Day of All Hawks

 

My perseverance wins! After sticking to my schedule and walking my appointed 5 miles yesterday despite the 100° heat index, today I weighed myself at 199.2 pounds, the first time I've been under 200 since starting my exercise, diet  and daily checks on my vitals. Possibly my first time under 200 in at least ten years.

More good news: now that I've proved to myself that I can do my exercise in 100° heat, tomorrow the forecast high is only 92°, on Wednesday 88°, and Friday "only" 85°. Considering my weight loss, I've proven that the benefits are worth it.  

I added up the miles I've walked since February 1. It's 271 miles. If I started walking in a straight line to the east back on that day, I'd be all the way to Charleston, South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean by now.  

I'm not doing all this merely to reduce my weight out of vanity. My goal is to get my blood glucose and A1C levels down out of the "prediabetic" range and to lower my blood pressure. Weight is just the easiest metric to monitor as I do, and as it turns out the same high-sugar, high-carb food I need to avoid are the same ones dieters avoid to lose weight. My goal is to get down to 180 pounds by the end of August. That might be a little late for swimsuit season, but I still have a chance to wow the gals out by the pool on Labor Day weekend.

For those tempted to try my routine at home, it's simply walk 5 miles every other day and the following diet:

Breakfast: English muffin, toasted, no spread, and two cups of black coffee

Lunch: 5 tablespoons of non-fat yogurt topped with berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries) with a pinch of low-fat granola

Dinner: mixed salad, or brown rice with lentils

Snacks: fresh fruit (bananas, oranges) and roasted, unsalted peanuts

Late-night snack (on those rare occasions when I'm hungry before bed): peanut butter on whole-wheat bread 

Beverages: water and those two cups of black coffee in the morning