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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Walking the Dog (And myself, too!)

Well, I haven't been walking that much this first week because I've been sore and for a few days I had a tight pain in one of my incisions, waist level, left side. It has subsided just like the wonderful and amazing Dr. Z. said it would, so I thought, "OK self, time to get back to exercising." I know I am not supposed to do any "tough" exercise like ellipticalling or lifting until 4 weeks out, and I'm not supposed to swim until 6 weeks out, so I chose to go early to our neighborhood off-leash park and walk my dog and myself, too!

I went pretty early, about 6:30AM, because I wanted to avoid a rush of larger dogs that might rear up to say Hi, accidentally smacking my incisions. It turned out to be perfect, there were 3 or 4 other nice dogs and and their people walking the trail, just enough to be entertainment for my dog but safe for me.

The dirt trail at the park loops around the perimeter for a little over 1 mile. It meanders through trees, up and down little slopes, and curves around a nice sized pond. It's a nice walk. I set a goal of doing 3 laps, a bit over 3 miles. Presurgery, this would have been the minium I did. In fact, I fully believe that I got to 213 pounds rather than 250 because I do exericise.

The first two laps were great. On the third lap, I got the strangest feeling. I wasn't hungry, and I wasn't physically tired, but I felt like I was flagging. It wasn't a lack of energy or fatigue. I didn't have a stitch in my side, I wasn't breathing hard or struggling to keep pace. By the end of the third lap, I got it - I WAS OUT OF FUEL!! Finally, for the first time in years, my body needed food for actual FUEL rather than the fun of it!

This was a GREAT feeling, to know that my body was using my food, so to speak, and indicating that it needed more rather than working off an excess. And it's perfect timing because today is the first day of full liquids for me and I can drink protein shakes! A good walk and a good day. And my dog had fun, too.

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