Better day. Leslie and I had a great time!
Blog
-
Day 162
It felt great to get onto the scale this morning and be back down below the last threshold I was under, then popped back above briefly. Of course, the Chinese food I had for lunch today probably won’t do me any favours, but every once in a while, you gotta splurge.
My fifth walk in Texas went very well, albeit different than I originally planned it. My intention, as I mentioned yesterday, was to walk eight kilometres today. That did not happen. However, I picked up the pace! With the exception of the first, each kilometre was at or below 11 minutes. The best one was my fourth kilometre, which I clocked at 10m41s! I knocked out five kilometres in under fifty-five minutes, and that is nothing to sneeze at. Yes, three of my Canadian walks had a slightly better cadence, but there was only one walk that I have done with a better average pace.
- Distance: 5.00 km (7.00 km)
- Duration: 54:41 (1:19:42 minutes)
- Average Pace (Min/km): 10:54 (11:23)
- Steps: 6.1k (8.7k)
- Calories burned: 288 (396)
- Elevation gain: 16m (31m)
- Average cadence (steps per minute): 112 (110)
Leslie’s friend and I are going to the movies in the evening, but before that I am going to head down to my new cigar lounge for a couple of hours. I am looking forward to getting to know the people there, and that will take time… especially since I am not going to be in town very much until mid-September.
By the way, there are some things that I do not really discuss in these entries, but suffice it to say that Leslie has noticed a difference in my body this last week. Yay!
Have a great day folks!
-
Day 161
I did not lose any weight this morning. I did not gain any either, so I am happy… especially knowing that not only did I have fried chicken nuggets with lunch, but also had a couple of (small) cookies, and then at 10:15pm Leslie and I shared a bag of microwave popcorn. Every day that I do not gain anything back after cheating the day before is a success.
On my walk today I expanded my radius, as I have done every walk so far. While the distance I walked today is exactly what it was Monday, I did a bigger square. The difference is that when I arrived back at the apartment complex, on Monday I still had another half-kilometre to walk, while today I got to the door of our apartment at exactly seven kilometres. I am going to try for an extra kilometre tomorrow, but I need to look at a map to see how I am going to do that. It would not be hard to say ‘Oh, I’ll walk one more block’ only to find out it adds an extra three kilometres to the walk. I am sure I could walk 10km… but no at a respectable pace. Here are today’s stats:
- Distance: 7.00 km (7.00 km)
- Duration: 1:19:42 (1:21:17 minutes)
- Average Pace (Min/km): 11:23 (11:36)
- Steps: 8.7k (8.7k)
- Calories burned: 396 (287)
- Elevation gain: 31m (28m)
- Average cadence (steps per minute): 110 (106)
If you have not yet figured it out, the numbers in brackets are the statistics from my previous walk, and not an average or whatever. I am happy with the progress that I am making, but I am especially happy with the increased frequency of my walks. From my first walk (April 2) to my last walk in Canada (May 5) I walked four times, for a total of twenty-one kilometres. Since arriving in Dallas (and recovering from Covid) my first walk was on June 23; as of today (June 29) I have walked four times as well… for a total of twenty-three kilometres. My goal is to keep the cadence up, and gradually improving the distance. I am curious to see what effect the cooler Canadian weather will have on my pace and endurance when I arrive back next week. I am excited to keep going. As well, when I am back in Canada I will get back to my Taekwondo. I expect that between the walking and the martial arts, I will start to see significant victories… both on the scale and off.
Today has been a good day for me with regard to food… so far. I had cereal for breakfast, which is not really a good start but is also not terrible. For lunch I had a piece of leftover fish with some cauliflower, and some macaroni and cheese (a very small amount). For dinner I made a delicious arctic char that I marinated in lemon juice all day, and Leslie prepared some rice. I suspect that between the food and the exercise, I should be happy with the number on the scale in the morning.
Speaking of scales, I made an appointment for next Wednesday to see the doctor. He will weigh me, but I also have a couple of other things to discuss with him. Say what you want about the Canadian national health system, when I want to see my doctor it is never a long wait… and I have never gotten a bill from him!
I joined a cigar lounge today. I spent the afternoon there chatting with some of the members and staff, and of course smoking cigars. I have always said that cigars are a great way to get to know people. When I first moved to California, my then-girlfriend was shocked by how quickly I was able to meet people. Three or four of the people I met my first month in California are still friends to this day. Today I met a couple of great people that I look forward to getting to know. Tomorrow I will head down there for a couple of hours again, but I am going to a movie with a friend of ours in the early evening, so it will only be a quick cigar.
Have a great day folks, and stay positive!
-
Day 160
My weight was that has been creeping back up these last few days finally dipped back down this morning. Yay. I did not go for a walk – I have a pain in my side that I am wondering about, and I will relax for today. Hopefully Leslie and I will spend some time in the pool relaxing again. We’ll see.
I do not have a lot to report… Have a great day!
-
Day 159
My weight keeps creeping back up. This morning it was back to where it was the day that I left Canada. I guess there was a weight loss effect to Covid, and I have recovered. I am not worried… I know that I am snacking on some things that I should not, but I am also eating mostly pretty well, and I am walking a lot. Today’s walk was my longest since I got here and tied for my longest. Here’s the breakdown:
- Distance: 7.00 km (5.00 km)
- Duration: 1:21:17 (56:10 minutes)
- Average Pace (Min/km): 11:36 (11:09)
- Steps: 8.7k (6.1k)
- Calories burned: 394 (287)
- Elevation gain: 28m (25m)
- Average cadence (steps per minute): 106 (108)
As we can see, I am not walking as fast as I could, but I think the distance is important. Tomorrow I will try to speed it up a little… my first 7km walk I had a pace nearly 40 seconds per kilometre better than I did today. I should also remember that it was probably 15 degrees (Celsius) cooler than it was today. Yes, there is room for improvement… but I also have accomplished something!
