Low Blood Sugar...

I was feeling a little sluggish the other day and happened to have a doctors appointment that day. I had a blood test done and my glucose was below average. 

I am speaking with my doctor next week and see if this is something I should be concerned with or not. 

Either way I picked up a blood testing kit to check my own glucose. My test yesterday was just barely in the normal range.

I will keep you updated to what I find out. 

My weight is holding and I am happy with everything else.

Winter Clothes...

Well I have gone from a size XXXL down to medium for shirts, and pants from a 44 waist to a 32 waist.

That means most of clothes don't fit that I had. I went thru my spring clothes, summer clothes and now my fall and winter clothes. Most have gone to charity, some to a consignment shop.

I was concerned with my ski jacket and ski pants. I just bought them a little over a year ago and they weren't cheap. 

Today I dug the ski jacket and pants and found with some toleration of a bit bulky, but definitely workable I can keep them. A small victory, but a nice one. You get these every once and awhile.

I have found that the better quality coats and pants for sports have built in cinches and or reduction snaps and Spyder makes some damn fine clothes and yes I get to keep them.

Down 100lbs.

My doc put me at 4lbs. a week at 16 a month. My body works at a different pace.

I was never worried 3lbs. a week was a decent pace. I exercise, take my vitamins and get my protien.

Pre-op I was 297 and lost 30 prior to surgery. At surgery I was at 267, the wall I hit was at 203.

Saturday I was out getting some new work clothes since I have gone from a XXX to a L for shirts. I went into a sporting goods store for paintball supplies. My nephew loves the fact I have lost weight and can join him in paintball battles. I saw the bikes and thought I haven't rode a bike for 30 years.

My exercise has consisted of a stair stepper, walking and a treadmill. I have to admit the boredom has gotten to me.

So I bought a trail bike. In CT I have some nice bike/walking trails. Saturday I did some light biking. Sunday and Monday I went on a ride. Each ride was 20 miles. I was a little sore but doing the 8 flight of stairs a day must have put me in better shape than I thought.

The best part I pushed through the wall and hit 197. So I am now down 100lbs. and at a weight I haven't seen since my army days.

For those that hit the walls keep pushing, don't despair.

FINALLY, Under 200lbs.

This past month has been a bit frustrating since I hit a stall for 2+ weeks. I am glad to say I am now officially under 200 lbs.. I am also only a couple of pounds from my official 100 lbs. lost.

I am down to a 34" waist from a 44". My shirt size has gone from a XXX to a large.

Two decades since I last saw this weight and clothes size.

Good walk...

I took my usual walk today. I saw some wildlife that I haven't seen before. A big old Raccoon, and I mean BIG came around one of the houses and of course stopped and watched me. I stopped and and admired the coon's size and what it must of taken for him to be that healthy.

Next a bunch of squirrels were chasing each other and having fun.

May have been simple, but it was nice to enjoy the sight and entertainment on my walk today... by the way I hit 10,000 steps today.

Yes...

Well I broke 13,000 steps today. Took a nice long walk through the "big" town of Tariffville.

Truck'n

First I hit 210 today! That is 87 lbs. since I started the journey.

I also increased my steps this week. I really do love the Fitbit.

Walking, Trying To Get To 10,000 Steps A Day...

Well, I have been using my Fitbit for 3 weeks now. I really, really like the device. If you want t see my review scroll down.

On a bad with lots of meetings. I now know that I average 3,500 steps in a day. The Fitbit is showing me I need to make the extra effort and take the stairs and any other means to get more steps into my daily routine.

The ultimate goal is to get more weight off.....

The battle still goes on...

Filet Mignon....mmm

Well, for those that know me I was a meat eater before my surgery. I was actually a big meat eater.

I would easily take down a full rack of ribs, or a nice large porter house without thinking.

Well since my surgery ground beef, ground turkey, beef jerky and yes some chicken has been my main stay. I will say chicken is still a problem for me, it has to be moist and not over cooked. I was concerned about eating beef.

Friday night I grilled out another sport I love. I bought two filets, one for me and one for my friend. Now a filet to me always has been a small piece of steak, tender yes, but not usually what I would order. However the steak I chose was about 4-6 oz raw. 

I grilled it up and enjoyed the steak or most of it. The pouch was happy so I was also happy.... 

Walking...

I am struggling getting all my steps in a day. I am averaging 5000 steps a day. While that isn't bad, my goal is 10,000 steps a day. I guess I should look at it as 5000 is half way there.

Fitbit Review

What you get.

Different views of the device.

How you wear the device while sleeping.

Prior to my surgery I ordered a FITBIT. Being a gadget guy I saw this new fangled pedometer.

What I liked about this pedometer is that it wirelessly transmits your steps to either a desktop program (windows only) or to a personal account on the FITBIT site (Mac). 

