Tag: clothes

The Wandering Hermit: Hat & Heels & Illusionary Fat Loss

   17 July 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Hat & Heels & Illusionary Fat Loss

I went on a walk with Justin this afternoon.  He’s been feeling sick, so we couldn’t do a full 2 miles, but he did a mile and a half.  I think that’s pretty good.  He went to his room to sleep the rest of the day, but that was likely his plan anyway.

I feel like going to local parks and walking as many as possible for a while.  Maybe mixing that with my usual walks in the morning… maybe doing those in addition to the morning walks.  It’s just so much better on my feet to not be on gravel, but I do miss my usual walks.  It’s been almost a week since I did one out here.  I’ll try to get one in tomorrow morning.  Change is uncomfortable, even when it doesn’t matter.  Walking the paved sidewalks just felt so good, I could have done twice as much as I normally do.  I need to pay attention to those sorts of things.  Wherever I can increase distance without overdoing it, I need to do that.

I need more hats.  I’m trying to get used to wearing hats more.  I like the look of them and they do protect me from the sun.  If I’m going to be spending increasing time outside when the sun is up, I need to wear hats when I walk.  I’m wondering if my 5:00am walks are over for now.  It is my favorite time for a walk, but it’s already too dark now.  If I was going to a gym, I could continue, but I think I might need to push back to 6 or 6:30.  I don’t love that, but I can still get up and do things at 5.  I just need to shuffle around my routine.

Okay, I need to get more work on my sides.  I’m not sure what to do exactly.  I know I can just look it up, and I will.  But it is apparent I need more work on that.

Over the weekend, I lost too much weight.  I had lost 7 extra pounds since last Thursday, which I felt was too fast.  I actually had that revelation while showering on Monday morning.  I just felt like I had lost too much and I wasn’t feeling great about it.  I was eating, but I just felt off.  I confirmed that Tuesday when I noticed I’d lost 7 pounds.  Rapid weight loss is fine, but if it is too rapid that can cause a lot of problems.  In the hopes it was an illusion caused by dehydration, I got some higher calorie foods and just packed in calories for the day.  When I woke up this morning, things made more sense.  It looked like I had lost 2 pounds since last Thursday, which is more reasonable.  I also feel a lot better than I did… and I wan’t feel bad per se.  I was just feeling a little off.  I felt like the fat was decreasing, but not correctly.  I was drinking a ton of water, but it’s dry out there.  I think it might have just been dehydration.  I’m back to normal eating and I’ll just have to wait to see what next Monday’s weight is.  I’m taking this morning’s as my end of week.  I just don’t trust Tuesday’s, even though it would be nice.  I never want to do anything illusionary or so quickly that I make myself sick.

[Walk #126]

The Wandering Hermit: Sizing Down

   1 July 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Sizing Down

Got in a second walk after I saw the July challenge on Apple Fitness: 2.77 mile walks at least 14 times.  That must be based on my walking average because it is a perfect increase in what I’ve been doing.  But I don’t like taking longer than an hour, so I’ll have to get these extras in in the evening.  It’s so warm.  But I’ve always been averse to even the mildest warmth, but I actually thought it wasn’t so bad.  I suppose that makes sense.  I’m likely having some changes to my body relative to my own heat tolerance.  I’ve always wanted to be someone who could stand to be outside in July, so maybe I’ll get there someday. 

One of the new shirts I got for walking arrived and fits perfectly.  It’s a 2XL, and if I’m being honest, that still feels too large.  It’s been a long time though, and I can start retiring my 4XL & 3XL shirts I think.  My favorite part was that it fit, but was not clingy or snug at all… that’s progress.  My weight loss might be slower than I’d like at the moment, but I am shrinking an that’s the part I’m excited about. 

[Walk #108]

The Wandering Hermit: Preparing for the Rest of Summer

   29 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Preparing for the Rest of Summer

It’s entirely too warm; the next month is going to be rough if I base things on this morning.  The watch told me it was 79ºF, which is already too warm for me, but the gravel was still radiating heat from yesterday and so it felt a little like standing in front of the dryer while pulling out clothes.  It’s not exactly unbearable, but it’s a lot of heat coming from unusual angles.

Speaking of clothes, sorta… I’m in the midst of a plateau at the moment.  They happen; in fact, they happen a lot.  But I break through them eventually so I’m not stressed about it.  I wanted to wait until I was down to 250 pounds before I got some new clothes, but it seems like I’m just inching my way down to that, so I broke down and got a few shirts, a couple pairs of shorts, and some leggings.  That should do for the summer; I am still hoping to get some stuff that fits better later this year.  Some people have been bothered by my threadbare shirts and ripped sweatpants.  Those things don’t bother me, but I am honestly annoyed by the fit of my clothes.  It is definitely past the point where I like how everything just hangs on me.  That was a nice reminder of progress, but it can be annoying, especially pants that never want to stay up.

