| Doh! |
[May. 6th, 2008|09:22 am] |
I've been a bit behind on these updates. Of all the many excuses I could use, it really just boils down to I was lazy with perhaps a side of nothing new to report. Things are progressing well and after some mental kung fu fighting between my nutritionist and doctor I believe I've got enough information to make a decision on when I'm going to end this thing.
( Read more... ) |
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| But if I do this... |
[Apr. 14th, 2008|03:29 pm] |
So another week, another 5-7 pounds. I just passed a month and a half. That represents 60lbs lost and, as I found out this week, 12" off my waist. It's pretty incredible. I still don't notice much of a difference in energy level or when I move around. That said it's hard to ignore the changes in the shape of my body and that "what the hell?" thought every time I pass by a mirror. My face seems to be the first thing people notice, including myself. I'm very lucky to have the support of friends and family in this. The positive reinforcement really helps.
( Read more... ) |
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| Actual Food - Sorta |
[Apr. 5th, 2008|01:19 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
So, I missed a post last week. Not a whole hellva lot to report. The weight keep sliding off and I'm officially bored of the shake flavors. The soups still have some life in them but even then, there is only so many different kinds of seasonings I can put in them. I've taken to making the supplements with ice and blending them 2 at a time. Take half now, half later. Doing this has reduced the need to take straight water and the shakes are much better in this state. So it works out. Being bored as I am with them, I don't really care what two supplements I'm mixing as it's all starting to taste the same. M cringes a bit sometimes when the mixes are a little odd. Wild Berry and Mint Chocolate or Berry Crème and Mocha.
( Read more... ) |
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| Obviously! |
[Mar. 20th, 2008|08:10 pm] |
We had the nutritionist come in for session today. She's ok, but not nearly as engaging as our normal guy. Mainly she talks about her studies in nutrition and her classes at the "JC". The information is ok, but it's sort of tossed out and you have to hunt and peck for the juicy bits. Being the outgoing folk tat we are, this leads to us snickering at the odd things she says from the back of the room like school children to an oblivious teacher. The one that comes to mind from today was something about how one of the participants is anemic but is full of energy and she came back with something along the lines of; "Well obviously that means your hemoglobin whoopdeedos are extremely efficient." To which 4-5 of us announce "Obviously!"
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| Ding! |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|07:19 am] |
And there is the confirmation, 297 today. In addition to the regular experience today I finally got a chance to discuss my target weight with the doc. Based on the charts for ideal body weight, plus 10% for muscle mass, I was given a range of 165-200, or as I read it, "stay below 200." 200 is more or less what I was expecting so a bit of a relief there. 165 HA! 186 was the lowest weight I got to in my freshman year of high school and that was only after a year of punishing wrestling training. No 190-200 is where it's at for me.
( Read more... ) |
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| Approaching Arbitrary Even Numbered Waypoint |
[Mar. 6th, 2008|07:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
303 today... I'm losing weight at about 5-6 pounds a week now. Simple math says that this is the last week I'll be above 300. [waves a little flag] As stated I've never been overly concerned with my weight but I do monitor it from time to time. 300 has been a pretty unbreakable number for years. The thought that, 3.5 weeks in to this, I'll break that barrier is very encouraging. Closest I ever got was about 5 years ago when I'd got it into my mind that I was going to attempt Mt. Whitney and started hiking every Tuesday and Thursdays. Life happened and I ended up here in the Bay Area right smack in the middle of that little adventure and I haven't quite got the urge yet to start up again.
( Read more... ) |
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| All that fun... |
[Mar. 3rd, 2008|07:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  okay | ] |
So as most of you know we had a little life snafu recently, what with the breaking and entering of our house mixed with the taking of our things. I don't recommend it. Life has almost regained it normally tenuous grasp on what we would consider normalcy. It's a good time for a tax refund because we have some retrofitting to do for security purposes. But, enough about that little chapter of our lives.
