Edema-B-Baaa-aack

Yeah, 433. The edema is pumping back up on my legs. I also have not been the best recently on my diet. And, with my feet still bothering me there has been nothing resembling exercise.

I'm not giving up. I'm just watching hopes of breaking 425 before seeing my doctor vanish on the horizon. Too bad.

On the bright side, even when not sticking to my diet, my portion control has been on, on, on! (Frankly, my portion control has come down to "Wow! I feel full!" after comparatively little food.) Little victories.

As I suspected ...

The edema on my legs has re-inflated a bit. I think that will account for the extra pound this week. I expected it, frankly, I expected more. But, one pound of additional fluid is more than enough, thankyouverymuch.

My big fear is that the edema will continue to inflate and the pounds will come back more and more, hiding any real progress I might have made. We'll see.

My feet and ankles are finally back to the point of being able to walk short distances with no discomfort. However, medium distances are still problematic. On Saturday, I went a bit carb crazy - but I also did a bit of walking and driving. Nothing outlandish - walking from the car to the movie theater kind of thing. Just that little walking made me want to go home and put my feet up.

Nothing about my weight loss journey is going to be fast or pretty. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming ....

Edema-B-Gone

Whoa. 430 - wow ...

I used to think that large weight drops were a required and desired part of the dieting process. Now I fear them. I know that the likelihood is that I will go back up. So, I'm trying not to get too happy about this number.

I think the majority of the weight loss over the last two weeks has been in edema. Since I've been laying around with my feet up - my feet and ankles look great! My calves used to be hard, now they are spongy. I think I've lost a lot of fluid.

My ankles and feet are still hurting. But, not nearly as much. I still hate my feet and ankles.

On the real weight loss front, I had a fun discovery. I sat in my car, something I hadn't done for a while, and I noticed something different. My tummy wasn't brushing against the steering wheel. In fact, I could put my hand between the wheel and my tummy without touching. That was impressive to me!

So, we are making some progress. I'm just worried that I won't be able to hold onto this number. We'll see.

Hate my Ankles

So, a week ago Monday, that evening, my left ankle started bothering me.

From there, I have basically spent most of the following week in bed. Once the one ankle kicked in to killing me, the other one followed. At one point, my new housemate handed me a cane and looked at me like I was an idiot. The cane did indeed help. But, yeah, I really didn't leave my bed for a week.

I know what it is, it's my tendinitis. It just sucks. Okay, I know that I have gone well and above the designed weight for my ankles, but I'm losing the weight! If my body keeps putting me on the couch, I'm never going to be able to lose the weight!

I rarely ate this week. When I did, I ate whatever I could get. This shit really damages my health.

No weigh in this week. We'll see if I can get back on my diet and try to weigh in this coming Monday.

Fifty! Fifty! Fifty!

Woot!

I weighed in at 448 this morning. This makes me quite happy! As a certain vice president of the US recently said, this is a big fucking deal!

I'm still scary fat, so why does this number matter? Well, nearly six years ago, I started the Adkins diet. Just about four months later, I was down 50 pounds. By December of 2004, I was off the diet and really never successfully got back on. In September of 2006, I started having heart issues and from there lots of other issues showed up. My diabetes got worse and I got heavier and heavier. At my worst, I weighed 517, I had regained all I had lost and added nearly 50 more.

After the heart issues showed up, I started kicking myself for ending my diet. If I could have stayed on the diet, I may have prevented the heart issues altogether. When I started my current round of dieting at the beginning of 2009, which this site tracks, I had magically managed to get back down to 500, actually 490. Then it fluctuated all over the place, including back up to nearly 500 pounds.

In the last year and a half, I have lost my job of eight years, gotten divorced and moved twice - nothing stressful there, right? However, I've also gotten my meds changed to a combo that, when I watch what I'm doing, allows me to lose weight. Some mixed blessings there.

So, here I am, fifty pounds down. I have made the same accomplishment I made nearly six years ago. I have overcome all the crap and stress and U-turns I've made in that time. This is a big psychological deal to me. Next number is 425, which is the number I got to six years ago - also a big psychological goal for me. Then, at 400, I will finally make the goal I thought I was going to reach nearly six years ago, not to mention being 100 pounds down. Hope to be there by the end of the year.

Fifty pounds. I just like saying the words. I've been fat most of my life. I think I am finally in a place where I can get the weight off. One week at a time. One weigh-in at a time. You guys have helped me out a ton here. Thanks and wish me luck!

Off to eat some fruit salad and barbecue some chicken!