Category: health

Week 27 – Worst Weigh In Ever

Everything has sucked this morning. Almost everything. The election in Massachusetts went well, as if there had been any doubt. Today’s new episode of Star Wars Andor was absolutely fucking amazing. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V. That nazi piece of filth Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Now add Andy effin’ Serkis to the list of amazing inspirational speeches before a battle, fictional or historical fictional or otherwise. Holy shit that episode was giving me chills, and I am secure enough in my masculinity to say that I may have teared up a little. Damn!

Star Wars not withstanding, everything else has sucked today. I have said the last few weeks that I was waiting for a weigh in that leveled off. It came today. I am down, but only 0.4 pounds. It’s only been five days since the last weigh in so I should really get over myself and take it as the plus that I know it is, but for some reason it just pissed me off. I have been feeling like I was slipping into a really shitty bad mood for the last day or so and seeing the scale pushed me over the bad mood edge. It’s completely irrational but it’s true.

Exercise made it worse. For the last few days I’ve been running in place and going five miles in about 42 minutes. Today the same exercise needed 60 minutes to hit five miles. Why? My first mile pace was normal. The second was a little slower than normal. I don’t know why. The third was normal. The fourth was double normal. The fifth was also double normal. What the fuck?

So now here I am in a full blown shitty headspace. Maybe I’ll just watch Andor again and see if it helps.

Addendum: I should also add that another reason I was falling into a pissy mood was this blog had the worst day stats-wise that it has had in over four years. I had less than a fifth of my normal hits. That shouldn’t effect my mood at all because this page is completely and totally pointless, but it did so there you go.

Sweaty

You know something? Running in place for 45 minutes is a whole shit load more difficult than walking in place for 45 minutes.

I upped my workout settings from 40 minute indoor run to 45 minutes yesterday. The reason being that I wanted to guarantee I close my move ring, which counts calories, at the same time I close the exercise ring. The exercise goal is 30 minutes. I think we’re getting to the point where that needs to be increased to 60 minutes. I actually hit 60 minutes the last two days. Maybe December 1st. Maybe January 1st. We’ll see. My move/calorie goal is set to 1000 calories. I haven’t missed that goal in over 150 days. I think the time is coming to raise that goal too. Maybe raise it to 1500. I had it set to 1250 for a while last year. 2000 seems too high. 1500 might be a better challenge. January 1st. Maybe. Anyway, jogging in place for 40 minutes wasn’t getting me up to 1000 but it was getting me close. 45 minutes today gave me 1020. Perfect. We’ll stick with this setup for a while.

What else is going on? I still haven’t played the guitar since the end of September. I do have a couple of song ideas going for national solo album month though. I haven’t given up yet. I just need to find the time to play. The calluses on my left hand are gone, and there is something wrong with my left arm that is causing me a lot of pain. I don’t know what it is. I don’t remember doing anything to cause it. Is it tendonitis again? Last time that was in my left thumb. I don’t know. I haven’t been lifting the dumbbells since it started. Maybe I should? I don’t know. I don’t think it will stop me from playing, but we’ll find out at some point.

I started a time lapse video of a candle next to my desk today. I figured you all missed that stuff. You do, right? Wait… don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Let me remain deluded.

Okay. Time to go make breakfast. Assuming my post-running legs can still move.

Six Month Weigh In

Six months ago today I had my stomach and my intestines chopped up and rewired. Since then I have lost a little bit of weight. I did my weekly weigh in two days ago and I expected today’s monthly weigh in to be seriously underwhelming. Possibly so underwhelming that I wouldn’t report it to the universe in this way.

I was wrong. In two days I have lost 1.8 pounds. Back in the weight watchers (WW) days I would have been thrilled to lose 1.8 pounds in a week. That much in two days though? To quote the brilliant Pam Poovey, “holy shit snacks!”

