Latest Update

20 October

        Feel like I am starting over, got a new baseline weight from the doctor.  Corrected my scale issues, back on the diet and exercising every other day again (pulled a muscle), know that I am losing weight, clothes are getting looser and stamina is getting better.  Just not where I thought I was.  Next weigh-in will be next Friday, moved it to Friday since that will be 2 weeks from the baseline.  Little down about the situation but just have to stick with it.  Nothing to it but to do it.


         Or, as one of the guys I served with on Mobility would say "HUAY", (it's an Army thing....)

KS

10/10/10

It's Sunday,

     Been a pretty good day, found a good hot wings recipe which has 0 carbs in it.  Allowed me to enjoy watching football and movies with munchies.  Still have to exercise today, but at least I was able to enjoy snacking for the first time in a while, cause you really have to watch those hot wing recipes, some of them have a whole mess of carbs (TGIFridays and Hooters for example).

     Some days are harder than others, that's the thing about dieting; it is basically a solo venture.  You can talk about support structures, others that are dieting with you, etc.  You can complain about people eating things you can't eat, or not having enough of what you can eat.  But in the end, it all comes down to this, How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight.  If you really want to lose the weight, no matter what happens you will have the will power to do what it necessary.

    Guess that is all for today, tomorrow I work, we are getting in new laptops for on-call and finally just got the tunneling software to work, so maybe, just maybe I can get back to my studying and get a little stress off of me.  Stress is part of our daily life, this is true, but added stress can really mess up dieting.  And remember, most importantly, drink plenty of water, I believe they recommend at least 48 ounces a day (yes you will spend a lot of time in the bathroom); personally I drink even more than that (always in the can of course...).  But one thing I have noticed over the years with diets, no matter which diet, not matter what types of exercise, if you drink a whole lot of water while dieting, the weight comes off a whole lot easier.  You also need to either cut back on caffeine or add 8 ounces of water of each 8 ounces of caffeinated drink, caffeine bind fat to the body and water breaks that bind, which is why with the amount of coffee I drink that I consume a couple of gallons of water a day.  Which means all I have to watch is my diet versus exercise.  Good luck to all of you.

K

Oct 1 – Oct 8

        It has been a long busy week, work piling up all around me, keeps me busy and the days go by   fast.  Got back on my diet after a couple of falls from grace.  Have increased my exercise to everyday, nervous about the weigh-in next week, but if I continue as I am I should be okay.  My current goal is to be on a normal scale at the Doctors office by Thanksgiving (that is one that only goes to 350).  That means about 20 lbs in the next 7 weeks, with this diet I should lose that and more but that is my goal.  My next goal after that is to get to the 2’s.  I figure if I set goals between 20 and 50 lbs at a shot I should be okay.  Especially if I give myself about 8 weeks for each goal.  Reasonable on this diet.

       My support structure has drifted away it seems, at least they aren’t as vocal about their support.  I have to keep reminding people that I have changed my  diet so I can’t eat certain things.  It makes it hard sometimes because people forget that I need to have certain things to eat.  Like the other night we had burgers for dinner, vegetables were supposed to be prepared so I would have something besides just burgers.  They weren’t.  They didn’t forget to make the fries though, a lot of good that did me.  It’s incidents like this that make it stressful sometimes, Oh, I get the I’m sorry, but again, a hell of a lot a good sorry does for the empty stomach.

        Have a question for any of my few readers, is there anyone out there that has diabetes and has had to come back from a lot of weight. (Like I am doing now)  It seems that my legs are hurting more and more as the days go by.  Is it because that now I am exercising I am just noticing it more than before when I wasn’t exercising?  Or is it something else, it seems it’s the muscles that are hurting in spots.  Unless someone has a suggestion I am going to wait a while to see if it eases up as I lose weight, if it doesn’t then I will contact my doc about it.  Wish me luck.

