Weigh Ins and Time Machine

I have been thinking about what to do about weigh ins now that I’ve passed the one year since surgery mark. Once a week suddenly seems gratuitous, especially when I’m not really losing a lot with any degree of regularity anymore. I think I am going to ditch the Wednesday weigh ins. At least in terms of tracking everything. I might step on the scale now and then, but I don’t see myself recording the data like I was in year one.

The monthly weigh ins are another story. I think I am going to continue to do that. Maybe it’s a compromise. The data analyst part of my tiny little pea brain will still have regular data to keep track of, just not quite as often. I think that’s a good plan going forward. I can still obsess about weight, just not as often. Good and good.

My in-laws, Charlotte and Sherman, gave me an Amazon.com gift card for my birthday. Thank you so much. Big smile. Right on queue, the two terabyte USB hard drive I use for my MacBook Pro’s Time Machine back ups sort of bricked itself today. It’s suddenly in read only mode. Guess what I used the gift card for! It’s almost like the disc drive knew today was my birthday so it took full advantage. Timing is everything, kids.

Okay… back to work, Robert. Your customers don’t care that it’s your birthday. You don’t care either, but they care even less, you know? Get to it.

One Year Anniversary Weigh In

I think I may have mentioned that today is the first anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery. Have I dropped that factoid onto the blog yet today? I think I have.

To summarize the results of yesterday’s weigh in (again), my most recent goal was to get below 205 pounds because that would put my BMI below 25. A BMI of 25 and up means you are overweight. A BMI of less than 25 means you are at a normal weight. I haven’t been at a healthy weight at any moment during my adult life, and possibly at any moment in my entire life as a whole.

Last week’s weigh in (week 51) had me at 205.6 pounds. So very close to that overweight/healthy weight line. Yesterday’s weigh in (week 52) messed up that good vibe by coming in at 206.6. I joked in the post about maybe magically losing 1.7 pounds in one day and hitting that goal on my first anniversary. It really was a joke. I promise.

Guess what happened. Go on and guess.

I got up at a little before 6:00am and stepped on the scale. The number made me laugh. I stepped off, reset the scale to zero and stepped back on and got exactly the same result.

204.8. Down 1.8 pounds from yesterday. From yesterday. Ladies and gentlemen… for the first time in my adult life… and coincidently on the anniversary of my weight loss surgery… My BMI is below 25, implying that I am at a healthy weight.

How friggin’ hysterical is that? I joked about it yesterday and it actually happened today. Who writes this shit, right?

I have lost 226.6 pounds in the last year, and 247.2 pounds since the first weigh in on January 19, 2022. I can’t even believe it. My mind is blown. Totally.

So now what? I’ve tracked my weight pretty religiously every Wednesday and the 4th of every month for a full year. Can I stop now? I don’t know. Does the weekly weigh in count as part of my routine in such a way that I should keep doing it because I am a creature of habit and sticking to the routine has worked for me this far so I should do it? Should I stop the Wednesdays and just do the monthlies? I don’t know. I might wait until Wednesday morning before making a decision and just see what happens.

As far as goals are concerned, my general goal was just to feel healthier and not feel like I was dying 24 hours a day. That’s how I felt back in January of 2022 when this started. More specific goals didn’t really exist at first. I wanted to be under 400 pounds. I achieved that on May 16, 2022. That changed my goal to being under 300 pounds. I achieved that on September 21, 2022. I think it was in October or November when I publicly said my new goal was to have my BMI under 25, but I did the math wrong (like an idiot) and thought I had to get down to 190 pounds. The BMI goal superseded the sub 200 goal because the idea of hitting either one was so absurd that they didn’t seem realistic.

Now? I guess the goal is to stay below 205 pounds. Beyond that, hitting “Onederland” is the next pie in the sky goal. Onederland being what folks on the bariatric surgery Facebook groups call the magical moment when you drop below 200 pounds. I’m less than five pounds away, but it’s taken me months to get to 205 from the point where I first leveled off, around 216. It could take a while… or not. Who the hell knows?

For now though, let’s just focus on the happy anniversary of it all. 365 days and 220+ pounds. It’s so unbelievable I kinda want to throw up. This is beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks for hanging out with me and reading my stupid weight loss posts. I appreciate you coming along for the ride.

One Year

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I went under the knife.

My head is spinning a little today. In most fitting fashion, I woke up with a bit of a queasy stomach. Hopefully breakfast will clear that up. It’s just fitting, that’s all.

