Losing a part of me

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  • Day 237

    It was no surprise this morning when I stepped onto the scale to discover I was up nearly half a pound. While the Goldfish crackers might have contributed to that, I suspect it was more just righting the tremendous drop from the day before. Losing six pounds in one day is unbelievable, and more often than not will right itself, as it did.

    If we assume that the tremendous walk was an offset for the cheat, I find myself exactly where I should be. Yes, I would like to get back below the 315lbs mark (as I was ever so briefly, a week ago today), but that will take a few more days. I would love to get to 310lbs by next Thursday when I am getting onto an airplane to see my wife! In the meantime, I am going to the doctor’s office tomorrow to get weighed, and I am truly hoping to be down at least 2kg from two weeks ago. If it wasn’t for that pesky trip to Montreal…

    While today is Tuesday, and I should in theory be going to Taekwondo, I am having dinner with my son the younger, and that will most likely conflict with the class. In case we end early (which is quite likely), I will take my dobok in the car with me. I would like to get back onto the mat, if possible, but at the same time, spending time with my son is more important.

    On that Taekwondo front, the 7:00pm class is for Black Belt preparation class, which will be good for me because I do need to relearn the patterns that I needed for lower levels. The 7:45pm class is the teen/adults class (all belts), so while it will be a good workout, I do not expect that it will help prepare me for my test… whenever that might be.

    Speaking of which, I just remembered that my Master called me last night, and I need to call him back. With luck, he might have time to meet for a coffee between my dentist appointment and meeting my son. If not, then hopefully later in the week.

    Thinking about it now, there is little chance I will be able to go for a walk today. Between now and 2pm there is a 70%-100% chance of rain every hour. At 2pm I have a dentist appointment. If I would not be sweating like a pig from it, I might walk in Oakville between the dentist and meeting my son, but there is no way to make that work. In the evening, I will either be with my son, or at Taekwondo. I am going to have an enforced day off. Fortunately, the forecast from tomorrow through Saturday is dry, so I’ll be able to get my steps in for the week.

    My plans for food are to make my chicken and salad for lunch, then a meal replacement or two in the evening. Hopefully I will be able to stick to the plan, especially with the enforced no-eating-for-an-hour-after-the-dentist zone.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Let’s Beat Ten!

    I set out with a bold path in mind for today’s walk. I had not walked since Friday, and I decided to expand on my normal local routes, which until today have all been around 8km. I was not sure when I set out how much farther my route today would be; I suspected it would be a little over 10km, maybe 10.5km. As it turns out, I was right… 10.45km, starting from the parking lot of my building, down to Mainway, across to Appleby Line, up to Dundas, then back down Walker’s Line to my parking lot. I made one pit stop at the 8km mark, popping into the gas station to pick up a bottle of Gatorade. I had finished my water bottle, and did not think it smart to try to make the last 2.5km without hydration.

    • Distance: 10.45km (10km)
    • Duration: 1:44:12 (1:41:33)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:58 (10:08)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m36 (9m44s)
    • Steps: 12.8k (12.6k)
    • Calories burned: 1,242 (1,188)
    • Elevation gain: 37 (62.7)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 122 (124)

    I did not break any speed records, only for distance; today was the longest walk I have recorded, besting my previous best by 450m and about 3 minutes. Five of ten kilometres was at or under the 10m00s pace, although my last 450m was on a pace for 9m33s. I did not need to be a hero to prove that I could do it; In truth, I also did not know that I was on pace to do that.

    While it was a terrible cheat, I carbed up for the walk with an indulgence of Goldfish crackers, which I should not have done. There are some athletes who benefit from the consumption of carbohydrates before a workout; I have never been one to notice a difference, and I do not think I did today. In truth, I think I might have felt heavier in my first two kilometres for having enjoyed that snack. I will try to be good the next few days. I will also try to skip one of today’s remaining meal replacements because I know that what I ate is much more than the 160 calories in a meal replacement.

