This post is pretty late for a Winter report. Kind of appropriate since I have been slacking lately.
Anyway, if there is any phrase that summarizes the Winter, its these three words “Illness and Recovery”
December
December ended with my gout still clearly hampering my efforts in a huge way. I tried to keep the 250 monster back with mostly controlling my diet. But that was not working, I need to run.
As 2009 wound down I switched medication. It would take 3 weeks before I would be taking the medication at full strength. If I started too early then I risk immediate inflammation.
January
This month started OK, my weight was not going down but I did feel weaker, I started wondering if my muscle was turning to fat. It was such a struggle. These were dark times.
In mid January there was a little hope, I did sign up for the half marathon, which showed my commitment.
But as January wore on, the lack of true aerobic exercise, and the plain fact that I had to rest and let my body heal has come to a sad reality. I was gaining weight.
More hope appeared at the end of the month though, I was healing.
February
I noticed my my weight did fluctuate between 258 and 251 cracking 260 and 250 a few times.
It was hard to pinpoint what my weight actually was because I have stopped working out in the mornings. My evening weigh ins fluctuated dramatically.
But I did try something new in February, for Lent (and the rest of Winter), I switched to a vegetarian diet. I still ate fish and eggs though. It was an interesting experience. But my body did benefit, not in weight loss, but in healing. My body started to heal quickly. Soon after switching to a veggie diet, I healed. I am not sure if it was that, the medication, or the weather improving. But I certainly felt healed by the end of February.
March
Alas, being healed did not equate to being back. My time was certainly off so was my weight. But as March progressed, my weight started dropping again, my strength started coming back and I started getting back to speed.
The scale was hanging out in the low 250’s.
But there are bad things ahead. I don’t know if it is because of lack of enthusiasm, or not seeing any results, I feel like I am not as aggressive in my workouts as before. Ending the season at 251 is certainly disappointing.
We’ll see, stay tuned for the final chapter.