Losing a part of me

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  • Day 258

    It is weird to be back in Southern California; weirder still to be back at the Stonehaus, in my old stomping ground of Westlake Village. It’s almost like I never left, and haven’t been here in a thousand years.

    I was mostly (although not completely) good yesterday on my food intake. Firstly, I realized too late into my scrumptious dinner of rotisserie chicken and salad that the salad had feta cheese. I did not eat non-kosher on purpose, but I did.

    I also indulged in some dried fruit and peanuts, and thought I might pay for it on the scale, but I was extremely pleased to see that I lost nearly a pound. I think I have an irrational fear that any minor aberration from the program will sink me, which I know is not true. I’m working on it. As I have mentioned, there is a huge psychological component to weight loss, and I have not yet found the right balance between eating everything and eating nothing in my mind.

    It is great being out here and seeing all of my friends. Ok, I’ve only seen three of them so far, but it is still great. I’ll see many more before the week is done, and it is truly great. Friends are truly important, and even if you don’t see them often, when you do it is special.

    I do not know if I will be able to get any walks in this week. My schedule is pretty tight, but also because I am not somewhere I can easily come home and shower, it’s a pain. We’ll see.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Flying (mostly) Smart!

    I mentioned earlier today that I got to the airport several hours early, in light of my beautiful wife’s work schedule. That all of her morning meetings canceled, and that we could have spent an extra couple of hours together is not relevant to this story, other than to say I wish I could have spent more time with her, and that I love her and miss her already.

    As expected, I was through Security relatively quickly, and had a few hours to kill. I could have sat down at one of the restaurants, but decided instead to take a 2km walk through the airport. Yes, I walked the length of the Dallas-Fort Worth B Terminal… twice. Once that was done, I decided to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. I also decided that rather than buying something to eat (as I normally would when I sit at a table near a food area), I sat with my coffee, and pulled out a meal replacement bar. Through two cups of coffee, this was my first smart move of the day.

    On the airplane, I did have the proffered cookies and pretzels, with a can of Coke Zero. Yes, I should have eschewed the cookies and pretzels, but if that is my worst transgression, then I am already ahead of the game. Instead of asking for another pack of those, I opted form my next meal replacement bar. It was, by then, after 2:00pm Central Time, and the timing was about right. By the time I land, I will be three meal replacements into the day, plus an airplane cookie and bag of pretzels.

    The problem with ‘when I land’ is that I am going back in time. I am landing in Pacific Time, so it will only be 2:15pm. Once I have my luggage and rental car, I am heading to Inglewood to have a cigar with a buddy. On the phone last night, he tried to convince me to stay for dinner. His wife Cecelia is a lovely woman and a fabulous cook, and I have enjoyed her cuisine before. I told Robert that I would have to leave before dinner, and that I would have to refuse their lovely and kind hospitality. We will have a cigar, but I will not eat. Yes, I might have to enjoy one more meal replacement bar on my way to Inglewood in order to give myself the strength to refuse again.

    I expect that my buddy Tam (with whom I am staying this week) will want to order chicken in for dinner. As long as it is just chicken and salad, I will gladly accept. I will call him as I leave Robert’s house to confirm this is his intention. In the event he wants to do something else, I will have to discuss my weight loss program with him. He is familiar with my issues, so I do not expect it will be a problem. He and I will enjoy another cigar this evening. Cigars will be a very common thread throughout this week.

    We have a little less than an hour left in the flight, and I suspect that I will not have any more temptations between now and then. If I do, I do have that last meal replacement bar that I was planning to eat on my way to Robert’s. I am trying to be good, and the fact that I did not pop into any of the stores to pick up a bag of chips or nuts or other snack at the airport is already a victory. Hopefully I can keep it up.

  • Day 257

    While I did not get any exercise yesterday, I still managed to walk 4,600 steps. That may be nothing compared to the previous day’s 23,000+ steps day, or even the ~13,000 steps that I take on a day when I do go for a fitness walk… but for a day when I am mostly sedentary and relaxing, it is not bad. Leslie received a package in her mailbox that was delivered to her by accident, and I jumped at the opportunity to go for a walk to search for the intended recipient. It was not a fitness walk, but I had gone to bed the previous evening having decided that I would not be fitness walking. All in all, 4,600 steps was just fine by me.