Breakfast today was cereal. Tomorrow I will go back to preparing omelets, which I suspect is a lot healthier for me. Lunch was leftover salmon with salad… and two (very small) Japanese chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They were so good! I will make something reasonably healthy for dinner… although I am thinking of making air fried potatoes. We shall see
Have a great day folks!
-
Day 158
We had a Bonney day today! Last evening we went for sushi, and it was really delicious. We then went to Cigars International, where it was packed! We met another couple who were on their third date, and when they heard we were celebrating they bought us drinks and cigars. We really enjoyed our time with them!
This morning we had the leftover breakfast from yesterday. We did not eat badly today, and I am hoping that tomorrow the scale is nicer to me. As it is, I am up four pounds in two days.
With regard to that number, I should mention that I have been a tad backed up these three days, and that is likely a huge contributing factor to my weight gain. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Have a great day folks!
-
Day 157
I just failed my renewal assessment for one of my certifications. It is for a technology that I use, but I do not use most of the features. I will have to re-take the certification exam at some point in the future, but it is not something that I am particularly worried about.
Last night was great. Leslie and I had dinner and drinks with a close friend of hers, and it is so good to get to know him. Leslie has met a few of my friends, but he is the first friend that I met.
Let’s get this out of the way… my weight was up this morning. Yes, we ate and drank yesterday, and that might be a contributing factor; however, I suspect it is because I did not poop yesterday, and today I only had a small one. Tomorrow will be better! Well… I hope.
Leslie and I went to an Asian shopping district today. She and I both share a love for Japanese (and other Asian) confectionaries, both of us having lived (briefly) in Japan. We picked up some great snacks, although we only had a very small bite of one. We also picked up Japanese doughnuts, and we had one after lunch. Oh my lord they are good! I am glad we did not buy more. I am really glad that Leslie reminds me when I seem about to fall off the diet cliff!
I did not walk today, but we did sit in the pool for a couple of hours. This evening we are going for sushi, and I will not go overboard.
Have a great day!
-
Day 156
It is hot out there! Today is an important day, but I started out with a bowl of cereal, and then I went for a walk. I wanted to push myself further than I went yesterday, and I did… to a point.
- Distance: 5.00 km (4.00 km)
- Duration: 56:10 minutes (46:17 minutes)
- Average Pace (Min/km): 11:09 (11:33)
- Steps: 6.1k (5k)
- Calories burned: 287 (226)
- Elevation gain: 25m (22m)
- Average cadence (steps per minute): 108 (108)
I did take a bottle of water with me today and thank G-d I did because it was hot! I was hoping to go further, but I realized a couple of things. Firstly, I needed to pee after the second kilometre. Secondly, it was hot out there! My phone registered it at 35°, and it is going up to 38° today. Wow.
The bathroom scale continues to be good to me. This morning I was down another pound and a half… despite the fact that I ate pizza for lunch, and chicken wings for dinner. I did not gorge myself, but those are foods that one does not associate with weight loss. I also had a dram of whisky with my cigar last night.
Leslie have an important meeting to head out to now, so I will post more tomorrow. Have a great day folks!
-
Day 155
My walk this morning hit a lot of firsts. It was, firstly, my first post-Covid walk. I know I am not yet 100%, but I did want to give it a try. It was my first walk in Dallas, and my first walk in 36°c heat (that is about 96° Fahrenheit). All good starts. I took it easy, so it is also the first time I am posting my stats here where they are worse than the previous attempt.
- Distance: 4.00 km (7.00 km)
- Duration: 46:17 minutes (1:15:57 minutes)
- Average Pace (Min/km): 11:33 (10:51)
- Steps: 5k (8.7k)
- Calories burned: 226 (402)
- Elevation gain: 22m (22.1m)
- Average cadence (steps per minute): 108 (114)
All in all, I am extremely happy that I did it. I will try to do it tomorrow, but I have to remember to bring a bottle of water with me. Yes, it is bloody hot out there!
Breakfast was good… I had an omelet with onions, broccoli, and cheese. After I came home from my walk, Leslie and I decided to be bad… we ordered pizza. We do not cheat often, and I have been jonesing for a pizza for months. It was delicious indeed! For dinner, I will make chicken wings and a salad. Leslie is still new to the air fryer, and I want to introduce her to new ways to make food for her son. We bought the wings the other day, and I defrosted them overnight. She has a great sauce that we will use, but air fried is so much healthier than regular fried!
My downward trend on the bathroom scale continues, and I hit another low this morning. I am thrilled by it! Leslie said that every time my weight hits a plateau, I just have to come to Dallas to see her. Maybe she is right? I doubt that Covid is having a real effect on it, but who knows? I am now three pounds down from my last weigh-in at home. To make things even sweeter, after my walk I stepped on the scale and was another two pounds down… I know that I lost a lot of water during the walk so it does not count… but it is still cool. If I were to have gotten weighed by my doctor at the same weight as I weighed in this morning, I would be 3.5 kg down from my weigh-in just over two weeks ago. Woohoo!
I did enjoy my first cigar last night, and I was able to taste it, although I am not sure that I got the full effects. I got a strong note of cinnamon from the very first puff to the very last, which is not what this particular cigar should taste like. I will stick to a cheaper cigar for tonight if I decide to have one.
It does get hot down here in Texas, that is for sure. A few people warned me about it, and I knew… but I forgot. Yessir, summer in Texas is not like summer in California. I will absolutely get used to it, I just forgot that the heat can be oppressive here.
Have a great day folks!
