Moving!

I've been going to the gym for the past five and a half months. If you knew me at all, you'd know that that statement should have a lot of exclamation points after it. The daily exercise has changed the way I feel about myself. I'm losing weight at a reasonable rate. I'm stronger and I have more stamina. My clothes are getting looser. I have more energy. I sleep better. I'm.... well, proud of myself! Yes, I am.

Along with the change in daily activity levels, I started following an eating plan that I got from my doctor. It contains lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, and whole grains. Fats are limited to good ones; and the sugar is obtained naturally, from fruit. With small meals, plus a snack,  I find that I don't get that "need" for extra carbohydrates that used to plague me. 

If you look at the menu linked above, you will see that there aren't any fruit juices (too much of a sugar jolt), and there are a surprising (to me) amount of carbs. I guess the whole grains do the trick, keeping my body busy with digesting each meal. 

Because Beez is in training for a big bike ride from Telluride to Moab, he has been going to the gym, too, making it even easier for me to get there. Now, as his ride is getting closer, he is doing as much higher altitude biking as he can; and that gives me an opportunity to get out and do some hiking. 

And that's what we did this morning instead of going to the gym and exercising indoors. Here is my view as I hiked up (and up and up), looking back down toward Las Cruces and the floor of the Mesilla Valley along the Rio Grande, all in the hazy distance: 

My walk was all uphill at an altitude of about 5700 feet, all desert, all hot, and a challenge to me. Quite different from the treadmill at the gym! The payoff: Silence, solitude, a hot breeze, and birdsong all around. And yes, some pesky flies.

That dot way down there on the road is Beez (who started lower down than I did), battling the mountain, the heat, and the altitude. I think the next time we do this trip, we'll start out a little earlier, when the temperatures are a bit lower. It's too bad the gates don't open until 8AM.

And this was the view outside our destination, the visitor center at Dripping Springs. We want to do this hike/ride combination a lot, so that we can each measure our progress. The goal is to keep moving!