It's a few day past my last session and still feeling good. Better, in fact. My hunger sense is almost completely gone and, as this is the beginning of my third week, I get soups. Yes, it seems like such a small thing, but soups have made this little trek so much easier. Now, these aren't you Progresso Chicken Chunk Mayhem or anything like that. It's basically a chickenLIKE flavored (ie no chicken) shake in a bowl with maybe 10 rice sized noodles in it. It even comes in the same packets that my shakes do. HOWEVER it's not sweet and it's warm. Plus as I only get one a day it gives me something to have around dinner time that's special and not just another shake. A welcome change.
( Read more... ) |
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| Progress |
[Feb. 25th, 2008|11:44 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
Keeping with the theme that I'm fighting the small battles there are certain foods that I really crave. Maybe that's the wrong word, as it's not so much an immediate desire to eat but a desire to eat once I kick the shake and become normal again. I've been keeping a mental list of these items but rather then carry that around and concern myself with it, I thought I might document it here. The idea being that I can go shopping after this is over and work my way back through the list. I'm going to leave off anything that would be a standing item, like Chipotle Burritos, steak, or 'Food of the gods' (a very specific item from back home in San Diego). Some of these things I wanted to make, for the experience, before going on the diet but it just didn't work out.
( Read more... ) |
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| Day 5 |
[Feb. 22nd, 2008|06:50 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | calm | ] |
So the routine has pretty much set in. The temptations have lessened a bit. I doubt they'll ever go away but I can handle the dull roar. I've been sticking to my mental approach. "I don't have the win the war, I just have the win each battle and the war will win itself." Small battles I can do. Taking each temptation on as it comes is mentally less strenuous then worrying about the diet as a whole. I don't have to say no to food as a whole, I just have to say it to that Oreo cookie or that shrimp curry. This is assisted b the fact that I'm almost never hungry if I keep to the schedule. I'm told after the first week or two the hunger sense turns off all together. Neat!
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 19th, 2008|01:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | okay | ] |
So, it's begun. Today will be my first full day. I started officially mid-yesterday after the ceremonial Chipotle Burrito. I would have started yesterday proper but because we were out of town over the weekend I didn't have the time to a) run the errands I needed to to get all of the required medication and b) have the ceremonial Chipotle Burrito, both of which were required.
( Read more... ) |
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| The first meeting. |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|11:48 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  determined | ] |
I had my first actual session yesterday. It's a quick doctors visit followed by a group discussion. Since I haven't actually started the meeting with the doctor was just to review my labs from the previous week. As usual everything came back squeaky clean. This is normally when the doctor tells me that I'm healthy but should really lose some weight and I go on about my life. Obviously not the case here, we went through the program booklet and he outlined what would be expected of me. Above all it appears that I'll have to be organized. There is a list of pills and such I have to take in addition to the flavored shake packets that are the core of the diet (think Carnation's Instant Breakfast). Here is what my day looks like once I start:
1 packet every 2 hours but no longer then 4 hours apart - Not to bad tasting but it may cure me of my sweet tooth since they are all sweet.
Metamucil 2-3 times a day - Blech I hate this stuff. As appealing as a liquid bran muffin.
Potassium (Prescription) - The booklet says "OTC potassium supplements are not used due to inadequate dosage."
Aspirin - Apparently to maintain my gall bladder.
Ton of water - No problem there, I do this anyway. I'll become ever more of an aquaholic.
Optional and in addition to the above (Many of these surprised me):
Diet soda - HEEELLLLOOOO Diet Dr Pepper
Coffee/tea - Not much chance of that anyway
Calorie free flavored waters - Those carbonated Safeway Select flavors are apparently a huge hit.
Chipotle Burritos
So ya... need to get a pill box and possibly a watch that beeps every 2 hours. He also told me that the weight loss starts very steep then tapers off to a linear progression. The first 2 weeks are apparently the most dramatic weighting in at ~12 pounds a week then starting the 3rd week it's about a pound a day. I found out later for one of the participants that it so predicable that a) they can hand you a chart of the predicted progression all the way to your target weight, and b) if your cheating it's very easy to see on such a chart.
