Losing a part of me

Category: Walking

  • Day 564

    My streak of checking my food intake and eating smart continues, and my weight loss streak continues, albeit with a lower drop than I have enjoyed these last few days. I am satisfied that down is better than up… and even better than staying the same. I am encouraged that I am able to get back on the horse… at least for these last few days. I will do everything I can to continue that streak into today… and into the rest of the week!

    Another unfortunate streak that is also continuing is my inability to have a bowel movement. I do not recall if today is Day 2 or Day 3, but I am hoping that whatever the number, it goes no further. It would be nice to feel the urge, and to go before the day is out. We will see. If not, then tomorrow morning at the latest. I can only hope! Well, that is not entirely true… I also added a teaspoon of fibre in one of my meal replacement shakes yesterday and will do the same today. Hope is not a strategy, and when there Is action that can be taken then one would be foolish to not do so.

    After Eduardo left yesterday afternoon I went for a walk. I suspect I broke a couple of personal records during the 12.3km outing. I was extremely pleased with my pace throughout, and while I did feel like my legs were made of jelly when I got up in the night, I am satisfied that when I suit up and go out, I am not wasting my time. Even better, when I came back in, I had a meal replacement shake (after I got out of the shower), and that was it for the evening. The combination of sticking to the plan with regard to food and ramping up my exercise… the results are going to come.

    I mentioned that my wife decided to start the American version of the meal replacement program that I have used (not always religiously) to get to where I am. She is certainly competitive but at the same time realistic. With that said, I am suspicious that when she challenged me that she could drop forty pounds before I could, she might have been doing it with the ulterior motive of encouraging me to get back onto the program religiously, and to blast out of the plateau in which I have been. My wife is no dummy! She knows that while I might not be as competitive as she, I am not one to back down from a challenge. We discussed last night some stratagem she could use to monitor and celebrate her progress, which gave me an idea that I had not tried before. I printed out a table with today’s weight and date at the top of it, and under it numbers descending in increments of two. Every time I drop below the weight on the chart, I will cross it off and write the date on the line next to it. The last is printed in red and has the stakes of the bet at the end of it. I do not know which of us will reach our goal first; I do know that this is a very good way to motivate me to get back on track.

    This evening is my final presentation for my Habanos Sommelier class, and I am going to spend some time today working on it. I have translated it into Spanish so it will not be nearly as easy for me to get through as it would be in English, so not only am I going to edit it down some, but I also plan to practice to make sure I am not going to trip over any of the harder words. I am excited about it but also nervous. Once it is behind me, I will be a Habanos Sommelier! I had a dream last night that I had a phone call with the Master and told him that I wanted to start delivering the classes in English. This is likely because someone over the last few days asked me if I might do that someday, and I told them my Spanish was not good enough. It is something I will think about.

    The only necessary aberration from my food plan for today is what I will pair with my cigars during my presentation. I will have a sip of each of the whiskies, and I might or might not open the bottle of wine… but it is unlikely, as the presentation is about ten minutes, and were I doing the actual pairing I would not be going to the wine before forty-five minutes into the cigar. Because of that I will not need to indulge in the dark chocolate either… which is probably a good thing, even though I would love it!

    Yesterday I finished the last of the lettuce that I had in the house, and starting today I am dropping to one solid meal per day (breakfast). I have eggs left for three more days which means that Thursday afternoon I will either go shopping, or I will decide to drop down to the full meal replacement program for however long I decide to do it. I have not thought that far ahead, but I know that if I go back to the full program, I will have an advantage in my bet with Leslie. It is not that she is not sticking to the program, but it is a known fact that men lose weight faster than women. So who knows how much closer I could be to my ultimate goal when Leslie and I meet in California in September if I do that? How amazing would it be if I could drop 25 lbs. between now and the end of September? It is absolutely doable… as long as I stay focused, mindful, and redouble my efforts to succeed.

