I'm Wearing Jeans!

Might not seem a big deal to you, but today for the first time since surgery I am wearing my regular jeans! Which means that my tummy has finally shrunk enough that I can actually get into some of the clothing I normally wear, rather than having to select from the few loose pants I own. Another milestone.

Yesterday I learned what it means to “over do” it. I started by doing a solo morning walk, which since last Thursday I’ve gradually been adjusting to resemble my normal 45 minute “power” walk, which is about a mile and a half and includes flat, some moderate hill climbs, a couple of steep 1-block hills, a 1-block set of stairs, and 4-5 sets of lunges. Yesterday I included the low hills, one of the steep hills and 4 sets of lunges, and felt pretty good. Then Phil expressed disappointment that I’d already done my walking, because he was planning to go out to Greenlake, which is a lovely 3-mile walk around a lake. Well, why not, said I, not one to shy away from a challenge.

Featured above are a couple of pictures from the Greenlake walk--one of me striding out, and another of a well-hidden duck tucked into a tree trunk growing over the lake. This shows me at the beginning of the walk.

 About 1/3 of the way around, I was beginning to feel challenged, You wouldn’t think just walking would create a problem, but the bottom part of my innards isn’t quite up to speed carrying what’s above it, it seems. So we slowed down. And about half way around, we sat on a bench for a while and admired the interesting people one sees walking, roller blading and running around the lake. I managed to make my way slowly around the rest of the lake, but was definitely tuckered out the rest of the day. Took a good two-hour nap, and even then was still moving a little slowly.

So I learn, sometimes too slowly, how to pay better attention to what my body is trying to tell me.