Walk a Mile in my Shoes

I wanted to visit the East Coast this spring.  However, after having a chat with both various people and my legs, my travel plans are set for Spring 2023: I'm not going anywhere far this spring.

Basically, when walking, I have too limited a range. I could do two miles a day in Stoneham when I weighed more, but since I let a MS relapse scare me two years ago, I have not been getting out. Now, walking just 0.26 miles with a cane inside leaves my legs tired. That's too low to even visit someone and do things like visit a park, hit a mall, and go out to dinner in the same day. I want/need better range to take a trip, even if using my cane and services like wheelchairs in airports. 

The good news is that I've been walking enough to show myself:

• It's not my bad knees limiting me.
• It is a lack general of conditioning of my legs.
• I noted (above) that I've done short walks of 0.26 miles (17 loops around the downstairs); how I feel after them is enough to know I have something to build on.

And I have a plan, namely a treadmill. My sister happens to already own what I am looking at, a Horizon T101. It's small and basic; the unit is not good for a serious runner or a tall person, but I'm neither. My stretch goal for Labor Day is to able to do two miles on it; I'll settle for feeling comfortable after walking half that.  

(One caveat is my knees could start acting up. I'll deal with them when I've enough done work to wake them up.)

Of course, upstate New York is beautiful in Fall Foliage Season … 

p.s. My exercise bike rides will continue, probably at a reduced pace. And it probably puts the kibosh on my previous secret plan, getting a road tricycle this spring. 

Inventory

I feel I am getting more sloppy about my eating and exercise habits, but my weight loss continues at the rate over just over two pounds a week.   I guess I'm not screwing up too badly, especially I've been dropping long enough to see real results in my waistline.  I keep swapping belts, and seeing what old things fit.   The coolest item so far is my SRE Mission Control jacket, which was an excellent for some top down motoring in cool weather yesterday.

(What, your company doesn't give spiffy leather jackets for schwag?   Come work for mine.  Void where prohibited, certain terms and conditions apply.)

Suffice say, it's getting to be that some clothing clean up is order.  Case in point are my belts. I have a selection in varying sizes going back 10 years.  A few months ago, I decided to clean out stuff I don't wear, like any belts too small to wear and T-shirts too ugly to wear.  By the time I got around to actually carting a load to the local St. Vincent de Paul donation center today, not only had the belts that fit changed,  I realized I should dispose of the largest belts and keep the older belts that I have a very good chance of shrinking into.  I also sent away my largest "fat pants", which had only been worn a couple of times.

I must note that our closets do hold ample evidence of the major room for improvement.  I've got at least two jackets from different decades which don't come close to fitting yet, a trench coat old enough to drink which never sees the light of day in rainy Seattle, and jeans I would have to drop the considerable amount I have already sloughed off again before if they might fit again.   (I have no idea why those jeans still exist, I think they were worn last during the first Reagan Bush administration.)


Even so, the closet may need another pass.  But I didn't have time today, and besides the more I lose the more I need add to the pile.

What a nice First World problem.

Updated:  I mis-read the labels on the jeans, inseam versus waist.   Let's just say I'm shorter than I am wide.

YMMV

My weight loss trends remain very good.  However, sometimes, I am amused if not confused by the details.

In particular, this morning I dropped three pounds, after being down a pound yesterday.  That's on top of two pounds Thursday, for a total of six pounds since Wednesday.   I fully expect half of that to come rocketing back in the normal course of events, and actually prefer it would.  My healthy target is to lose 1-3 pounds a week, no more, and it's only more than 2 pounds because I'm exercising in part to avoid muscle loss.  (I also cleared it with my physician.)

Never mind that I had pizza two nights in a row and went over my daily budget at least one day during that period.

I blame portion control and my overall clean living, in particular that I've gotten at least some light exercise in the last 24 days out of the last 30.  Maybe that's how I wore out a connector for the heart monitor, which snapped off today when I unmounted the monitor from the chest strap after riding the exercise bike:

Aw, snap!   One connector for my Polar Monitor is AWOL

Fortunately, like Foghorn Leghorn, "I always keep a spare in my locker".

Slightly more seriously, my longer trend is making me feel like a bit of a freak.    My two month record is over two pounds a week, and doesn't seem to have any short term road blocks.  If that were average results for Weight Watchers and similar sensible plans, the world be a thinner place.  Katherine and I agree, Weight Watcher's metrics just happen to be a natural compliment to my own methods.    This hit home yesterday, as when I poked about the online Weight Watcher tools I came across a page which reported the number of days I had recorded my intake, which was 100% of the days since I started.  Since both I eat and use a computer every day, why wouldn't I record the data?

