Walk 1: Not really a walk

Mon, Jul 8, 2013

As mentioned in the introduction to this blog:

I’ve focused immensely on eating less, exercising more and, ultimately, losing weight. Exercise of choice, as of this writing, is walking,

But not all physical activity needs to be regimented, as I learned this last weekend when it became clear it was time to mow the lawn for the first time since moving into the new house.

I had refrained from doing much lawn work because:

A) The sod was new, and I wanted it to get well-rooted before chopping it up,

B) I wanted time to hand-weed instead of just spraying and cutting, and

C) I didn’t have a lawn mower.

Fortunately, my neighbor did and offered to let me borrow it along with a weed whacker. Unfortunately, this garage sale find’s self-propulsion drive had a broken belt, leaving the task of moving it up and down the various changes in elevation my hillside property boasts up to me and me alone. (Aside from the section Haley helped to mow [left].)

On Saturday I eagerly went to the neighbor’s house after running errands to pick up the mower and got to work for an hour or so, stopping for water breaks and a small snack only - until I ran out of lawn refuse bags. I picked up more, but by then it was 5pm and time for a social party Haley and I planned on attending. Only about 20% of the lawn was cut.

Mowing continued the next morning at a similar pace and under a similar diet as the day before, and after a total of 8 hours of pushing, hauling, dumping and weed-whacking, the lawn was completely and (somewhat) uniformly cut and packed into ten (10!) lawn bags.

I felt more than tired. I felt weak. It was at that moment I realized I had only eaten my regular daily portion of bran flakes (58g) with almond milk (1c, unsweet) just before starting and some fruit with a biscuit for lunch. It was already late afternoon, and I had been moving heavy equipment around for hours.

I badly needed food.

Haley and I went to Chilis and, for the first time in weeks, I had pasta with rich, creamy sauce. My gut would only old half of the dish, but it was enough to re-energize. At the table, the MyFitnessPal app estimated I had spent 1,900 calories mowing the lawn. My daily goal without exercise is 1,850, and I had eaten only 650 calories so far that day. With over 3,000 calories left to eat at dinner time, it’s no wonder I felt like death.

It was a treat to have heavy food and drinks with real sugar, but it would have been better to have them before starting this weekend’s yard work, which amounted to about 15 miles worth of walking. Lawn work is definitely worth mentioning in the WalkBlog, even though it lacks GPS tracking and fancy statistics.

For now, I’m proud to say that, until next month, I’ve tackled everything the new lawn threw at me and left it curbside, and I’ll be back to walking just as soon as the soreness dissipates.

Filed under Notes