The Good:

• Allows you to customize the length of stride
• Bright Electronic Display
• Long rechargeable battery life
• Small, almost too small
• Wirelessly transmits to your computer when within 15 feet
• Stores the updated information to either a computer program or your private profile on their website.
• Tracks sleep movement
• Personal website lets you track food totals with nutrient breakdown
• Personal website also tracks entered weight along with a journal
• You can choose to have facebook and twitter updated with activity summaries, daily, weekly or not at all.

The Bad:

• Waiting 3 months for the product to arrive. They didn't charge my credit card until it shipped though.
• Limited food choices built into the food database. ( you can enter individual food items along with nutrients) You can also request items to be added to the common food database.
• Mac users can only use the personal website at Fitbit. I don't see this as an issue but some might.

Bottom line, I really like this pedometer and think it has great potential.The ability to track my activity seamlessly will allow me to stick with this pedometer. I also like the ability to monitor my sleeping patterns and activity since I have sleep apnea. 

When I find something that I think can help me achieve or track my fitness I will let others know.

Fitbit

BMI or is this a better measurement?

Interesting article on a different form of measurement than BMI. 

Here is the concept:

"BMI or Body Mass Index, a ratio of weight to height, has long been considered one of the best measures for assessing overall health risk.Getting your BMI into a healthy range used to be considered a top health priority. However, recent research shows that there is a new sheriff in town: your waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Studies now indicate that WHtR is a much better measure than BMI for assessing obesity and cardiovascular risk. Read on to find out why, and whether your WHtR is in a healthy range."

Here is a link to the article

This is interesting to me. When I was in the military I always needed a separate test even though I was fit. The test the military would use was either a caliper or dunk tank test. 

Even my doctor indicated that my goal weight might be unrealistic given the composure of my body. 

So my WHtR ratio is 53 which is just on the upper edge of healthy.

For Men

• Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight 
• Ratio 35 to 43: Extremely slim 
• Ratio 43 to 46: Healthy 
• Ratio 46 to 53: Healthy, Normal Weight 
• Ratio 53 to 58: Overweight 
• Ratio 58 to 63: Extremely Overweight/Obese 
• Ratio over 63: Highly Obese 

According to this theory if my waist goes down to 29" I would fall into Healthy.

I will ask my doctor about this at my next visit.

Vitamins

Yes we gave up our meds, but we now take vitamins that are large. Most items I have seen cannot hold all my vitamins in one holder from the pharmacy.

What I did find today in Walmart was a product called Eazy Dose. The product is a small bag with a slip lock, like a ziplock. In my younger days I would have thought the bags could fill another need.

The company sells 30 for 2 dollars. These are great, finally all my vitamins are easily managed and not loose in my pocket.

I take 3 large chewable vitamin C plus calcium, 1 small B12, and two pretty big sized chewable multivitamin.

A Couple Of Things...

First, and probably most importantly I am now at a weight that I have not been at in a couple of decades. This week was a real break through in weight loss. As you know I am supposed to lose 4 lbs. a week, 16 lbs. a month. Well I have been more around 2 to 3 lbs. a week. 

While this can be a bit discouraging at time, I know I am doing the right things and the weight is dropping. 

I believe the body has certain "memory" or set points where I have previously held weight before for long period of times. Some folks call these plateaus. As you gain weight you will stay at 229 lets say for months or a year. I believe as you lose weight when you're body hits 229 it remembers and stays there for awhile. Eventually you will break 229 and then fall to the next set point rapidly.

I have spent quite a bit of the past few decades in the 220 lb. range so to now see 215 lbs. means I am in some new territory. This week I lost 7lbs. which makes up for some of my slow weight loss.

So now I am not sure where my set points are and I will just have to play it by what the body wants to give up.

I also looked at my protein intake the past few weeks. I had gone down to one protein shake and sometimes I wouldn't have that until late in the day. So I changed my pattern to one protein shake in the morning for breakfast and then one protein shake in the evening. I use Unjury protein(2 scoops), 8 ox. Over The moon milk non fat, and then a cup of frozen mixed berries. 

I have also found that Chi Chi's is now making small dinners (Non Freezer, refrigeration). The dinners are good, very pouch friendly. One of these can last me two meals if I have refrigeration around.

My Skin...

So with rapid and massive weight loss the one item we all consider before this surgery is what will my skin look like. Losing over 70 lbs. I am now seeing some skin sag.

Fortunately the sagging is on my arms and other "hidden" areas. I have heard from many sources that you need to wait 2 years after the weight loss to let the body readjust and "tighten". I am not concerned but I am taking some preventive measures with plenty of moisturizing.

I don't know how much sagging I will have but it is the price we pay for this weight loss.