    I am enjoying the book on tape that I am listening to, although it makes me want to reenlist in the Army to go fight the Nazis. Yes, it is one of those books that my father and his generation so revered – the Jewish community in Poland at the outset of World War 2, claiming that things are bad but at least they cannot get any worse… and the hero soldier fighter who wants them to pick up arms, all the while most of them are talking of forming a Jewish homeland. Leon Uris’ massive novel was on my father’s bookshelf for so many years, but I never thought to read it. Indeed, at the time I would have been intimidated by the size of it. I started listening to it on the drive home from Montreal and am enjoying it. That is not to say that it does not infuriate me from time to time… few Jewish soldiers would not be enraged by the progression of Nazism.

    Earlier today I went shopping for my provisions (forgetting to pick up more lettuce… oops). I decided to take my suits to the dry cleaner… to be specific, I took two suits, a sports jacket, a pair of pants, and one shirt to the dry cleaners. All of them were custom tailored when I originally lost all of my weight in 2017, and they fit again two years ago when I lost all of my weight the second time. Yes, this will now be the third time I have lost all of this weight, and while they do not fit me yet, they will in the next month to six weeks. I want them to be ready for when my wife comes to see me in November, so I can take her out dressed in a nice suit. The dry cleaner asked if it was okay if he only got them back on Saturday, I told him that would be fine. They may not fit yet… but there is room in my closets – both in Canada and in Dallas – for them for when they do fit… and that will be soon.

    It is time for me to hit the shower, and then take Her Royal Floofness on her walk. I got the Step Into September badge on Garmin Connect without any doubt today, but I still have responsibilities to my puppy to make sure she is taken care of, and is not forced to have accidents in the house. I will take her out after my shower. This evening, I will have another lovely cigar on the patio date with my wife. I do not think I have any other chores to do… although I know that tomorrow and Wednesday, I have a bunch of errands and doctors’ appointments on the book. Tonight, I can take it easy.

  • Day 236

    Phew.

    I suppose I should start with an explanation for that… as well as yesterday’s one-line post. Yesterday morning, after five days in Montreal, I stepped onto the scale. To my horror, I had gained 8.2lbs since Tuesday morning. I was heartbroken. I know that I ate poorly in Montreal, making more poor choices than I ought to, but over eight pounds in less than a week? Especially a week in which I went on three monster walks (8-10km each)? That was harsh.

    There are a few things I should mention about weighing myself on a regular basis:

    • My weight fluctuates depending on the time of day. That is not necessarily about what I have eaten that day, it is simply that at 9am I might weigh more or less than I do at 11am.
    • Changes to my sleep will affect my weight. For example, if I go to bed very late or very early one night, it will be affected.
    • Travel, whether by car or by airplane, always affects my weight for a day (and sometimes for two).
    • When I have a bad cheat day, the next day may be hell on the scale, but if it is only a single bad cheat day, it often works itself out the following day.

    Yes, I made a lot of bad decisions in Montreal, culminating in a series of bad decisions at the cigar garden party I went to on Saturday, and then more on the drive home. All of that, combined with the long car ride, the very late night, the very late morning, and weighing myself two hours later than I usually do… well, I was over eight pounds up from my previous weigh-in on Tuesday. I was really not happy… but Leslie reminded me that the travel day will affect me, and that I am usually so good, from time to time I am allowed to fall off the wagon… as long as I can pick myself up and get back onto it.

    Since I woke up late yesterday, I decided to not have my morning meal replacement. That decision was partly due to the fact that I felt like a fat pig from the weight gain, but mostly due to the fact that it was nearing 11:30am by the time I was ready to go, and I simply made myself lunch. I did end up taking a nap for a bit in the afternoon… I had so missed having my Princess Sophie cuddling in with me that it lasted longer than expected. We then went out for our walk before I settled onto the balcony for a cigar and a video date with my wife.

    As I prepared to step onto the scale this morning, I was hoping beyond hope that I would see a 3-lbs drop. It was all that I could hope for. Seeing the numbers on the scale announce a six-pound drop was just euphoric. I was so thrilled to not only be back below the 320lbs mark, but significantly so, was amazing.

    Knowing that at least part of my weight gain was not owing to the travel and timing, but to poor food choices, I doubt that the remaining 2.4 lbs will fall off tomorrow morning, but if I can lose them by the end of the week then I will be happy. Remember, next Thursday I am flying back to Dallas to be with my gorgeous wife, and I want to be looking my best for her. Yes, I am losing the weight for myself… but I think she deserves the best me that I can offer to her.