Yesterday, I went from being mildly under the weather to fully feeling sick and then better by the time I went to bed.  I’m still feeling it, but my body seems to be handling the threat pretty well.  I’ll probably spend the day hydrating and not doing a whole lot.  I always have a lot to do, but I don’t want to push myself and then end up getting sick.  That’s far less convenient than taking things a little easier for a couple of days.

[Walk #105]

The Wandering Hermit: Macro Evolution

   9 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Macro Evolution

What a dramatic change in temperatures!  Quelle surprise!  I guess not entirely; I did know we had a cold front coming through.  I just hadn’t anticipated how quickly things would cool off after yesterday’s heat.  I hope that means I can get a few things done today.

One thing I NEVER worry about is macros.  I don’t even look at them when I’m planning my meals, and I still think that it is unnecessary to focus on them too much when eating foods that are already pretty healthy, but I’m about to shift into looking at them a lot.  Justin, my housemate, has asked for some assistance in making him a meal plan to help him lose weight.  There are a few hurdles when it comes to Justin that I’ll need to address.  The easiest thing would be to just have him do the plan I’ve been doing….obviously it is working.  But I eat a lot of leafy green vegetables and while Justin claims he enjoys vegetables as well, he means that in a two or three times a week sort of way.  He also has a love of, and fear of losing, a few foods I would consider junk foods.  And while I’m not going to eat those things anymore, I would like to work them into a plan for him because I don’t want him to be doing something that feels like he will eventually stop.  I want to design a plan that incorporates what he loves, but paying attention to the calories.  Because of his specific needs, I think I will be recording macros for his meal plans, which will make me aware of them in general, so I might just record them for a while just out of curiosity.  For Justin, I think it will be important to make sure he feels satiated throughout the day.  I don’t worry much about that for myself.  My foods are both low in calorie density and high in nutrients, so if I feel hungry I know I can just eat more.  But with foods higher in fat, the limits need to be the limits.  It isn’t that he couldn’t do what I do to fill the belly; it is that he wouldn’t.  He’d have more fries, another sleeve of crackers, a little vegan ice cream.  Those calories add up quickly.  I think if I focus on making sure he’s getting adequate protein in his day, he should feel full without having to drastically change what he eats.  OR, he could just drastically change what he eats and get over it!  I’ll get it together by tomorrow.

I had wardrobe issues yesterday, and I had them again this morning.  The sweatpants I was wearing while walking did not want to cooperate with me, or else they are some sort of practical joke enthusiast waiting for a good moment to drop in front of a passing car.  Nobody was out early on a Sunday, so they never had their moment, and I kept fiddling around with the ties trying to cinch them up enough to stay up, but I’d get another hundred feet or so and feel them slouching and slipping slowly down again.  I had planned on 250 lb. being when I was allowed to buy some new clothes, but I might have to get some pants before then, or quickly get comfortable with the neighbors knowing what kind of underwear I wear.

[Walk #84]

The Wandering Hermit: A Skinny Legend & His Twenty Year Old Pants

   8 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: A Skinny Legend & His Twenty Year Old Pants

I woke up a little early this morning, but ready to go!  Whereas yesterday morning was full of dread about my walk, today I was itching to get out the door and on my way.  I might have done extra as well, but I do have a small blister on one toe and it started to bother me a little after a couple of miles.  I probably need better shoes.  I don’t get all that many blisters, but I’d love it if I just got none; I had no sooner nursed one of them away when this one popped up.  It’s a very slow game of whack-a-mole on my poor little feet.

A few weeks ago, I found a pair of denim shorts that I used to wear quite a bit while I was living in Alaska.  At a size 46, I could just get them on with a little effort.  They weren’t uncomfortable once on, so I started wearing them all the time and they became increasingly easy to put on.  While making dinner last night, I became fed up and removed those same shorts right there in the middle of the kitchen and tossed them aside.  When it was convenient, I retrieved a pair of sweatpants to replace them.  They have been getting increasingly loose for a while now, and it has become a chore to keep them up, even when I hold them up.  Now, yes, I could get myself a belt, but the point still remains that I went from barely being able to squeeze into shorts from 15 years ago to not having enough girth to hold them up.  And that is progress if you ask me!

