Looking Back....

So last year was not great in terms of weight loss or general health.  I did well for the first third of the year.  My weight loss was a little slow, but happening and I lost a stone but also increased my fitness hugely.  I was walking 5km at least once a week and could do 7km occasionally.  I felt great and in April made an effort to resize my wardrobe using Vinted.  I sold most of my too big clothes, sizes 28 - 32, and brought 24 and 26, with jeans in size 28.  I also future proofed it with smaller sizes of jeans and size 22 and 20 clothes.  I expected to keep losing weight and feeling great.

Then we went on holiday to Italy, all inclusive.

I ate all the food, three meals a day.  I had a great time and went out and about a lot.  I got an insect bite that was really nasty on my big tow on my right leg that was really nasty and I had to treat for the rest of the holiday.  I also ended up with very swollen legs from walking, the higher temperature and just not sitting with my legs up as I do at home.  I came home 1.5 stone heavier.

I also came home sick.  One of the people in the group had gone out knowing they were ill and had no voice for the whole week.  Not surprisingly, they passed it on to a few people and of course, I was one of them.  At the airport, I noticed a slight sore throat and the next morning at an airport hotel in the UK, I woke with an awful headache and feeling really rough.

That was it really.  I lost my voice for days, had a temperature for a bit and even after I recovered, it dragged on.  Others in the group ended up with antibiotics.  One person was really sick and kept blacking out and last I heard, it was believed to have been Walking Pneumonia.  Of course it might not have been and we could all have had different things, but it was bad...

I lost some weight fairly quickly as some was water retention but I was just under a stone heavier when I next weighed and eight months later I am still about the same, with some small fluctuations up and down.

As I cleared the bug, it became clear that I had another problem though.  I had pins and needles in my right leg.  The doctors ruled out anything mechanical and I didn't go back because it was steadily improving.  I think it was some sort of nerve thing from the swelling and possibly also the insect bite.  It took about 5 months to clear completely and it made walking unpleasant as the sensations were much more noticeable then.

I was doing a walking challenge for the year.  It was divided up in to four quarters.  I had done the first quarter ok and I managed, with some effort, to get back on track with the second quarter after being ill.  That was in part because I had been feeling really good in April and was already ahead.  I tried for the third quarter but had to give up and let it go and I didn't even show up for the fourth quarter.

My husband had covid in the summer too and I had other bugs.  My ears were a real issue.  All my life they have been a problem but they had been good for a while.  The invention of antibiotic ear spray as been huge for me and steroid drops have really helped keep the eczema in my ear canals under control.  My ears got infected though and by the time the Doctor saw me, antibiotic spray didn't shift it.  The antibiotic pills started to work but I needed a second course.  I also ended up with anti-fungal ear drops and steroid nasal spray.  

It took five weeks to shift and although I was walking to begin with, it didn't last.  

After the wedding, I got another bug, not surprisingly and then in December, my ears started up again.  While not very bad, they are very much affected by the cold which makes them hurt more.  I didn't feel like walking and the UK winter weather made it a really bad idea anyhow.  

It's really noticeable that my fitness has dropped considerably.  My walks, when I do them, are around 1.2km.  Its hard to muster much enthusiasm when your body is fighting you.  Sometimes you have to be patient and gentle.  Making myself more tired and more sick is so easy.  It's not always easy to be sensible.  Sooo last year was tough, but it wasn't bad.  I had a lot of fun and did some great things, met some great people.  I definitely did not meet my health and fitness goals though.

But I keep going.  I have not gone very backward in terms of weight, in fact I finished the year weighing exactly the same as I began it on.  The fitness wouldn't take too long to regain, my body will remember.  I know I can do it.