Rebounding... In More Ways Than One

The past few weeks of Thirty-Six By Thirty-Six have been rather frustrating. Despite eating relatively well (aside from a weekend at Cat's, but we were both much better-behaved food-wise than in the past), the weight isn't falling off like it usually does for me when I start being more careful about what I eat. I've managed to drop seven pounds, which is perfectly reasonable weight loss for a three-week period, but I know from past experience that I can do better than that. And that is frustrating.

I'm not as young as I was last time I dropped a large amount of weight (70-odd pounds). And, intellectually, I know that one's metabolism often changes as one ages, which could be part of the issue. I think the bigger issue, however, is that I'm simply not as physically active as I once was. While I still have insane amounts of energy most of the time, my knees, hips, and - most recently - neck (from the attack - anyone who claims that I wasn't injured apparently has no clue the kind of damage a 240-pound man holding you down with his forearm will do to your neck) and back just aren't handling workouts like they used to. And, barring a miracle, my neck isn't going to get any better. It just is what it is.

I've finally come to the realization that, if I am going to get back in shape, it's going to be slower than I want in happening and take some modifications to my usual fitness routine. As much as I'd love to be pounding the pavement right now, my knees and back aren't going to tolerate that. At least not in the near term.

To that end, I bought a rebounder today. It's basically a small trampoline that has been modified with a stabilizer bar that allows you to balance yourself while you run/jog. I popped in a DVD (I'm re-watching an old science-fiction favorite, SeaQuest DSV, on Netflix), and I started jogging. And 45 minutes later, when the episode was over, I realized that I had just jogged for 45 minutes. Painlessly!

I guess that leaves me without the "it hurts to run, so I'm not gonna today" excuse.

Here's to getting my jog on. Seven pounds down... 29 to go!