    The bathroom scale was forgiving this morning, despite my indulgences of French toast for brunch, and then chicken nuggets for dinner. It could have been much worse – I took Leslie and her son to Braum’s for ice cream, and I sat watching them indulge. I did not even take a taste, which might have brought down my defenses. Yes, I was happy to take them, and I was happy to sit and watch them enjoy. Had I taken just a taste, I might have broken down and monched my own cone. It did not hurt that they both picked flavours that are not among my favourites, but that just contributed to my will power!

    In about an hour, Leslie will drive me to the airport. Yes, today is a travel day, and I know I have to be much more aware of my intake than I was on my last travel day. Coming down to Dallas, I was terrible. Today, knowing that I do not have to pass through US Customs, I am much calmer, and do not have to worry about stress eating. I do have to be cognizant of opportunity eating, which in an airport terminal, where there is sweet little to do, is a real danger. To try to fight off the cravings, I will be taking a couple of meal replacement bars with me in my carry-on bag. There, I packed them. All done.

    I am going to miss my wife something terrible, but at least I will see her Saturday during the day. Yes, a day at Disneyland is once again another opportunity for hundreds of cheats, and I have to be careful there. Fortunately, I will be with my wife, and she is a very good influence on my weight management program.

    It is time to head for the airport. Leslie has a call that she cannot miss, so she is dropping me off early. That is fine… I will have a book, and I will just relax in the terminal.

    Have a great day folks! I’ll see you in California!

  • Day 256

    I slept very well last night, after yesterday’s monster walk. Leslie and I agree, however, that I pushed myself too far yesterday, and that I should dial it back a little bit. The way my legs are feeling (more last night than today, but still…) are a good indication that we are right about that. I should also mention that for the first time in my fitness walking journey, the insides of my thighs were chaffed last night, and required the application of baby powder. While that is not an indication of anything musculature, it is a reminder that when I plan a walk over 11km I should also take some precautionary measures.

    The numbers on the bathroom scale this morning were spectacular. Since the morning after I arrived in Dallas (ten days ago) I have lost ten pounds. I am thrilled by that, and even though I did not drop into the 310lbs range (I actually weigh 311lbs this morning), I am happy with another two-pound drop from yesterday. I know that type of progress will not be constant, but when it does happen, I am always going to celebrate it.

    This morning I prepared chocolate French toast for the family, but the boy decided he did not want any… likely as a passive aggressive protest against the man he sees as usurping his father’s place by his mother’s side. It is too bad, for too reasons. First, it was really tasty. Second, I ate what he did not. Rather than having a meal replacement, I had two and a half slices of French toast. Fortunately, I did not add syrup. That does not change the fact that the meal was not a smart one. I will do better the rest of the day. Of course, that will be contingent partly on Leslie’s son, who may decide that he wants us to bathe in deep-fried chicken shmaltz.

    I will not be fitness-walking today. I am taking the day off, and I will spend the entire day with the family. While the kid is mostly a good kid, he does his best to test the limits of his mother’s love. I understand better now why she often calls me with frayed nerves during her weeks with him. While it is easy for me to let his crap slide, I have been exposed to it for three days… she deals with it without any backup every other week. In short, this is just another reason why we need the State Department to let me move here sooner rather than later. His mother needs reinforcements!

    It is another beautiful day in Dallas, and looking at the forecast for Dallas and California it will be quite some time before I see another cloud or cold day. I am back in Canada two weeks today, and that might be it. The evenings are more comfortable than they were during the summer, but the daytime highs are still in the mid-eighties… and in California, the forecasted high temperatures from Tuesday through Friday range from 89° to 93° Fahrenheit. I am packing a couple pair of long pants and long-sleeve shirts (and a jacket) … but only because I have to go to synagogue for the holiday.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Further and Further!

    I set out on my walk today to see if I could come close to Thursday’s record-breaking walk. I have been happy that I have been able to not only crack the 7km ceiling that I seem to have had in Dallas, but do it a few times, and with gusto. In fact, breaking my distance record Thursday was a real milestone for me. Would I be able to match it?

    • Distance: 15.56km (13.02km)
    • Duration: 2:40:02 (2:08:09)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 10:17 (9:50)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m34 (9m40)
    • Steps: 19.3k (16.3k)
    • Calories burned: 1,871 (1,571)
    • Elevation gain: 76.5 (66.6)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 120 (126)

    I certainly was not breaking any speed records today, but I shattered all my previous distance-related marks. I was only able to break the 10m00s mark for three separate kilometres, which was disappointing. For the first couple of 10+ minute kilometres I made the excuse that because there was no sidewalk, I was walking on grass. Leslie has a better theory though, that I am essentially starving my body, and she is probably right.

