I woke up yesterday with my legs really hurting. After like three minutes on the elliptical machine the day before, my legs were more than just a little strained. As soon as I can walk again - I'm gonna kick that elliptical machine's ass!
So, I got up at like 7, got breakfast and was on the road by 8. The Aqua Aerobics class was at 9. I forgot just how bad morning traffic in this town can be - I got to the gym at 9:02. Lesson learned. So, I poked my head in just to see what the class looked like: the class looked like 3 old ladies on pool noodles. I don't know if the class was late or what but I didn't see any aerobics.
To counter this, I jumped on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I didn't go hard or fast. I just hoped that walking would ease the pain in my thighs. And, it did. For a while.
I then lifted some heavy things. I love lifting heavy things. I want to lift many more heavy things. I want pecs and guns and and and elbows and ... ?
By the time I was done lifting, my legs were starting to tighten up. I kept getting up and walking between sets of lifting, but that didn't seem to help much.
I jumped in the shower and headed to the pool. The lanes were open. I haven't swam laps in a couple of decades. When I was a kid, I was chubby, but I could swim like a fish. Yesterday, I swam more like a buffalo. Actually, my swimming more resembled water-boarding. I need a lot more work. I made two laps in about 25 minutes. I had octogenarians lapping me on both sides. I will work to get better.
I moved to the hot tub and that finally loosened up my thighs. I stayed there until I raisined up. Showered and went to lunch - Indian Buffet, yum! I controlled my portions, but it wasn't easy. By the time lunch was done, I was gimping along. By the time I went to bed, I was using the cane. I'm surprised I got any sleep.
My legs are better this morning, but they still hurt. I'm taking the day off. I think I'll go back tomorrow. I think I just did too much too fast. The scary part is that I felt at the time I wasn't doing enough. I guess going from 0 to 25 with flat tires will do more damage than intended. Thankfully I didn't try to go 0 to 60!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Just keep swimming ...
A few weeks ago my doc told me to find a swimming pool. I have to exercise. My knees and ankles have taken a big hit from the gout (btw - I'm 30 days into the 60 day treatment that should cure the gout permanently and haven't had a problem since I started!) With the damage I've gotten from the gout, normal exercise is really tough. The doc suggested water aerobics, swimming or even just walking in the water - there's resistance there with less impact.
I started looking around. Most area public pools (Socialism at its finest!) have been closed. Great. The few that are open are scary expensive. One in Seattle charged $5 for a hour session and $4 for a shower! Even at $5 a session, three times a week, that's $60 a month. The YMCA is nearly that expensive and they, too, have fewer facilities and most of them in Seattle - I'm a suburbanite. After looking at that, I decided to look at Bally's - my ex-wife and I had memberships for years. We paid our dues long after we stopped going, but we had memberships! Bally's had a web special. The high end was $30 a month and I can go to any location nationwide - not that I'll be going to gym's all over the country, but the option is there. (The low end, one location only, was $21 a month - not bad compared to the public pool above.)
I joined. I'm out of work, sitting on my ass - I might as well go to the gym. I might cancel my WoW subscription to cost justify half the gym membership. But, $30 a month seems like a pittance to pay for better health. My meds cost me $180 for 3 months and that's after insurance. I get the weight off, I can drop the meds, too.
Today was the first day. I got a free session with a trainer, who proceeded to kick my ass! In all seriousness, he ran me through a reasonable routine that I will likely adopt, with the exception that I want to do most of my cardio in the pool. He put me on an elliptical machine for three minutes and my knees are still wobbly. The cardio made me want to die - the weight training, conversely, felt awesome! I can see how someone could get addicted to that. Also, even though I was there at a less busy time, that gym had one amenity the last Bally's I used did not: lotsa hot chicks! Yow! I wanna lose weight just so one of them will look at me!
After the death march through sexy momma town (I kid!) we went back to the trainer's area and I jumped on their scale. They actually had a scale that could weigh someone my size - impressive! It was bad. 461 is the number. I knew I was back up to 450, but that extra 11 hurts. The edema on my legs is really bad. But, I'm doing something about it, so, hopefully that number, and the edema, won't be around for long.
As a treat, I showered and jumped in the jacuzzi! Oh man! That's worth $30 a month right there. I might go now and then just for that. I think the group of old Asian women in the tub thought I was Godzilla - they left at speed - but once in the water I just could not think of a reason to care about what they thought!
For breakfast I had my diet standard: bananas & soy milk, today with some raisins and a little Splenda. Yeeeeah - that work out burned through that jazz. By the time I left I couldn't send a text message because my hands were shaking. I went to a local favorite Chinese restaurant and had Chicken and Snow Peas. The lunch size portion was perfect! I didn't eat the rice but I ate the soup - egg drop. The price was right, too. In all, a good first day on the diet.
Dinner tonight is BBQ chicken, light on the sauce and salad. Breakfast tomorrow will be the same bananas & soy milk - but I think I will add a Slim Fast bar on the way to class; my first aqua aerobics - at 9 AM! Wish me luck!