The BMI is down to 33.1 from 33.3. The loss since the surgery is at 159.8. Sooooo close to 160. The loss since the first check in is now at 180.4 pounds. When people ask I can honestly say that I have lost ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY POUNDS.

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY!

The next weigh in is Wednesday, five days from now. Until then, happy exercising and only eating 80 grams of protein a day.

Sick Day Tomorrow

I will be calling out of work for a sick day tomorrow. I actually scheduled it with my boss today, but I’ll send him a message in the morning to verify.

Dad is still in the hospital. Visiting hours are 10:00am to 6:00pm. I’ll probably leave here at 9:00am and get home by 7:00pm. I should be able to have a real breakfast before I go, and a real dinner when I get home. Only lunch will be a variety of protein bars and protein snacks. I’ll be able to hit my food and drink goals, I am sure.

I am worried about my father. I think my fear is that this hospital stay represents the snowball that is going to become an avalanche. I have no rational reason for thinking this, I am just gun shy after all the shit that has gone down in the past two years. I need to embrace the power of positive thinking. You can bet your sweet as I will do so when I’m with him, but when I am alone with my thoughts? I’m nervous.

I am not sure how this is going to effect our plans for the weekend. We don’t really have any plans, outside of hanging a couple of shelves in the kitchen and replacing some cabinet door handles and drawer pulls. I am just hoping to spend some time with my wife. I’ve been stressing out like crazy over the last week or two and I need to focus on her a little extra. I’d like to go away for a few days but with a huge trip coming up in less than 10 weeks and Covid still making us nervous I don’t think weekend travel is in the cards. Maybe we’ll just sit on the couch and watch whatever reality TV shows catch her eye. As long as we’re together it will be time well spent. A weekend in San Diego would be pretty sweet too. I’m trying.

I’ve been wanting to wake up very early all week this week and I keep waking up at exactly the same time. Wouldn’t it be nice to have my walkies/joggies and my breakfast done before Jen gets out of bed?

Okay, enough of my yappin’. It’s time to sit up in bed watching the last 70 minutes of Casino Royale. Talk to you later, universe.

We Didn’t Win

The bad news is we didn’t win 1.2 billion dollars in the Powerball lottery last night. The good news is no one else did either. I guess we just have to wait until Saturday for all of our financial fantasies to start coming true. That’s fine with me.

I weighed in yesterday morning, as usual for Wednesdays. I said I was going to weigh in on Friday (tomorrow) as well, as usually for the 4th of each month. Why then did I weigh in today as well?

Jen has this really cool Bluetooth enabled scale. She steps on the scale and it sends the result to an app on her iPhone, which then calculates a bunch of values including BMI, and then updates the Apple Health app. When all of this surgical fun started I had to buy a second scale because the groovy Bluetooth scale didn’t read anything above 350 pounds and I was over 450. I bought a scale that went up to 500 and I’ve used it ever since. Yesterday after I stepped on my scale, Jen asked me why I am not using the groovy Bluetooth scale. I didn’t have an answer.

Last night before bed I setup the app on my iPhone and used Jen’s scale for the first time. It told me I was up 0.8 pounds. Nope. No thank you. This morning when I woke up I stepped on the scale right away, which is how I do things on Wednesdays. It had me down 0.4 from my official weigh in yesterday. That’s better. From this point on, I am using the groovy Bluetooth scale. Tomorrow I will step on the scale again to celebrate the monthiversary and I will use that number to update my spreadsheet. Today’s number will not go on the spreadsheet. Today’s number is unofficial. This is the way. I have spoken.

While doing my morning trotting in place today I finished the forth and final Pierce Brosnan Bond movie, Die Another Day. It’s not awful, but it did feel a little too… Austin Powers-ish for comfort. The good news is, the next movie in line is Casino Royale, and that’s the single best non-Sean Connery Bond movie that exists. I’ll start that one at some point tonight and hopefully finish it in the morning. The Daniel Craig era is imminent.

