Getting Back to It

I just took a great shower after a great run. Wow, that was just what I needed. I hadn’t run since January 5th and in the past 6 months, I’ve probably only run about 4-5 times before tonight. It’s been really sad, but the unfortunate thing is that the longer it goes on like this, the idea of running seems less and less approachable. V@llarta is not a town that encourages exercise or staying in shape.

What motivated me today is a call from my friend J. who is also looking to get back to the We!ght Watchers (WW) program (which is where we met). We’ve both been successful in the past and are feeling the need to get back to keeping track of what we eat and increasing our exercise. The program is really simple in a way: every food has a Point value (based on a combination of calories, fat, and fiber – generally 50 calories equals 1 Point, but the amount of fat and fiber can affect it too), so you write down everything you eat and add up the points and try to stay within a certain range. (You don’t want to eat too few points because your body goes into starvation mode and hangs onto the weight.) And you can get extra Points by exercising (about 10 minutes of vigorous exercise gives you 1 Point). Actually WW has a new program, but I don’t buy it (although some people seem to like it but I’ve yet to see them keep the weight off for years), so I stick with the Points.

It’s amazing how just talking about the whole thing with someone who understands helps and motivates me. An important part of the program is to attend meetings. We’ve decided we’re going to have our own little group (that will include her husband) and check in weekly. I’m excited because I’ve put on a few pounds and my exercise has really decreased, so I look forward to being held accountable and getting back to my old good habits. That’s the great thing of having done it in the past and succeeded – following the program and exercise feels more like the “real” me and this lazy, overeating behavior feels like an aberration. Before I did the program, it would have been the opposite.

So tonight I went for a run on the Malec0n (boardwalk). I learned that this is not something you want to do on a Sunday night at 8:30pm. It was absolutely packed with people out for a stroll. It never ceases to amaze me how slowly people are able to walk. Even after being away from NYC for 6+ months, I still have more of an NYC pace and literally feel like I’m in pain when I try to walk as slow as people tend to walk when they’re out strolling. I think that even when I had my neuroma and could barely walk because of the intense pain, I still walked faster. Even if I’m carrying a 25 lb. box of cat litter, I walk faster.

Besides the number of people out, what struck me was that the most interesting performers/artists on the Malec0n that attracted the biggest crowds were all foreigners. There was a large rock band with a big crowd in front of the arches. M. was busy at work drawing portraits with a large crowd gathered around him as usual to watch him work. Further down P. (a guy I met at the full moon party) was on stilts, dressed up and performing. And still further down were I. and U. also dressed in costumes and face paint, performing their acrobatic routine. It’s nice that these people are here, but it highlighted to me how small V@llarta is that I know the majority of the interesting artistic people who are out and about and none of them are from Puert0 V@llarta.

I struggle with this. Last night at the wedding place, L. (the coordinator from S@n Fr@ncisco) said, “Don’t you just love V@llarta?!” I had to tell her, that no, I don’t and I probably never would. I love NYC and I love B@ngkok (having lived in both). V@llarta has a lot of good things going for it, but it also lacks a soul and a pulse. It’s very nice and pleasant and it’s not boring. But it’s not a place that inspires me. I’ve been thinking more and more about how I want to travel to a few places here and see how it makes me feel. I’m thinking about getting away the week before Easter because it’s a time when V@llarta is overrun with Mexxican tourists because the whole week is essentially a holiday called Semana Santa. I’ll have to see.

If you want to see my Weight Watchers Success story, just click. It's funny to read that now and see it took me so many years to reach this new goal. (Please keep in mind that some of the quotes in that article were embellished by the author. When it first came out, I was horrified because they were things I'd never say. Now I can just laugh at it all.)

The photo above was taken last April when I ran the James Joyce Ramble 10K outside of B0ston. Hey, it wasn't so long ago I could run 10k; I need to remember that.