I am trying to keep my self-promise to work on weight-loss. Two steps forward, one step back.

My forward-moving steps have been in hiking boots and bare feet. (Huh?)

Yep, the Chippewa hikers are coming in handy for walking… when not raining (which it has been doing a lot lately), around the community some 4 – 8 miles each outing, or on the treadmill.

We have had a treadmill is in our basement for a number of years. When we settle there after dinner to hang out and watch TV, I walk on the treadmill instead of being a couch potato. Or some of the time, anyway.

I had forgotten, but now appreciate, how tired that exercise before going to bed makes me. When I hit the sack, I am in deep sleep within seconds. Not even a minute. Seconds.

The bare feet come in because I have gone to my university’s swimming pool to swim laps in the “senior lanes” of the indoor “Natatorium,” one of the premier indoor swimming complexes in the region. I am not the fastest or the most graceful. Heck, I can barely dog-paddle. But I try. 50 laps is my target; however long that takes.

And NO, I will not wear flip-flops on the pool deck and changing room. They suggest not to walk with bare feet, so I have been wearing reef shoes (believe it or not!) I’ve had these reef shoes since our travels to Australia where I snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef.

These are my forward-moving steps. My “step back” again has to do with what I can eat. The Spouse loves vegetables, so when I prepare his evening meal with two or three fresh vegetables, I try some of them. Even if I can get past the taste (herbs are my friend), my chronic intestinal illness still reminds me why I can’t eat fiber, tannins, salicylates, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, or Omega 3 fatty acids. Let’s just say that my ADA-compliant toilet has become my friend again, too.

I am good at portion control. That has never been a problem. There are several on-line calculators that help with that — and you don’t have to have a sillyphone to use them. However, I still can’t fathom just four ounces of lean meat. I eat that and am hungry again in a half-hour!

Oh well… my boots and I will keep trying. It takes time… one step at a time.

Life is short: keep focused on the goal.