+11 pounds in 17 days

I just reread my last post. I was so excited. So, what did I do the night after I had all that great news? I celebrated. How does a fat guy celebrate? Ate a large pizza all by myself, including full sugar Coke plus an order of Tiramisu and my boat hasn't stopped rocking until today. I have since repeated that trick twice! That's how one puts on eleven pounds in seventeen days.

If there is any good news here, it's that I didn't get above 475. I lost ground, but it's not irrecoverable. I was good today. I need to hit the grocery store, but what remained in my fridge was good stuff, so I made it through. Tomorrow will be a challenge.

Then, Saturday - well, have you ever done something that was stupid and smart at the same time? I've been spending a ton of time on Facebook playing stupid little video games. The thought kept nagging me that if I spent as much time on the treadmill as I do on those games, I'd weigh 175 by now. Yes, there is plenty of exaggeration there, but that's certainly how I feel.

Friends of mine have a Wii and they love it. There are several active video games. Even the ones not devoted to fitness have you up and moving. I started thinking that if I was going to play a video game, I could at least be off the couch, right?

So, the unemployed guy spent $300+ on a Wii plus additional software.

I went out Saturday to buy a printer. I wondered around the store and a little kid said "Mommy! There's a man over there with a really fat belly!" I get this now and then. I'm a circus side show freak to these kids. "Mommy come look, his legs are fat, too!" I turned and looked at the kid at about the time the mother grabbed him by the face, covering his mouth, and pulled him around behind the shelf she was behind. Not the kid's fault. It's a real reminder that I have to do something.

And I did. I bought fried chicken. Then I went and bought burgers and fries and a big Coke at Wendy's. Then, after the addict had his fix, I went and bought the Wii.

Not only was I good with my diet today, but I did about 30 minutes of cardio with the Wii. I need to tweak the workouts to be kinder to my knees and the thing you are supposed to wear on your thigh doesn't fit my chubby leg, so I need to buy (or build) a bigger strap, but, it was kinda fun and I had a real sense of accomplishment.

There is no magic bullet. Maybe the trick is to fire as many bullets as you can until you hit something.

Bang!

Gushing

I was a little upset a couple of days ago.

With losing my job, this set off a line of dominoes that ended my insurance and that messed up my meds. I ran out of my Glyburide/Metformin. Luckily, I had given some of my older, lower dose pills to Steph who still had them. I knew I ran a big risk lowering my dose, but some was better than none, right? So, I was worried about my blood sugar - my testing was panning out, though.

I have recently gotten COBRA up and going and so I ordered a refill on my meds. When they arrived, instead of a 90 day supply, I had a ten day supply. Well, I was ready to call up MEDCO, the mail order company my insurer insists on using, and letting them have it with both barrels. But, something tugged at the back of my head and I decided to call my doctor first, just in case the mistake had been there. If they had approved the 90 day supply, I'd REALLY let MEDCO have it!

The doctor asked for the 10 day supply - I was due for my physical. My doctor can be quite sneaky and underhanded in her way! I wanted to be angry - but, dammit, I admire sneaky and underhanded!

So, this morning I fasted for my A1C, might have been a mistake, I got up at 7 and my appointment wasn't until 10:30 - yikes! Starving! I checked my weight, 464 - nothing wrong with losing three pounds since Monday! My sugga was 99 - also not bad.

I drove in, guzzling water to prep myself for my ... um ... s-a-m-p-l-e ... and the blood test. 32 ounces of water in and I walked around the mall for an hour to pump the blood a bit. They got me in a few minutes early. My blood pressure was really good! The nurse mentioned it was at a teen-ager's level. Okay! She struck blood on the first try (hydrate before a blood test!!) then it was time to give the s-a-m-p-l-e and then get naked for the doc! That woman has seen me naked more times than my ex-wife!

All the numbers came back excellent! My cholesterol was down, really down. (I have no hard proof, but lots of anecdotal evidence that low-carb dieting lowers cholesterol - word to the wise - nothing like eating bacon and eggs three or four times a week, losing weight and lowering one's cholesterol!) My sugga, by her count, was 91. (Below 100 - good!) My A1C came back 5.7. The doc likes seeing people below a 7 - so I'm well below, also very good!