    Alright, I have some work to get to so I will close today’s entry here. I have to work on my presentation, which is easier to do in English than it is in English and Spanish.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 556

    We had a delightful last day together, going bowling and playing various video games and claw machines at an entertainment centre we frequent (and which Leslie and her son frequent much more frequent than my infrequent visits allow). They decided we would eat there, so I made do with one more day of fattening foods. We spent a few hours there, and then went home to rest for a few more hours before heading out for dinner. We ended up at a Portuguese chicken restaurant that we enjoy… although I suspect that the boy enjoys it less than he lets on. The ever so simple and highly indecipherable mind of an eight year old boy is still incomprehensible to me. It has been far too long since I was one to remember my thought processes of the age, but I do remember trying to enjoy things that would help me to fit in. I also remember being staunchly opposed to other foods, despite the fact that when I would eventually try them, I would often love them … and then forgetting that, a few weeks later I would staunchly object to those same foods. Maybe I understand him better than I thought.

    I did not go for a walk in the morning, waking up later than planned. I did not think I would get my steps in, but after a disagreement with Leslie I ended up going out for a walk in the evening. I did not suit up as I usually do as I really only thought I would walk to the druggist, but I ended up walking around 5km. I did not start an activity on my fitness watch, but I know how to read a map. I came home and showered, and we talked things out to make things right. We had a cigar on the balcony, and then I packed my suitcases. I hate packing to leave her, but it is what it is until my visa is approved.

    I was livid when I stepped onto the bathroom scale this morning. I did not expect to be over two pounds heavier than yesterday. I suppose part of the reason is that I had not successfully moved my bowels in a couple of days. After my breakfast I finally did, and I suspect that had I stepped onto the scale again I would have been pleased. That will have to wait a day though… I do not weigh myself after I eat.

    And now… I am sitting in the Admiral’s Club at the airport waiting for my flight. Leslie and the boy dropped me off around 10:00am, and it only took a few minutes to check my bags and then get through security. My flight is scheduled to board in an hour, and it should land in Toronto at 4:40pm (local time). Unless there are delays – or long lines at Canada Customs – I should be home by 6:30pm. I will make a light dinner, and then I will take the Floofness for a walk. I know she misses me so much when I am away, and the only consolation I can give her is that it was so hot in Dallas this trip that she likely would not have enjoyed it at all.

    I should mention that while I was extremely displeased by this morning’s weight, it was still slightly less than what I weighed my first morning of this trip. For a trip with so much food, I still kept my weight within a five-pound range… as high as 269.6 and as low as 264.8. While I wish I could have lost more, that range shows a level of consistency that the heavier me could never have hoped for. I suppose I should chalk that up as another win.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 554

    I was disappointed this morning to see that I actually gained another half pound yesterday. With that said, while I remember what I ate for dinner, I cannot recall what I had for lunch. I did not go out to eat, but when Leslie’s son is here, it is hard to make good choices because we have to take his finicky eating (perfectly normal for his age) into account. As an example, dinner was tacos. If I can keep with my exercising, then I suspect that once I am back in Canada I will be able to continue to lose weight. It is a simple matter of not having to take anyone else into account when preparing food.

    I remember the first time I went through the program in 2017. I was in a group at the clinic, and I was far and away the most successful on the program. I thought at the time that it was because I was just more disciplined than they were; now I realize that a big part of that was that I lived alone. When having to prepare food for others it is not so simple to stay disciplined, is it?

    This morning I was not only able but was more or less obligated to go out for my daily exercise. Leslie had two important meetings for which she was to be on camera the entire time (and speaking as well). I told her that for her first meeting I would go out for my walk; between the two meetings I would come in to shower and shave and be on the balcony with a cup of coffee and my cigar in time for her second meeting to start. That is exactly what happened, and that is exactly where I am now. If you have been reading my journal this past week, then you will know that there was one day when I tried to jog, and immediately realized that my ankle was having some issues, so I pulled up and walked instead. I decided to try again this morning, even if it was only for one or two kilometres. When I stepped out of the apartment it was barely 82° which is hot in Canada, but pretty cool in Dallas in July. Still, I was not sure if it would be sustainable. I pushed myself to jog for twenty minutes because one of the apps that I use discards anything less (for a particular challenge, not for my overall stats). Had I been thinking at the time, I would have continued jogging to round up to 3km, but was just considering the time, and so I jogged 2.72km this morning, making pretty decent time (considering it was my first jog in quite some time). I then reset my counters and started walking. Before I set out, I wanted to complete 10km, and so as I walked into the apartment complex about 700m short, I walked around the buildings until my watch read 7.3kms. I am quite satisfied with my exercising for the week, with 42km recorded since Monday. As long as I get out tomorrow morning, I will easily hit 50km for the week, with only one day off (Wednesday).