The casing that once held so much fat is weird.  It can be squeezed into pants that might otherwise just fit if I hadn’t stretched out the skin.  I had another experience similar to the denim shorts late last night.  In my quest for another pair of shorts, I tried on some from my twenties.  I was a size 38 for many years, so most of my clothes from that time–and yes, I still have a lot of them–are that size.  I was actually able to a pair on and fastened.  They weren’t still comfortable once on, squeezing me just a bit too much, but they fastened and that made me literally jump up and down in a sort of cartoonish moment of glee.  It means a few things.

  1. Apparently, I can do this.  I need a lot of reminders!
  1. As I continue from here, I have plenty of clothes to look forward to.  That said, I wouldn’t call the clothes of my teens & twenties aspirational.  Those were the days when I primarily shopped at County Seat and my edgy clothes came from The Buckle.  I was default settings White.  I sorta still am.
  1. I am a “Skinny Legend.”
  1. I can, and will, take over the world.

Today is probably going to be a stressful day.  I’m trying to fight that back as best I can, but it’s going to be very hot this afternoon and I have to get some things packed and ready to move to storage tomorrow.  That doesn’t even address the lack of space I have in the storage unit, but that isn’t something I have the mental energy to quibble over just now.  Generally, I’m feeling great this morning.  I just know what is coming today and I’m not sure just having the right attitude will help me out.

[Walk #83]

Mindful Musings: In My Green Shirt

There’s a photo I like to share of myself when I was around my heaviest.  It was one I had Justin take of me standing on the front porch in one of the many short-lived “diet” plans I attempted in the time when I wasn’t taking things as seriously.  I stood in the same spot during my meditation, glasses in my pocket, trying to focus on the birds–often, it is the birds that get me out of my own way–but I struggled to not think about how much I feel changed.  And then I realized I am wearing the very clothes I was wearing in that photo.  They hang loosely on me now, but it made me really want a photo recreation today.  I’ll see if Justin will take another.  Maybe I should wait for a year for this kind of thing, but I am impatient.  When I looked it up, I found that the shirt isn’t the same.  They are the same size though, and the pants are almost certainly the same.

The Wandering Hermit: Rested, Drenched, & Nearly Zen

   5 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Rested, Drenched, & Nearly Zen

Last night, I knew I would want to sleep in today, and I did just that.  I periodically woke up this morning and just decided to go back to sleep.  It wasn’t a lack of motivation; I knew I would eventually get my walk in, but I wanted to make sure I was caught up on sleep.  While I’ve been waking up naturally around 5:00am, I have found that I’m a little sleepier in the afternoons than I used to be, and much more so than I would like to be.  I think I’m just not quite getting enough sleep.  According to my watch, I am averaging 5 hours & 56 minutes of sleep over the past month.  That’s down a full hour from Spring and over two hours from January.  It’s pretty similar to the amount I was sleeping at the end of last summer.  That might be fine, but I am a lot more active than I was last year.  A whole lot more.  I just don’t know that six hours cuts it at the moment.  But my brain doesn’t seem to know that and so I just hop up each morning.  I could attempt to solve the issue on the other end, going to bed an hour earlier.  I already get such a hard time for being in bed by 10:00pm.  If I’m already getting it, I might as well go for another hour.

I worked up quite a sweat during my morning walk today.  I have been trying to get my heart rate up, and some mornings I have only very limited success doing that.  Today was going better, and I was just drenched in sweat as a result.  My heart rate during walks is all over the place, but the number does look like it is trending upward.  The whole thing did make me think about workout clothes I would like to get.  I have been saying from the start of my weight loss plan that once I have gotten to 250, I need new clothes.  I’m 19 pounds from that goal, but my clothes being baggy is starting to feel like an issue.  Some mornings, my shirt feels absolutely in the way, billowing out, folding in and rubbing against me, becoming heavy with sweat.  I’ve been wearing my rattiest clothes for walking; they aren’t going with me into my future, so they might as well be of use right now.  The problem is that some of them are becoming a hinderance.  Even the pair of denim shorts I was so excited to be able to wear again after not being able to do so for 15 years have become so big that they just drop off if I stand still for too long.  I had been walking in them, but they cannot be trusted.  And my waist is in a weird transition period where I still can’t seem to find a decent belt that fits me, but my pants are all starting to require it.  I’m close on the fit, mind you, but it’s just not quite there.  Of course, I could just go ahead and get my gym clothes now, but I don’t intend to stop losing weight and I don’t want to waste money.  I’ll play around with a list on Amazon; just browsing my settle me down a little bit and let me pause and wait for that goal.

I did not take my phone on my walk this morning; I wanted to just enjoy the sounds around me, but the birds weren’t still singing as I walked later than usual and so the sounds of the morning were just the occasional car driving by.  It wasn’t the zen experience I would have hoped for, so tomorrow I will take my music!

[Walk #80]