The doc was congratulating me and telling me how proud she was of me. She was gushing about my results. I didn't get the dour "you can do better" look even once!

I'm not saying Januvia is a diet in pill form. However, it has been a kick in my pants. I don't think I'd be doing this well without it. (Talk to your doctors, folks!) If I can keep my sugga controlled and do what I've been doing for the last couple of months for the next year or so, I'll be in SO much better shape.

I went and had beef and broccoli with salad (no dressing, didn't look good) for, well, it was breakfast with the emphasis on "fast" at that point. I then went and saw UP, and all I had was a Coke Zero. The movie was funny and sad in a good way and since I don't do much caffeine these days, the Coke Zero is wheeeeeee! :)

Just thought I'd share the good news. How are the rest of you doing. Hmmmm???

Still bored.

The diet continues, as does my unemployment. Pretty boring around here.

The big excitement is the diet. Four pounds off, down to 467, not bad at all! Sure, it's not as impressive as the ten pound shocker from last week, but it's also not as freekin' scary! I'll take four pounds a week every week from now on, thank you! That puts me at 400 pounds before the end of the year and that would be just fine!

However, I'm trying not to think about the long term goals. The immediate goals are what I need right now I think. 450 is right around the corner and I'm looking forward to it. As much as I would rather not concentrate on numbers, they are all I have. I really don't feel much better, my clothes are not fitting better and I can't tell I've lost an ounce looking in the mirror. Thirty pounds off 500 just isn't enough to give any of those effects. So, numbers are all I have.

Speaking of numbers, I like that my sugga has been somewhere between 100 and 140. You may not like those numbers, but I'm kinda stuck with them. With losing the job, I've run out of my meds and had to switch to lower doses I (luckily) kept when my dose was moved up. My insurance is back together and I should have meds this week and just in time, I was nearly out of the Januvia and I have no back up on those!

I got on the treadmill for a half hour today. I've been kicking up the incline just for a change. Nothing drastic, just a little more each time. I also did three reps of 30 wall-ups. I think I'll stick at the 30 mark for a while, let my arms catch up.

I've been good with food today and I have a steak waiting for me for dinner.

All in all, a good day on top of a good week last week. Here's hoping I can keep rolling!

Odd little day.

Today has just been an odd little day.

Nothing particularly interesting to report. I just hung out at home. About 4 PM I got bored and took a four hour nap - strange for me, and now kinda bad because I'm very awake and did not cure the boredom.

Breakfast was some bacon & eggs. "Lunch" was some fruit. Dinner was steak & salad. I should have gotten on the treadmill. But, I was on the treadmill Monday, Tuesday and Thursday - no need to push my body. Tomorrow or Monday will be soon enough to get back on. Thursday I did more Wall-ups, three sets of 25 reps. My arms screamed at me at the time but quieted down nearly immediately. That could mean anything I guess.

I'm just sitting here bored, trying to decide if I should just pack it in and go back to bed. However, I had a weird little thing enter my head. I wasn't hungry. True, dinner was a lot of protein and only three hours ago. But, usually if I'm bored, I start scouting for food and thinking about what's at the store if I go get in the car. However, this time, I didn't. And, it some ways, that makes me even more bored! *Sigh!*

The Sitting Man

My instep was fine this morning, but my left ankle was bothering me again. Grrrr!

My ankle doesn't feel too bad right now. So, tomorrow, I'll see about getting back on the treadmill. I need to do my wall-ups if nothing else! The good news is that I was good with food. As you can see there I started with a bowl of cereal. Unusual for a low carb diet, you say? You are correct! But, remember it's LOW carb, not NO carb. I'm not saying I would do the cereal thing everyday and consider myself to still be on the diet, but it was indeed a nice change of pace. Steph wanted me to try this Puffins Cereal. Click on the link and have a look at the Nutrition Info. Do you notice anything odd? 100 calories a serving and about 20 net carbs for those of you that speak low carb - nothing out of the unusual there. Look at the serving size: 2/3 cup! *Snicker!*

