but I do not know when I will be publishing. My fitness watch has by steps at nearly 3,900 so far. That will be over ten thousand before the day is done, and I would not be surprised if I achieve 15,000 again. We’ll see.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 756

    So much for my original plans. I recorded over 16,000 steps yesterday. They are sore again today, but not as bad as yesterday. I am glad I brought a bottle of Aspirin though!

    I left my laptop in the room… maybe I’ll write more later, but I’m not going out of my way to be connected this trip!

  • Day 754

    I surpassed all expectations yesterday and am quite proud of myself for it. I ate a healthy breakfast, I went for a jog (which after 1 km in the heat and humidity turned into a power-walk), and I had a healthy dinner. I did a lot of walking, surpassing 25,000 steps! I had a single alcoholic beverage (a rum that was offered to me by a cigar roller friend as we smoked his creation, so I could hardly refuse). All in all, it was a good day. Had I brought my bathroom scale (which I ended up not doing) I suspect I would have been happy with my number this morning.

    I did get taken by a teenager who offered to convert my money at a decent rate. My usual guy was not available, so I tried to convert fifty dollars. The guy disappeared, and I am now $50 poorer than I was. The way I see it, it was my charitable donation to the Cuban economy. While I am usually careful with money, in the grand scheme of things that money was about 30-minutes of work for me… and three months’ salary for him. I was thinking that if I come across him again, I can hold my head high… he may think he got one over on the stupid turista, but in truth he just proved that I am much more of a man than he is. It means I will be able to buy three fewer cigars than I would have. Put in that perspective, I came out okay.

    When I did connect with my brother, we sat with a couple of friends of his for a little while and talked. The guy is from South Florida and works in technology, so we had a lot to talk about. The four of us would end up having dinner later.

    I told Johnny that I would go for a run while he did what he had to do; we went back to my apartment so that I could give him some real money to convert for me, and then he left to do his thing and I changed into my kit. We agreed to meet at 2:30pm at another friend’s café. I hoped to jog five kilometres but decided to pull up at 1km because of the conditions. I ended up walking along the Malecon to the Hotel Nacional, making about a 4km distance. I took a break there, reviewed my stats (6m45s for the jog, and under 9m30s per kilometre walking). I used the restroom, looked in at the cigar shop, and then headed out to walk back – another 4km. I took a cold shower (I miscalculated how far in advance I have to turn the water heater on), and then went to meet Johnny.

    The Conde de Villenueva hotel is absolutely magnificent… and it is currently closed… as is the cigar shop which is one of my favourites. Johnny was able to hook me up very well though – he has friends who were able to arrange for us to meet the senior torcedor (cigar roller) there. Raoul replaced my friend Reynaldo when he moved to Mexico, so I was not sure about what I would find. I was pleasantly surprised not only by the stock but also by the quality of the custom-rolled cigars. We sat for an hour chatting, smoking cigars, and drinking coffee and then rum. After enjoying one of his cigars, I asked him to make twenty-five of them for me for next week to take home. Yay!

    While neither Johnny nor I had eaten lunch, we had one more stop to make before heading to the restaurant in Calle San Rafael to meet Dennis and his wife for dinner. We popped in at my buddy Osiris’ restaurant and spent an hour talking with him and his wife. It was wonderful to see him (as it always is), and we promised we would meet him for lunch today (which we will do shortly).

    Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant, and I had a Doner Kebab. I had asked for the plate, but there was a miscommunication, so I got the sandwich instead. No great loss. It was quite good, and while all four of us were exhausted, we stayed there until 11:00pm chatting. I introduced Dennis to cigars, showing him how to properly enjoy it. In fact he enjoyed it so much that he enjoyed a second one! Johnny told him that he was getting a Master Class from me; I told him that he might be getting a class from a master, but it was really a primer. Master Classes are not for beginners!