My father is in the hospital. He went to the ER yesterday and was admitted last night. I don’t have any news. I’m seriously worried about him even though the rational part of me knows he’s going to be fine. My brother and sister were with him yesterday and will be with him today. If he’s still in the hospital tomorrow I’ll take over. I just let my boss know that I might need to be out. I should be all set. Now I just need some news, and I need to stop worrying.

For now though, back to work with you!

Week 26 Weigh In

For the second week in a row I was worried that my great big increase in my protein goal which resulted in a great big increase in food intake would lead to an underwhelming loss this week, or maybe even a gain. I was seriously nervy when I stepped on the scale this morning.

Nope, I lost almost as much this week as last week. I am down 4.6 pounds, which brings me to 273.4. Epic.

No weight loss milestones this week, but I’m nearly in position to hit a few next week, assuming this pace continues. Total weight loss since surgery is now 158 pounds exactly. Total weight loss since the first check in at the clinic is now 178.6. My BMI has dropped from 33.8 last week to 33.3 today.

I guess my change in exercise helped out this week. I have gone from ~45 minutes of walking, or a walk/jog hybrid, to jogging in place for ~40 minutes. For the second day in a row my exercise and calorie goals (as set on my Apple Watch, not by a doctor) were both closed before I started my work day. That’s ridiculous.

This is just me speculating right now, it’s not anything like a goal or anything. We are scheduled to leave for Disney World on January 4th. I am 21.4 pounds away from hitting the 200 mark since the first weigh in. Am I going to be able to hit 200 pounds by Disney? I’m exactly 42 pounds away from 200 since the surgery. I don’t see that happening, but the trip starts 10 weeks from today. If I average four pounds a week… it maybe could happen. Holy shit!

The next weigh in will be the six month weigh in on Friday 11/4. I don’t expect to be down four pounds again, but if I am down anything at all, 0.01 pounds even, then I will consider it a successful two days. Maybe I’ll do an extra 40 minute run tonight, just for fun. Or more accurately, just for “fun”.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween, everyone! I can’t believe October is ending. What the hell, time?

I took today off. Partly because of the use-it-or-lose-it time off thing at work, but also because we have a contractor coming today. The window for expected arrival is 8:00am to noon. I got up early and did my exercise and had everything done before 8:00. I am kinda proud of myself. I did another 40ish minutes of running in place and hit a simulated, estimated five miles. Absolutely insane. My calorie goal is at 99% already and it’s only 9:07.

I didn’t catch last night’s episode of The Walking Dead on live TV so I watched it this morning while “running.” It’s always fitting to watch a new episode on Halloween. The show debuted on Halloween after all. 12 years ago. Insane.

No word from the contractor yet. He’s coming to measure our windows. They are going to be replaced eventually and this is just the next step. My father isn’t well right now and I will be going to check in on him this afternoon. I just don’t know when. Jen is working so to kill time while I wait for the window guy I’m picking off some more James Bond. I may be past the brief Timothy Dalton era at some point this morning. I am watching License to Kill right now. I remember this one being a little on the weak side but it seems okay so far. I forgot all about the very, very young Benicio Del Toro. I also forgot that they brought back an old Felix Leiter actor. I used to think it was the original actor but I looked it up and it’s not. It’s the original Roger Moore era actor. Also, I think I forgot about Wayne Newton too. Wayne Newton? Bless your heart. Jen’s working today so I am wearing headphones through the Apple TV. The sync is a little off, but I’ll live.

I am afraid I am not going to be here for trick or treating tonight. I was really looking forward to pretending I was part of society again. Jen and I talked about it. If I’m at my dad’s during trick or treat time I will be one of those wimps who puts a bowl of candy on the steps and lets the kids help themselves. Better than nothing, I guess.

It’s 9:28. Still no word from the contractor. Sigh. I was hoping we’d get through this early today, but what can you do?

Once again, Happy Halloween, everyone. BOO! Scared ya, didn’t I?

