Played Pickleball for the First Time in Ten Days Today

The day after seeing Bernie Sanders at the Tacoma Dome, I fell ill with a killer cold, so I’ve been laid low for the past ten days.

 

Today I felt recovered enough for the first time to play pickleball, although I didn’t know how long I’d last. Turns out I lasted the usual two hours.

 

I want to extend my playing time between now and when I have surgery to four hours, three days a week, but today my goal was just to make it to two hours.

 

At first, it wasn’t looking good, but by the time I got underway–warmed up and aerobically primed–my airways opened completely and I felt fine. Did fine, too.

 

Karen gave me a cough drop to help get the ball rolling. I’m sure the menthol in it is what cleared my chest. I was fine after that.

 

I played the entire two hours non-stop. There was no waiting today, which is unusual. (Some of the usual participants play golf on Wednesdays. That’s likely where some of them were, even though it was cool and misty out this morning. Die-hard Pacific NW golfers don’t let a little chill and mist get in the way.)

 

Because I had no appetite or ability to smell or taste food these past ten days, I didn’t eat more than about six tiny meals in all that time and  I lost about six pounds despite being inactive. That won’t last: I need to get back in the game because I’m such an easy keeper, metabolism-wise. I’d like to lose 10 to 15 pounds before I have surgery sometime in late April or early May, so I’m watching what I eat.

 

(When my metabolism was tested as a young adult, it was found I could sustain myself on just 750 calories per day–read that again, please–it is not a typo!– anything above that will put weight on me unless I’m diligent and stay mighty active. Yeah, it sucks. I had intestinal bypass surgery in 1977 to offset the tendency, but my thyroid went south on me 20 years ago so I still have a constant battle. I’m probably about forty pounds overweight, but down more than 50 pounds from my all-time high.)

 

So pickleball and wallyball (which I play on the weekends) are my salvation since I have an otherwise sedentary desk job as a writer/editor. They’re what keep me supple and active. Since picking them up about sixteen months ago I’ve lost about 25 pounds. I lost five or six pounds per month over the course of this time, and I’m staying at about 213 right now…

 

I’m healthy as a horse. My blood pressure is perfect and my cholesterol is fine. I’m sound of wind and limb (when unencumbered by colds). It’s all working for me, and I enjoy this kind of exercise. (I need to enjoy the exercise I do or I won’t do it reliably.)

 

As it warms up outside, I’ll get more active working outside and walking, biking and doing additional forms of fun exercise, so hopefully I’ll knock off a few more pounds over the course of the next six months. Having my breasts removed will take away at least 2-3 pounds.  Hallelujah!  If I could get down to 200 pounds, I would consider myself a  champ. Anything below that would be (probably) a pipe dream…