    It is going to be raining off and on today, and so I do not know if I will be able to take a walk. According to the hourly forecast, the rain should abate by 4pm, which means that I can hit the trails anytime after that. Not having walked since Friday, I would like to get in a good walk to start the week off. Also, there is a challenge on the Garmin Connect app to hit 100,000 steps between September 1-14. I am just over 14,000 steps shy of that goal, which means that a good showing today (even 10,000 steps) will guarantee that I hit it tomorrow, as any day that I do not fitness walk still hits 4,000 steps.

    I have to go shopping now so that I have food for lunch. I need chicken as well as vegetables, and we will see what else I might be missing.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 235

    The numbers on the scale were absolutely terrible today. I am glad I am home… and back on track.

  • Day 234

    I slept in this morning, which means that I will be late getting going. I am still going to try to get a walk in, but it will not be as adventurous as I was hoping. That might also have to do with the fact that my legs are a bit stiff from yesterday.

  • My Second Ten

    I was not pushing myself for speed today, as my first kilometre demonstrated way too clearly, with an abysmal 11m02s pace. I picked it up after that, with only one of the next nine kilometres paced over 10m10s.

    It felt good to record my second ten-kilometre walk knowing that I could have gone longer. I did not want to push myself too hard, or at least not further than I actually did.

    • Distance: 10km (8.21km)
    • Duration: 1:41:33 (1:24:56)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 10:08 (10:20)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m44s (10m02s)
    • Steps: 12.6k (10.3k)
    • Calories burned: 1,188 (971)
    • Elevation gain: 62.7 (53)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 124 (122)

    I was disappointed to look back to look back to July 25th, my first 10-km walk, and see that I actually did not break my time for that distance. I missed it by only six seconds, which means that my disastrous first kilometre made the difference. I am not going to lose any sleep over that; it was an excellent walk, and my elevation gain was much higher today than then. Of course, I need to remember that for the first 1500m of my walk, my knee was bothering me. I am going to see about picking up an ace bandage to wrap it for tomorrow’s walk.

    One thing that I thought for a minute might have made a difference was that I was wearing long training pants. Normally I am wearing shorts, which are not only lighter, they are much less constricting on my legs. That could have been a factor, but knowing how well I was able to pick up the pace after that first kilometre, I suspect it was not as much a factor as I thought at the time.

    King Charles III just finished his first public speech as the monarch, and he spoke well. I am not sure what to think of him, knowing that there have been so many negative stories around him throughout his life. I do know that aside from being our new King, he is a son who lost his mother and is mourning. I hope that he does well as our monarch, but today I wish him my condolences as a mourner.

    I am going to head out to lunch, and then to the cemetery. On reflection, I do not think that I will be heading to a cigar lounge this evening, but will stay close to home. After all, there will be less temptation to drink with my cigars here.

    Have a great day folks… and G-d save the King.

  • Day 233

    Okay, so I did not write about my walk yesterday. That is in no way meant as commentary that I did not walk, or did not have a good walk. I got back and realized that if I did not get ready and leave immediately, I would be late for my lunch engagement.

    I did not break any records on my walk yesterday, but it was a good and respectable outing. I did not break the ten-minute mark for any kilometre, let alone my average. I was walking on a knee that I was worried about, and did not want to aggravate it.

    • Distance: 8.21km (8.5km)
    • Duration: 1:24:56 (1:24:24)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 10:20 (9:55)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 10m02s (9m45s)
    • Steps: 10.3k (10.3k)
    • Calories burned: 971 (1,033)
    • Elevation gain: 53 (56)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 122 (120)

    Hearing at lunch that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II passed away was devastating for me. Many people do not realize that she was the Queen of Canada, as well as of the United Kingdom. She has been a constant presence in my life, with her face on the coins that I played with as a very young child. While I am sure it was not unanimous, I believe that her style and class made her universally loved and respected around the world. Long live King Charles III, but his mother will be missed.