    Leslie asked me an important question a few nights ago. She knows that I had my weight down to 250 lbs. just two months ago before I fell off a bit, and by the middle of this month, I peaked just shy of 25 lbs. heavier than that. She loves me either way, but she wants me to be happy, and wanted to know what would happen if I realized that I could not get below 250 lbs.? I told her that I had certainly given a lot of thought to where I would eventually end up, and what I would do or how I would feel if what I have often stated my ultimate as was indeed unachievable. I told her that I know I can get below 250 lbs. for certain, but I would continue to listen to my body. Yes, I have taken several breaks from the program, and have stopped losing weight a number of times over the course of these last 18 months. On a few of those occasions (as with this one) I have even gained back a lot of the weight I had lost, before getting back on track. Without looking it up, I am guessing that this past relapse – during which I at one point had given back nearly 25 lbs. – was the worst, but it is by no means the only one. If I follow the patterns of the previous relapses (which were more realistically plateaus), then I will finally decide that it is time to push forward; I will redouble my efforts, and I will get back on track. I do not know if this is the first time I put words to it, but I do know that at my age it is possible that getting below 200 lbs. may not be realistic. What about 230 lbs.? What about 220? I am going to listen to my body, and at a certain point I am going to decide that I am happy with myself, and I am not going to continue depriving myself. When I get to that point, I am going to set a range, and I am going to force myself to stay in that range. For example, were I to decide that 220 lbs. is where I am comfortable, then I will stop dieting. I will not, however, stop being mindful, and I will not stop weighing myself on a daily basis. If I realize that after a few weeks of letting myself go – holidays, vacations, whatever the reason – I see that I am pushing 230 lbs., then I will go on a diet to get myself back to that ideal weight again. I will never let myself go again to the point where I have gained even 25 lbs., not to even speak of going back to being morbidly obese. That idea scares me to no end.

    Unfortunately I know that I am a food addict, and I have to pay extra care to not let that happen. I can never revert to the gluttonous ways that got me to my heaviest weight – and did it three times, no less. How does someone go from being a soldier to being a fat slob? The only way that could happen was if I had psychological issues, which I did… and not only my addiction. Indeed, many of those issues and traumas are likely what led to my addiction. I have come to learn how to manage those issues, and I think I am much healthier mentally now than I have been at any point these last thirty years. Still, I can never forget; I can never let myself go. My obesity exasperated my psychological issues, and that is a vicious course that I do not want to get back onto again.

    With this entry, my journal has surpassed 500,000 words. I am no longer at my lowest weight ever, but I am still 130 lbs. lighter than I was the day I wrote my first one. I am still a work in progress, and I doubt anyone will ever read this entire tome. Still, I am proud of what I have accomplished so far… and will continue to journal my thoughts until I am satisfied that I am where I need to be. Once I am there, I will wait another year before declaring victory. Before that, I will earn my Fourth Dan Black Belt, and with a little perseverance, next year I can run that marathon that I once told my first wife that I would run. Of course, I told her I wanted to run the Buenos Aires Marathon, and that might not happen… but there are marathons closer to home too… wherever home will be when I am ready.

    Because of my tight schedule, I skipped breakfast this morning, and so I am going to go prepare my lunch. Despite skipping breakfast, I will not go overboard. I am going to prepare a chicken breast with a side of rice. For dinner, I am going to tell Leslie to take Armin for whatever he likes so that I can, after my evening class, just have a salad. To honour the Sabbath I might even share a bottle of wine with my wife… there is a very lovely bottle of Veuve Cliquot which we both enjoy that we have been chilling. I think that for now I will do well with moderation… rather than deprivation.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 553

    I did not gain nearly two pounds overnight because of a single bad choice yesterday, but rather because of several bad choices, including bread, Chinese food for lunch, and a subway sandwich (with a bag of chips) for dinner… to say nothing of the two bowls of cereal I ate before I started teaching my class. The equation is simple: When Mitch eats lots of unhealthy and fattening foods, Mitch gains weight. Why then is it so difficult to curb my bad decisions? I have a lot of ideas around that, and it is not a single answer. I have to keep on top of things, I have to stay mindful.

