Alligatorob's Diary

alligatorob said:
It was a good day, I ate well, exercised a little, and feel good tonight.

After an early workout my plan was to get more exercise swimming. Put the boat in the water for the first time, dropped anchor and jumped in, it was way too cold for me, 59 F (15 C). I did a short lap around the boat and got back in to warm up. This is my first time swimming since I started this diet, its harder now, I have a lot less flotation! Will keep trying, the lake will warm up soon. My boat at the dock.
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Tomorrow I plan another assault on the mountain, no real goals this time just want to get further than before. A rise of more than 2,000 ft (600 m) would be great, that would put me a bit more than half way to the top. We will see how I feel when I get there, don't want to overdo it, need to get down alive. The mountain I will be climbing is in the background of the boat picture. A different view than what I have been posting from our side.

Thanks Liza, it was. No flowers today, but I will try tomorrow.

Thanks LaMa, getting up to "standard" is an accomplishment for me! Tomorrow's walk will be a lot slower, steep and without trails.

Ha! It is nice not to be quite so round. My shape still isn't quite what I'd like it to be, but then who's ever is.
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Omg I love your boat. I really envy that you and Cate are able to get to trails/nature easily! Definitely things to enjoy.
 
It's really cool how you're tackling that mountain, Rob. The issue with those rock-paths seems to be the solidity of the ground - is there any way to test that, like partially stepping without committing?

It's amazing how quickly you can get into trouble in situations where you never thought would pose much risk. You can't underestimate that stuff, but it is pretty interesting - kind of like solving a puzzle, right?
 
It was a good day, I ate well, exercised and feel good. I did a shorter workout in the morning and rode my bike this afternoon. First bike ride from home outside of my own drive, my options are a bit limited. I rode about as far as I could on the dirt road just south of us and back, a 45 min ride. Not bad, except that its downhill going and up coming home. But not nearly so steep as what I have been hiking.
liza said:
Lovely pictures and great about the weight loss. It's nice to hear how this isn't feeling overly effortful for you now. That your diet and exercise feel natural. That's a very good sign for the long-term i would think.
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I hope so, but I am still concerned about how transition to maintenance will go, and I am getting closer. I am also very aware that my urge to binge has not gone away, not completely, and I don't think it ever will. However not feeling starved or deprived now does give me some confidence for the future.
LaMaria said:
I love lupine in particular. Is it native to North-America?
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I think it is, they are very common in the mountains in this area, a nice spring/early summer wildflower. A bit more prolific in some of the high elevation and wetter areas than down here, but those are not yet blooming, the ones I photographed were at the beginning of the hike. No lupines yet higher.
misty22 said:
Omg I love your boat.
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So do I! Everyone should have a boat.
jackbenimble said:
The issue with those rock-paths seems to be the solidity of the ground - is there any way to test that, like partially stepping without committing?
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Yes that is it, and I do try to study where I step, the mistake I made was being tired and not paying enough attention. It is a bit like a puzzle, this really is not new to me. When I was in college I worked summers for the Forest Service and did a lot of more challenging hiking than this, particularly when firefighting. I also did a lot of backpacking and hiking for fun. But I was a whole lot younger then and its been a long time. I never expect to get back to that level of ability, but I am doing better than I expected.

Will do more catch up with folks and post a few more wildflower pictures when I have more time.
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I just learned that there´s almost 200 species of lupine, a lot of them native to the Americas and some native to Europa and North-Africa. The Romans grew them for food a lot but the wild species are often poisonous.
 
alligatorob said:
When I was in college I worked summers for the Forest Service and did a lot of more challenging hiking than this, particularly when firefighting. I also did a lot of backpacking and hiking for fun. But I was a whole lot younger then and its been a long time. I never expect to get back to that level of ability, but I am doing better than I expected.
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Must be really nice to get back to that then even if it isn't quite as intense as in your younger days. I see a lot of older people around my community hiking and that into their 80's. Really fit and well. I find that super inspiring and hope that i'll be able to have good health like that getting older. I feel like i was already slowing down these last few years but do see an improvement in myself since joining this forum and i feel a glimmer of hope for myself.
 
Rob- with hiking, I find I can walk & walk & my stamina is pretty good, but I am more prone to losing my balance so have to be much more careful on uneven ground than I used to be. It's hard to make adjustments to what you tackle physically when you don't feel any older or different mentally I find anyway. It's excellent to stay really active & to be adventurous, but for my family's sake, I try to remember to be safe.
Looking forward to seeing more photos.
 
It was a good day, ate well, exercised and I feel pretty good. Did a morning workout and an evening 5 km walk.

