Firefighters, yo-yos, and spinach
Saturday I was breathing like a billows setting on the side of a trail that was meant to be walked on. A couple headed down the mountain encouraged me to keep going, told me I was less than a hundred yards from the turn around. Becoming the crazy woman who lives at the top of the mountain was appealing. Anything to stop the torture. But I have no idea how to forage or make a shelter, so I reluctantly decided I had to finish and get back to the car. It took me five hours. Five hours to do a four mile hike .
It was a beautiful well maintained trail in Wallace Idaho, Pulaski Trail, that the rest of my family handled well. Here's my daughter, smiling away, not troubled in the least. The trail follows the route of a firefighter who battled the 1910 fires in the area. He gathered the firefighters and told them they had to leave the fire was out of control. They couldn't make it out of the forest, so they hid in a mine. The timbers kept catching on fire, so he used his hat to douse them with water. He had the men lay on the floor with wet blankets over them. A few blankets dried out and men caught on fire. He saved all those men and crawled the two miles back to Wallace to get help. I didn't have to crawl, but it was a close thing.
My health is better than it was two years ago, but still lots of room before I can claim healthy. The good news is I'm not pre-diabetic anymore. And I've learned to like spinach (wilted, not raw) and feta cheese. And I enjoy planning meals and cooking from recipes. But my cholesterol is high and none of my newer clothes fit anymore.
The year before last, I lost 50 lbs. I gained it all back. Last year, during the epidemic even, I lost 80 lbs. I gained back half of it this year. I feel like a yo-yo in the Weight God's hands, trying to do the same trick again and again.
So, I've decided to try a new trick. I'm forsaking my old 1200 calories a day standard. It works, but it's just too hard to do for more than a few months at a time. I'm going for 1500 this time. And I'm at peace with my food journal-every time I stop tracking, I gain weight. I'm stuck with it for life. It's on my phone, has all the food I've tried to enter, and I can put recipes in it. It's just something I have to do. And I have to walk every day. I just do. Good weather, bad weather, vacation, global epidemic, I have to do it. Today I start again. Third (or hundred and third) times the charm, right? And next year, we're doing the same trail again. And I'm going to Rock It!