Back to Life

I've recovered. No more flu. This little bastard just kept hanging on. I can not remember a time I was that sick. I usually shake off flus pretty quickly too but, not this one.

Anyway, I went for a very short run last night. It was raining like hell & it was that delightful mix of heat & humidity so, my glasses were fogging up after about two miles. So, I cut the five mile down to about 3-1/2 miles. I felt okay even though my quads were a little bit fatigued/crampy. I hadn't run since Sunday but, I figured it was due to a little bit of a holdover of the damn flu versus a dropoff of the training effect.

I'm going to do Nordic Trak tonight, 45 minutes or an hour whichever feels best. I havent' down a good X-country ski workout in a week. I want to give my upper body a good workout.

I weighed 176 & change this morning without dressing. I seem to be fluctuating still from my illness. I'm definitely noticing the weightloss more & more. I am seeing more definition in my trunk. I wore a running top last night, size large, that's cut for an athletic build & I think I looked pretty good in it. When I shave there are more planes to my face to maneuver through; previously it had been like shaving a beach ball, all convex curves.

I think I'm the trimmest I've been in twenty years. My malfunctioning scale a year ago said at one point I weighed 175. I don't think that was true. I can now fit into size 32 pants comfortably ; I couldn't a year ago.

Wow. I've lost weight the healthy way. I have 162 clearly in my sight. If you told me that a year ago I wouldn't have believed you. DD & DW never really say anything about it. Has it just been so gradual that the weightloss goes unnoticed? I think it's an amazing thing I've accomplished.

As for the running, since I stopped marathoning twenty plus years ago I have never maintained running for more than a few months at a time. As the weight slowly crept up I would start for a few weeks & then stop for all the myriad reason people use to blow off exercising.

Even as recently as 2004 I started running in the early Fall (I clearly remember a run at the beginning of Game One of the World Series because I was so worked up). By the end of the Fall I had stopped. That last time wasn't because I had given up exercise but, because I was using the Nordic Trak, the recumbent bike, & my new rowing machine (a Concept II, a beauty). I was afraid I'd lose the gains I'd made on my upper body using those machines. I maintained a heavy exercise schedule but, I also kept up a pretty regular eating schedule.

Now I do a happy evolving blend of running & Nordic Trak or rowing on alternating days. I watch what I eat too. I may not journal religiously; I may not stretch & cross train like I should either but, I'm eating & exercising seem like life altering changes. I don't see myself turning away from this path either. Astounding.

Why are there so many fat people if this is so stinking simple. Not easy, becasue it's been Hard Work. Simple.