A few more pictures from my hike, this is just a part of the hill, took it on the way down, gives you some idea of what a lot of the hike is like.
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An Oregon Grape Berry, a pretty little wildflower. It is an interesting plant, an evergreen shrub that never gets very big at all. They are just starting to bloom.
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A bluebell, I think. Sorry about the focus, will have to do better next walk. I use my iphone for the pictures and in the bright sunlight it can be hard for me to see things on the phone.
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Cate said:
How far off goal weight do you think you are now, Rob?
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The honest answer is I don't know. At this point I am in a kind of wait and see how I feel mode. I know I would like to lose a few more pounds, I think I will know I am there when I get there.
LaMaria said:
I just learned that there´s almost 200 species of lupine, a lot of them native to the Americas and some native to Europa and North-Africa. The Romans grew them for food a lot but the wild species are often poisonous.
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Thanks LaMa, you got me to do some research and you are right, lots of kinds of lupine. Apparently our wild lupine are quite poisonous, sometimes even to cattle. Guess I will be looking and not eating.
liza said:
Must be really nice to get back to that then even if it isn't quite as intense as in your younger days. I see a lot of older people around my community hiking and that into their 80's. Really fit and well. I find that super inspiring and hope that i'll be able to have good health like that getting older. I feel like i was already slowing down these last few years but do see an improvement in myself since joining this forum and i feel a glimmer of hope for myself.
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Yes, it does feel good to be doing something at least akin to what I once could do. I know I will never be 20 again, and never be able to do what I did then, but getting closer does feel good. And I am sure hiking is very good for older people, hopefully I can keep it up.
aiminglow said:
congratulations on breaking yet another barrier - into the 180s!
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Thank you Amy, it does feel good. Moving through the 10 lb range clubs goes faster, so far anyway. I know it can only go so far.
Cate said:
I am more prone to losing my balance so have to be much more careful on uneven ground than I used to be. It's hard to make adjustments to what you tackle physically when you don't feel any older or different mentally I find anyway.
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I am sure I don't have the balance I once did, and I do take care not to try something I cannot safely do. I know I push the limits a bit, but I try to be careful. I also know how much faster and sure footed I was when I did this kind of thing years ago, and I don't expect to ever be that again. But I don't have to, this is fun anyway.
 

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My parents have Oregon grape berry in the garden because the bees like it. I mostly liked crushing some of the berries and smearing the juice somewhere to make it look like I was bleeding...

Vey curious to see where your weight will end up. Almost a year now, isn't it? May 15th? I seem to remember something about you raising your calories to... 1500/day by then? Or maybe that's just wishful thinking:)
 
lol LaMa I don't think we will get Rob up on his calories.
Rob congrats on another huge weight loss . That is amazing and I think in another month or so you will be the lightest of us all . Well done on your persistence and dedication.
Lovely photos and lots of interesting stuff going on with you .
 
It was a good day, I ate well exercised and feel good now. Not as much exercise as I had planned, worked out in the morning and planned a walk this evening, but it got late too fast.

Went out on the boat again and jumped in again, but it is still too cold for me to swim much. Up a little to 61 F (16 C), soon it will be warm enough for me to do some exercise swimming I hope. I was thinking about how much easier the boat is to use this year, easier to get in, get around, standup to drive, ect. Swimming from the boat is one thing I never gave up, in fact I had a super heavy duty swim ladder installed so I could get in and out. That ladder sure is easy to go up now! However as I said last week I don't have the fat flotation now, so I have to work a bit to stay afloat. Picture today, my hair and beard are getting really long! Need to find an open barber shop I guess.
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LaMaria said:
Oregon grape berry in the garden because the bees like it.
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That is interesting, I did not know it was an ornamental. I wonder it it is the same species? The wild ones here do attract a lot of bees also, noticed them when I was taking the pictures.
Petal001 said:
lol LaMa I don't think we will get Rob up on his calories.
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Oh, you have before and will again, its just a matter of when. Actually I am starting to think I will stick with the 160 lb target I set a year ago. Right now I am comfortable with this diet and I know it will not hurt me to lose more weight. I may decide its enough before I get to the 160, but for now that's what I am thinking. I know it will make for a kind of hard bottom, one day 1,200 calories and maybe 2,000 the next, but that's kind of the way I started this thing and it has worked so far. That is just what I am thinking today, could all change tomorrow.
misty22 said:
You can't be that far off from your final goal, looking at your stats.
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No Misty, not far, but not quite there yet.
aiminglow said:
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing them with us. :)
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Sure, taking pictures on the walk helps make me focus on nature, and knowing I'll be posting here helps keep me taking them. Not sure today's picture would fall into the great category, but its what I got.
 

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love the picture rob--the water looks so pristine and lovely mountains in the background too!
So great you are really seeing the difference in how much easier it is to get around with all that weight dropped. Must feel very freeing.
 
It’s great to think you are enjoying swimming in the lake now and able to climb in and out of the boat so easily . Its good you have a plan to meet amd I think you will get there very soon indeed with your determination.
 
The water and sky are so blue! I didn´t know the name "Oregon grape berry" but it looked very similar and the Latin name is the same so I´m guessing it´s the same stuff.
 
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