How Will I Do This?

Well everything's different now.

I've moved to one of the greatest food cities in the world.

No, not Paris.

No, not Dallas. (Laugh all you want: have you eaten there?0

San Francisco. (Sigh!)

Carnitas, pho, croissants, you name it.

All of which poses a problem.

What to eat? Or rather: what not to eat, when to eat, when not to eat?

For about two weeks I was crazy with moving and slowly migrating myself and my possessions from Santa Cruz to San Francisco.

I admit, during this time I ate nearly anything I wanted.

Not absolutely anything.

I still ate lots of fruit, for instance.

And I tried not to pig out absolutely every opportunity I got.

But I did eat a lot. And I barely exercised at all.

At my lowest I weighed about 135.

With lots of running, I settled into 137 pounds, but still a 29-inch waist. And that was with less than 11% body fat--according to my scale, which is flaky.

Now I'm finally getting back to exercise after basically a two week gap.

I still can't quite figure out where to jog.

One day I hiked up to Bernal Park. I hiked up it. Then I ran around it a few times. A good warmup.

Yesterday I ran down Hampshire towards downtown, then over to Portrero Hill proper, which I walked up--no mean feat!

Then across a little pedestrian bridge to my nabe.

It was a decent hour, but certainly not something one could do twice for a two-hour workout.

I'd like to go to the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park and run to the ocean. It's a 30-minute bus ride to there, and those buses are less frequent on the way back. But one day soon I'll try.

Meanwhile, what do I eat? I'm eating more at home now, so that should help.

Can I still keep track of calories? Or should I just eat what I know is good and healthy, then allow myself a certain number of pastries and treats when exercising?

I'll have to find some healthy balance. Eating one of those lovely little tart cherry pastries from the Mexican bakery near me every day is not going to work!

I was up to 142 pounds, now 140.2 pounds after an hour-long run.

I wish I could tell you the body fat, but my scale is being quite irrational. It's either 8% or 18%. Do I get to pick?!

How will I manage?

I'll find a way.

--E. R. O'Neill