NYC NSVs

As expected, my 18 pound weight loss in 60 hours was a fluke. I’m pretty sure that I’m not actually full of **** so I don’t know what happened with the scale there, but whatever. I still lost 2 pounds while on vacation and I’m super pleased with this. But on to the non-scale related things.

Almost a year ago I had family visit the area and we went into DC with them. I was at my highest weight then, or close to, I didn’t have a great relationship with the scale back then for obvious reasons. But I was working out on a regular basis with the elliptical at the gym and had completed C25K even! I thought I kicked butt. A day of walking in DC killed me, though, and it took me, literally, two months to recover as well as appointments with the orthopedist and podiatrist. My how things have changed!

1. I walked every day for many hours. My stamina held and, instead of a 2 month recovery period, I had about an hour recovery period. I walked many hours in the afternoon, took a break, and then walked even more in the evening. When my partner said, “We could just walk back to the hotel?” I said, “Okay!” without hesitation each and every time. A year ago I would have insisted on a cab or the metro or dying.

2. In the past, I’ve always worn biking shorts under my jeans to prevent thigh chaffing, but I sort of forgot on Tuesday. When I was getting ready for bed I realized that my thighs were not the consistency of ground meat. My thighs felt awesome in fact. I did wear bike shorts on Wednesday to be safe, and it was super cold so I wanted the extra warmth.

3. In the past, I’ve always had issues with shin splints due to walking. Walking a block in Indianapolis to get back into the convention center after a fire alarm? Shin splints for days and days. In NYC my shins felt great, no pain at all. This is probably due to all the treadmilling I’ve been doing since surgery combined with having orthotics in my proper walking/running shoes. What a difference these things make! I took compression socks to wear, but only wore them on Wednesday and that was really because of the cold weather.

4. Eating in actual restaurants with waitstaff was totally fine. I didn’t have issues ordering meals. I drank water until the start of my meal and then scooted my glass over to my partner and no one commented on this. I checked my watch when I finished my last bite and resumed drinking 30 minutes later. When I declined a roll at one restaurant the server kindly offered me a gluten or dairy free option, I declined, and that was that. I didn’t feel pressured or uncomfortable at all. Luckily my partner and I have similar tastes, and he’s a marathoner so he can afford the extra calories, so we tended to swap plates once I had eaten all I wanted and he had finished his own meal. (This will be easier when I’m eating close to home and can actually take leftovers with me.)

5. Eating with new people in restaurants was also surprisingly easy. I’m naturally a slow eater, so I didn’t feel like I was waiting around having finished my meal while everyone was still eating. I didn’t feel awkward at all, which is something I was worried about. Thankfully my in-laws knew that I’d had surgery, so it wasn’t something I had to explain. They did ask a few questions, but they were just the curious sort of thing like, “Are you not eating meat anymore?” And my brother-in-law teased me at Panera with, “What will you be getting? The smallest thing on the menu?” But we’re jokey people so this sort of good-natured ribbing is totally normal and not offensive or bothersome at all. (Turned out that I got the napa chicken salad in a cup, it rocked.)

6. I survived Fogo de Chao. Enough said.

Overall, this trip left me feeling strong, confident, and totally awesome. I did take Friday off from the gym, but I’ll be going back on Monday and getting my hour in with no trouble. My back is hurting a lot, but it’s been like that since surgery and I’m starting physical therapy for it (again) on the 28th. I really feel like I can do anything right now and I’ve never felt this way before.

Yay Gwen! This was an awesome and inspirational read! So glad to hear you are doing so well!

Thank you very much!