    We had lunch at Panera Bread Company, and I had a salad with chicken. I also ate the roll that they gave me with it, which I probably should not have done, but which also probably fueled the last five kilometres of my walk. For dinner, Leslie and the boy are preparing a pasta salad, which Leslie knows is not on my diet, but it is something that he helps to prepare, and he is excited to ‘cook’ for me. I am not depriving him of that. No, I should not be eating pasta, but I should also not be disappointing a seven-year-old boy who wants to show off for his new step-father. I expect that the near-1900 calories I burned during the walk will more than make up for whatever I eat this evening.

    Once again, I know it doesn’t count… but I got onto the bathroom scale after my shower, and was down more than two pounds from this morning. It was nice to see 310.8lbs on the scale… even though I never count weigh-ins at 6:00pm! Hopefully tomorrow morning the scale will be equally nice… but it is a lot to expect a weight loss of two pounds in a day… even with the monster walks!

    I will not be walking tomorrow, for several reasons… not the least of which is that I need a day or two to recover from today. Monday I am flying to California, so while I started October with a bang, I do not expect the next three days to be nearly as impressive.

  • Day 255

    Saturday, October 1, 2022. The beginning of the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar, and the sixth day of the Jewish year 5783. The forecast shows a sunny day, and while it is currently 60° outside, we are looking at a high of 82°. It should be a nice day in Dallas.

    I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night, but when I finally did, I was happy to get eight hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep (interrupted only by a couple of trips to the latrine). I woke up refreshed and ready to face the day… and ready for an unhappy trip to the bathroom scale, which I anticipated because of how yesterday went.

    Not to keep you in suspense, not only was I pleased by the numbers on the scale, I was really pleased. I am back in ‘best ever’ territory again! It has been over three weeks since I was last under 315lbs, but the last time I weighed what I weigh today was March 11, 2021. That was the week I met my wife! Looking at that week, and looking at the numbers today, I am probably about three pounds from dropping below a BMI of 40. This morning, my BMI (Body Mass Index) is 40.2, and falling. I am still in the morbidly obese category, but I am only a couple of pounds from dropping from Obese Class III to Obese Class II. That will be a big psychological improvement.

    Yesterday did not end up going the way I expected, but it went better than planned. Leslie and I went to get new eyeglasses, which will only be available in a few weeks. Mine will be a new look for me, which is exciting and scary. We then decided to have a salad for lunch from a drive thru restaurant called Salad and Go. I had a Thai Chicken Salad, worth 360 calories. Leslie had a Cobb Salad with tofu and no bacon. Both of us really enjoyed our lunch. I did not end up walking in the afternoon, instead opting to spend it relaxing with my wife. Knowing that we were going to have to spend the entire weekend entertaining a rambunctious seven-year-old boy, it would likely be our last relaxing time together until we are back from California.

    For dinner we had nachos and tamales. The nachos were made with Impossible Meat, so I was able to have them with cheese… not the healthiest meal of course, but we make sacrifices for children sometimes. Also, while I did not end up going for a fitness walk, I did walk to the store (nearly two miles round-trip) to pick up wine for the kiddush. I decided that I am going to try in this new year to not only light the Shabbat candles, but also say kiddush and hamotzi (the prayers on the wine and the bread). Last night we did all of those, and it really made me feel better… and closer to my ancestors, starting with my father.

    Today’s plan involves an arcade, and whatever else may come our way. Leslie and the boy discussed going out for breakfast as I was getting up, and decided that they should just eat here. That is a relief for my weight management, as I love eating breakfast out, but should be eating a meal replacement for all but one meal. Yesterday’s salad was a perfectly acceptable replacement… just about anything I might have eaten at an American breakfast restaurant would not be. We will likely eat lunch out today, and I will be as sensible as I can be, based on where we eat. In the worst-case scenario, I will only eat a salad. We’ll see.

    What else is planned for the day? I don’t know, but it will be a great day whatever we do… and if we end up back home early enough, I might go for a fitness walk to kick off October. I fell 16,000 steps short of the September Step Month challenge; I do not plan to fall short this month. I am going to make October a month of successes, remembering how two years ago it was the beginning of my slide into weight loss failure. I started October, 2020 at 263lbs… and gained 24lbs that month. This October will be different… October 2020 was a month of failure; October 2022 will be a month of success. Will this actually be the month that sees me drop below the 300lbs milestone? I do not know… but if it is not, then it will get me close to it. I only dropped six pounds in September this year, mostly because of cheats and stuff. My goal for October is to avoid as many obstacles as I can, in a month that will have me in the USA for half of it, in California for a week of it, and at Disneyland for a day of it. Disneyland will be a challenge, but fortunately that will only be one day. Everything else I am hoping I can handle.