    I have no plans for today. Yes, I will go for my walk shortly, after which I will come back to the house, shower, and then I will drive to the cemetery, where I will spend a couple of hours talking with my father. I will probably take a cigar to smoke with him, but we will see. I will probably have Lebanese food for lunch, which I think he would appreciate. Of course, he would be calling it Israeli food, which is just fine by me.

    In the evening, I might go to one of the cigar lounges I used to hang out at here… either Dreamcatcher (on the Kahnawake native territory), or Stogies downtown. More likely, I will sit on the patio here, reading my book, and quietly smoking a cigar alone. I am sure there are more friends in Montreal that I would like to see, but I cannot think of anyone right now.

    Tomorrow, as long as my knee is still cooperating, I plan to go for a walk on Mount Royal in the morning. At the end of my walk, I will go back to Esti’s house, shower, and then buy her lunch. She had laser eye surgery yesterday, otherwise I might have done all of that today. There is a difference between getting into the car all sweaty and driving five minutes to her house versus driving nearly an hour to get here. I suspect that if I do that too often, my car will begin to smell like a gym locker… and we cannot have that, especially not ahead of my five-plus hour drive back to Burlington.

    As I sit here writing, I decided to be somewhat luxuriant. I poured myself a second cup of coffee, which is absolutely normal (as indeed would be the third cup) back home, but has not been my habit since arriving in Quebec. I think it has been mainly the timing issue that has prevented it, and I am wondering if that might be one of the reasons I have been having trouble sticking to the parameters of my weight management program since Tuesday. I know that some people think coffee is only coffee, but it is actually a drug that affects your body and attitude throughout the day. I know that yesterday afternoon I met my friend Jess for coffee (at a very nice café in the Plateau de Montreal area), and I had a pastry with it. I do not blame the pastry on my coffee imbalance, rather on my mourning the passing of the monarch. With that said, I have made a few wrong decisions these last few days, and I wonder… and I hope that my daily walks will at least keep my weight from slipping too badly on this trip.

    I should mention that while I was not great on my weight management plan yesterday, I could have done worse. My father’s friend Arnie and I met for lunch at the Snowdon Delicatessen; rather than ordering the large Montreal smoked meat platter with fries, I ordered a bowl of chicken soup with a matza ball and a salmon salad sandwich. Arnie ordered a plate of French fries which he encouraged me to share, so I had a few… and I only did that because he doused them with vinegar. Really good fries with vinegar are one of my kryptonites! Even so, I ate much better there than I could have… and normally would have.

    Okay, I have used my writing to procrastinate enough. I just sipped the last sip of my coffee, and I should hit the pavement. I will grab my sunglasses and my water bottle, and I will turn on my music. As is my habit, I will first listen to the CBC news, but I think I can guess what that broadcast will be focused on. I miss her too.

    See you soon folks!

  • Day 232

    I had a nice day yesterday after my walk, even though a lot of things got turned around. I had a very decent lunch at a Lebanese restaurant, after which I went to see my friends Caryl and Lawrence. They have a fourteen-week-old puppy named Miss Lucy who is absolutely adorable, and filled with all of the puppy energy and love that puppies of that age will have. She and I got along just fine!

    I was on my way to Stephane’s house for the evening when he texted and suggested I come over at 9:00pm – it was currently 6:00pm. I rerouted and came back to my friends’ house, where I had a meal replacement soup (which I have not done in a long time), and had a great conversation with my wife before heading over there.

    The plan for today involves a meal that I have to be careful with. I am meeting my late father’s best friend for lunch at Snowdon Delicatessen, which has Potential For Weight Management Disaster written all over the menu. I will not be ordering a large smoked meat platter with French fries. While I do not know what my options are there, I do know that they do have healthier choices on the menu. They may not be healthy, but they are healthier.

    After that, I am meeting my friend Jess on Mount Royal Avenue for a coffee. It will be nice to see her, save for two things: She is going to give me grief for not bringing Princess Sophie, and she is going to try to press me to tell her why I went dark over the summer. She will not be the first to do that, and I hope I am able to gently convince her that I am not discussing it.

    My evening plans are up in the air, but one of the cigar boys from last night suggested he might invite me over for a coffee. We will see. I understand he makes a truly world class cup of coffee, and I am looking forward to trying it… but doing so in the evening may prove counterproductive to my ability to sleep tonight.

