So, in getting real with you and myself, I should do a little checking in.  Part of the reason that I need to do a challenge to jump start my training is because I have been treating myself poorly.  I am acting like I am in my twenties with my food choices and as if I am in my eighties with my exercising. This has caused and is caused by my well being. So for some facts:

I am back to the starting weight I was at when my cousin and I decided to start hiking for our health and to get to know each other better; it was also the time we fell in love with hiking. I weigh 198 as of this morning.  The weight and lack of movement has me hiking slower and shorter distances.  I don’t have the stamina that I had built up.  A three mile hike is making me tired.  I could definitely do more, but I get to the point of wanting to stop.  I need to develop the stamina again.

My blood pressure has also stayed steadily higher than we would like it to be. For two years, my doctor and I have been watching it to see what was affecting it.  We learned that without milk, it drops some.  Hiking makes it drop quite a bit.  Losing weight made a difference.  But nothing other than the milk was consistent.  I tried to do an anti-inflammatory diet, but I kept having excuses to eat off the plan.  So, my doctor has taken it into her hands and put me on a diuretic.  It lowers my blood pressure and reduces the water retention hopefully reducing the puffiness I often feel all over.

The first few weeks, I couldn’t hike because the medicine made me light headed and weak.  It still does sometimes, but it doesn’t last long.  My blood pressure dropped into numbers I hadn’t seen since my first pregnancy.  I was feeling less tired and more energized.  Then the stress started to build.  Things weren’t going well for some family members and I had a lot of commitments.  My blood pressure went right back to where it was.  I am beyond those stressors and hope to see the numbers level off into a plane. When that happens, we will know what to do next.

My feet were bothering me, so I asked to see a podiatrist.  I got new shoes with his advice, and walking around two Disney parks for two days was a lot more comfortable than it would have been otherwise.  I am glad to have had that taken care of so easily.  I will still get the shot to rebuild the nerve casing because I don’t want to back slide.

My doctor suggested, a year ago, seeing a counselor or psychologist about my eating problems.  But when my blood pressure didn’t stay down, she suggested and prescribed that I see one for stress.  After five phone calls, I finally have an appointment for tomorrow.  I hope that she can help me with both issues.

Then just days after seeing my doctor and getting all of this sorted out, I found a lump in my breast.  I had more doctors to see.  It started with a mammogram and ultra sound.  This showed that the lump was a cyst, but it found what I didn’t find, a mass in the other breast.  I had to get a biopsy and an aspiration.  The aspiration of the cyst went well and showed no abnormalities.  But the mass was a different story.  It showed non-cancerous, but had fast growing cells.  Time to get a surgeon involved.  The surgeon said that the mass was a type that mimicked fibrous masses and would at least take over the breast tissue and at worst become cancerous.  So, now I am waiting for removal of the mass.  I am optimistic that this is going well.  But in the meantime, I have scheduled a hike and taken on this 100 day challenge.

Life isn’t always going to be easy.  It isn’t always going to go as planned.  But, if we remain in a good frame of mind, we will get past what ails us or learn to accept it.  And, I have also learned that a good day of hiking can change my perspective and outlook on many things, so I am going to keep hiking through it all.