The doctor then told me that due to the massive weight loss the first 2 weeks that I should do anything that would cause me to sweat. My thoughts at this point are that this is the best diet in the world! First week he tells me to eat whatever the hell I want. Then he tells me to sit on my ass for 2 more weeks.
"Sorry honey, I can't take out the trash... doctors orders, I might sweat." HA!
Next was the group session. This is a series of talks on a rotating topic schedule; part of my weekly visit. Yesterday was session 4: The Failure Syndrome. The gist is the avoid the shame spiral. One of the methods was an interesting perspective. Running on the premise that you slipped and ate a mini tub of Ben and Jerry's (1200 cals or 1/3 of a pound) and how you can get emotional about it and make unrealistic promises to yourself etc etc etc. Objectively it's 1/3 of a pound, unless it's a pattern it small potatoes. Take note of it, writing down, accept it and move on.
Honestly I expected this to be a similar to an AA meeting.
"Hi my name is Pat and it's been 45 days since my last 6 Dollar Whopper Mac"
Having attended quite a few Alateen meetings in my youth (supporting/hanging out with a friend) I was prepared for this. Not only was this not the case, it wasn't even a room full of self loathing fat people. It's an amazing group of outgoing, positive, dedicated people all sharing this common struggle. Sure the format was the same but the mood was completely different.
This caused me great relief because this is who I am. I've never been bothered by my weight and I certainly don't let it rule my life. I don't get on a scale not because I'm afraid of it, it's because I just don't care. I'm doing this now for one reason, and one alone. Health. I want to be around for a while. I want to be there to see the Spud grow up and start her own family. I don't want me or my family to have to deal with all of the fun things that come with being heavy.
These people are here for the same reason. All with their own motivations, of course, but they are all dedicated and are taking it with good humor and mutual support. This are my people. We few, we happy few, we band of brot... ok I'll stop. Outside the profound revelation, the group had some characters. A husband wife team that cracked jokes the entire time. Their friend that they brought to the meeting and subsequently signed up. A mother son team. A few others. I got the very real sense that this program is more about maintaining comfort and positive reinforcement through a difficult experience. Something quite in contrast to the weight loss industry which seems to be more geared to quilting you into action. "Get on that treadmill lardo, you have to run 6 miles to work off the fat you gained from even thinking about a Twinkie." |
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| *Blows off the dust* |
[Feb. 12th, 2008|12:43 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | excited | ] |
Is this thing on? Just exercising my live journal for inbound... well... journaling. I've a big life change coming my way and this will serve as an outlet for my thoughts during the process.
For those that haven't heard yet, I'm t-5 days till I begin a medically supervised wieghtloss program. That's right folks, I'm trading in my Hawaiian shirts for months of medical supervision and lab work. I think I've informed most of the people that could be targeted for any undue aggression on my part of this change, partly to get some sorta mental buyoff and mainly as fair warning. I'm not entirely sure how this process will affect me and I would be remiss if I didn't involve / inform those close to me that there may be some drastic changes in my personality during this little adventure.
I'm completely heartened by the fact that I've received nothing but positive feedback and support for this change. The most important being that of my wife, M. Without her love and support I doubt I'd even attempt this. She already has to put up with my cheesy jokes and incessant kidding, now this. I had a talk with the spud too since she'll no doubt be affected as well. When I told her what daddy was going to do and why, she nodded knowingly, then attempted to stick her hand in my mouth.
The other reason I've dusted off this space is due to the number of people that were genuinely interested in my motives for and my mental state during this process.
So to kick things off I'm going to outline the program, at lease the first part.
The program consists of 3 phases.
The fast: This is the first phase and the one that has the most potential for mood swingingly good times. It's a liquid diet, so I'll be on water and a shake like substance. I've had a sample of the shakes and they aren't bad. Not a nice juicy filet mind you but it could be worse.
