Still changing for the better

To begin, some maintainer's statistics...

Weight that I decided to maintain at: 85.0kg (13st 5)

Average weight since getting to my target: 83.1kg (13st 1)

Average weight in the last month: 82.1kg (12st 13)

Away Eating days in the last month: 7

Average daily steps in the last month: 11,513

You might think that after getting to my target weight, and then maintaining at more or less that weight for a year and a half, there would not be any more to say. You could well believe (like I did) that all the body changes that were going to happen would have happened. But more is happening - maybe not the huge changes such as coming off blood pressure tablets - but good news nevertheless!

The first thing to say is that people still ask me (and even more ask Ann) whether I am losing more weight. This is usually followed by "That's enough you know". It's true that I am a pound or so lighter than this time last year, but surely not enough for people to notice. But we think that what is happening is that my body is 'settling down' a bit. My waist size has gone down a little, and certainly enough so that trousers with waist marked as 36"-38" are too loose - a year ago they were fine, so I reckon that my waist has moved from 38"-ish to more like the magic 37".

The other thing I've noticed is that my walking is getting better. It is getting less and less tiring, so that we can go out for a day of walking 20,000 steps, and I don't feel totally exhausted. In fact I only feel as tired as when I did 10,000 steps a few months ago. My personal trainer (Ann!) says that I am walking more erect, rather than with the stoop I have had for many years, and maybe that has made it easier to cover the ground. Anyway, whatever the reason, my pedometer tells me that my stride is becoming longer, and my personal trainer tells me that she can struggle to match my speed, whereas just a few months ago it was me struggling to match her speed. It's a strange experience, now I have my 65th birthday in sight, to be getting fitter and fitter. Of course I realise that as I get older my body will start to protest more and more, but for now I am just enjoying it!