Back in Feb, I came down with a lung infection while in Minny.  A heavy dose of antibiotics cleared up the pneumonia, but it took a while to shake the nasal/coughing/sweats.  I thot I was in the clear, then two weeks ago it all started again.  The house doc at my company attacked it with an aggressive Prednisone regimen, which seems to have worked.

The violent coughing seemed to have caused a fractured rib, but that cleared up - must've been a muscle strain - and now there is much less pain.

Today I swam for the first time since 3/24, with no pain.

What are you Citizens doing besides shoveling snow?

So I went to the club on Thursday to swim, and from the window I could see that some people were swimming, yet there was a sign on the Men's locker room door saying that the pool was temporarily closed. I donned my kit, showered, and went in to the pool, thinking at worst case I'd shvitz in the hot tub.

The pool was open (just minutes earlier), but the lifeguard said that it was only 70F (usually 81F), as they had just added a bunch of water and it hadn't heated up yet.

On with the cap and goggles, I descended into the cold pool. It was bracing.  I thought, Suck it up, Boyo, clicked 'Schwimmbad' on my Garmin, and proceeded to do my standard set.  I never did warm up.

Afterwards, in the hot tub, I was talking with another guy about the pool being cold.

He:  "Well, you know, I'm from Maine.  We swam in the ocean all the time.  It nevah got more than 56F but we didn't care." (i.e. we are real men)

So Nation, how's your New Year's Fitness McFithouse  going?

I had a thought as out I was out huffing through the forest: do you burn more calories when you out of shape because you're heavier so your body has to work harder OR do you burn more when you're in better shape because your body can go faster, do more, etc? I mean, like, in the same amount of time, say 30 minutes of jogging.

Also, weather's getting warmer, the forest paths are drying out, and the side trails are more navigable. Happy not to lug around a pound of mud on my shoes when I go running now. What outdoor activities are everyone looking forward to now that things are starting to thaw out?

I made it a New Year's Resolution to lose 10% of my body weight, since I'd hit an all-time high. I haven't done nearly enough physical activity (so this is less of a "fitness" post and more "weight" post), but I've managed to hit a benchmark already: for the first time in far too long, I'm on the right side of 220. It first happened on Monday, and today is day 3 of the same, so I feel comfortable putting it down on paper (or whatever we call this).

That's about 10 pounds lower than I started the year. It's all been very little changes, but they are really adding up, much quicker than I anticipated.

First, I bought a scale, and I just write my weight down every day (or nearly. I keep it at work, so if I don't go in to work, I don't weigh myself). Just having an idea of where I'm at has been helpful. It keeps it in my mind a little bit throughout the day.

Second, I have cut dramatically back on the pop that I'm drinking. I haven't given it up entirely, but instead of almost 2 cans a day, I'm now somewhere in the the 4 cans a week range. Along with this, I've tried to cut back on the cream and sugar I'm adding to my coffee. That's been made easier since I've been buying better coffee. Pricier, but I think it's a good balance.

Third, I've been trying to have smaller lunches. This is one area where I can still make a lot of progress. There are far too many days where I don't plan ahead, or I let myself have an extra sandwich or something along those lines. I started off very well in this area, just limiting myself to a can of soup and a few crackers, but that has gotten a bit tiring. I plan to work on this more.

Fourth, my after-supper snacks have been pared back. Instead of 4 or 5 nights a week having something to eat around 9 or 10, I'm going with maybe 3, and the things are often smaller than they were before.

Fifth, I bought some small exercise bands for my office - just a little thing to do to mindlessly move around and work some muscles a small amount when I'm doing other tasks.

Anyway, these are all really small things, and I am amazed at how much they've added up in less than 3 months. I know at some point these changes won't be enough, and I'll have to add more efforts. I hope that I will, even before I get to that point. But I'm glad for where I've gotten, and I'm excited for where I'm hopefully going. The small changes are really important.