Weekly Bread #136

One of the things that has helped me to continue push my limits with exercising is my Apple watch. I used to have a Fitbit but it died. I like the Apple watch much better, although you need an iPhone to go with it and as it ages there is never enough memory for the updates. What I like most (except for the “Dick Tracy” style phone calls which I love) is that the incentive goals change over time, depending on what exercise levels you are currently meeting. I have met all the mostly challenge goals this year, except for November. I can’t remember why I didn’t meet that one or what it was. This month, my watch wants me to walk or hike a total of 149.8 miles. In May (the last time the challenge was in miles), I only needed 145.8 miles to meet the challenge. I also try to close all 3 activity rings each day. My current streak for doing so is 158 days.

None of this does the complete trick to maintain my weight, of course. I also have to watch what and how much I eat. And that is a struggle, a harder one than walking 150 miles in a month. Particularly after a long hike, I feel entitled to a calorie heavy meal. We did 11 miles on Friday so I had steak frites, two martinis, and split a dessert for dinner. It was wonderful, but my weight is up again this week. I am still bouncing around 150, however, so no panic, just some continuing concern. Maybe there is a different balance I need to find. Maybe slightly less exercise? When I exercise more than usual I get hungrier than usual and can too easily eat more than I actually need. So maybe the steak frites were OK, but also maybe I should have had only one martini. Or maybe, instead, next time I can just skip the olives. Or only have one olive in each martini. Every little bit helps – AND a sense of humor is ALWAYS important!

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week is up 1.2 pounds for a total loss of 171.4