    When we finally got up and left the restaurant, we said our farewells and exchanged contact information. Johnny and I will meet Osiris today, but Dennis has already flown back to the USA. I walked around for another ninety minutes or so before finding my way back to my apartment… after tracking down (with some difficulty owing to the late hour) some bottled water to take back to the room.

    As I prepared for bed, I realized that I was hungrier than expected. Not only had I skipped lunch, but by now the sandwich I had for dinner was nearly six-hours in my rearview mirror. I decided to have a protein bar so that I was not uncomfortable trying to sleep. My buddy Lyle had recommended the protein bars I brought, and he was right about how good they are. I lay my head down to sleep satisfied after a very complete first full day in Havana.

    The decision to come to Cuba was made because I needed to clear my head and get away from the usual grind. I wanted to relax, do a lot of walking, see my friends, smoke my cigars, and be beholden to nobody. In those respects, yesterday was a perfect day. What will today bring? We’ll see… it started to rain shortly after I finished my breakfast, so I brought my laptop into the smoking salon of the bistro, and here I sit. The Internet is down (welcome to Cuba), so I will likely have to wait until later in the day to publish. In the meantime, the rain seems to have stopped, and I am going to walk back to my apartment, drop off the computer, and then head out to see my buddies for lunch. After that? Whatever I want.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 635

    In the late summer of 2020 I optimistically bought several pair of pants in a Size 36. They did not fit me yet, but within a month of two they would. I was making great progress and I had no doubt that they would fit me soon. I do not remember how much I spent on them but the thought that they would fit me soon made me feel amazing. I had no idea that I was about to fall off a cliff from which I would never recover… at least, not until I had hit rock bottom again.

    In the early days of my weight loss journey I separated all of my clothes that did not fit into bins that were labeled by size. As I have lost weight, I have gradually gone from six bins down to one. This morning I decided to pull that last bin out of the closet to see where I was at.

    There were several pair of pants in the bin, and of course they would not all fit the same. Trying on the first pair there was no hope for them – my gut cannot be sucked in nearly enough to close the gap needed. Those would have to wait a while longer. I knew that the Levi’s jeans – there are three pair of them – will not fit yet. I did not even pull them out. I then tried on the last two pair – one Dockers and one Timberland – and… they fit! For the first time in memory I am wearing Size 36 pants… and yes, I am wearing them comfortably.

    If you remember back a month or so ago I wrote that I would no longer be wearing my pants under my belly, but around my waist as they are intended. I am certain that every pair of pants and jeans in that bin would fit just fine under my belly, but that is not how I will be wearing my pants going forward. I put those pair that did not fit back into the bin and will revisit them in a few weeks. For now, I am thrilled with this non-scale victory!

    After a 12.75km walk yesterday (which included a kilometre jogging at 5.56 min/km) I was hoping that my weight would drop more than a pound this morning. Hoping… but not expecting. I know, when I have bad cheat days it can take a few extra days to get back to where I was. I gained nearly three pounds overnight; it will take a few days to lose them again. The best I can do is to make sure that I stay on track the next few days so that I will lose them before I fly to Dallas in five days.

    I had trouble falling asleep last night, but there was no good reason for it. I got into bed and I closed my eyes… an hour later I realized that I was still lying there contemplating the universe. I suspect I had a cup of coffee later in the afternoon (or early evening) than I usually would, and I paid for it with my wakefulness. Lesson learned: no late-night coffee! This is not a new lesson of course, but no matter how much I dislike wasting things… when I realize at 5:30pm that there is coffee left in the decanter I would do well to throw it out rather than throwing it into a cup to heat up in the microwave.

    I do not have much to report today. I will stay on track! I will see how my legs are feeling before I embark upon another mammoth walk, but if I do not then at least I can walk to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. I have a lot of prep work to do for my class next week, so that should keep me busy.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 633

    There is an episode of The West Wing in which Toby Ziegler (brilliantly portrayed by Richard Schiff) discusses with Tabitha Fortis (the U.S. Poet Laureate, portrayed by guest star Laura Dern) the satisfaction of crossing things off lists. In actuality it is she who discusses it with him; either way it is an episode worth watching not only for this interaction (which we are called back to at the end of the episode) but simply for the pure genius of the writing and the acting.

