1. Another week has come and gone, and while I have a long way to go on this journey to becoming healthier, this past week was probably the best week I've had in the last month and a half, since I started. Walked on the treadmill this past week five (5) times, the most since I started this process. Each time was for between 45-50 minutes, between 2.10 and 2.25 miles, and between a total of 275-310 vertical feet. My workout is pretty consistent right now, and I don't feel as if I am able to really push anything beyond that yet. Hopefully, another couple weeks of this consistency and I can start to push myself a bit more. We shall see.
I also did a much more consistent job this week of tracking my eating habits, essentially eliminating all forms of snacking and focusing on my 21 meals each week. Of those 21, I hit my target goals 19 times; not perfect, and while every single day matters, I'm doing so much better here than I was a month ago. Knowing I'm making progress, on what is certainly a process over not just one but multiple years to change my lifestyle habits, is a good feeling.
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2. While my health goals went well, the week has been particularly challenging. As some know, my father-in-law died in April from COVID. A few days ago, both my parents tested positive for COVID and were symptomatic. My dad has gotten the worse of it, being admitting to a hospital yesterday to receive treatment. As of this writing, it has been confirmed that he has "COVID Pneumonia", but more details than that are yet to come. For the moment, it appears he is responding well to treatment and is stable, but with this disease it feels nothing is certain. Because of my family's experiences - having already lost a loved one, having spent two weeks in quarantine recently after having tested positive - well, needless to say it has been a bit exhausting mentally to process and work through. I tend to process when I write, which is why I write here. There's a mixture and wide variety of emotions, but one that keeps coming back is how futile all this can make you feel, how it makes you realize how little control you have over things at times. At times I suppose that can be comforting, in the right context; for now, in addition to being humbling, its vexing and scary. We just continue to wait.
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3. On the book front, I finished (No. 74) Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, which was one of the better books I've read this year. In the book, Wilkerson applies the concept of Caste as a way to understand the systemic racism and the unique consideration of race in American History. The book was incredibly well written, and is challenging in all the best ways. I'm now reading Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, and I'm not sure what is on the horizon after that.
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It was a beautiful Fall weekend here in northern Indiana; sunny, low 70s. In an effort to have distraction from some of the stresses, went to a local park to walk on some trails and enjoy Fall colors, and tonight will be making chili and cornbread for dinner. Hoping Fall, my favorite season, is therapeutic for the soul.
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