October and November I was doing very well. I was walking every day and was also increasing the length of my walks as well as the amount of weight in my packs. I was also watching my diet much better to make sure my blood sugar stayed low.
Since Christmas I have not done as well, unfortunately. I have not eaten as healthy as I know I should, though I have managed to keep my blood sugar in check. The worst part is that I have not been walking regularly, and that has been the result of several factors. First is by not eating as well, I did not feel as well. Second, after being so hot natured for most of my life, I found myself feeling cold in December. My daughter reminded me that it was likely a result of the blood thinning medicine I was having to take. She is probably right, but I still did not like it. Then the first 2 weeks of January were bitterly cold, with nights in the single digits and several days that did not get above freezing. I stopped walking during this time, other than some short walks on the treadmill in the house. As I have said before, it is much harder to walk on the treadmill, and I do not have a lot of patience for it.
With this change, my weight goals have been affected. When I started I was at 234 pounds, the highest of my life - though I was weighed at the doctors office at 242, but that was fully clothed, with boots and jacket on. That was when I bought the new scales for the house to allow me to keep up with just my weight, not the weight of my clothes.
I had gotten down to 227. This morning I was at 231.2, below my high point, but farther away from my target weight of 185. Time to get back on my 5 word diet - eat less and exercise more. Part of the eating problem was all the nice folks at Branan Lodge that kept bringing me goodies to eat, along with rich foods for the staff during the holidays. While I have good will power, there are times that I do not adequately exercise it, especially when it concerns food.
My goal of hiking all of the AT in Georgia before June is in jeopardy if I don't get back on track very soon. I was disappointed with how tired I got on our short 5.2 mile hike for my birthday. So now I am even worse than I was then. I have started back though and am already feeling more energy.
Part of this is physical and part is psychological. Thinking you can and being enthusiastic about doing it, makes up for a lot of physical unpreparedness, but not all of it. The psychological will help push me to get ready physically though. I am not as thrilled about the prospect of backpacking when the weather is in the teens and twenties right now. So I may be doing more of the day hikes for the next month and a half or two months, then getting going on the overnights. Though we are about to run into Vincent's soccer season. They are doing conditioning this week and tryouts are next week. The first game is Feb. 22.
I do have his game schedule though and can start to plan for weekends around all our schedules now. I guess we need to adopt trail names to use while on the AT (Appalachian Trail). BTW, I shared on Facebook about 2 shirts that I found on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website and liked. Need to let you know too. One said "Allergic to cities". I love that. The other was really good for hiking, "Same shirt, different day". Been there, done that.
Hiking and backpacking is a real help in the exercise area and for keeping blood sugar low. I also love eating what is cooked outdoors. The flavor is always so good, and after a big day of hiking, the stomach is very much ready for some nourishment. Talking about it is getting me to wanting to hit the trail. Gotta keep that frame of mind.
It would be nice to upgrade my camera also. The one I have takes pretty good pictures, but not the kind of photography my old Minolta SLR would take. Maybe I will use the old Minolta some until I can upgrade my digital.
The other thing I am doing is regrowing my beard, which feels better in the cold weather and in the woods. I got a wild hair and shaved it off about a week and half ago. Why I would do that in the middle of January is a mystery. I immediately wished I had left it on and have now started the regrowth. The worst part of it is having about 3 weeks of looking grubby and unkempt.
I love the winter woods, however I am looking forward to spring and seeing the new growth and to watch the wildlife become more abundant.
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