07.31.09
Day 31. One Month. I’m Done.
OK, I made it. Today is the last day of this little experiment gone awry. If you haven’t been following along, you may want to go back to the beginning.
As of this morning, I am down six pounds from where I started. A far cry from the 10 I was planning, but not too bad. I should add here that I do not trust the scale at the gym anymore, so all of those numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. Which I can do, because my blood pressure is OK. I’m trying to embrace the positives here.
So, maybe I did drop 10 pounds. Maybe I dropped two. Maybe I gained weight, but now I’m more muscular. Maybe my weight doesn’t matter as much as how I feel. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how I feel at this point.
I don’t feel like my health has improved because of this. My back doesn’t feel any better. I do feel like my diet is healthier, and in the long term, maybe that’s enough. I’m still hungry a lot, but I feel like I fill up a little more easily now. My clothes feel a little looser, which is probably the most obvious indication of progress I have at the moment.
I managed to identify a few problem foods that are worse for me than I realized. The worst are tortillas, which are involved in so many of my favorite foods. I must go on a hunt for lighter, healthier tortilla alternatives. “Tortilla Alternatives” is fun to say. Try it. Go ahead, say it out loud. See?
On a happier note, I identified plenty of foods that aren’t all that bad. Turkey of course… I knew that was pretty healthy, but I didn’t realize HOW healthy until I started looking at everything. And it’s one of my favorites.
So, I still have a long way to go. I figure I need to drop about 20 more pounds to get to a comfortable place where I don’t feel so fat, I can take a little pressure off my spine and maybe have enough energy to stay active. That said, I’m really going to make an effort not to get too hung up on numbers. I really want to judge this based on how I feel, not what the scale tells me. That won’t be easy, but I can try.
I think I will need another round of steroid injections in my spine before too much longer. The previous batch did the trick for eight months or so. I’m hopeful that if I keep dropping weight, they will remain effective longer. I’m also hopeful that another round might make it possible for me to ride my bike again, which could do really great things for me physically and mentally.
I’m struggling to remain hopeful. Some days that’s easier than others. But as long as there’s hope, I can keep going. My wife calls it dedicated or committed. I call it stubborn. Either way, I’m not giving up yet.
Weight: 230 lbs
Exercise: 1/2 km swimming.
Intake: 2065 calories. I most certainly reached the 50 grams of fat, but also probably a decent portion of protein, all without hitting the 2200 calories.
What I ate today: Banana, raisins, yogurt, cereal, peach, coffee, turkey bacon wrap, chips and beer.
Scott Wooldridge said,
July 31, 2009 at 10:22 am
Uh oh, I thought tortillas were healthier than other types of bread… Anyhow, good work and hang in there. Lately I’ve been doing some stretching excercises on an exercise ball. I think it helps with core strength, which can help your back.
joe said,
July 31, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Watch out for the lard loaded tortillas, they’re the big offenders. Delicious but deadly. Good work Andy, I can’t imagine doing a workout program with a blown back. I hesitate to broadcast this, but I got moved to the back of the building at work and just in one week because of the 3 miles a day I had to walk to deal with the fact the copier, printer and meetings are in the front of the building I lost …. uh…. 4 lbs. That’s just because I’ve done nothing for years and the soft, fluffly fat is easy to burn. You burned through the easy fat last year. You are now into stuff that’s been there for years. It doesn’t come off in days.
One thing I’ve been thinking about while reading this series is the beginning statements about the hernia and back and the years of just dealing with it. You are a bass player. You still shlep bass cabs. You rode Ironman. Hell, you climbed a damn mountain! All while compensating for the pain points. You have to had learned to do things subconscienciously to avoid crippling bouts of pain. You had to be careful of NOT using the gut muscles to avoid the obvious. Is it possible you are still compensating for the hernia without knowing it? That would put a ton of extra pressure on the back muscles. I have found the abs to be the most important group to help the back. The one year I dealt with mine I noticed a marked rise in back pain moments. Is there any types of strengthening things you can do for those without inflaming the back?
Last thing, someone mentioned water intake. Years ago it was 64 oz. a day. When I started my second push to lose weight that was one of the big things. I didn’t realize how little I was taking in til I monitored. The first few weeks was almost embarrassing the number of trips to the can. But the theory is that our modern intake of caffiene and alcohol dehydrate us badly and our ancient survival genes kick in and decide to hold all the water it can to survive the drought we seem to be experiencing. That could explain the apparent gain after the weekend and a quick lose afterward. I have seen that on week long bike tours. Coffee don’t count. Beer and soda neither. Water, cold cold water.
Take everything I’ve said with a small grain of salt. I’m not a doctor but I play one on the internet.
Keep it up man, it will make a difference. Keep up the pulse!
Joe