Weekly Bread #279

Between watching my sweet 4 month old grandchild and attending on line the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, I don’t have a lot of bandwidth left to write much of anything. But I am pleased that my religious faith has chosen an exciting future as a somewhat controversial by-law change passed with more than sufficient votes. More on that later perhaps. But just as children change as they grow, so do institutions need to embrace change if they are to grow.

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week was up .4 pounds, for a total loss of 133.5.

Weekly Bread #278

I only did one hike this week and it was a short one, only 3.5 fairly flat miles and it wore me out. I swam the other days, a much better warm weather activities. I have created a playlist on Spotify and take my speaker down by the pool so I can listen to some of my favorite music while I swim. It is different than reading a book while riding on my stationary bike or looking around at nature while I hike, but is very enjoyable. Exercising without multitasking in some way isn’t much fun in my opinion. Gyms don’t appeal to me for that reason.

It is always irritating, though, when other trail users play music without using headphones. I get I why they want to do it. I wish they would use headphones and many people do that, but headphones carry their own risks on a trail, so I even understand that too. In bear country, I have been known to sing while hiking, but I suspect other trail users may not appreciate my vocal skills anymore than the bears do.

Most of us are just doing the best we can. I try to remember that when others do things that irritate me. Even harder sometimes is giving myself a break when I irritate or disappoint myself or someone else. The curse of perfectionism still weighs on me at times. I had hoped to have outgrown it by now – or at least finally become perfect. Hah! Trying to do better has to be good enough, even if “better” is just a tiny bit. Sometimes even not getting worse is a triumph. Look at me, Mom, I only fell off my bike 6 times today! Or, maybe, the toast is only slightly burned this morning. Good job!

Then again, there are some human flaws so destructive that repairs even the purest gold can’t make those flaws beautiful or even acceptable. That is why we have prisons and also why we need to be careful who we elect as our leaders.

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week was up 1.2 pounds, for a total loss of 133.9.

Weekly Bread # 277

I took it easy this week, letting my body recover from last week’s dehydration and trauma. But Friday was cool and we went on a hike 6.5 mile hike. I drank over a liter of water, noticing how I needed to pay attention if I was going to stay hydrated. The trail was beautiful with ocean views and lots of wildflowers, and we also saw some baby elk. The are called calves per google although I think of them as fawns. Elk are kind of like big deer, right? Anyway they were super cute. I am definitely into babies just now.

It felt good to hike, but it is so easy to get out of shape. It wasn’t a long hike and not a particularly difficult one, but I was really tired afterward and my muscles were sore. Hiking is harder exercise than swimming or the stationary bike because it is weight bearing and uses different muscles in a lot of different ways. I always use hiking poles so my arms and shoulders get a workout too, not to mention the weight of the extra water I carried. Actually the water weight helped me as an incentive to drink, knowing my pack would get lighter with every sip.

Funny how that worked. If I hike again on a warm day, maybe I will carry 2 liters not just 1.5.

BTW. Those 2 little elk were closely watched over by two elk moms. Or maybe they were grandma elk?

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week was down .4 pounds, for a total loss of 135.1.

Weekly Bread #276

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I learned something this week. On Friday, it was a hot day and we took a short, flat, mostly shady hike. It was only 3.5 miles and I thought I drank enough water from my hydration pack. When we got home, I drank some more water, then took a dip in the pool and went in the hot tub right after my swim. I didn’t stay long. It was clearly too hot to be in hot water. I was already in hot water, I just didn’t know it.

After my shower, I felt a little lightheaded, so I drank more water and ate some tortilla chips for the salt. I thought I was OK to go over to our neighbors house for pizza. The pizza might have been fine, but I also ate an edible (so weird it is legal now) and then had a couple of strong martinis. The result wasn’t good. The alcohol dehydrated me even more and in the midst of a fun and rather stoned conversation, I suddenly felt very warm, nauseous, and clammy and wound up fainting in my chair for a few seconds. Apparently a couple of times. I was still feeling bad when I came to, so Anne and our friends called the paramedics. They came really fast, checked me out, no stroke or heart symptoms, blood sugar, and oxygen levels OK, an EKG was fine, but my blood pressure was very low. After I told them about my day, dehydration was the most likely explanation for the drop in my blood pressure. They offered, but I said I didn’t want a ride to the emergency room. Been there, done that, and it is no fun at all. They helped me walk back across the street to our house and Anne helped me into bed after some more water. I woke up at 2 AM and drank another glass full. I felt fine at 7 AM when I got up for the day.

This happened to me once before after a long hot hike and one drink at dinner. If your blood pressure is too low, your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen and you faint. I probably should have laid down after the first episode, but who knew? Dehydration is no joke, especially given my age. The hike and hot tub were both unwise without a LOT more water. The alcohol made it worse, and the cannabis may have reduced my awareness of how my body was feeling so I didn’t keep up the hydration I needed.

Lots of lessons learned. It was scary, and I wish it hadn’t happened, but it was also a very good thing that I was close to home, among good friends, and sitting down when my blood pressure dropped so I didn’t fall and crack my head open or break something else.

In the future, I am going to take it a lot easier in the hot weather – and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. No alcohol if I have any symptoms of dehydration, and no combining of serious alcohol and edibles.

If I could, I would resolve to be younger as well, but alas, we know how impossible that one is.

Funny though, it is, to watch my 3 month old granddaughter lying on her back, struggling to turn over onto her stomach by swinging her arms and pushing up with her legs. I go through very similar motions trying to turn over from my back in the morning so I can get out of bed. Maybe I am getting younger!

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week was the same as last week, for a total loss of 134.7.