I weighed myself. I’ll share that later. It was really good. I’m also planning on a before and after selfie because why not, right? It’s been a year and I haven’t died of any weird complications. That’s worth celebrating, right?

May the 4th be with you, friends and neighbors. Maybe I’ll watch Empire Strikes Back while I exercise today. No, I’ll just continue the epic X Files binge. Maybe I’ll watch an episode of a Disney+ show. Andor maybe?

What a crazy day in this completely crazy new world.

Week 51 Weigh In

Well, wouldn’t you know it? I have three sick days in a row followed by a fourth day that wasn’t sick but was too busy/exhausted to hit my food and water goals and then I have a fantastic weigh in. Did we all see that coming?

If my goal is to get my BMI below 25, then my goal is to get my weight below 205, and if that is the case then I am sooo freakin’ close. After missing my food goal twice in the last three days and being sick to my stomach two of the last four days my weight this week is down a whopping four pounds to 205.6. Sooo freakin’ close.

My total since the surgery, which will celebrate it’s first anniversary eight days from now, is up to 225.8. My total since the first weigh in is up to 246.4. Amazing. I can’t even believe it. My BMI is exactly 25, which means I am right on the line between normal weight and overweight. Granted, I am just barely on the wrong side of the line, but I can still say I’m right on the line.

According to this list of weight equivalences, my total weight loss (since the first weigh in) is slightly more than one Arnold Schwarzenegger (235 pounds / 106.6 kilo). I am less than four pounds away from one male cougar.

Next Wednesday will be the week 52 weigh in, and the day after that will be the one year since surgery weigh in on May 4th. If I can somehow manage to lose 0.7 pounds before next week… I don’t even know what will happen. I might explode. Literally.

On a somewhat related health note, my stomach issues over the last few nights have made it impossible for me to wear my CPAP mask when I sleep. I think I had it on for a while on Sunday but I took it off when I started feeling nauseous. I had it on for a couple of hours on Monday but once things started going bad I ended up in the living room curled up in a ball on the floor. When I was able to sleep I was on the living room couch with Mr. CPAP still in the bedroom.

I went to sleep super early last night, a little after 9:00pm. I put the CPAP mask on, but woke up with a mild case of foamies about half an hour later. Once that cleared I didn’t put the mask back on because I was kind of afraid I’d spit up into the mask and then choke on it or something. My sleep numbers were pretty great last night but they would have been a lot better if I had the machine strapped to my head all night. I got nearly nine hours of sleep but I am still a little tired. The mask would have maybe fixed that. Here’s hoping I have better luck tonight.

So next week will be the big anniversary. Here’s hoping I don’t get sick again before then, and still somehow manage to get down that extra 0.7 pounds to hit that basically unattainable weight loss goal. Good luck, everyone!

Sugar Free

My father’s 81st birthday was last weekend. Next weekend we’re having a small get together at his place and my sister is bringing cupcakes. I can’t have sugar, so no cupcakes for me. She can’t have dairy, so no cupcakes for her either. It got me thinking about alternatives. Are there sugar free or dairy free cupcakes available anywhere? I Googled and had my world slightly rocked.

I knew there was a candy shop in Salem, NH that has a sugar free section. I remember going in there once and wishing I had known about it when my uncle was alive. He had type two diabetes and would have loved some candy now and then. I thought it might be a good thing for Harry and his type one diabetes. He can have sugar, he just has to account for it with insulin. I thought maybe sugar free stuff would make the math easier for him. He wasn’t interested. He likes the real thing. I don’t blame him.

What I didn’t know, until today, is that there is a sugar free bakery in Salem too! Now before you think I am getting all excited, I am not. I am sure that whatever they are using in place of sugar is probably less than wonderful for you and I am already WAY overdoing artificial sweeteners (they are in literally everything I eat these days besides chicken and French fries, and even those I’m not 100% sure of) and I am not looking to have more. Do not expect me to start placing regular cookie and cupcake orders at this joint. Okay? I don’t want to go there.

I do, however, have a birthday in May. I wonder if a single slice of birthday cake might be possible. A small, tiny piece of cake that would take me three or four sittings to finish.

I wonder. It would probably cost a fortune and therefore wouldn’t be worth it. I just fantasized a little, you know? Birthday cake shouldn’t be a big deal, but accepting that those days are over forever is, while not difficult, a little sad.

