Let's see, Feb 13th to now is 113 days. Pretty bad.
I'd love to report that I've met my goal weight, but that's not the case. No fear, I haven't gained any weight, but the weight loss has come to a crawl. Only recently have I started to see the scale move again. What's going on? Hell if I know. But in my last meeting with Dr. Woodman, he asked me the same question. And before I could begin my defensive theory, he interrupted me by saying "you're obviously doing something wrong!". Yes and no in my opinion. On the YES, I have been eating things with sugar like Frosted Mini Wheats, Mike & Ike's, Fat Free Ice Cream, occasional bite of chocolate, etc.. On the NO, I am still maintaining my caloric intake budget as best as I can. My fat intake is still limited to 20 to 25 grams a day, calories between 1000 and 1500 net. I'm learning that it is not just about watching one thing. It's got to be kind of a team effort. Low fat and high calories will still result in weight gain. It is, however, a great learning process because I am my own experiment. I am the guinea pig and the scientist. With most experiments, it takes time to see the results.
I injured my calf muscle back in March while playing racquetball. It was a slight pull in the muscle behind the knee and only really bothered me when I made quick direction changes while playing. I couldn't thrust off of it. That was my main workout and best way to burn some calories. I tried to just use the elliptical for a while, but it wasn't enough. I started walking to stretch my calf, and over time, it began to heal. A mile turned into two, then three. Then I started jogging. Again, my distance and endurance picked up. So now I'm jogging three miles at a time five days a week. This is why I started to see the scale move.
I've read all about plateaus and the way the body adjusts to itself, so I've had to step back and really try to make some re-adjustments, both mentally and physically. I'm backing off the sugar a bit and increasing my jogging distance. I have also read about "caloric zig zag", and might try that for a few weeks. That is where you change the amount of calories you eat on a daily basis. This is supposed to keep the body from getting used to the same thing everyday and slowing down the metabolism. Changing the numbers will, hopefully, confuse it back into calorie burning mode. We'll see.
I also learned that avoiding my blog because I didn't have anything good to write about was a cop out. I'll try to do better.
My weight today is 248.5
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Chugging along...
The longer I go between posts, the less I remember what happened since the last.
Most recently, I'm getting over a painful bout of something going on in my stomach. For the last couple of days, I've had a cramping/knotting/butterflying/gaseous pain that has caused a level of discomfort that I haven't had in a long time. And I've never had this kind of feeling before. I went to Dr. Woodman's office to get his opinion before going to the hospital....it was that bad. He removed some fluid from my band and explained it would alleviate any swelling that might be occurring. He also said something might have gotten stuck, but I hadn't eaten anything in the last few days that was textured enough to get stuck. So, I figured I'd give it a little time before I went back to the hospital. I'll stay on liquids for the next couple of days to give my stomach a break, and see how it goes. There is a slight possibility I had some type of food poisoning from some eggs a friend gave me from his home raised chickens. I didn't have usual diarrhea or fever that goes along with it though. I don't really know what it is.
January was a long cold month...and a bit of a plateau month as well. I fluctuated from 262 to 265 for just about the whole month, even though I kept my caloric and fat budget on track. Sometimes that is just your body recalibrating its internal settings. I accept the plateaus now as part of my overall journey to change myself. They are just a sign that a change is happening. The fat me and the skinny me are at war.
During my last scheduled visit with Dr. Woodman, I explained to him that I felt I was barely in the green zone as far as hunger was concerned. I felt I could go another month without a fill. I focus now on controlling the amount of food that is in front of me rather than the amount it takes to make me fill full. Sometimes there is a lag from the time I stop eating till the time I feel full. And when I eat till I'm full, after a few minutes, I feel as if I've eaten to much.
I'm hoping to be at my goal weight by July. That would be a loss of about 8 lbs a month, very do-able. We'll see....
Today, I weigh 256.0
Most recently, I'm getting over a painful bout of something going on in my stomach. For the last couple of days, I've had a cramping/knotting/butterflying/gaseous pain that has caused a level of discomfort that I haven't had in a long time. And I've never had this kind of feeling before. I went to Dr. Woodman's office to get his opinion before going to the hospital....it was that bad. He removed some fluid from my band and explained it would alleviate any swelling that might be occurring. He also said something might have gotten stuck, but I hadn't eaten anything in the last few days that was textured enough to get stuck. So, I figured I'd give it a little time before I went back to the hospital. I'll stay on liquids for the next couple of days to give my stomach a break, and see how it goes. There is a slight possibility I had some type of food poisoning from some eggs a friend gave me from his home raised chickens. I didn't have usual diarrhea or fever that goes along with it though. I don't really know what it is.
January was a long cold month...and a bit of a plateau month as well. I fluctuated from 262 to 265 for just about the whole month, even though I kept my caloric and fat budget on track. Sometimes that is just your body recalibrating its internal settings. I accept the plateaus now as part of my overall journey to change myself. They are just a sign that a change is happening. The fat me and the skinny me are at war.