In any case, I'll try to keep it going while it works.

A Skirmish in the Diet War

The good news is that I have lost 5% of my body weight.   But the battle continues.

Of course on the day I have already spurged on a breakfast omelet & bacon, and this afternoon I will have hot chocolate with an old high school classmate, the lunch menu includes:

Meatloaf
Beef, Onion, Garlic, Bacon, Parley, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Parmesan, Corn Flake, Egg, Ketchup, Worcestershire, Cayenne, Paprika, Molasses, Brown Sugar, EVO and S&P

Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Potato, Kale, Garlic, Butter, Lemon and S&P

Yes, the menu includes other (healthier) choices, but I love both meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  

(Did I mention meals are free at work?)

Ceiling Cat is saying "Drew, you have done well.  See how you handle the next level!'   But, but ... I didn't want to turn up the diet knob from easy to medium yet.   Ah, well, it really does average out, and my overall progress is good.

Human Wheels

Weight loss and exercise do wonders moderately good things for creaky parts ... in my case that means my legs, especially my knees.

Moderately good things include a drop off of pain in my right knee, and an improved power-to-weight ratio that allows me to handle stairs in a less awkward fashion.

The lack of wonder includes that last weekend, after I walked home just over a mile from dropping off my bicycle for service I could barely move for over two days.  Yesterday, when I picked up the bicycle, I got smart and had Katherine drop me.   However, I had already ridden my exercise bike, and I lacked the reserves for the ride home, especially the short but steep hill leading to our subdivision.  I got home drenched in sweat and fell on the couch until I could drag myself upstairs for a shower and a nap.

Clearly, I'm only getting started here.   I guess the wonders won't come until later.

Three Cheers

Weight Watchers hands out stickers with stars (ones that make your former teacher's Gold Stars look expensive) for every trivial thing imaginable, from minor weight milestones and long term attendance to simply deliver (literally) a "Bravo".   Combined with our ... zealous ... meeting leader's cheery nature, it's almost surreal.

When I checked in at the meeting this week, the receptionist noted I had lost my first five pounds, and could it be announced in the meeting?  Since my own records are more precise than theirs, it was old news to me.    Also, having shed weight before, I view dropping the first five pounds as no more than pulling out of the parking lot, so it's no big thing to me.   In any case, I thought it would be nice for others to hear someone making progress, so I said yes.

Never mind other people, I cared when it was announced.   ("Hey, I did something!") I was even vaguely disappointed when I realized it was the only thing I would get (no first "Bravo" for me this week).

I find the Weight Watchers meetings to be somewhat hokey and rather over the top, but I also realize the fundamentals (eat less, eat better, don't starve yourself, exercise) are sound, and that in general it's a dose of something which does help.

My first star is pasted next to my weigh-in data for this week.

Once More, With Feeling (and a Support Group)

My employer is offering to subsidize membership in Weight Watchers, and to support meetings at the office if enough employees join (the "enough employees" is a Weight Watchers requirement, not my company's.)

Given my weight has been stable the past few years at my long term high water mark, I'll try it.

A dietitian told me years ago, "Drew, you know the rules.  You just need to follow them!"    Maybe WW and their metrics will help that.

Nine months

My dietary habits have been really bad since the new year, but I can say one thing ... it has now been a full nine months since I had cola. That should be the longest stretch by far since I started drinking it around the end of the Ford Administration.

Lance Armstrong, I'm NOT

I rode the semi-recumbent stationary bike on my regular schedule today. This is noteworthy only because I nudged it up to level 3 for 48 minutes and lived to tell about it.

In October, I was using level at 1 for 32 minutes.

Most interesting to me is not the "distance" I went, but that my knees (my weakest link) have far less discomfort with this level and time than in they did during the lighter workouts back in October. So it would appear I am responding to the regular exercise.

Still a Few Bugs in the System

A Wii Fit showed up for Christmas, after Katherine searched high and low for it which is tale in itself.

(Short version: She gave up, chose another present, and happened to ask about Wii Fit when she was paying for my other present. Score!)

When Wii Fit tested my weight and balance on Friday, it pronounced my Wii Fit Age as 12 years older than my calendar age, and noted that I'm obese. (No kidding...)

