Tag: weight loss

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 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.

Bonus Weigh In

The last time I wrote about stepping on the scale I said I was going to do this, but I was 90% kidding… and then I did it. I guess 10% serious was enough.

The last time I weighed myself and lost weight was the monthly check in on March 4th. I was down to 216 pounds even. The next two Wednesday weigh ins I was up. First one pound, then 1.4 pounds. I was not bothered by that. It was expected and not a big deal. The thing I was kidding about was that I would step on the scale every day and when (if?) I ever went below 216 I would mark it on my spreadsheet. Ha ha ha, right?

I think I weighed myself on Thursday. I don’t think I did it on Friday. I honestly can’t remember if I did it yesterday, Saturday, or not. This morning I did it and I was down to 215.6. Heh heh. The spreadsheet and the Health app on my iPhone have been updated. I’m down 2.8 since Wednesday, which probably means the scale was inaccurate somehow. I don’t care. My BMI is 26.2, my weight loss since surgery is 215.8 which means I have lost more weight since May 4, 2022 than I actually weigh, and my total since the first weigh in is 236.4.

And all was right with the world.

Week 45 Weigh In

I’m a day late for my Wednesday weigh in post. Do you think there’s a reason for that? Do ya? Betcha do.

Yeah, for the second week in a row I am up. Up 1.4 pounds to be exact. That means over the last two weeks I am up 2.4 pounds. Yeah, that sucks, but it’s also not a big deal. I knew it was coming. My weigh in yesterday was 218.4. I still love that number.

I weighed myself when I got up this morning and I was down from yesterday. I weighed myself again after finishing my workout and my morning constitutional (TMI) and I was down a little more. Two weeks ago I was at 216. Maybe I’ll check on it every day until I drop below 216 and update the spreadsheet then… because I am a content whore and I’m obsessed with watching the graphs I made on my spreadsheet trend down. You know how it is.

Yesterday was a bad day for feeling healthy as well. My lunch didn’t sit well, my shoveling from Tuesday night left my back and my neck and my shoulders and my arms in a ton of pain. To make matters worse, my Wednesday morning jog (yog) was 56 minutes long because I wanted my move (calorie) goal complete before I left for the office. All of that combined messed me up big time. To make matters worse, my dinner set my nausea off and it didn’t let up until just before I fell asleep. That means I didn’t have anything to eat last night after about 7:30 or so, and my empty stomach was hurting in a big way when I woke up. I’ve had breakfast and some water since then and I feel better, but my body is still sore and unhappy and I am expecting today to be a pretty crappy day.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong, and here’s hoping the scale stops going up. Am I right?