    The bad news from the bathroom scale is not the reason I embarked on my 10km walk this morning. I had said that I wanted to do as much walking this week as I could, hopefully every day, or nearly so. I took yesterday off for a couple of reasons which I outlined in yesterday’s article, but the fact that I was back at it today is not compensating for anything, rather it is staying on track with my previously stated objective. Fortunately I took the appropriate steps to not get lost again today!

    As I stepped from the apartment this morning the weather app on my phone read 83°. By the time I got home, it was pushing 91°. I was glad to get home and rehydrate – I had gone through my water bottle during my walk, but I needed to down a couple more bottles when I came in. I then stood under the shower for a few minutes as I rinsed the sweat from my body.

    I am going to try to get some work done this afternoon, although I plan to run some errands as well. I need shampoo, and I want to drop into the store where I got my eyeglasses to ask them a question. I do not know if I will pick up lunch for us, or if we will eat Leslie’s yummy chicken salad which she prepared yesterday. As I wrote yesterday, our food will now be subject to the likes of her eight-year-old son. Fortunately when I am not distracted, I can focus on making smart choices, which I did not do yesterday evening with the subway sandwich. While I doubt we will be enjoying our drive-thru salad joint every day, at least most of the places we might eat will offer some reasonable options to choose from.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 551

    It would have been nice to see a bit more of a drop in weight on the bathroom scale this morning, but I really should be grateful for the .4 lb. loss considering the factors: 1) I had two slices of Chicago-style pizza for lunch, and 2) I did not have a successful bowel movement this morning. Even so, it would have been nice to see something more drastic. It is nice to have dropped below 265 lbs., and while it is only by a hair, I am also at the same weight I was last Wednesday, the day my weight was lowest during this trip, before the disastrous Chinese meal of MSG with a side of General Tao chicken added three pounds in a single day.

    My alarm went off promptly at 7:00am, and I went about my morning routine. I then suited up and went for a walk. I was hoping to either meet or just slightly surpass yesterday’s 9km walk. I actually tried, for the first 200m out of the apartment complex, to jog; I realized quickly that my ankle was not up to it, so I slowed to a walk. I was doing just fine on a new route that I had not taken before, but it was mostly familiar territory. The roads around here are not straight, and it is easy to get a bit turned around if you are not careful; it was a simple mistake – a right turn instead of a left turn (right after nearly getting hit by a car who was more concerned with getting to her destination than in looking where she was driving) that added 3 miles onto the outing, which ended up being a pretty impressive 13.15 km… a little over 8.1 miles. When I walked into the apartment I was dripping, with the thermostat reading 89°. There had not been a cloud in the sky from the time I stepped out of the apartment… two hours and ten minutes earlier.

    I should mention at this point that I left the house without eating, so Leslie and I enjoyed an early lunch which I picked up from our favourite drive-thru salad joint. Still peckish, I supplemented my salad with two pieces of bread with peanut butter. I hope that will hold me until dinner.

    Whether or not I am going to walk tomorrow is still up in the air. I want to see how my feet feel after today’s outing before I make a decision.

    This evening is our last night alone together before her son comes back tomorrow, and I am going to prepare a nice piece of fish, and Leslie will prepare rice. We have a bottle of champagne that we will likely share with a nice cigar after dark… or maybe we will go down to the pool and relax in the water as we smoke. We can do what we want, as long as we are together.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 538

    I wrote yesterday in these pages yesterday that I was going to try to walk five kilometres, or more if I felt up to it. In the end I walked twelve kilometres… and it felt great! I thought briefly about trying to jog some of it, but in the end decided that a long power walk was a better idea than a shorter walk/jog… especially since it would be my first one in a while, and because of how hot it was. I came home, and before I jumped into the shower, I put my chicken and potatoes into the air fryer so that they would be ready for when I was clean and dressed. After my lunch I sat on the balcony with a cigar and a book. In truth, I smoked two cigars, accompanied by a cup of coffee. Realizing that it was going to start raining, I took Princess Sophie for a walk before the deluge came, and it is a good thing that I did. It began to rain within a minute of our coming inside, and it really came down until I was halfway through my class.

