Week Forty-one: Up in Flames

Just when things are getting back to normal, We were off on a camping weekend.

Well, sort of. We had a room with a bed, bathroom, and AC at the campground. Some people call it Glamping. I call it I-ain't-sweat-sleeping-with-the-dirt-and-bugs-and-peeing-outdoors-in-the-dark-with-bears camping.

We took our whole family of young adults (and a few 'adopted' ones), so I planned a menu accordingly. I love cooking over a campfire, but my husband brought his camping stove because breakfast for six can't be made one campfire pan at a time-not our breakfast, anyway.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, and pancakes. Lunches were either sausages or bacon-wrapped chicken on a campfire fork, roasted over the embers of a crackling campfire. Dinner was hamburgers with all of the fixings, and we had smores for dessert.

Image by manseok Kim from Pixabay 

What is it about a crackling fire that makes food taste so good? Everyone else did the smores thing- I'm not into them. But I indulged in everything else, including the chips that went with lunch and dinner.

I spent most of the weekend enjoying the fresh air in the shade of a tree, reading a book. I miss books. I've been too busy with life to just sit down and read. Not good for a book junkie like me! But we also went for walks, and one, in particular, was a challenge. In fact, Challenge was part of its name.

It's called the Thousand Step Challenge. It's actually twelve hundred steps total, but the entire set of steps are etched into the mountain itself. My husband did this challenge when he was up with his Ironmen Ministry group before the pandemic, and he wanted to show me part of it.

We both knew I was in no shape to tackle this challenge. Not yet.

But there was a stony-staired trail going to the base of the challenge where a natural spring flowed. And that was my goal. The trail was a hint of what the actual thousand steps were like, and just looking up that trail was scary. Not because it was pretty high up (which it was, and I'm deathly scared of heights), but because the steps were a little steeper than what I was used to. 

With a deep intake of breath, I started up those steps. I had to see if I could do this much smaller challenge.

There are no rails like I expected, which didn't help when the side of the trail dropped off into a ferny abyss of plant life. The steps were wide, though, so as long as I stuck to the mountainside part of the stairs, I was okay. I used my husband for balance on some of the more uneven steps and had to stop for a breather halfway up. 

I could hear rushing water- I was almost there.

Please understand this was only about a hundred feet up, just a few hundred yards in an upward slope. For me, this was extremely taxing on a body that hasn't seen much exercise. The weight loss helped, but I knew I had a long way to go before I could conquer even this little trail with any kind of ease. 

By the time we reached the spring, I was panting like an overheated Saint Bernard, taking a seat on the rocky wall that kept the spring at bay while my husband climbed over it to fill our water bottles with the clear, crisp water spouting straight from the rock.

It tasted fantastic!

After drinking and refilling our water, we made the descent back down. Unfortunately, gravity isn't a friend of the calorically challenged, and I found I had to brace myself from moving forward too fast. My husband had to provide balance again as I had to step down from each stair, for my knees protested with every harsh bend of the joints.

By the time I arrived at the beginning of the trail, my legs were shaking a little. It was a relief to walk at my regular pace back to the van and sit on a seat that wasn't stone and covered in moss.

I learned something important. IF really isn't all about the weight loss, though that's the reason most people start. Losing weight is only the first step to living a better life-I mean, look at me! I went from considering a wheelchair to walking a small mountain trail within forty weeks! My accomplishment is anything but a triumph to those athletic few, but to me, it's a monumental step for a better, healthier life. I never would've considered walking that trail last year, but this year I not only walked it, but I also wanted to walk it!

My eating windows were wide open for the entire trip. So today, I'm back on my eating window routine, and as far as I know, no more long trips requiring me to adjust my window for at least a month or two. Let's hope there's a significant change in the scale by the end of summer.

Hot and humid days make me melt in an ocean of sweat, so when the days are this hot (heat advisories aside), I stay in. Not good when you're supposed to be walking. I'm contemplating getting an exercise bike-a new one this time-so whenever I decide to sit down for a video break, I can at least work on my mobility. 

As for my swollen feet, they're a lot less swollen after the camping trip. Putting on shoes and walking works wonders for the circulatory system, and I'm a lot less bloated. I'm hoping for the same results with the exercise bike if we decide to get one.

I started planning meals a few weeks back, and that's working out really well! There's almost no wasted food now, and I'm buying various veggies to create a more versatile and tasty menu. Soups and casseroles are still regular items, though I'll make an actual dinner on occasion when the portion sizes are a bit too small for the pan or stockpot. 

I've scheduled cooking dinners during my up days, so I'm not a starved, raving beast when the food hits the table. 

There's still a ton to do to get this house in order, but I'm progressing slowly towards the goal. This has been a great week with many self-revelations- I'm looking forward to the days ahead!