Category: health

Two Hours to Go

The weekend is about two hours away. 123 minutes, to be exact. I’m finding motivation a little tough to come by this afternoon but I will get everything that needs to be done today done today as far as work goes.

Jen is planning on spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. How good does that sound, right? I will go grocery shopping afterward. I’m a little behind on my protein intake for today so I may need to eat something substantial after I get home. I am ahead of the game on hydration though. My post-lunch one hour pause before having anything to drink will end in about three minutes and I’ve got a 20 ounce bottle of Gatorade Zero upstairs in the fridge with my name on it. After that my daily liquid intake goal will be obliterated nicely.

I put out four mouse traps in the cellar. The cats don’t come down here so it should be okay. Let me rephrase, the cats are not allowed down cellar. They very much want to come down here, I just don’t let them. One trap went off but I think that was due to a ghost, or an Earthquake or something. No mice were involved. I did see one running past the base of the stairs. I was upstairs and opened the door to come down and there it was. Asshole. Was it the same mouse I saw earlier? How the hell should I know, it was a mouse. I wasn’t checking for identifying details. Sheesh.

Reminder to myself: Write lyrics tonight. Record vocals in some random empty parking lot tomorrow morning. Maybe take the cameras to the ocean for sunrise on Sunday. The forecast at Salisbury Beach looks promising. We’ll see. Sunrise would be great, but music is what’s important. I also need to clean the kitchen and do a little work straightening out the kids rooms this weekend. That’s important too, but a different kind of important, you know? Health and well being and happiness vs musical mental health. Simple. Speaking of, when’s the next band practice?

Okay, Robert. Go get that Gatorade Zero and finish your work projects. You’ve got this, red head. No problem. 110 minutes until the weekend.

Post script: There was just a blast of thunder outside that was loud enough to shake the walls a little. It didn’t set off any of the mouse traps though. That’s good.

Sleep and Stomach Stuff

I wanted to go to bed early last night but I ended up staying awake until almost midnight. Dumb ass. The numbers my Apple Watch collected were pretty weak. I didn’t have a lot of restful sleep and my heart rate didn’t drop very much. I managed to keep the CPAP mask on all night. That’s been a trial for me lately. I have to put it on super tight to keep the seal from letting go. I’ve had two days in a row without problems, but the previous four or five days all had me taking the mask off at some point in the night because the bad seal kept waking me up.

I woke up with some stomach fun this morning too. Yesterday I had a big lunch. It was way more food than I can handle post-bypass. Then at dinner I did it again. I had way more food than I could handle. It resulted in me feeling uncomfortably stuffed for hours last night. Eventually it passed and I was able to have some water and a snack before bed. It did result in me waking with a stomach ache. Not one of those really bad curled-up-in-a-ball-on-the-floor type stomach aches, just a normal bad stomach ache. I tried to work through it while exercising but I had to stop. I spent some time in the bathroom (TMI) and eventually it passed. I had some breakfast and it didn’t come back. I feel a little worn out this morning, but I don’t feel any pain now.

And that’s the health update for today. I’m going to have lunch about an hour from now. I don’t expect any problems, but I should probably make sure I don’t overdo it again, right?

13th Month Weigh In

I’m sure my army of loyal readers (reader) has been missing my weekly weigh in posts and pining away for the next monthly weigh in. Well, it’s June 4th. Surgery was 13 months ago today. What’s the news?

The news is that I am up, but only a tiny bit. I think it’s safe to say that I am holding steady. On May the 4th I was at 204.8 pounds. This morning I was 205.4. A gain of 0.6 pounds. Let’s round it off at half a pound for colloquialism’s sake (wait, is that even a thing?).

The total weight lost since the surgery is 226 pounds and the total since the first weigh in is 246.6 pounds. My BMI is holding at 25, which technically means I am overweight, but it’s close enough to normal weight for me.

Over the last month I never updated my spreadsheet or the health app on my iPhone, but I did step on the scale a few times. Today’s weigh in is the lowest of the few, but only by a fraction of a pound. I never topped 207. I think I can say that I am holding my ground at this point. I have definitely been eating more, especially at lunch time and after dinner. I’ve cut back on protein supplements a little bit but I’d like to cut back more if I can. I want to eat real food more often.

Okay then, the weigh in is complete. We’ll talk again on July 4th and celebrate US Independence with a monthly weigh in. Until then, stay tuned for more cat pictures. Good day.

Always Learning New Things

It’s been almost a year and a month since my Gastric Bypass and I find I am still learning new things.

Yesterday I learned that melted-to-the-point-of-liquified protein bars are icky-gross. Today I learned that Atkins brand, keto-friendly BBQ fake potato chips are super duper spicy, and not being able to take a drink of water for an hour after you finish eating makes eating super duper spicy fake potato chips rather uncomfortable.

18 minutes to go before I can wash the spicy down. Hang in there, bypass boy.

12 < 15

Idiot.

I took a swig of lemonade at 11:42am, just as my last meeting in Foxborough was wrapping up. I left the building, went to the car, and started driving to my next meeting in Westwood. I took a little protein snack out of the package and took a bite at 11:54am.

What’s wrong with this picture?

I am supposed to wait 15 minutes after drinking something before eating something. 11:54 – 11:42 = 12 minutes. 12 is less than 15. Like our elementary school teachers taught us, 12<15.

Idiot. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t wait the full 15 minutes. Stupid. I won’t have anything more until after 1:00pm, so my stomach should be good and empty by then. Still… it’s called a clock, moron. Use it.

Trying Something… Maybe

The kids are here and I am about to cook dinner on the grill. I am thinking of trying something that I haven’t tried since before the weight loss surgery. I am thinking of having an actual hamburger. Like burger patty and a hamburger roll, together.

I am afraid, but I think I am up for it.

Wish me burger-luck.

Ouch

I knew this was coming but it’s been a long time since it’s happened…

I am so sore today. From head to toe, but especially my right shoulder.

Jen joked that I’ll probably recover from helping Bellana move just in time to help Harry move. Truth! Not that it will slow me down. I’m happy to help. It’s not overstating things to say I’m honored to help. I’m weird like that, I guess.

For now though… ouch.

That was a Day

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Her old apartment was on the second floor. Her new apartment is on the third floor. So many stairs.

If today’s events had happened a year ago, pre gastric bypass, I probably would have died of a massive heart attack by lunch time. I was very pleased that I got to help Bellana in a time of need. I’m also very pleased that I was physically able to pull it off without dropping dead. That felt good, though I’m in tons of pain tonight and I’ll probably sleep until dinner time tomorrow and tonight’s very late dinner gave me the foamies and I’ll probably need another hour to recover.

I wish Jen had been with me, but outside of that it was a really good day.