Contacts vs. Glasses

I've worn contact lenses since 9th grade, more than two decades ago. In recent years they've become increasingly uncomfortable. My eyes feel dry and sometimes gritty (I have a chronic infection which doesn't help). I do a great deal of squinting because the contacts have never thoroughly corrected my vision. I can see much better with my glasses.

For me, there is a disconcerting difference in size between things as seen through glasses or contacts. It may sound ridiculous, but I think it may have partially contributed to some of my weight gain this winter. I stopped wearing my contact lenses immediately after our wedding at the beginning of January. Everything appears MUCH smaller with my glasses on, so I think I was able to ignore some of the visual cues. I went without wearing my contacts until the end of May when my husband and I climbed a small mountain in the Adirondacks on a rainy, humid day. My glasses became a liability, and I realized I wouldn't want to deal with that while climbing High Peaks this summer.

But after wearing my contacts again for only two months, I'm desperately tired of them. I don't like not being able to see well and the dryness is beyond irksome. On our recent hike up Seymour Mountain my poor sister was forced to carry her glasses more than she was able to wear them because of the humidity. My eyesight is so bad I can't imagine being able to take more than two steps without smashing into a tree or tripping over a rock (two things I do regularly even with corrective lenses).

My guess is as soon as the snow flies in the mountains my contacts will take a long winters nap. I'll just need to remember not to be fooled by the illusion of smallness created by my glasses.

Getting fit & losing weight

Weight has mainly been just a number for me. That's not to say I never obsessed over it in high school, but generally I've been more concerned with how my clothes fit or how I feel in my body.

Over the last couple years I've been eating more and experiencing a gradual shift. I occasionally bought another pair of jeans that were more comfortable than some of my old standbys. I stopped wearing some of my other clothes and added them to the to-be-donated pile. On a warm day in early spring I pulled out a pair of my capri pants and found I could barely button them. And once I managed that I couldn't breathe or sit. In a panic I pulled out the rest of my capris and shorts. I could only squeeze into one pair of each. That was the last straw. It was time to do something.

So I bought a bathroom scale. And saw a number I'd never seen before and was not willing to live with.

So then I bought a Fitbit One. It tracks steps, distances, calories burned, and overall activity level. I clipped it on my waistband and haven't taken a step without it since. The daily goals and cheesy badges help motivate me. I get bummed when I don't make my 10,000 steps per day. Really bummed.

I also knew I had to address my eating habits. Somehow I had let my portion sizes increase to unnecessarily large. My husband cooks for an army every night and I was apparently trying to eat for one. So smaller serving sizes were needed. I also had to get my dessert consumption under control. I'd let myself develop the habit of eating at least one form of dessert EVERY DAY. That had to stop. At first I put into effect a "Sundays and special occasions only" rule. In order to break the habit, I had to do something drastic. And with my sweet-tooth, that was drastic.

Now I've been able to relax that rule and eat s'mores when we're camping or get ice cream with my nephew without worrying about falling back into the daily candy bar from the vending machine, cookies, and cake-apalooza I was enjoying before. I'm back into my capri pants and most of my shorts and jeans (still some work to be done). But more importantly, I feel better. Because it isn't just about the number on the scale or being able to fit into my clothes again. It's about being FIT. I want to know my body can climb tall mountains and hike 14+ miles in a day when I ask it to.