Saturday Morning

I slept late today. I didn’t get up until almost 8:00am. The temperature outside at that time? 31 degrees. Shit. Winter is here.

I did my morning exercise before breakfast today. Over the last couple of weeks I have been walking in place for a bit then running in place for a bit and alternating until I hit about 5k in simulated distance. Yesterday I just ran the whole thing About 32 minutes, I think. Today I did the same except I actually used the indoor run workout in the workout app instead of the indoor walk setting. I went a little over my distance goal so that I could get up to 700 calories. I ended up at four miles (simulated). My feet and my calves are hurting, but I feel like I accomplished something.

The plan for today is another small kitchen improvement project, a visit to my mother, and a visit to my father. Beyond that, I don’t know for sure. Guitar, I hope. Bond movies, I assume. I want to watch yesterday’s That Pedal Show but the topic is a Boss pedal and I don’t really like Boss pedals, generally speaking.

I just stumbled over the new clock app in the new MacOS. I opened the clock on my phone and it came up on the laptop as a handoff. Sweet. Now I can track my time between bites on my computer instead of my phone.

I started a Bond movie while doing my faux running today. A View to a Kill. The last Roger Moore. It’s better than I remembered it, but it’s not very good. Christopher Walken as the bad guy. Can he play the bad guy in every Bond movie going forward? That would be fun.

I haven’t done my pick for the World Series post yet. Game one was last night. No spoilers on my pick, but the Phillies won and I am happy. I’ll do the real post later today. The UMass Lowell Riverhawks won too, and the Bruins are off to their best start in 10000 years at 8-1-0 after another win last night. I failed to watch/listen to either game, but I followed the scores as best I could. It was the first time I didn’t listen to at least a few minutes of either team’s game. Oh well.

Last night Jen and I both threw our names into the hat to be beta testers for Jack Dorsey’s new social network, Bluesky Social. Over the last year or so this page has been the only sort of social networking service that I’ve really been using. Actually, that isn’t entirely accurate. I stopped using Facebook and I’ve nearly stopped using Twitter, but I still use Flickr and lately I’ve been using the Flickr Groups more than normal and all of that counts as a social network. I have no idea what Bluesky Social is going to entail, but if it lets me thumb my nose at Musk and Twitter a little then sign me up.

Okay, time to wrap this post up. Bond and Tanya Roberts just stole a fire engine and jumped a draw bridge and that’s not cartoonish at all, right?

Week 25 Weigh In

Was this morning’s weigh in good?

Oh yeah, this morning’s weigh in was good.

I’ve been doing this for almost six months and I am still losing weight like crazy. Today gave me another five pounds. Five. Pounds.

Milestones galore, babie. The 10’s columns all changed. Like… all of them. I went from 283 pounds to 278 pounds. I weigh less than 280 pounds for the first time since… infancy? Something like that. Seems that way, at least. The amount lost since the surgery has topped 150 pounds, coming in at 153.4. The total lost since January has topped a colossal 170 pounds, reaching exactly 174 pounds.

One hundred seventy-four pounds. My brain might literally explode. That would increase the total weight loss by about three pounds, but I don’t think I want to lose those particular pounds.

My BMI has dropped from 34.4 to 33.8. That means I am 3.8 away from not being obese anymore. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I thought that having a week or so where I am trying to increase my daily protein intake by 20 grams a day might have some effect on my weight loss for the week, but nope. Things went well this week. I am pretty stoked. I have to admit that I did step on the scale once over the weekend. I really wanted to see if I went below 280. I was at 280.4 or something like that. I didn’t mark it down, but I did break my only-weigh-myself-once-a-week pledge. I figured it was okay. I just don’t want to make a habit out of it, you know?

Happy week 25. Next Wednesday marks week 26, and two days later will mark Six months. Should I weigh in on both days? Should I only mark the month? Should I not mark the month and only mark the week? We’ll see.