That serving size is totally hilarious to me. I actually broke out a 1/3 cup measuring cup and measured up 2/3 cup. I nearly counted the pieces, it couldn't have been more that 50 total, you can probably count them in the picture. I know I have wanted to work on portion control, but this felt so silly to me. I've shown pictures out here of my black salad bowls. Those hold a small bag of "bag salad" - I used to use those as cereal bowls. Fill it up with cheap cereal from one of those bulk bags that you get in the store and milk. Then, I'd go back and add cereal to the milk and milk to the cereal until I popped or ran out of one. Now, I have 2/3 cup of cereal, a banana, a handful of grapes, some Splenda and enough soy milk to cover and it barely half way fills a MUCH smaller bowl. Look at the size of the spoon compared to the bowl! I giggled through the whole meal, which was pretty tasty, BTW. I stopped giggling an hour later when I realized I wasn't hungry and that half a bowl of cereal and fruit filled me. (Portion Control Success!)

I'm not laughing now. I'm thinking back to the hundreds if not thousands of calories of cheap, sugary cereal and milk I used to pour into my body. All that sugar! Now I'm diabetic and lactose intolerant. Wow, no shock, huh? Geez. Dinner was good, too. Steak, mushrooms, pretty peppers, onions and garlic. I have leftover veggies for the next steak I make. Other than some lightly salted nuts and some sugar-free Jell-O, that's it for the day.

Not bad, huh? Keeping the food from feeling like I'm starving or depriving myself is the key, I think. (I hope!) I'm looking forward to next week's weigh in. Seeing 465 would be a tremendous thing! Keep your forks crossed.

The Walking Man

I've been true to my word. The last two days I have done a half hour on the treadmill each day. Nothing outlandish, just good, basic movement. The meter on my treadmill says I burned about 300 calories each time. Nothing wrong with that.

Not only have I been on the treadmill, I've been doing what I like to call wall-ups. Kinda like a push-up, but instead of being on the floor, I'm leaning into a wall. Sounds silly, but I'm worried about my knees. I have very little upper body strength for my size, so putting all the stress on my knees to get to the floor to do two or three push-ups just isn't worth it! The wall-ups are doing their job, anyway! Yesterday I did three sets of 20/10/20 reps. I didn't wait long enough before my second set, my triceps just couldn't do it that fast. Today, I did the three sets of 20 reps and my triceps are telling me about it! I think I will need to do more reps before my biceps start feeling it. I have a little soreness there, but nothing like my triceps. If I can keep this up, I might eventually have something I've never had before: definition in my arms! That would be awesome!

I checked my sugga just to see. It was after Noon by this point and I hadn't eaten yet, so the 114 was a pleasant surprise. Control!

After the work out and a shower, I headed off to the grocery store. I was out of everything. (I'm still out of Splenda! D'oh!) What I ended up with there was another walk, this time for about an hour. My left in-step is yelling at me right now. It's a kinda good - kinda bad yelling. I'm still going to try to get on the treadmill tomorrow, but I'm sure the foot will not be happy about it.

The good news is that I achieved a full fridge and cupboards, all healthy food and under what I thought I would end up paying! (Got some good deals on meat!) You see, the strategy here is that if I've got a full fridge and plenty of grab and eat type foods, I won't be tempted to get in the car and go find fast food or other cheats. I am using my natural laziness as an advantage!

I'm on the wagon. What about the rest of you? Hmmmmm????? ;)

Very Confused

Last week was a weird week for me. It wasn't bad, just unusual. I used that as an excuse to fall into old habits. No working out. I ate like crap. Pasta, fries, candy, cake and real soda - I ate whatever and didn't think about it. Actually, I thought a lot about it and just did it anyway - which is also my typical.

Yet, I lost 10 pounds.

How the hell do I lose 10 pounds and eat crap? Not only that, but losing 10 pounds in seven days seems really high! I'm worried about hurting myself!

My sugga this morning was at 139 - that's about right. But I'm trying to figure out the 10 pounds thing. Maybe my scale is having delusions? I dunno.

So, for the moment, I'm just going to accept it as a gift. I broke 475 - yea! I'm not going to squander this gift. I'm back on the wagon. My ankle bothered me on and off last week, but it's fine now, so I need to get on the treadmill. The longer I am heavy, the more damage that will do to my knees and ankles anyway. Dammed if I do/don't get on the treadmill so I might as well just do it!

Let's hope I can keep up a losing pace.