Back in the Saddle Again

After the past couple weeks, I was getting a little discouraged to be honest.  This week I refocused on counting my calories and staying active.  MyFitnessPal has made a resurgence in my life and I have realized where I was overeating the past couple weeks and how easy it was to fix. I also spent quite a bit of time outdoors doing a lot of different activities.

I had a flashback to high school this week.  We decided that tennis would be a good idea after we had so much fun playing pickle ball last week.  I attempted to play this sport in high school but let's just say I was less than good.  So, I pulled out the old racquet bag only to find that the grips on my racquets were shot.  I replaced one of the grips and we headed out.  Holy cow!  I was running all over the place, but it was not because I was in a heated rally.  Let's just say I can see as an adult why I only played JV in high school.

The second workout of the week was pickle ball again, but Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and I spent the time practicing on our own instead of participating in the large group.  We definitely got to work on hitting some good shots and figuring out the strategy to the game.  We also got to laugh at each other quite a bit.  Also, playing 1-on-1 allows for a lot more running during the game.  It was a blast and I look forward to doing it again.

Now, for those of you that have been reading my blog for some time I need you to think back to this earlier post about Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and her experience on the Monon Trail.  Well, I finally found a day that she was willing to fight back.  We talked her dad into going with us as well.  He rides his bike all around town and we thought he would enjoy a ride on the trail.  We packed up the car made sure we had plenty of water and started the trek toward the trail.  We picked the trail up in Broad Ripple again and headed south toward Indianapolis.

After heading out of Broad Ripple, south over Fall Creek, past the Indiana State Fairgrounds (if you ride your bike here from a distant parking lot they will watch your bike for free in a corral), through the industrialized areas around 22nd St. we finally turned around when the trail ended at 10th St. just under the North 65/70 split.  We saw some cool murals along the way.  Our ride was 6.5 miles each direction for a total ride of 13 miles.  Honestly, we have found ourselves to be in much better shape as we easily could have gone for even more distance.  I learn a lot about myself on these trips.  It was wonderful not to have any accidents on the trail, but was even better to enjoy the company and have fun conversations about things that didn't really matter.  I do have to admit that I was a little disgruntled about our relaxing pace when a woman on a cargo bike passed us with her two children in bike seats.

Our last healthy activity of the week was the visit the Lafayette Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.  We recently found a healthy recipe that we want to try out.  however, this recipe requires a couple of decent sized summer squash that we were not able to find at the local grocery store.  We had a great time looking through the market and managed to find the squash we needed along with some other treats to take home.  On the way home we saw a sign advertising Smith Farms Indiana.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation looked them up on our way home and considering they had some u-pick produce we thought we would stop by.  When we arrived it turned out the only thing in season for u-pick were blackberries, but we were more than happy to support a local merchant and picked a quart of blackberries for just $3.  Go visit this farm and pick some fruit when you have a chance.

On Sunday, we were also able to visit some family friends that recently moved to Avon.  They have two little girls that we watch on occasion and we have spent many years watching their dad coach high school girls basketball.  After their recent move to Avon, we had yet to see their new house and wanted to hang out with them and discuss their move and new jobs.  We were able to spend a few hours with them and wound up having dinner at Charbonos.  My Maple-glazed pork chops were fantastic and the side of sweet potato andouille sausage hash is something I never would have thought to put together but tasted great.

So, with the amount of work I have put in this week, I was a little nervous getting on the scale this week.  I knew I had done everything right, but you never know what can happen.  The numbers showing on the screen were kind to me this week.  I tipped the scale at 268. 6 lbs.  for a total loss this week of 2.8 lbs.  OH YEAH!  Now, it has become apparent to me that falling off is something we all do at time, but that getting back on that horse and dedicating yourself to improvement can make a huge impact.  Until next week... Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.