Week 50 Weigh In

Not much to report today. I mostly just wanted to honor week #50 because 50 is a nice round number. Two weeks from now will be a bigger deal, but 50 is nice too.

My weight this morning at around 5:30am matched the lowest weight I’ve seen since this whole party started. On the 11 month weigh in on April 4th I was 209.6 pounds. I’ve yo-yo’d between about 210 and 214 since then. I saw that I dipped below 210 to 209.8 last Friday. Today I was back to 209.6. I’ll take it. 221.8 pounds since surgery, 242.4 pounds since day one, 25.5 BMI.

Nothing exciting, only because it’s a number I saw 15 days ago, but still nice. I had a bad morning food-wise yesterday but once it cleared up, a little after noon, I was able to get a full day’s worth of food and drink in. I hit all of my goals. I don’t think this is a case of having a good weigh in after a bad day. It started bad, but it didn’t end bad.

Two weeks and one day until the one year anniversary of the surgery. Doubtful I’ll get my BMI below 25 by then. I don’t want to “diet” or anything to manipulate the numbers so I won’t change anything.

I started writing this post about three hours ago. I don’t think it’s very readable but I’m still going on. In further health news, I just booked a CT scan and a second MRI, both of my brain. Say brains the way a zombie would say it… braaaaaainnnnnsssss. Fun, huh? We’re all reasonably sure there is nothing wrong with that little spot in the middle of my thinking cap, but we’re going to get a lot of looks at it to make sure. The MRI is this weekend. The CT is next month.

Please, oh please, let the window project be complete by the time I get home today. Also, please let it be completed at an acceptable level where we don’t have to file any complaints or bitch anyone out.

Also, please let me get through the day without having the season finale of The Mandalorian spoiled. I watched about half of the episode this morning, but I didn’t get through to the end. I need to avoid spoilers and it… is… so… difficult.

Okay. Week 50 is in the books. Here’s hoping weeks 51 and 52 are positive. BMI of less than 25 or bust. Here we come! Also, the Bruins play the Panthers in game two of their first round playoff series tonight. Go Bruins!

All is Well So Far

It’s 7:43am. My exercise goal has been nearly doubled. My calorie goal is almost reached. My liquid goal is at 50%. My protein goal is at a smidge over 25%. No stomach issues so far. Also, much less importantly, I am up to date on season two of Yellowjackets. As with the previous 13 episodes, I need to ask: WTF???

I have a doctors appointment this morning. I had that MRI on Easter Sunday (I posted about it once or 100 times) and there’s something in the image that requires some investigating. The radiologist and my primary care physician both expect that it’s nuttin, honey, but I’m going to see a neurosurgeon today to get another opinion.

Am I nervous? No. Not at all. I won’t be unless this doc gives me something to be nervous about, but I’m confident that he or she won’t. I’m hoping we might get a hint on how to stop the migraines. That would be nice, right?

Anyway, I gotta go feed the cats and get ready for my appointment. Here’s hoping that all continues to go well today, both in my tiny little brain and in my tiny little redesigned stomach. Wish me luck!

Oh yeah, and even though it’s Friday and not Wednesday I stepped on the scale this morning. I figured it was worth a shot given that I barely ate anything last night. 209.8. Back under 210 Can I stay there for a while? Not likely.

All Better?

I followed my grape juice experiment with a 20 minute break, then followed that with a protein bar.

Protein bar eaten successfully without any issues.

I think whatever messed me up today is officially over. I’m going to miss almost all of my daily goals today. Liquid and protein are both going to miss by a mile. Here’s hoping tomorrow goes better than today.

Fingers crossed, folks. Finger, toes, eyes, if it can be crossed let’s cross ‘em.

Week 48 Weigh In

Yesterday was my weekly weigh in day but I failed to post about it. I am sure you were all waiting breathlessly to hear the results and I failed to come through for you. Sorry folks, I was busy. Also, I did the monthly weigh in on Tuesday and the numbers were silly and I knew that Wednesday would correct and look awful. I was right.

Last Wednesday I was 213.40, which was the lowest weight I’ve seen since I was a teenager, I think. On Tuesday, a day after being sick and barely eating anything, I was 209.60 and I knew I was going to be way up when I weighed in the next day. I was. Yesterday I was 211.80, up 2.2 pounds in one day. Yeah. I lost my sub-210 milestone, my 220 since surgery milestone, and my 25.5 BMI. Happily I got to keep my overall total breaking 240 milestone as I am now at 240.2. That’s cool.