When it tested me today, it said that I had gained four pounds and that my Wii Fit age had dropped 9 years. I think it's downright confused. I have lost weight (per the bathroom scale, used daily), and my fitness certainly hasn't improved that much to overcome the perceived weight gain.

Side note: Since my last post in November, I have been exercising and slowly losing weight, about 7 pounds in the past month on top of previous losses. The loss could be a little faster (bot not much), so life is good.

A New Component Failure

Weight continues to drop faster slightly faster than it should.

Exercise hit minor glitch today when I switched to the Schwinn Airdyne to add my arms to the workout. It promptly reminded my posterior why we bought the semi-recumbent bike four years ago -- the Schwinn saddle doesn't interface well to my own over sensitive (and overloaded) component.

This may be the Great Phys Ed Instructor in the Sky telling me take a walk outside for a change. However, that can overload the knees (which is why I like the stationary bikes). My legs actually want some exercise, we'll see.

Whoops ...

I lost 2.5 pounds in the last day. This would be great, except that makes 5 pounds for the week, which over my goal of 1.5 to 3 pounds. (Over 3 pounds a week, you lose muscle unless really exercising.) This is not a real concern unless it continues.

My riding does continue, a good thing. I just finished the third of bi-daily rides on the semi-recumbent stationary bike, after about the same number again either I'll up the time per ride or ride more often.

Pedal, pedal

I'm gearing up (too) slowly after the recent check up, but progress is visible. I've lost another couple of pounds, I feel my appetite is under control, and today I hit the exercise bike again and it didn't hit back.

However, I think my love affair with the McRib sandwich has to end immediately. Sigh, I liked those things.

This Time, We Mean it ...

The POST failure has been checked. Result is not a major issue, but something I won't note here lest a few search engines archive it for posterity to be retrieved out of context.

Action to take, startlingly enough, is lose weight. No funky or otherwise medications needed. But the good idea just got even more important.

An important note is that I am cleared to exercise.

POST Failure Redux - Seek Service

After another long break, I'm back on the exercise bike. Yesterday was my fourth ride on an every other day schedule. Unfortunately, I ran into another episode of being overheated and unsteady about fifteen minutes after I got off. I didn't think I was that hungry, but eating a fruit cup cleared me up enough to get real lunch.

Time to an appointment and get the system checked.

Gotta Check That Manual

I rode the bike again, again feeling wiped. It would have helped if the bike had been ridden since my last post on the topic.

Power On Self Test Failure - Please see manual!

After my exercise bike ride, I showered and crashed for a nap. (Not only did I ride, I was up way too late last night ...)

Alas, we had a fire drill here at the hobbit hole in the form of broken drinking glasses, with cats needing immediate herding by yours truly. This got me up, dressed, and moving, no doubt with a free shot of adrenaline. The cats weren't interested in being herded, so it took more effort and cat treats than I expected, but finally they were confined. I paused ... and realized I was sweating with a serious power shortage.

I grabbed the nearest prepared food (a pretty good éclair, actually), ate it, got a milk chaser, and then sat to for almost fifteen minutes. Then I went and napped for another three hours.

(And no, I'm not diabetic, due to other issues like low thyroid I get checked regularly).

Power has been restored. :-)

Reboot

Yea, I just turned around on some street paved with good intentions. I don't know which direction I'm headed in, let's try a side street...

More literally, it's been February since I rode the exercise bike, and while I continued dropping weight into March for a total of ~ 7 pounds, it all came back in April as I went deep focus on a project at work. How a deep a focus? My manager, who was not flogging me in the first place, told me to actually take my weekends off as I took vacation this past week.

So I did, and I rode today. So it begins again, actually a pound above where I started the year. Ah, well. Gotta start somewhere.

I Bad.

Rather than riding yesterday, I dived into (and never surfaced from) finishing a Python module and its associated tests for work. I also didn't ride for a week because of morning appointments, so even with my regular schedule of riding every other day I am barely at my goal of riding twice of a week.

Weight is down 3.5 pounds since New Years, which is also not where I want to be.

However, progress is being made on both fronts, so it's focus, not plan which needs a little work.

For My Next Trick ...

You heard it here first folks, my goal by April is to lose another 20 pounds.

Perhaps more important is my added goal to ride my exercise bike at least twice a week. This is up from a total of three days I claimed I got exercise after January last year.

(I keep great records, it's the execution that needs work.)