Nanook Of The North

We finally have enough snow that I can go snowshoeing. Not that I'm complaining. I am totally not a winter person. Fall is more my season. But since I love to walk and walking becomes dangerous if not downright impossible when the sidewalks get icy, I bought a pair of snowshoes with boots and poles about three years ago. Typically I only use them once or twice a year. Last year I didn't use them at all. But this year I've been waiting for snow so I could give it a go once again. And wouldn't you know but we've had a virtually snowless winter up till this week. So I was happy to see some substantial snow (despite having to shovel it). This morning, instead of going to the gym for another boring treadmill session, I went to a local park with a big field and walked around for about 30 minutes or so with the snowshoes. And it was much easier to do it this time than I remember my last time two years ago. Having stronger glutes and core definitely helped that. My stamina and wind isn't what I'd like it to be. I had to stop several times to catch my breath but it got easier after 10 minutes or so. I'd equate this to how I felt when I was running back in the day (in my early 20's). I'd feel winded for about the first 5 minutes or so until my lungs opened up and my body got used to the extra oxygen coming in. That never got any better no matter how fit I got from running. So I supposed that is simply the way I'm built and it's just worse now because I'm not as cardiovascularly fit as I could be. I think a few weeks of this could fix that but I don't know how much longer we'll have snow.

GOOD NEWS ALERT!!!! I lost 3 lbs this week. Astonishing. I thought after how much I ate at the party last Sunday I'd be lucky to stay at the same weight. So either I didn't eat as much as I thought or the fact that I didn't eat sugar or wheat helped me stay in a fat-burning mode. One of the things I'm concerned about is losing so much so quickly. I assume I'm losing some muscle since I'm not lifting. Although the bodyweight workout that Rog gave me is going well, and I don't seem to have lost any strength in my lower body, I'm sure I've lost strength in my upper body. Hopefully I'll get cleared to return to weight training by March. The wrist is slowly getting better even though I've been missing PT appointments. I have to keep in mind that the first priority right now is getting the weight off. It doesn't make any difference what kind of weight it is. Just getting down close to my normal weight will be so good for my body that the benefits will allow me to focus on building the muscle back up later in the game. I'll take pictures at the beginning of March so Rog can see what's happening. When I look in the mirror I can see the glimmer of a real waist there so something is going on and it's all good.