Getting Back On Track

 This latest round of sickness to run through the house has been awful. I am pretty sick of not being able to breathe without wheezing. I am tired of having to go through the disgusting process of clearing away drainage each morning. I am worn out on coughing, sneezing, and generally feeling fatigued and exhausted most of the time. I have been battling various degrees of this since the week of Christmas. 

I surrendered a bit to it. Not being able to breathe well doesn't promote winding yourself with cardiovascular exerting exercises. I took a break from the exercises with the exception of a little sporadic pedalling, some archery which was as much for the fun of shooting, and some light weight lifting. I hate breaking my routines even more when they are having the desired impact. 

I haven't completely wasted the time. I have been working my brain pretty heavily. I have researched a diet that I think I can make work for me. I am not going to say that I will love cutting things down, but I believe I have the ability to function through this one. I started this week easing into things. It won't be a perfect execution because there are still some things I am doing to help myself get recovered.

I am a strange person in that I can eat the exact same things day in and day out without ever getting tired of them. A little variation goes a long way with me. That means for me to diet successfully I just need a meal plan in place that I can repeat. I started my efforts there by reading the book Just Tell Me What To Eat! by Dr. Timothy Harlan. 

It presented some challenges. The plan suggested is based on the Mediterranean Diet. I do not eat fish or shellfish. The book's website solved for that. I hit drgourmet.com and found plenty of recipes that weren't fishy. The dinner plan for tonight is 3 cajun chicken tacos with plenty of green stuff to compliment. It all feels pretty doable even if I am early on in the process. 

My biggest complaint is only putting 1/2 a cup of milk on my cereal. Having twice the Raisin Bran to milk ration makes for some dry Raisin Bran. I am fairly certain it wouldn't knock me off plan to have more milk. Right now I am working on adjusting and complying with the plan. I don't want to start tweaking things until I start to get measurable results. The goal is to drop a couple of pounds per week sustainably. My goal weight will take years of effort, but the presumption is that by changing my lifestyle with good nutrition and exercise over the long haul like that I will maintain the weight loss. 

That has not happened even with my previous attempts. It was too easy to hit goal weight and after a few months of celebration I would lose willpower and start gaining back the weight. All too often I had exercise fatigue and just didn't want to keep hitting the trails to keep the weight off. I hope that adapting the plan I am creating gradually over time has a better outcome. 

I also came to realize that feeling bad may be quite a bit of the new normal. As long as we are not in total lockdown germs are going to find their way into the house. I think Covid-19 has done a great job of weakening all of our immune responses and now every bug that comes my way seems to kick my butt. The only way I am going to reach my goals is to be able to pedal through the pain as it were. I am going to have to tough things out and hope that getting more fit and stronger also helps boost my immune system's tactical abilities. 

I have designs on doing some basic yoga. I want to increase my flexibility, balance, and agility. I am tired of sleeping wrong and pulling a muscle in my back and hurting for days at a time. Yes, kids, in middle age you really can hurt yourself sleeping. You can also sneeze wrong and pull a muscle. Getting older is not for the weak. Imagine spending a few hours with a chainsaw in hand and picking up sticks and small logs and then not being able to stand up straight the next day. 

I also started some light weight training to build up my shoulders, chest, back, and arms. I had been wanting to hold off on this. There is a balancing effect between gaining muscle and burning fat that will cause weight plateaus that are discouraging. With me doing quite a few body weight exercises though, I need to work on a few weaker areas and gain some additional strength and endurance. Hoisting a dumbbell a few dozen times is a small price to pay for an extra few reps of things like planks, push ups, or squats. 

I figure if I combine the diet and the increased exercise I come out losing decent weight. The next part is building the lung capacity to start getting back up the mountain. I do really well with hiking. I don't mind hitting the same trails as long as they provide a challenge to me. I supposed motivation is not my problem. The trouble for me is keeping on course and keeping the momentum going. That is easy to understand when all your body is telling you to do is lay down and sleep 12 hours a day.