    I was not only able to go for a good walk yesterday, but I also decreased my food intake. I had lunch after my walk, and then during the class recess I made a meal replacement shake. The results were quite clear this morning… I dropped all of the weight I gained the last two days. I am still over 270 lbs., but not by much. My goal is to get down to 267 lbs. before I fly to Dallas Saturday morning.

    One of the factors I discussed with Leslie yesterday is that I am less concerned about gaining weight while I am with her because I know that she is watching, and that I will not cheat (or at least not as badly) while she is. It is really only when I am alone that I go overboard. I should not need supervision to have self-control; I did extremely well until I fell off the wagon. As Leslie pointed out, at least I was able to see that I was falling and ask for help. I know that I have been here twice before, and both of those times I continued to fall until I had regained every lost pound. This time is different. This time I have someone in my corner who can help me get over these humps.

    Today is not as hot and sunny as it was yesterday, but that matters little as long as it is not raining. I have to drive into Toronto for a few hours, so I would not be going for a walk anyways. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain all day, so I am going to have to figure out how to get my steps in. As it has been said, meteorologists were put on this planet to make psychics seem reasonable; I will make a decision about that tomorrow during the day.

    Okay, I am off to Toronto. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 508

    Collecting Leslie from the airport yesterday was sheer bliss. Seeing her again after all this time was absolutely wonderful. Our long periods of separation are always forgotten once we are together, whether that be here in Canada or there in Texas. Billy Joel once wrote a song for a girlfriend (or wife) when he could not afford to buy her a present. It was called ‘You’re My Home,’ and that is exactly how I feel with her.

    It was my expectation that with what we ate yesterday I would not be making positive progress on my weight loss, and the best that I could hope for would be to stay the same. I took her for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant and had the same mixed shawarma plate that I would normally have… although I forgot to ask for no rice or potatoes, and so I did eat some of those. In the afternoon we went to Costco and on a whim, I saw a cauliflower pizza crust kit and asked if I should make that for dinner. We picked it up to give it a try. We also went to Fortino’s to buy a reasonable sized package of shredded cheese (and some other items we did not get from the bulk warehouse store). I prepared the pizza with the sauce that was included, shredded mozzarella as well as shredded cheddar, and (coincidentally) orange cauliflower which we found at the supermarket. It was delicious, and while neither of us are concerned about this factor, it was also gluten free.

    Between my walking Her Floofness (both in the morning and when we got home from shopping) and the walking around the stores my fitness watch registered a surprising 9,250 steps yesterday. I wonder if that might have contributed to my surprising three-pound drop in weight this morning. If so, then woohoo! I suspect though that it might have more to do with the fact that my portions, especially at dinner, were much more reasonable. I have little doubt that had I prepared that pizza for myself I would have eaten all of it. That is the main reason that I will not be doing that. As I discussed with my diet buddy yesterday morning I am still not fully in control of my urges, and I cannot trust myself to just eat. These next couple of weeks will be easier insofar as I feel that I would be embarrassed to gorge myself in front of my wife – or anyone, really. Just like alcoholics drink alone, I trust myself more when I am with her because of that… and because she will remind me when I am about to go too far. This is not her being a pest – I asked her to do this, and she does. I have hope that I might continue to lose weight this week… although not as much as I did in this one day.

    Today is the beginning of a very packed week for me. I am teaching from 9:30am until 6:00pm every day. Were that it, I would consider it a reasonable if full day. This evening I have my cigar sommelier class from 6-8:30, which is not work but it is an obligation. Fortunately it is one that my wife will be glad to sit through with me. Tuesday through Thursday I am teaching from 6:00pm-9:00pm, which means that those are eleven-and-a-half hour days. Those are the jammed ones! I will schedule 2-minute breaks in the morning, afternoon, and evening… as well as a one-hour lunch break. Even if I was alone, I do not think I would have the opportunity to cheat this week! Of course, as a food addict I am sure I would find a way if I lost my mindfulness and willpower. My goal is to not lose those… and if I falter one day, then to pick myself up and get back on track the next day… or even the next meal. I will stumble along the way; the quicker I am able to recover from that the better my chances of long-term success.

