Other Initiatives

When I turned 40, I weighed 230 pounds and was out of shape. I decided to take action rather than further risk my health. I dropped 50 pounds, mainly by playing basketball in addition to dieting.
When I turned 50, I joined a gym. At that time I weighed about 200 pounds. Two hundred feels good on me. I was a bit too light at 180. I often felt weak and too fatigued to even stay up past 9:00.

After joining the gym and getting into heavy weight training, my bodyweight increased. As much as I'd like to say it was all muscle weight, it wasn't. It's very difficult to add muscle mass without adding some fat. In order to do so, diet has to be spot-on.

Now that I'm not doing heavy weight training, I'm trying to lose weight again. Unfortunately, some of the weight loss has been loss of muscle. Again, it's very difficult to drop weight and maintain muscle mass, especially having to have gone through a surgical procedure that limited my ability to lift anything.

Eating Alone

If I were single, I think better eating would be easier.

When I eat alone, I tend to eat less. For one thing, there's something slightly depressing about eating alone. Frankly, I'm not sure how single people manage to eat meal after meal on their own.

I tend to plan meals better when I know I will dine alone. I tend to eat more nutrious foods in smaller quantity. I think my diet is pretty decent so as it is, but eating solo helps me to make better choices.

Tweaked

While stair-climbing today (10 floors, stopping just once this time for a few moments), I tweaked my right knee. I sprained the MCL in that knee 18 months ago at work, and on occasion it still acts up.

Injuries can resurface long after you think they're healed. This knee will always be a weakness. I am determined to work around it - anyone who wants to be serious about attaining and maintaining fitness will have to work around injury at one time or another.

A look at my body in the mirror confirms what has been going on the past few months. Waist down, I'm as tight and muscular as ever. Waist up, I've lost a good deal of muscle mass because I haven't been able to train with weights since January. And post-surgery, my stomach muscles still cannot be contracted. I feel like a sack of potatoes from the waist up.

Progress

Some things I've done as I continue to heal from surgery, which took place one month ago:

1. Walked 2 miles last Thursday with my friend Kate.

2. Climbed 10 flights of stairs in the building next door, stopping briefly at floors 6 and 8. The idea is to work my way back into condition so that I can climb 10 flights non-stop.

3. Walked 1 half-mile uphill yesterday. That's all uphill into the mountain side. The goal is to run that hill by Fall.

4. My friend Tracy runs half-marathons and is training for a full marathon. She has offered to have me run with her as she trains. My goal is to be able to run with her by summer's end.

5. I returned to the gym yesterday for the first time since surgery, doing twenty minutes of stationary biking (is it really necessary to include the word "stationary" when referring to biking in a gym?), and 6 sets of light leg extensions.

The Hill

The Hill was a place where Roger Craig of the San Francisco Forty-Niners used to run. Later, Craig introduced Jerry Rice to The Hill, and Rice made The Hill rather famous. Rice was arguably the best-conditioned player in NFL history.

I live at the base of a mountain. My fitness goal is to run up into the mountain, as far as the road will take me. First, I have to recover fully from surgery. Then, I want to walk the mountain. I plan to build that into a run up the mountain.

I'm not sure how far up the road goes - I'll have to drive it and check my odometer. But as I walk the street I live on, building stamina slowly after surgery, I stop and look at that road running up toward into the mountain. Yes, I want to run that road. I want to run my own version of The Hill.

One Week Out

I'm one week past my surgery. The healing process seems on schedule so far. I see the surgeon on Monday for a follow-up. He'll be poking a prodding, so in that respect I'm not looking forward to the appointment.

The toughest part post-op was waking up; getting out from under the influence of anesthesia was difficult. Pain was not a big issue until a few hours after I got home. With outpatient surgery, it strikes me as almost comical, if not for the pain, that they want you out of there so fast. You feel like it's checkout time at the hotel and you had better get out.

After my first hernia operation, back in the last 1970s, I was hospitalized for 5 days! Thankfully those days are gone, but in some respects it seems like the pendulum has swung a little far in the opposite direction.

Surgery

My surgery is to take place in two days. It'll be outpatient, and I'll be out of work two weeks. Already I'm planning major adjustments in my workouts.

Once I return to the gym, my routine will be adjusted to de-emphasize heavy weight training. I don't want yet another hernia. Three is plenty in one lifetime.

I'll move to a more fitness-oriented program, which is still in the planning stages. I'm already putting more emphasis on walking stairs. I climbed 13 floors today at work in stages of 4, 4, and then 5 floors at various times during the day. On the other hand, big leg exercises like squats and leg presses will not be on my menu. Eventually I may perform wall squats or lunges with body weight only. In time, I may move to using light weight.

Deadlifts are out - I injured my back last year doing them anyway. Heavy pulls are out. I'll train back muscles only for the purpose of overall upper-body balance, matching what I do for chest.