    TOBY: What are you doing?

    TABITHA: Crossing off the FDR Memorial, the Atrium, and the Folger Library. I like crossing off lists. It’s very satisfying. You like lists?

    TOBY: Yes.

    TABITHA: You like crossing things off?

    TOBY: I’ll let you know if it happens.

    To know the character of Toby is to understand that he is almost always fighting for the losing cause. His dry wit, along with his beard, smoking cigars, and his love of writing and the English language are just some of his qualities that I see in myself. (The Season 6-7 storyline in which his betrays his country by leaking state secrets to the press is where I get off)

    As does Tabitha, I too enjoy crossing things off. This morning, after a lot of failures that resulted in an extreme and disgusting seven-pound weight gain over Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to cross off another number on the list on my fridge. This morning’s weight not only takes me solidly into Best-Weight-Everland (as well as crossing off the next two-pound marker on my list), but it also allowed me to cross off another decade milestone… I am under 240 lbs. for the first time. I will keep going!

    The weather yesterday cleared up a little bit earlier than expected. When the forecast predicts a 40-50% chance of rain, especially in mid-October, we plan for rain. The rains that were predicted to stop around 5:00pm actually stopped much earlier, and it made for a lovely afternoon. I was hungry earlier than usual, so I prepared my lunch for noon instead of my usual 1:00-2:30pm. Following my lunch (the usual chicken with salad) I had a cigar date with my wife. After that my friend Eduardo came over and we enjoyed another cigar together. When he left, I took Her Floofness out for a walk. When I brought her home, I suited up for my walk. I knew it was going to be chilly, so a long shirt (and layers) and long training pants were the uniform of the day. I was sure that the extra weight and bulkiness of them would slow my stride somewhat.

    Boy was I wrong.

    I do not know if it was because of the chill in the air, or because I had pre-set expectations that the outfit might slow me down, or if I was just in better form than usual… but my pace (walking the whole way) was 8m37s per kilometre over the entire 12.65km of my outing! It is by far the best pace that I have ever recorded for a walk. There have been a few others under 9min/km, but those all involved at least some jogging along the way. I am chalking this up as a huge win, as well as a contributing factor to my remarkable two-pound drop from yesterday.

    This afternoon I am taking my son for lunch, and I have been on the fence about whether I will eat or not. I have asked my ex-wife to try to convince him that we should go for Greek food instead of his usual favourite, but I have not heard back yet. If he does agree to that then I can order a salad and be comfortable with it. If not, then I will not eat anything, and will come home to have a meal replacement afterwards.

    In the late afternoon and evening I am meeting with some people in Toronto, and I suspect there will be food involved. I will do my best to eat well and in moderation, but what will be available is an unknown to me. I will bring a meal replacement with me in the event that there is nothing that I can eat, but if there is something then I will stick to the moderation plan. At least I know that any food offered will be kosher.

    When Eduardo was here yesterday, I put on my Army uniform so that he could take a picture for me. It amazes me that not only does it fit, but it probably fits slightly better than it did the day I last took it off… nearly twenty-seven years ago. My last few months in the Army I let myself go a little, and was probably already starting to get pudgy. Aside from that, the only think that I noticed was that the buttons needed reinforcing… and that the IDF uniform (at least those from my era) were nowhere near the high quality cloth that the US uniforms are.

    As I have dropped below 240 lbs., my goal for this week is to drop a few more pounds to get below 235 lbs., so that when I fly to Dallas a week from today my wife will be able to see me at my absolute best. Of course, if I do not drop another ounce from right now then she will still see me at that – I have no recollection of weighing anything close to this low in the last twenty-five years. Nonetheless I still want to drop another few pounds for her.

    Okay, I am going to call my wife. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 595

    And then there were three.