    My wife is absolutely gorgeous today in her lovely frock; her beauty reminds me of just some of the reasons why I should continue to lose weight and get back into shape. A beautiful and sexy woman deserves her man to keep up… or in our case, catch up! I also want to be healthy to spend as many years as possible with her.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 254

    Day 254

    Yesterday I registered my first twenty thousand steps day. I am extremely happy with that, even though I strongly suspect that my attempts to get that Garmin badge will still fall short. I am 21,500 steps shy, and I have fifteen hours to do it. I think I need to hit fifteen kilometres on my walk today to clinch it… and that is not likely to happen, especially since my legs this morning were feeling jelly-like following yesterday’s push. That is not to say that it cannot happen, just that it is not likely. In the month of September, there were seventeen days that I did not go for a fitness walk. The fact that I made a major push this last week does not make up for that.

    My weight this morning was the same as it was yesterday. I joked with Leslie that it is too bad that I only count my early morning weight, because when I came in from my walk yesterday, I registered my lowest weight of the year. Nothing doing, because water loss from exercise does not count. Unless, of course, I wanted to get up at 5am and walk before my 7:00am weigh-in! (The fact that we had dim sum for dinner might also contribute to the non-loss…)

    I can talk about the dim sum and sushi all day long, but the truth is that I am happy with how I have been managing my eating these last few days. Rosh Hashana was a disaster, but today is the third day in a row that I will only have a single meal, plus my meal replacements. Add to that the fitness walking, and I have a lot to be proud of. No, I am not on the extreme, no-cheating program I was on a couple of years ago… I want to lose weight safely, but more important, I want to be able to maintain my weight loss once I revert to eating normal foods and eschew the meal replacements.

    My diet-buddy and I spoke last night (as planned). Her announcement is that she decided to have gastric sleeve surgery in Mexico, which will reduce the size of her stomach, and help her to lose the weight. I am not sure how I feel about this, and it is not my place to judge. I know that when someone has tried over and over again to lose weight, and nothing they have done has succeeded, then they may feel that there is no other choice but the surgical route. The fact that I do not think it is for me does not mean that I do not think there are people who will benefit from it, or for whom there is no other reasonably alternative. My biggest concern is the medical tourism issue. I do not know what the conditions of the hospital are, nor the qualifications of the surgeon. She tells me that the hospital is American owned and that the doctors are American. That scares me even more… the better trained American doctors usually work in the USA. I would probably feel better knowing that the hospital was American owned, but the doctor is a really respected Mexican. None of this is my place to say, of course. Her father is a retired physician and has already told her what he thinks. His credentials far exceed mine, but she has made up her mind. I will support her as a friend, but I will still worry.

    My other concern with her decision is whether we are still suited to support each other. While she knows what I am going through, I will have no idea whatsoever how to support her, other than to listen to what she says. Right now, when she tells me about her issues, I can relate to them. I can advise her on how to handle things. If she fails, I can advise her how to try to succeed in the future. Once she has the surgery, I don’t know anything about that. Will I be able to continue to advise and support her? I don’t know, but I will give her that insight, and let her decide. She might just appreciate having someone who can listen to her.

    Today I do not have much planned. Leslie and I are going to run an errand at lunch, after which I will probably go for my last walk of the month. I will not do it to break records or to get challenge badges, I will do it because fitness walking is good for me and is helping me to lose weight and to get into shape. I also do not know what the weekend has in store, and if I will be able to get out to walk or not. I will try, but with Leslie’s son here, I know I will be at the mercy of his schedule, and that is fine. Leslie is making tamales for dinner, and I will stick to my meal replacements aside from that. I confess that I did not know what a tamale was until I looked them up. They look tasty!

    Not only did I order my shaker bottle to take to California yesterday, I also ordered meal replacement shakes and bars. The shakes are the same ones that I have been used to. The bars are not. There are usually three flavours of bars available, and I like to alternate between the apple-cinnamon and the chocolate bars. While the apple cinnamon bars are available on eBay, the chocolate bars have not been available for some time. However, there is another company that makes bars with similar nutritional values, which come in many different flavours. I ordered three boxes each of s’mores and chocolate-almond. Either I will like them, and I will stick with them, or I will not, and I will revert to the tried-and-true original brand. Either way, by the time I am ready to go back to Canada, I will need plenty of stock. This should hold me over for a while.

