Go to bed hungry, Annual

I have been wanting to lose the same three or four pounds for most of this year and haven’t been successful in doing so. Although I am still pretty active with going to the gym three times a week, playing pickleball several times a week and even volleyball if my body allows it, I still have not been able to keep my weight around 180lbs like I would prefer. It’s funny/odd, last year I had an issue keeping my weight up above 180.

I have done three fasting sessions so far and although they have a number of benefits, lasting weight loss hasn’t been one of them. I used to do at least one hard cardio session per week that ran 30-60 minutes. That used to be running and then later it became road biking but since I moved that fell off my routine. Although my heart rate can get up there playing pickleball or volleyball, it’s not the same.

Then of course we have the logical cause that I normally try to avoid thinking about, I’m just getting older. As you age your metabolism slows, it becomes harder to maintain muscle and weight gain is a pretty common side effect. However if you know me, you know I am not the type to just accept that.

One of the things I am trying to do is make sure I am going to bed with a little twinge of hunger in my stomach. Going to bed after still feeling the effects of a dinner that was too much is not a good thing. I realized that I was either eating more than I should or later than I should so I am trying to modify that. My other historical weakness has been a sweet tooth. It’s well documented the negative impacts excessive sugar has on your body in a number of ways. I have been making an effort to be more aware of my sugar consumption and moderate it.

I’m down a couple pounds since I started trying to enforce these modifications to my routine. As is the case in most things, consistency is the most vital part of any health and wellness plan.

My incision in my head is healing well although it still looks pretty nasty. The stitches come out Monday but I am feeling tempted to try a pickleball session tomorrow to see how it goes. I have been going to the gym this week but avoiding weight training which could potentially put pressure on the wound. I instead have been sticking to stretching, light calisthenics and light cardio. I may try a few push ups and/or pull ups today to see how it feels.

I took Elsa for her annual exam yesterday. While I was there I got a couple meds she takes as well but I still had sticker shock with the total bill of $800 plus. A lot of the costs are associated with labs that are done but my god, it’s sort of ridiculous. The good news is Elsa appears to be about as healthy as a 10 year old dog can be.