    It is raining out this morning and so Her Royal Floofness did not want to go outside. We stepped out quickly and she peed, but then she came right back inside. She then decided that she wanted to try the back of the building, because maybe it was not raining there. Unfortunately her optimism was not well placed, and she ran right to the covered patio of one of our neighbours (Walter’s mom). She sat there watching the rain and was not going to move from that spot. I was almost ready to pick her up and carry her around the building when the neighbour offered to let us sneak through her apartment. Fortunately the rain is forecast to stop around 4:00pm, and I’ll be able to take her out for a really good walk after the cigar class.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 455

    I have not been talking about my elbow because I have thought every day for the last couple of weeks that it was just because I slept badly on it, and that it would get better on its own. Yesterday evening at Taekwondo, I realized how much it is really hurting; this morning, I could hardly use my right arm. I took Aspirin and an anti-inflammatory and will baby it for a few days. If I do not feel any improvement by tomorrow morning, then I will go to the clinic and have it looked at. If nothing else, I only have one anti-inflammatory left, and I will need a new prescription if the issue persists.

    Because of the weather, I worked out at the gym yesterday. I did not take the time to recalibrate my fitness watch or my iPhone app, so both of them recorded strangely weird totals. According to the treadmill, I walked 3.2 miles, which translates to slightly over 5km. While that alone was not enough to reach my daily steps goal, I would do so within the next hour, and by doing a lot of jogging in place while waiting in line for my turn during two consecutive Taekwondo classes, I would shatter the goal by nearly 7,000 steps. After bringing Her Floofness for her morning walk, I needed only register another 6,300 steps today to extend my streak to ten, tying my best streak ever. While waiting for my tyre and oil change, I decided to go for a walk around the buildings. It was not a power walk by any means – I was even smoking a cigar as I went, but by the time my car was ready I had registered a 4.15km walk, and I have officially tied my previous streak. I do not know if I will run this afternoon or not – that will depend on a couple of factors – but it doesn’t matter… by the end of the day I will have reached my 10,000 steps, even if that is just from taking the dogs out for a couple of walks. Yes, I said dogs… Charlie’s mom asked if I wouldn’t mind, and of course I do not. Tomorrow I will be jogging,

    I am still off the program. Yesterday I bought a smoked turkey leg which I enjoyed for dinner. I was not thinking about how much salt there is in a turkey leg, but after dinner when I realized how much water I was drinking I knew what was going on. I also knew that this morning I would be grossed out by the numbers on the bathroom scale. I also knew that it would be temporary. I cheated again today, but not nearly as bad. I made some salmon and rice for lunch, this time not completely destroying the rice. I will continue on a partial program for the day and will see how I am feeling tomorrow. The rest of my food intake today should be meal replacements only. We’ll see.

    I am really excited that I received notification from DHL when I woke up that my new clothes will be delivered Monday, which means that I will be able to bring them with me to Dallas and California with me. That does not change the fact that this afternoon I have an appointment with a tailor to have my suit taken in.

    I went to the tailor to discover that while my suit does need to be dry cleaned, it does not need to be altered. That is a relief, and I dropped it off at the dry cleaner. I also left with the tailor two pair of pants and my vest to have them taken in. It will be nice to get a few more months out of those.

    I guess the day has gotten away from me, but I did have a cigar on the patio, and am in front of my computer in time to publish this article before I start my class.

    Have a great day folk!

  • Day 418

    Leslie and I spent a lovely day together yesterday, and I picked up some new workout gear at the outlet mall. I really only had one long-sleeve shirt for jogging, as well as one pair of sweatpants… and in Canada I have at least another two and a half months of needing them before the mostly guaranteed warm weather of June. We also walked about 5,000 steps at the mall, which was good because I knew I would not be jogging.

    Before we headed out, we had a similar lunch to the previous day. Veggie burgers on a Canadian roll, with the rest of the salad I had made for dinner Friday. For dinner we had our second planned indulgence – dim sum. Both meals were delicious, planned, and well-deserved. Having read my article from yesterday, Leslie mentioned that she was sorry that I had gained weight since arriving. I told her that I was/am not sorry… I know I have been working so hard to lose weight for so long, and once in a while I deserve to let myself enjoy a little food. I especially enjoy being able to share the meals with her. For this evening I picked up a very nice piece of tuna which I just put into lemon juice to marinate, and which I will prepare with sesame and soy sauce. Leslie will prepare the rice. Dinner will be served after my class (which will end at 8:00pm local time). Weather permitting, we will likely finish the evening with a cigar on the balcony.

