Getting in Shape

My hiatus from posting here is not all my doing. The WiFi at our site has been down for four days. The Verizon wireless stick is to no avail here deep in the woods of Eastern Pennsylvania. It’s amazing to me. Reception was fine in the deserts and mountains of Arizona, the Badlands of the Dakotas and the Bayou of Louisianna. Yet, here we are, a mere hour from Philadelphia and the cell phone reception pretty much sucks. I didn’t realize how much I am dependent upon the internet. Not so much for the communication, but for the entertainment factor. It stimulates me far more than TV. The ability to keep in contact with friends, read others’ blogs and search for information on a myriad of topics is one of the highlights of the day. Instead, I’ve chosen to begin a walking program in preparation for surgery. I have 65 days to prepare for this. There are no athletic clubs, gyms, or workout centers that exist in the area. I’m relegated to a series of band movements for the upper body muscle tone, squats and walking for the lower limbs. My physical condition proved to be a winning formula the last time I did battle with cancer. I won. I was in the best shape of my baby boomer life. I’m determined to establish that zone once again in hopes of  saying one more time…… I win. So it’s been a daily saunter of four miles, half of which are hills.  I have cut back my food intake considerably. That seems to be an easy thing to do, considering I’m cheffing at the cafe. Being around food most of the day, it becomes mundane. You get tired of seeing the offerings over and over. By the time I’m home, I have no penchant for regular food. However, the results of limiting my food intake to this point have not met my expectations. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I don’t consider dessert as regular food. I’m surmising it’s the berry pies, whoopie cakes, or the ice cream that keeps getting in the way of progress. The camp store provides a revolving choice of flavors of which has to be the best ice cream you’ve eaten. This has even replaced my nightly routine of Oreo cookies. But this too shall pass. The ice cream will become a foregone fad and whoopie cakes won’t exist out of the Amish country. So I shall become once again relegated to just the fruit pies and chocolate. This is going to be a formidable test.