I am not upset about being up 2.2 pounds in one day. Not at all. Why? Because it was obviously going to happen after a really sick day on Monday. More than that though, I was still down 1.6 pounds since last Wednesday and if I hadn’t stepped on the scale on Tuesday, that number would have looked great to me. I would have been very pleased with 1.6. So I am taking that as my win for the week.

Yesterday was a weird one as far as nutritional goals are concerned. I hit my protein goal (my total for the day was 88.88 grams and my daily goal is 80 grams) but I crashed and burned on liquids. My goal is 60 ounces and I only got to 42. That’s a serious fail. I am not sure what the problem was, but all day long I was having trouble with drinking water. I could only handle a really small amount at a time. Then at dinner I caught the foamies and it took hours to clear up. Any time I tried to drink for the rest of the night I could only get a tiny bit in and I’d feel sick to my stomach and I’d have to stop. I still needed to eat to hit the protein goal and I was able to do that, but then I had to wait an hour before I could drink again. I was looking at my next sip being around 11:30pm and I just fell asleep around 11:00. Failure.

It’s already better today. It’s only 9:18am and I am already a little over 25 ounces. I have also had a good breakfast of a heavy on the protein, protein bar and a few links of brown and serve sausages. I am in really good shape already today. I have also already done double my exercise goal (I’m at 61 minutes when my goal is 30 minutes) and I’ve already hit my calorie goal (according to my watch I’ve burned 1017 calories and my goal is 1000) so things are looking good today.

In summary, the Wednesday numbers look bad compared to Tuesday but really good compared to last Wednesday, and two tough days eating and drinking this week have been followed by a really good start today. I’ll take it. Here’s hoping I drop below 210 next week, or the week after. Or someday in the near future. That would be fun. Also, while we’re at it, let’s start hoping for a glorious day of sub-200. That would be amazing.

Until then, sorry for the late post… not that anyone really cares… I’m just trying to be nice… nice to myself, I guess… you know how it is.

Week 47 Weigh In

There’s a lot to discuss today, but I am going to try and keep it brief. Today’s weigh in was a good one. Remember a week or so ago when I said I stepped on the scale unofficially and was WAY down, only to step on the scale for real the next day and be WAY up? Today’s weigh in matched the number I hit when I was WAY down and all was right with the world.

The scale read 213.4 today. That’s down 2.6 pounds from last week’s 216. I had been up in three of the past four weeks, so it’s nice to be down a bunch today. It feels good. I thought I was going to be up today because I hit the post-dinner snacks pretty hard last night. I figured I would have ruined any good progress I made this week. I bet if I step on the scale tomorrow I’ll be up a lot again, so I am not going to step on the scale tomorrow.

I am now down 218 pounds even since the surgery, and 238.6 since the first weigh in. I’m really looking forward to hitting 220 since the surgery. At this rate it will probably be a month before I get there, but the 11 month weigh in is actually six days away. It would be sweet to get there by then. 240 total will be nice, but 250… that will be really nice. That may be too much to ask for at this point, but a boy can dream, right?

The interesting thing today is the BMI. Not because of the number but because I redid some old math and found that my expectations were off by a ton. The BMI value today is 26, down from 26.3. That got me thinking. If 213.4 pounds puts me at 26, does it make sense that I would have to hit 190 in order to drop below 25? I did that math months ago and it has stuck in my head. It sort of set 190 as my eventual goal. A BMI of less than 25 would put me into a healthy weight range for the first time… ever. I rechecked the math today though and I was way off. WAY off. I must have been using the wrong height before because when I calculate the BMI using 6’4″ as my height, I have to get below 205 pounds to get below a BMI of 25. That’s a huge difference from 190. If I weigh 190 pounds, my BMI would be 23.1. How could I have been that far off? I don’t understand.

It doesn’t matter though. The goal is to just feel healthier and I am definitely doing that. I set a personal Apple Watch activity app record today by jogging (yogging) in place for a full 60 minutes. Why? I was watching new Star Wars television episodes and just didn’t want to stop. That’s all there was to it.

The next weigh in, as mentioned above, will be Tuesday next week as that will be April 4th, my 11 month surgery anniversary. The weekly weigh in will still happen on Wednesday but it will be much less impactful.

Until then… think thin, Robert.