    Speaking of the weather… I woke up at about 4:45am this morning and could not fall back asleep. I sat in bed playing on my phone for nearly an hour, then tried, again unsuccessfully, to nod off. Leslie noticed that I was squirming a lot, and I decided rather than disturbing her, I would start my day with a jog… or at least, that was the plan. I decided, once outside (and once I realized that it was 41° outside) to go for a short and very brisk walk. I suppose 2.4km is not really short, but when I set out to exercise it is usually for much longer than that. I will probably go out for a proper jog this afternoon when the temperatures are forecast to rise to the mid-50s, but the morning is cool and rainy, and I am just as happy staying in and getting some paperwork done.

    These last couple of days I had not mentioned anything about my inability to move my bowels, but it was something I was going to write about this morning… especially after I once again sat unproductive on the throne before heading out into the cold. Well as it turns out, shortly after I sat down to write, I got the urge… and was indeed quite productive. I suspect that had I been able to do that earlier, my weight this morning would have been down and not up. Despite my protestations to the contrary, I was a little concerned that it was a lack of fibre in my diet, and that when I finally did, that it would be painful. In the end (no pun intended), it was not painful at all. I suspect that my body simply got confused by my sudden transition back to solid foods these last few days. I did mention to Leslie that I wanted to buy fibre powder while I was here, but that is to bring home to Canada. There is a serious price difference in a lot of things that I simply try to buy in the USA to save money on.

    Leslie and I have decided to stick to our tried-and-true Salad and Go lunch for today. In the afternoon I had planned to pop over to the lounge for an hour or two but knowing that I want to jog and then take a nap in the afternoon will probably put an end to that. I do want to drop in to pick something up, but I will not hang around there. Whether I jog or not is still to be determined; considering what time I woke up this morning, the nap will be non-negotiable.

    I am disappointed that I had to order a new belt in a Size-38. I was all excited that of the eight pair of pants I have in that size, one of them fits, and so I was thinking (wrongly) that meant that I could go down a size on the belt as well. I am not returning the two new belts that I bought, but I did by one more belt in my current size. I also bought a new pair of shoes to match it, and I am looking forward to taking my beautiful bride out for dinner Saturday evening. We dressed up for Mexican food the other night, and we can do it again for whatever we decide to eat this weekend.

    Speaking of clothing, I am frustrated because I know how loose my Size-38 jeans are on me, and yet just a week or two ago when I tried on my Size-36 jeans they were nowhere close to fitting. While it is possible that I have really shrunk down that much since I last tried them on, I doubt it. What is possible is that I was wearing these when they were really tight, and they stretched a little bit. When I am back home next week I will pull out that last bin and see where we are (again), but I am not holding my breath… or at least, I will only hold in my breath while trying to squeeze into the smaller size!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Change Of Plans

    I was planning on taking another day or two off from fitness walking, but decided to head out anyways. It was my intention to take a shorter walk than my last few, and if I needed to, then I would take it easy. I set out on a path that would be just over 6km, and if I felt I was hurting, there were plenty of opportunities to shorten that.

    • Distance: 6.23km (15.56km)
    • Duration: 59:59 (2:40:02)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:37 (10:17)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m23s (9m34)
    • Steps: 7.6k (19.3k)
    • Calories burned: 774 (1,871)
    • Elevation gain: 31 (76.5)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 128 (120)

    I am not at all disappointed by what I was able to accomplish today. I set out hoping to not be in too much agony, and any actual exercise I was able to get was a bonus. In the end, each of my split-pace kilometres was under 10m (except the first), with all but the first and last also under 9m40s. It was an excellent pace, and I did not feel pain, nor did I feel extreme fatigue. It is my first fitness walk in ten days, and I felt good about it. I will try go farther Thursday though.

    I thought about hopping onto the scale after my shower to see how my walking affected it, but I got distracted. It doesn’t matter, whatever my weight is, it is. I only count my first weigh-in of the morning, and today’s was pretty good. If tomorrow I lose another pound, I will be in best-weight territory again, which is where I always want to be!

    Time for me to relax the rest of the day. Enjoy the afternoon folks!