    The weather today is similar to yesterday. It is sunny and pleasant, with a projected high of 82° Fahrenheit. I can definitely work with that on my walk this afternoon! Tonight the sabbath begins, and I will light the candles, say the prayers, and remember the day as holy.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Go The Distance!

    I wrote this morning that I would need to register two walks of thirteen kilometres each today and tomorrow to come close to achieving the September Step Month badge from Garmin, which did not seem at all reasonable, considering that my longest walk to date was 10.5km.

    I killed today’s walk, breaking records… not Dallas records, but actual since-I-started-walking records. I did achieve the 13km distance, with an average page under 10m00. Obviously, my step count was higher than ever, as was my calories burned. Even so, I am still 23,750 steps from earning the badge… but I was not thinking about the badge as I walked. I was thinking about going the distance. I was thinking about shattering my limitations, and not simply beating my old record by .25km. I wanted to get out there and shatter things.

    • Distance: 13.02km (9km)
    • Duration: 2:08:09 (1:27:49)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:50 (9:44)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m40 (x2) (9m18s)
    • Steps: 16.3k (11.4k)
    • Calories burned: 1,571 (1,083)
    • Elevation gain: 66.6 (39.1)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 126 (130)

    Of course, the day is not nearly over (I should press the Publish button around 2:15pm), so it is still possible for me to end the day needing only 20,000 steps to earn the badge. It will not be hard for me to walk another 4,000 steps today – that will involve a trip to the recycling bin, maybe a couple of walks around the complex. I’ll take out the trash, maybe I will offer to do whatever shopping is needed (although I do not think there is any needed, as Leslie placed an order with Amazon Prime this morning). I don’t know… but if I wake up tomorrow needing only 20,000 steps, then I will try for the badge.

    The problem with that previous sentence is that I do not have too many days in the past year where I walked more than 18,000 steps… and I am not sure if I have broken the 20,000-step mark. I know that if I even want to think about that badge, I will have to hit 22,000 steps today, and then 20,000 tomorrow. Doable? Yes. Possible? Sure. Likely? That’s a whole other story.

    In the meantime, I signed up for some October challenges on Garmin. There is the Garmin Pink October, meant to support breast cancer awareness. It is 100,000 steps in 10 days… perfectly achievable. There is the Halloween Walking challenge, for which I will have to complete a 3-mile walk between the 28th and the 31st (no big deal). The big challenge though is the October Step Month, which is the continuation of the September challenge I am working toward. 300,000 steps in the month. If I do not get lazy as I did this month (My first recorded walk was only on September 5, and then from the 10th through the 23rd I only recorded three walks) then I should be able to knock that one out of the park.

    Something that I will have to start paying attention to when I get back to Canada mid-month is the weather. I have been spoiled, both in Canada and in Dallas, with the weather these last few months. The last half of October is when things in Canada really start to cool down, and more importantly start getting really wet. If I am going to be walking outdoors when I get back to Canada, I will have to start thinking about weather-appropriate clothing. I have a few baseball hats, and I have long-sleeved shirts and training pants. I also have my new Team Canada jackets which would probably be good outerwear. My biggest challenge will be remembering how important it is for me to get out and do it. Hopefully my beautiful wife will remind me if I do not get out for a couple of days. Hopefully I will not need prodding or reminding.

    The rest of the day is open for me. I have a few minor bits to take care of, but for the most part my day is over. Leslie is making dim sum for dinner (which we all love), and so far, I have only had two meal replacements. I will have another one around 3:00pm, and then the dim sum. Of course, I am drinking a lot of water… and yes, I stopped midway through my walk to pick up a Gatorade Zero. I think I am doing pretty well on my plan. My diet buddy texted me a few hours ago to let me know she is looking forward to talking this evening, and that she has a weight-loss announcement. I have no idea what that means, but I hope she accomplished something amazing. I am crossing my fingers for her.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 253

    As I had hoped, I was happy with the numbers on the scale again this morning. At just over 315lbs, I am hoping that I can have a few more good days before heading to California. Don’t get me wrong. I do not plan to indulge in California. I am just saying that I want to stay on track here. I will be taking meal replacements with me and will even be fasting for Yom Kippur.