I started looking around. Most area public pools (Socialism at its finest!) have been closed. Great. The few that are open are scary expensive. One in Seattle charged $5 for a hour session and $4 for a shower! Even at $5 a session, three times a week, that's $60 a month. The YMCA is nearly that expensive and they, too, have fewer facilities and most of them in Seattle - I'm a suburbanite. After looking at that, I decided to look at Bally's - my ex-wife and I had memberships for years. We paid our dues long after we stopped going, but we had memberships! Bally's had a web special. The high end was $30 a month and I can go to any location nationwide - not that I'll be going to gym's all over the country, but the option is there. (The low end, one location only, was $21 a month - not bad compared to the public pool above.)
I joined. I'm out of work, sitting on my ass - I might as well go to the gym. I might cancel my WoW subscription to cost justify half the gym membership. But, $30 a month seems like a pittance to pay for better health. My meds cost me $180 for 3 months and that's after insurance. I get the weight off, I can drop the meds, too.
Today was the first day. I got a free session with a trainer, who proceeded to kick my ass! In all seriousness, he ran me through a reasonable routine that I will likely adopt, with the exception that I want to do most of my cardio in the pool. He put me on an elliptical machine for three minutes and my knees are still wobbly. The cardio made me want to die - the weight training, conversely, felt awesome! I can see how someone could get addicted to that. Also, even though I was there at a less busy time, that gym had one amenity the last Bally's I used did not: lotsa hot chicks! Yow! I wanna lose weight just so one of them will look at me!
After the death march through sexy momma town (I kid!) we went back to the trainer's area and I jumped on their scale. They actually had a scale that could weigh someone my size - impressive! It was bad. 461 is the number. I knew I was back up to 450, but that extra 11 hurts. The edema on my legs is really bad. But, I'm doing something about it, so, hopefully that number, and the edema, won't be around for long.
As a treat, I showered and jumped in the jacuzzi! Oh man! That's worth $30 a month right there. I might go now and then just for that. I think the group of old Asian women in the tub thought I was Godzilla - they left at speed - but once in the water I just could not think of a reason to care about what they thought!
For breakfast I had my diet standard: bananas & soy milk, today with some raisins and a little Splenda. Yeeeeah - that work out burned through that jazz. By the time I left I couldn't send a text message because my hands were shaking. I went to a local favorite Chinese restaurant and had Chicken and Snow Peas. The lunch size portion was perfect! I didn't eat the rice but I ate the soup - egg drop. The price was right, too. In all, a good first day on the diet.
Dinner tonight is BBQ chicken, light on the sauce and salad. Breakfast tomorrow will be the same bananas & soy milk - but I think I will add a Slim Fast bar on the way to class; my first aqua aerobics - at 9 AM! Wish me luck!
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Problem is Kidney Shaped
The good news is that I've lost another pound, down to 418. That's after eating whatever I've wanted this week - just not caring. The doc called me this morning with the blood test results from last week; my blood sugar was at 72 (!) and my A1C was 6.0. These are pretty incredible numbers.
However, there is bad news. The doc says my gout has gotten really bad. She thought last week that the gout might be getting to my other joints and this would explain why I've been having trouble with my feet, ankles and knees. The blood tests show my gout is worse than that. It's gotten so bad it's hitting my kidneys. The doc says she thinks it's reversible, we got it early. But, it's my kidneys so it's serious. Apparently I also have some type of infection - no shock with my kidneys taking a hit.
So, the doc is giving my an antibiotic and some gout meds and she wants to see me next week. I'll keep you all up to date.
However, there is bad news. The doc says my gout has gotten really bad. She thought last week that the gout might be getting to my other joints and this would explain why I've been having trouble with my feet, ankles and knees. The blood tests show my gout is worse than that. It's gotten so bad it's hitting my kidneys. The doc says she thinks it's reversible, we got it early. But, it's my kidneys so it's serious. Apparently I also have some type of infection - no shock with my kidneys taking a hit.
So, the doc is giving my an antibiotic and some gout meds and she wants to see me next week. I'll keep you all up to date.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Worried
The good news, I guess, is that I just hit 419. I wanted to be more excited about this - getting beyond 425 has been a big psychological barrier for me.
However, losing 14 pounds in one week seems unhealthy.
It's possible that it's all fluid. I have indeed spent another week with my feet up because my left ankle is killing me. But, that's a lot of weight. If it is just fluid, it's likely to come back. So this number, while an incredible thing, is likely to be a short term victory. Or, if I have lost a lot of muscle mass from doing nothing for weeks on end, it could be the beginning of a whole other set of problems.
I'm going to try to see the doctor sometime this week. Maybe we can sort this out. Why must my body fight me so?
However, losing 14 pounds in one week seems unhealthy.
It's possible that it's all fluid. I have indeed spent another week with my feet up because my left ankle is killing me. But, that's a lot of weight. If it is just fluid, it's likely to come back. So this number, while an incredible thing, is likely to be a short term victory. Or, if I have lost a lot of muscle mass from doing nothing for weeks on end, it could be the beginning of a whole other set of problems.
I'm going to try to see the doctor sometime this week. Maybe we can sort this out. Why must my body fight me so?
Monday, May 31, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, May 24, 2010
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 ....
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 ....
Monday, May 17, 2010
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.
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.
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