The goal here is to get to a target weight. The 'ideal' height / weight charts say I should be 175ish for my structure and height, but much like standardized testing those charts are only useful in the mystical land of unicorns and rainbows. Believe me if I weighted 175 I might develop a taste for fish and start obsessing over my lost ring of power. I'm just not built that way. They haven't told me what to expect for a target weight yet but if I where betting man (and I am), I'd guess 200-220 range.
During this period I'll be expected to attend a group session and office visit once a week. During group time the main part of the program, behavior modification, begins. I'll have blood work and urine tests on alternating weeks and an EKG every 8 weeks. This is all to insure that I'm not adversely affected by the fast. During this phase I'm told men tend to lose about a pound a day. So you know... visible progress.
The second phase is ~4 month behavior modification course that I'll elaborate on later as I know more.
And the final phase is point forward maintenance, which is to apply what I've learned and maintain my new relationship with food. Again... more as I know it.
All and all I'm excited about the prospect and very interested to see how I react to a world without food for an extended period of time. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 21st, 2006|10:55 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | rejuvenated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Drone of the AC at work | ] |
Wow things sure are moving. I cannot believe it's the middle of July. I suppose this is the time dilation period before the next 18 years flashes by.
Baby:
Yeah the total domination of my free time is nigh, and I couldn't be happier. Psht, who needs hobbies. M and I are very jazzed about the change that’s coming. For those of you that haven't heard, Baby Biscuit has become Baby Sophia. Logic suggests that it's a girl, but be warned that M and I are completely capable of naming a boy Sophia just to screw with everyone.
I laugh to myself (I do this a lot mind you) thinking about being a parent. I mean, M, sure. She's a nurse, has a motherly instinct setting in, etc. But me? Who authorized this?
These thoughts often degrade into the normal 'HAHAHA my plan is nearly complete' background noise. I'm still unsure of this devious plan my subconscious has going, I mean it's been nearly complete for years now. Regardless, something tells me that having an offspring is a major milestone towards its completion.
House:
Me Pappy came up to visit this last weekend. Always enjoy his visits. True to form he immediately set about fixing things. It was a good time, we kung-fu'd the garage and built some massive amounts of shelving as well as some decent lighting and a work bench for future fun. It was a nice visit, got to spend some quality time with him and he got to see our new digs.
Can't begin to tell you what the shelves and the bench have done for my motivation. Got home from work the other day and decided to augment my bench with a couple more shelves. It was so nice to have a place to work from as well as a place to store all the crap that's been strewn on the floor since we moved in.
Next on the bench is the refinishing of M's tea cabinet and a decked ramp for Finn. After those two are done, it'll be time to pick up the bed again and finish it.
Baby: Part II
M and I are down to SD for the weekend for J's baby shower. Should be a good time, we haven't been since last November. I'm looking forward to laughing at my brother a lot. No amount of amusement that I get from thinking of myself as a dad could compare to that which I derive from the thought that my brother is going to be one. Daffy bastard. :) |
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| Small victories |
[Jun. 1st, 2006|10:58 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Slowly coming out of the dark as far as keeping up appearances that I'm a social person. In the mean time I'm enjoying small victories around the house as things get accomplish.
Yesterday I managed to find out why our phone jacks didn't work. It seems that the remodelers that the sellers brought in thought it would be ok if they just pulled the phone cords into the jack, but not actually hook them up. LAZY! After a quick bit of wire work, we have a dial tone. Weeeeee!
As I said, small victories. |
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| What am I? |
[Apr. 17th, 2006|05:24 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | excited | ] |
I have a yolk, at least for the next week or two.
I am very small, for the time being.
and I will one day have an unnatural craving for Chipotle burritos and hordes of fabric.
( Read more... ) |
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| Big Update |
[Mar. 23rd, 2006|09:44 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
So I've been silent for a while, mainly because I'm up to my neck in things to do. Everything ramped up so fast as January came to a close. It's going to be a big year for the 2 of us, that's for sure.