During my last scheduled visit with Dr. Woodman, I explained to him that I felt I was barely in the green zone as far as hunger was concerned. I felt I could go another month without a fill. I focus now on controlling the amount of food that is in front of me rather than the amount it takes to make me fill full. Sometimes there is a lag from the time I stop eating till the time I feel full. And when I eat till I'm full, after a few minutes, I feel as if I've eaten to much.
I'm hoping to be at my goal weight by July. That would be a loss of about 8 lbs a month, very do-able. We'll see....
Today, I weigh 256.0
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Well Happy New Year!
I feel like I've been a slacker in updating my blog in a timely manner, but my excuses sound really good to me. December was pretty busy and I'm glad to have the holidays in the rear view mirror. Also had to finish an online Masters class that, of course, I waited till the last minute to finish my assignments.
I had my third visit at Dr. Woodmans' office Dec 28th. Up to that point, I had 2 fills under my belt...well, really one since the first one wasn't really a fill per se. This time, I met with Dr. Woodman himself. The other two visits were with his nurses. Now.....Dr. Woodman has quite a reputation for being a straight shooter. He will not sugar coat anything, nor will he hesitate to chew some ass if needed. I had been hovering around 272lbs for most of December, and I attributed that to having willingly sacrificed some work out time to get other things done. Class, work, shopping, traveling, etc... I knew we would be talking about this, so like a defense attorney, I prepared my case. As I explained myself to him, I started to realize that my reasons didn't really sound so good. I was putting the one thing that I wanted, and needed, on the back burner. And come to think of it, it is at about that third or fourth month that my previous weight loss attempts reversed their course. I kinda felt like I had let him down, and his nurses, and all the people who were in the operating room on the day of my surgery, even the insurance company that made it possible. Sounds a little crazy, but that's how I think sometimes. Because I still felt I was eating more than I needed, I requested another fill. He stressed that I needed to set a portion size and eat it, not eat till I fell full. If I kept eating till I was full, there is a pretty good chance of stretching the upper pouch.
Same process, numbing spray, poke out belly, insert needle and squeeze the saline into the port. This time was a little different than the last. Last time, I actually felt a tight feeling deep inside, like the band was pinching a little more. This time, I felt nothing. I actually thought that Dr. Woodman might have given me a "ghost fill" after the little pep talk...thinking that the motivational speech might be enough to change my habits, kinda like a psychological experiment. Even a couple days after the visit, I didn't feel any different. But the third day, holy cow, what a difference. I can eat a little over half of what I was eating the week before. Not sure why the delay, but I am in the green zone now.
With my fill and renewed commitment, I've broken the plateau I was on for almost a month. I feel great and am looking forward to the next few of months. I hope to be at my goal weight by June or July. I love the reactions of people who I haven't seen in a while. While playing racquetball tonight, I received probably one of the best compliments of all time. While between games, I was talking with a group of players. One of them, a rather loud and flamboyant guy, was talking. He stopped mid sentence and said "Damn! How much weight has your fat ass lost?!" (you have to know him to get the full effect). It really made me feel good.
My weight today is 267.5
I had my third visit at Dr. Woodmans' office Dec 28th. Up to that point, I had 2 fills under my belt...well, really one since the first one wasn't really a fill per se. This time, I met with Dr. Woodman himself. The other two visits were with his nurses. Now.....Dr. Woodman has quite a reputation for being a straight shooter. He will not sugar coat anything, nor will he hesitate to chew some ass if needed. I had been hovering around 272lbs for most of December, and I attributed that to having willingly sacrificed some work out time to get other things done. Class, work, shopping, traveling, etc... I knew we would be talking about this, so like a defense attorney, I prepared my case. As I explained myself to him, I started to realize that my reasons didn't really sound so good. I was putting the one thing that I wanted, and needed, on the back burner. And come to think of it, it is at about that third or fourth month that my previous weight loss attempts reversed their course. I kinda felt like I had let him down, and his nurses, and all the people who were in the operating room on the day of my surgery, even the insurance company that made it possible. Sounds a little crazy, but that's how I think sometimes. Because I still felt I was eating more than I needed, I requested another fill. He stressed that I needed to set a portion size and eat it, not eat till I fell full. If I kept eating till I was full, there is a pretty good chance of stretching the upper pouch.
Same process, numbing spray, poke out belly, insert needle and squeeze the saline into the port. This time was a little different than the last. Last time, I actually felt a tight feeling deep inside, like the band was pinching a little more. This time, I felt nothing. I actually thought that Dr. Woodman might have given me a "ghost fill" after the little pep talk...thinking that the motivational speech might be enough to change my habits, kinda like a psychological experiment. Even a couple days after the visit, I didn't feel any different. But the third day, holy cow, what a difference. I can eat a little over half of what I was eating the week before. Not sure why the delay, but I am in the green zone now.
With my fill and renewed commitment, I've broken the plateau I was on for almost a month. I feel great and am looking forward to the next few of months. I hope to be at my goal weight by June or July. I love the reactions of people who I haven't seen in a while. While playing racquetball tonight, I received probably one of the best compliments of all time. While between games, I was talking with a group of players. One of them, a rather loud and flamboyant guy, was talking. He stopped mid sentence and said "Damn! How much weight has your fat ass lost?!" (you have to know him to get the full effect). It really made me feel good.
My weight today is 267.5
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