    I was chatting with a friend that I will be connecting with when I am there, and he said I was looking good in a picture that I posted. I thought about it for a minute, and then looked it up. This morning I am 33lbs lighter than the day that I left California. I forget, when I remember back to what I weighed two years ago, that sixteen months ago I was hovering just below the 350lbs mark, never mind what I weighed 253 days ago. I remember around February when one of my California buddies was video chatting with me and said something like, ‘Mitch, what happened? You were doing so well!’ I felt horrible, even though I was back on the program, trying to get healthy again. I am glad that I am going back there looking… well, not as slim as I did two years ago, but still much slimmer than when I left there.

    The forecast for today is not as hot as it was yesterday. I have a meeting for an hour this morning, and then I will kit up for a walk. I do not know if I will be breaking records today, but with the slightly cooler temperatures, I should be able to have another epic day. Over the past nine days I have averaged over 11,000 steps per day… and that includes four days that were abysmal with regard to step count. If I had registered just one more good fitness walk this month, I would likely be ready to collect the September Step Month badge from Garmin Connect… which would mean 300,000 steps for the month (or at least 10,000 steps per day). With only today and tomorrow left in the month, I am 41,700 steps short of that goal. Two good days will leave me short by about 10,000 steps. I would have to make both today’s and tomorrow’s fitness walk 13km each for it to be on the table. That is not likely. I will, however, try to get the October Step Month badge!

    As we hoped, Leslie and I took her son for sushi last night. It was very good, and I indulged. I did not go over the top, but I did have a good healthy meal. I suspect that had I held back, I might have been .2lbs lighter this morning. In the balance, I think the indulgent meal was worth it.

    I am hoping to speak with my weight loss buddy today. I hope she is doing well, and we have a lot to discuss. I also realized that I should probably plan to order another case of meal replacements to be delivered when I am back in Dallas after California, so that I will be able to take them back to Canada with me. I will take inventory today and see what I have left, and then plan accordingly. I will also be taking meal replacements with me to California, and if I am going to do that, then I had better think about ordering a proper shaker bottle… while my buddy might have a blender, I will be out and about most of the time, and I cannot rely on that. Amazon, here I come.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Killing It!

    • I was planning on walking after my afternoon meeting. When we got home from the bank, I looked at the forecast and changed my mind. The current temperature at the time was 78°, but by 1:30pm it would be up to 90°. I did the math and knew that I had just under 2.5 hours to walk, cool down, shower, and be at my computer in time for the call. I could do it if I did not try to overdo it. I did not think it would be a problem, and it would be fine.
    • Distance: 9km (10km)
    • Duration: 1:27:49 (1:40:51)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:44 (10:03)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m18s (9m40)
    • Steps: 11.4k (12.7k)
    • Calories burned: 1,083 (1,203)
    • Elevation gain: 39.1 (47.5)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 130 (126)

    Owing mostly to the heat, I never expect to break records when I am in Texas. I hit the ground running though, and I knocked out the first five kilometres in a whopping 47:24, which had my average pace at under 9m30s! I was thrilled, but I was also losing hydration and electrolytes. I stopped at the 6km mark and bought a Gatorade Zero to supplement the bottle of water I was working through. My pace for the last four kilometres was about 10m03s per kilometre, the same pace of my entire walk from yesterday.

    I walked into the apartment sweaty and thirsty, but very proud of my accomplishment. I do not expect to be able to maintain this sort of pace every day, but every once in a while, it is good to push myself. I do not know if I did it knowing that I had to hurry home for my meeting, but whatever it was, I did it. Let’s see if I can do it again tomorrow!

    Today’s fitness walk was my eleventh such walk for the month of September. It has not been a very successful month, but at least I can finish strong, and spring into October on a good roll. Yes, of the eleven fitness walks of the month, four of them have been in the last five days. If I hit the road tomorrow and Friday, I will have a great streak to end the month with.

    Knowing that Leslie and I will be spending most of the weekend entertaining her son, I doubt I will be able to walk Saturday or Sunday, and Monday I am flying to California. Tuesday I will walk, but Wednesday is Yom Kippur, so I will be fasting and at synagogue services all day. Really, with my California jaunt, I likely will not be able to get into the swing of things for October until I am back in Dallas the afternoon of the ninth… but I will make sure to get right back on track starting that afternoon.

    Leslie was worried that the boy would want to go for fried chicken this evening, which I would not have been able to eat. Fortunately, when they came in, he announced that he wanted sushi, which is absolutely doable for me. In preparation for the evening meal, I have only had meal replacements today (three of them in fact, exactly what I should be having). All this to say that tomorrow I am looking for a happy number on the scale.

    It’s a gorgeous day in Dallas, and I am just happy to be alive, loved, and healthy.

    Have a great evening folks!