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 16th, 2006|05:49 pm] |
- The horns of LocNor are made entirely from hair.
- If you drop LocNor from the top of the Empire State Building, he will be falling fast enough to kill before reaching the ground.
- The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal LocNor.
- LocNor is worth his weight in gold - literally!
- Grapes explode if you put them inside LocNor.
- LocNor is incapable of sleep.
- Bananas don't grow on trees - they grow on LocNor.
- The water in oceans is four times less salty than the water in LocNor.
- The pupil of an octopus's eye is shaped like LocNor.
- If you chew gum while peeling LocNor then it will stop you from crying.
So I'm rich, I don't sleep, and I have banana's growing on me... GRRRR-Owl |
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| New Tasty |
[Jan. 16th, 2006|12:20 pm] |
So in an effort to expand our horizons and try new places to eat, M and I decided to go on a date out to "The Melting Pot" in Larkspur. It only been open for about 3 months in this location. Thus, here is a review of our experience.
( Read more... ) |
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| So... Back to *YAWN* work |
[Jan. 3rd, 2006|04:09 pm] |
First day back at work today after 2 weeks of pseudo work. Let me tell you, setting your bio clock to go to bed at 5-6am and wake up around 1-2pm is not the thing to do before you startup working full bore again. I was up at 5 this morning (which never happens). To occupy myself, I watched the last half of 'Lost in Space,' which I had a morbid interest in a few days before. Man did that movie suck. "Lets flight through the planet!" That's effing brilliant!
Overall however the weekend was a grand affair. I was awoken one morning by M who'd made me beignets-in-bed (bin-yays for us Yanks) using our new fryer. Sooo tasty. It's essentially a fried blob of pancake dough, but if done right (and they were) they aren't greasy at all. A little powdered sugar and maple syrup later and that's one TASTY wake-up call. I love my wife!
We went to see Narnia last night. Was s'ok. I'd heard it compared to LOTR. Effects-wise, sure, I'll buy that, they did use ILM and WETA Workshop so of course it was good. The story/editing/or acting however... not even close.
The story is ok but there is almost no cohesive storylines. It's almost as if it's one random event after another. Oh look! A new world. Hey! Welcome to the world your armies are almost ready. Joy! It's Santa Claus the arms dealer. Damn! The talking lion sacrificed himself only to be save by 'older' magics. The hell?!? The tall kid is suddenly a military tactician, general, and fighter. (especially that last one, just look how he wields a sword!).
The editing could have been better, perhaps they didn't have alot to work with, but several of the fight scenes could have at least appeared alot better, namely with regards to the queen. Some of these sequence were very lively and believable, the other just showed that she had no combat skill what-so-ever. It was very hit and miss. The brief encounter with the centaur was actually pretty good where as the fight with Peter was horrible (from both sides). It was painful to watch.
Perhaps this is just me but I wasn't too impressed with the human acting. That said, the animals were amazing. The beavers and the fox were easily the best out of the film. Morgrim was decent outside some of the animations. The queen was a little to vacant, the kids were hit and miss, The professor was probably my favorite human but he sadly only had maybe 10-20 lines.
All and all, it was a decent some what enjoyable film with a few misses. If the story is going to be a thinly veiled excuse for a large battle/little boys fanatasy then it should be close to flawless in that regard. Everything upto and past the queen or Peter fighting was pretty damn good (for a disney no-death film). But, ugh... {sigh} |
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| Holidays... Unscathed |
[Dec. 27th, 2005|01:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
This was the first year in a long time were I just wasn't up to the holiday experience. I think M felt the same. Perhaps it was the rush and effort we put into the wedding. It was an off start with us having to make our annual trip down to SD the day after Thanksgiving. That said my family was great as usual by holding a special second Thanksgiving just for us. Having spent the previous weekend in SD for my mom's B-day, and the weekend before that at Disneyland, Nov was a SoCal Month.
( Read more... ) |
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