    As I went to bed last night, I did so knowing that any day now, as long as I stay on track and true to the program, I am going to wake up and step onto the bathroom scale at or beyond the next milestone. I am now within ounces of reaching my best weight ever; it could have been today, but it was not. My weight did drop a little, and I am now 250.2 lbs., the same as I weighed May 26. The next time my weight drops it will tie or break that milestone.

    It was hot out there on my walk yesterday afternoon. I jogged the first 1.25km and then walked the rest of the way. It was a shorter outing than the previous few only because I took a different route, and by the time I had to decide whether to extend my route I was hot and tired and decided to take the most direct route home. The total route was 9.6km, which may be shorter than the usual but is still pretty respectable considering it was 32° and sunny the whole time. I did stop at Fortino’s to rehydrate. I am quite proud that I did not cheat, despite sitting in close proximity to the peanuts (bulk foods) aisle!

    I am in class for a training organization that I have never taught for today. It should be an easy introduction to them as the technology I am covering is very high-level. I am dressed appropriately, my slides are loaded, and I am logged on (and was over an hour early). I am really hoping to leave a good impression.

    It seems the heatwave has broken. The forecast high temperature for today is 27°; tomorrow that drops to 24°. The weatherman is predicting rain for today, but only in the middle of the day during my class. I have no doubt that by the end of class the balcony will be dry, and the smoking lamp will be lit. It is somewhat funny that when thinking about the rain this is what comes to mind first, and walking Princess Sophie is almost an afterthought. She hates walking in the rain but will grudgingly do so if she needs to do her business. If all goes well, Her Floofness will not be getting wet today. I do have to remember to change my shoes though… I am wearing my nice loafers, and they got wet enough this morning when we were out. If it does rain, then I’d rather get a pair of sneakers wet.

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

  • Day 594

    That’s more like it. According to the bathroom scale, as of this morning I am back on track. I wonder if it is just my body adjusting to the season (September is, after all, a whole new thing!), or if it was just a blip of sympathy for my wife whose progress is not going nearly as well as she would like (despite her following the full program religiously). Or maybe, just maybe, it might have to do with the 12.5km outing I did in the heat yesterday (2km jogging, 10.5km walking, 32° and sunny).

    With that the number is back down to three… or four if you include today. I weighed less than I do today from May 25-27, and that is it. My BMI is tied with those days. I am less than half a pound from tying my best weight ever. This is exciting! If you think I am not jogging and walking again today, then you are just not grasping how it feels to be this close.

    I did screw up a little though. Yesterday I set out for my walk at 4:05pm. I did stop for a couple of breaks along the way (very short ones – once to buy more water and Gatorade). By the time I came back in it was nearly 6:20pm; I showered (obviously) and was ready to make my second meal replacement of the day when Her Royal Floofness looked at me and told me that she needed to go out. We only walked to the park, but she decided that she wanted to sit in the bleachers of the baseball diamond for a little while. We did not walk back into the house until 7:20pm. I made my meal replacement, but I also knew that I would not be able to get my third one in unless I broke my rule about eating very late. I went to bed a little hungry, but not terribly so. Then there is the matter that I stepped onto the bathroom scale for a pleasant surprise this morning. Okay, maybe whatever I did yesterday worked out!

    In a few moments I am going to have a cigar date with my wife. After that I will go for my jog/walk. I will spend the afternoon preparing demos for my class tomorrow. I am excited about that. Today is either the second or the third day in a row without a bowel movement, but I am hoping that later in the day that comes.

    Oh, and I have a non-scale victory to report! When I first started walking, I tried to wear the fanny pack water belt that I had from when I was jogging in my 30s (when I was married to my first wife). There was nothing I could do to keep it on, and so I replaced it with the shoulder pouches. Now that I have viable hips again, I tried it on this morning… and it looks like it will fit just fine! I am going to order the bottles for it and will begin using it. I know that the shoulder pouch works, but it is slightly uncomfortable. This might just do the trick. Yay!

    Have a great day folks!