    Everyone in my local cigar clique is excited about the herf this weekend, which is the original reason I planned this trip to Montreal. It will be nice to see everyone, but when Mark asked me yesterday if I was excited about it, my honest answer was that I am not. I know I will enjoy it, but excited? No. I am excited that in two weeks I will be with my wife. This is just another gathering of friends (and several people I do not know) to smoke cigars and enjoy a barbecue. As I cannot really partake in the food part of the festivities, that leaves the friends and the cigars. Most of the people who will be there that I am actually friends with (and not just people that I know) were at Stephane’s house last night… and we smoked cigars. Yes, I will go. Yes, I know I will have a great time when I am there. Excited? No.

    I am kitted out to go for my walk. I am going to pay attention to my right knee, which I noticed last night has what feels like a bruise right in the middle of it. As I do not remember smashing it on anything, I have to assume that it is something else. Knees are funny things, and I do not want to mess around with this. I will remember the two things that I forgot yesterday though… I will take my water and my sunglasses, which will combine for a more comfortable walk than yesterday’s.

    I will write about it upon my return!

  • Island Walking

    It is funny what we do not pay attention to when we are driving. Of course, I am always aware of pedestrians and bicycles; I have probably spent more than one hundred nights at my friends’ house in Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot (just off the island of Montreal), and it never occurred to me, as I tried to think where to walk around here, that there is a walking path right outside the house. This quaint town is actually replete with them, and I will be exploring them more as my stay progresses.

    My walk this morning ended at 8.5 km, and I could have done more if I felt like it. If I am feeling this good tomorrow, I will try for ten kilometres. However, I will do it without forgetting one important item… Despite having prepared it, I left my water bottle at home, and so I did not drink until I got home (at which point I drained my bottle, and another). It was a sunny day, and the temperature was around 22° Celsius, which is not prohibitive by any measure. If I had been uncomfortably thirsty, I would have stopped to buy a bottle at any of the convenience stores that I passed along the way.

    • Distance: 8.5km (9.2 km)
    • Duration: 1:24:24 (1:27:44)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:55 (9:29)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m45s (9m10s)
    • Steps: 10.3k (11.4k)
    • Calories burned: 1,033 (1,127)
    • Elevation gain: 56 (27.8)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 120 (128)

    I only broke the record for elevation today because most of the time I am walking around Burlington or Dallas, two very flat cities. In contrast, Montreal and the surrounding areas are anything but. Because of that, I am thinking that tomorrow or Friday I might end up at Mount Royal, and go for a walk on the mountain trails. That would be a nice walk, and one that I used to do quite a bit when I was living here, and when I was living in Toronto but visiting here a lot.

    I am going to get my lunch, and then go visit my friends Caryl and Lawrence. They adopted a new puppy, and I am looking forward to meeting her. This evening I will spend a few hours smoking cigars with Stephane, which is always a good time.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 231

    Wow did I fall off the wagon yesterday. Driving days are usually hard for me, but yesterday went off the rails when my buddy called and told me that his wife was sick and that I should not come over in the evening. It was sitting with my friends who offered me all sorts of delicacies that things went south. I have to do better today. I will do better today.

    I slept really well last night. The drive was long, and by the time bedtime came around I was out like a light. This I still woke up to pee a couple of times, but that was not the worst thing in the world. When I finally checked my watch, it was 9:00am, which is nearly unheard of for me… especially when there is a floof who wants to go for a walk at a reasonable hour.

    I got dressed in my walking kit this morning, and that is what I am going to do. I do not know what the route will be, but if I get somewhere between five and eight kilometres in then I will consider it a successful walk. I did not bring as many workout kits as I thought, so I will have to do laundry if I plan to work out more than 2-3 times. I’m okay with that… as are my friends with whom I am staying.

    In the afternoon, I will see Stephane for a cigar, and then I will visit with Caryl and Lawrence for a couple of hours. After that, who knows? I only know I have to avoid bad foods. I will likely have Lebanese food for dinner, which is not very healthy, but is reasonably safe.

    Have a great day folks!