Sep 13

Sep 13 I wish they all could be California Girls: Weekly Weight Update

This weekend Rizzo and I are in sunny Santa Barbara, California for Avon 39, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. As a result, I wasn't able to perform the Sunday weigh-in. However, this week I really learned that not all health goals can be measured by the numbers on a scale. At the beginning of the week, Rizzo, Cece, and I visited our good friends the Drusteps in Washington, DC. We met up at the Drustep Estate, hopped on the Metro, then took about a mile walk to the National Building Museum. It was approximately 982% humidity and I was sweating quite a bit. However, I did notice that I wasn't huffing and puffing to make the trek. I made the walk, plus another 1/2 mile or so walk to the Washington Convention Center for a Book Festival, with ease. A year ago I know I would have been out of breath and miserable during the entire walk. It was a great feeling being able to walk around with my friends and have a conversation without gasping for air.

The next day, Rizzo and I took Cece up to the Herndon Labor Day Festival. There were lots of wineries tasting their wares and a few craft brews available. The humidity had dropped to just below 700% but the sun was brutal and the temperature spiked to about 90 degrees. Again, I was sweating like crazy but I was able to manage the heat and I wasn't terribly uncomfortable as I know I would have been a year ago. It was another good feeling to be able to go out with the wife and kid to enjoy the last day of "summer" and not feel like I was going to pass out from heat stroke. Of course, I got sun burned after only 6 minutes in the sun because no amount of weight loss will fix my pasty white skin and baldness (I forgot my hat like an idiot).

I also learned this week that it is important to keep up a workout routine even if you are out of town or your diet may include a bit more calories than normal. Since Rizzo and I were visiting Santa Barbara for the Avon 39 we wanted to take advantage and visit some good restaurants and good breweries (to be covered in other blog posts). Even with that, Rizzo was clearly getting in her exercise covering, if you base it upon her Fitbit stats, 748 miles over the two days. I also made sure to get in a few miles myself with a 3-mile run on Saturday morning and then started a 10-k training app on Sunday morning. That was a long run. It felt good to keep up my routine and not letting myself eat to out-of-control but also not restricting everything I did so I couldn't have fun.

I'm sure that I'll gain a pound or two over the next few weeks since I will be traveling but I plan to keep my wits about me, keep working out, and keep eating while still having fun. I hope if I can keep that up then the few pounds I gain while on the road will come off quickly.