Weigh In, February 24, 2014

Due to a conflict I'm moving the weigh in ahead this week. I'm down another two pounds, to 308. I also wore a size 18 shirt for the first time since 2011. Admittedly it was more form-fitting than I like, but still, I wore it and I looked good in it, at least while standing. When sitting I was grateful I was wearing a tie.

"Who is the fat selfie-taking blogger who can wear a size 18
shirt? THIS GUY!"

While we are disclosing sizes, I'm still wearing a size 54 suit. When I was at my low weight in 2007 I could wear a 48, which is still 'big' but nowhere near the size 64 I had in the closet in 2004 and 2005. I hope to be back to those sizes by next year.

I celebrated my victories on the scale and off by continuing my rehab. I hiked three quarters of a mile, the first quarter while dressed as I was on the right, and the remaining half mile later, in casual clothes. My ankle bothers me less and less, although the dress boots I wore on the first part of the walk were more uncomfortable than my hiking shoes.

No predictions for the weight loss for the next weigh in. Having lost four pounds over the past two weeks I'm due for an flat week. However, as you can tell from the photo I could lose a pound easily by shaving. If the beard gets any longer people will think I make duck calls for a living.

Baltimore Hike, November 2006

Again a trip back to 2006, this time a visit to Baltimore to hike with two friends. I'd first met both of them in 2004, when I was over 400 pounds. I was about 275 when this hike took place.

I have little memory of this hike. Nor do I remember the Non Scale Victories mentioned, such as moving forward the car seat. I guess having such things become part of your life is a NSV in itself.

*****************

I spent yesterday in Baltimore, and I have some more non-scale victories to report. I was visiting two friends, co-authors of a study of possible sources for Shakespeare's The Tempest. I'll call them Prospero and Miranda.

The first NSV I discovered on getting into my car, AKA The Neilmobile. There's a lot more space between me and the steering wheel. If this keeps up I may need to move the seat forward.

The drive from my home to Baltimore normally takes 2.5 hours. This trip there was an accident on I-95 that added a half-hour to the commute. Despite that, I had none of my usual road-travel fatigue. I was very
pleased at this discovery, for Prospero and Miranda are both active individuals, and I needed to have energy to keep up with them.

My hosts for the day were very happy to see so much less of me. We had last met in Philadelphia in April, back when I was 330 pounds. Miranda opened the door and exclaimed
"Oh brave new Neil that hath so little fat on you!"
Perhaps the words were different, but the spirit was the same.

After lunch in Mt Washington, Prospero lead us on a mile and a half hike at Lake Roland. I thought I did quite well even though I wasn't dressed for hiking. (Note to self - buy hiking boots for next trip.) I wasn't in the least bit tired, even though the hike involved climbing hills, and I could keep up with Prospero as he lead us up those cloud-capp'd towers.The rest of the day was spent in more sedentary pursuits, but again I had no tiredness or that sense of dull-wittedness that obesity can bring.

In fact, the only time I experienced fatigue the entire time was during the trip back home. I left at nearly 9:00 PM, and as a precaution I stopped at the Maryland border to 'caffinate'. I reached home about
midnight, tired, but tired from a full day of activity, not tired from carrying the weight of two people. It was time to round this little adventure with a sleep.

To some, this pageant I've described must seem insubstantial, but for me being able to participate in life's simple pleasures - a hike along a lake with friends, a trip to a nearby city - and having the energy to enjoy them, is the goal of weight loss. And I hope these revels never end.

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

Hawk Mountain

I hate not accomplishing what I set out to do. I especially hate it when its something that should be within my abilities. And nothing irked me as much as not hiking all the way to the North Lookout at Hawk Mountain, the internationally known raptor conservancy.

Friends told me the North Lookout, which is where the Hawk Mountain volunteers conduct the annual raptor counts during the fall migration, was a do not miss view. "Its easy. Much easier than The Pinnacle, which is across the valley." Since I'd heard The Pinnacle was amazing and the two overlooks faced each other, I figured Hawk Mountain's North Lookout had to pretty impressive. Photos on the Internet showed it to be the case. So I put the trail on my short list for hiking.

I first tried to hike to the North Lookout in 2010. I was stunned by the view from the South Lookout, which is only 200 yards from the entrance to the trails. I'm reproducing that photo here, so you might experience what I did three years ago. The light was magical.....

But I didn't get to the North Lookout that trip, because as the trail became rockier my knees hurt more and my confidence grew less. So I turned around and walked back to my car, defeat on my shoulders. By 2011 my knees had become so bad that I gave up hiking, and part of my soul died when I did.

In 2012, fresh after a bilateral knee replacement, I tried again. I got no further than I did in 2010. I turned back. It was too soon after surgery. I still had the stiff-legged walk of a marionette, and a dropped foot from the straightening of my right leg. At times when I put down my right foot I'd be surprised where it landed. Not a good trait for a hike on rocks. And it didn't help my weight had soared due to the long recovery from surgery.

By April of this year I was ready again. My dropped foot condition was largely resolved. My weight was dropping like, well,  a stone. And my confidence was back. I met my friends Dodson and Chris and we headed out.

The South Lookout, of course, wasn't difficult to reach. And neither were the next few. But then the rocks began to increase in number and size, and soon enough this was the trail.

The climbing increased, and eventually we reached a set of stone steps to the Lookout.

I climbed them. Not with grace, because I found them challenging in places. But I climbed them. 

Then it was a matter of crossing the rocks at the Lookout. On the edge was one of the most scenic views in Pennsylvania. I just had to pick my way through some rocks.

And in a few minutes I'd done it. I grabbed the rail to steady myself, and drank in the view.

Not quite an epic hike. People of all ages do this hike every day. But sometimes it feels good to do what everybody else does.