Chocolate day!

My real reward every week for continuing weight loss is one (1!) piece of dark chocolate bark with peanuts. A 2x3" piece has about 200 calories, and to me it is worth every one of those calories. I combine it with fresh fish day, so the total for the day is still good. A half pound of good Pacific rockfish has few calories and tons of protein, so I treat myself to this every week, too.

I had vague thoughts of eating half this small piece now and the rest after lunch -- but of course, it's all gone. And all appreciated. My body needs some sugar to put energy back into those depleted muscles after the workout, right? I can swing that rationalization easily.

I learned a new lesson yesterday: don't try hiking up the hill through the park a couple of days after tough leg exercises, when the aches and pains are still evident. Not because of the pain, but because that pain tends to signal that the muscles are still tired, not recovered from the intentional stresses of the workout. The mistake became obvious quickly, since the steepest part of the trail is the first part, leaving my driveway and going up steeply for a good while. My leg muscles seemed shocked. What? You expect me to climb this hill? Seriously? Not only were the muscles still tired, they also hadn't recovered full strength and there were a few times when I wondered if they were actually going to lift my body up the next step. But they did, although without a lot of enthusiasm. In fact, I had to force one foot in front of the other all the way up to the downhill trail and beyond. At some point, my speed increased without any conscious effort and in the end it all worked out and I did the whole 3 +- miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes -- only 5 minutes slower than my best time.

As for today -- I woke up with little energy (probably due to yesterday's efforts) and at the gym that translated to little muscle energy, but again I persevered and again I put in the time and effort. My upper arms are still screaming, but that's ok. Not much more for them to do until Wednesday.

Rain here today -- misty rain, for the most part -- and it's very welcome. We're not as bad off as California, but the mountains have little snow and the outlook isn't wonderful for the summer, without rain. Bring it on!