Holy Crap I want Pizza!

I have wanted pizza for like three days. I don't know why - I just do. And it's like a crazy obsession thing. I remember getting this way about donuts a while back. I don't know what the deal is - I want a large pepperoni, mushroom and meatball pizza from a great local pizza place. It's an excellent pizza and I'd have it in about 20 minutes.

Twenty minutes, about the time it's going to take to make the chicken I currently have cooking in the kitchen.

I've had some portion control wins recently. Had a good one last night. Made just enough chicken and veggies for one bowl. I was perfectly full afterward.

But I have been hungry all day. Eating whatever comes into reach. Luckily I hit the store yesterday and most of the stuff in the house isn't too bad - in moderation. The portions I've eaten today ..... not so much.

At least I haven't ordered the pizza. And the 2 liter of Coke. And the bread-sticks. And the tiramisu!

PIZZA!!!

As the Gout Turns ...

It seems the "acute attack" of gout is lessening. I can almost bend the toe fully and it doesn't look like a small, purple balloon anymore. I can walk almost like a normal person again, so the resume of exercise is around the corner. I am also down two more pounds without exercise, powered mostly by some portion control wins.

All in all, good news.

I had french fries yesterday - it was a British-pub themed restaurant, so they were actually "chips." And onion rings. But, I kept them to a minimum and I didn't go buy any cake afterward on the theory that "Well, I've already violated my diet ..." - that kind of thinking usually gets me in trouble. Not yesterday. I'm getting stronger.

I'm not excited about it taking the better part of a year, at my current rate, to hit 400. Two pounds a week seems slow compared to previous 14, 10 & 5 pound weeks. But, once we resume exercise we should see some faster results. I'm not complaining, I just want to reach my goals. They seem so far out there.

They're coming. I'll get there. It's only January.

In the win category, I got into a couple of tee-shirts this week that I thought were going to be too small. My big problem with shirts is my belly. It hangs low and is apron-like. I wear a size 6X tee-shirt to get a long enough shirt to come in below the line of my belly. Also, a larger shirt flows around my belly instead of stretching around and making me look like a sausage! I noticed that a couple of my shirts were flowing better than average. I tried on a couple of older 6Xs that had shrunk with time - they fit pretty good. I tried on a 6X made by a different manufacturer that had been WAY too sausagey when I bought it. It was indeed better, but still too tight. That's okay, it will be a good indicator as I go down. The best thing about that last shirt is that it's even longer than the others. I worry as I lose weight that the skin of my belly will droop - I know it's not a pretty thought, but I can't afford surgery just yet and I hate to tuck! Talk about making me look like a sausage! Tucking is the worst!

I live in Gout.

So, the left big toe issue is not tendinitis. It's gout.

That's right, gout. That would be a disease we usually only associate with old people ... from the 16th century! Benjamin Franklin had gout - probably from all the beer! Turns out, even dinosaurs suffered this lovely disease! Meat-eaters - go fig!

Anyway, my toe started hurting Sunday - out of the blue. (Which, unknown to me, is a symptom.) It got worse Monday. Tuesday the toe turned purple - not scary bruised purple, but swollen, shiny and not normal colored purple. I left a voicemail for the doc and I saw her yesterday.

She took blood samples to confirm, but she was pretty sure and since the meds she put me on are already lessening the pain - I think she got it right. The funny thing is that I have been blaming big toe pain on tendinitis for quite a while now - it was probably gout all along. If there is any good news, it's that I now have an excuse to add some cherries and blueberries to my diet - apparently they ward off the formation or uric acid.

Never a boring day with my body. But, once the meds do their job I can get back to the business of exercising and get more of the weight off. The doc says gout has nothing to do with the weight, Wikipedia says different. I say my body just hates me.

Hmmm ... I see.

Well, the scale says I'm down.

Don't get me wrong, that's good. But, after a double digit loss last week, two pounds is kinda a let down.

But, I'm not complaining!

Further, I know the culprit. I got on the treadmill Tuesday, but that was it. The rest of the week I have been fighting tendinitis in my ankles ... and my left big toe! You don't realize how much you rely on your toes to walk, until one hurts. *Sigh!*

I spent several months off my diet and did my ankles or toes bother me? No way. Of course they didn't! I'm trying to do something about my weight and my body throws up any roadblock it can to keep me fat!

Well, I was certainly hoping for a bigger number. But, two without exercise is nothing to sneeze at. I'll take it.

Hands up! Wheeeeee!

The Yo-Yo Roller Coaster has begun!

Yup. Here's the deal. I weighed in on the 1st at 484. Today's weight? 470! That's Fourteen pounds in like ten or eleven days.

Now, it's true, I have been a pretty good boy. The first weekend I was not great about watching what I ate, but since last Monday I have been cracking the whip on myself. Got some treadmill time in on Monday and Tuesday, played Wii for a couple of hours Friday. In all - not a bad deal.

But, more than a pound a day? Yeah, this is all edema and fluid loss. And what have we learned about this? Well, either next Monday, or the following Monday, I will likely put on weight. I'm due for a bad weigh in.

So, today we are down the slope on the roller coaster - but, we all know there is an upward hill coming!

Still, 470 feels better than 484! :)

Just checking in ...

This has, so far, been a STUPID week. But, as far as my diet goes, it hasn't been too bad.

The whole "talk of a contest" thing? Yeah, just talk. My fellow dieters abandoned me. No problem - it was going to be a lot of extra work for me. Now, I just need to keep track of myself.

I still need to work on my portion control. But, Monday and Tuesday I got on the treadmill. I'm about to go get on again. Then I'll do a bunch of house cleaning - I have a date tonight!

Monday, I ran myself through a gauntlet. I started off the day, much as I am now, checking stuff on the computer. I then checked my Sugga just to see, it was 140. I ate a Slim Fast bar, all of 200 or so calories. This was roughly 10 AM. I did some wall-ups, then did my treadmill for a half hour. Jumped in the shower. Went off to grocery shop as I hadn't bought groceries in three months! I got a phone call about a job while shopping, so, there I was, talking on the phone for 20-25 minutes while standing in the Kool Aid aisle. By the time I got home and brought in $250 in groceries and sundries, it was 5 PM. I was feeling a bit woozy. Checked my Sugga - 80! I probably shouldn't do that to myself!

Alright, time for breakfast. You all stay warm out there. Weigh in on Monday!

2010 is here like 2009 didn't even happen.

So, here we are. It's Twenty Ten. However, my scale says it's February 2009.

I've put on 30 pounds in three months, the scale this morning said 484.

I'm not shocked by this number. I have been WAY off my diet and living as if I don't care.

But, I'm vowing to pick up the pieces and try to get back on the plan. Let the Yo-Yo Roller Coaster commence!

I might have some buddies along with me this time. There is talk of a "contest" - we'll see where that goes.

It's an inauspicious start. Ugly. Hopefully it will get prettier as we go.

Wish me luck.