         Next weigh-in is Oct 14, feeling better about it right now, never confidant though.  Will have to wait and see.  This weekend should be good, nothing really to do, no events that is, just going to watch football, eat Buffalo wings and celery for snacks (great low carb snacks)

Weigh In

Posted 1 Oct

   Sorry about the delay on posting, had some computer issues yesterday.

30 Sept 2010

   Weighed in this morning, gained 1.8 lbs, can only attribute it to the extra carbs while I was sick, I didn't stop exercising no matter how much I felt like dying.  Back on the low carbs now that I am feeling a little better.  Still have the cough and still not 100%, but getting better, need to get better sleep though, that's causing issues.  Hopefully with the increase in levels, and being back on the low carbs I should drop some weight,  Thinking about going to work the bike on a 2 and 1 schedule instead of every other day.  Might help to increase the metabolism so more.

   It is a little discouraging, but have to keep working on it, it is going in the right direction.  Will be glad when I finally complete my journey, it's amazing how much you miss french fries when you can't have them.  Tired and it's time for bed, will get this posted when I can.  Keep looking for the updates....

K

Night Before Weigh In

29 September 2010

Twas the night before weigh-in and all through the house, not a carb had been eaten, cept by the  fat little mouse.....

To corny?  I thought so too.

It's the night before my next weigh in, not looking forward to this one.  Was sick most of the time and took in some carbs in the form of chicken soup.  Didn't stop exercising though, hopefully that will give me some help and drop at least a pound or two, that's all I am hoping for.  Like always I will weigh in the morning, and then post my progress on the blog tomorrow night sometime,

One thing I have noticed, I am finding more reasons to type about what is going on, not only with the diet, but what's going on in my head during the diet. And it's nice to know that people are actually looking at my blog (hence the counter).  Would love to know who is following it, but can't have everything (an ego thing I guess).

So as I get ready to go to bed, knowing I will sleep well thanks to the exercise, I know that I will be dreaming of the day I can pig out on the bottemless basket of fries at Red Robin.....LOL.  You never really miss carbs, until you quit eating them. Oh for a bowl of rice or potatoes....

But at least I can eat all the meat and dairy I want, which are truly my favs.

Good Night, God Bless and wish me luck in the Morning.

By the way, don't be afraid to comment, can always use a little encouragement.

KS

The Monday after a long weekend

27 September 2010

It’s A Manic Monday Obviously

Right now I am typing this to try and stay awake, no it’s not because of the sleep apnea, my body is just exhausted.   Was outside or driving the car all weekend, so I am just tired out.  Not looking forward to weighing in this week, bet my weight is up or the same, this cold really wrecked havoc on the diet, things like chicken soup have a bunch of carbs.  The only think I can positively say is that I didn’t stop exercising and increased from level four to level five. Missed a day over the weekend and I paid for it, legs were killing me,

Have an easy night tonight, Scouts and 2 soccer practices, my put an extra day on the bike just to loosen the legs ups.  Always feels good, exercise, the new body drug…LOL.

I have been called conceited for starting this blog, that person obviously doesn’t know how rough losing weight can be.  I started this blog to motivate myself first, and others second, by telling my journey and making it public.  I hope that eventually some people will sign up to follow the blog, and maybe even comment on it. Nasty comments need not be posted, those of us in this condition already get enough nasty comments.

That is one thing I noticed, those people who like to make nasty comments usually have something miserable in their life, why else would they try to destroy your happiness with your major and minor successes.  Had one person tell me that because I fell off my diet for one day it would set me back a week or so, under the guise of being  a friend and being supportive.  How is this supportive?  It’s not, this person is just trying to tear down my success and make themselves feel superior I think. A real friend would have said something like, just get back to what you were doing and don’t let it bother you, no one is perfect on their diets all the time and they still lose weight. (I had a friend tell me that)  And guess what, didn’t lose as much weight, but I still lost some. You just need to take it one day at a time, keep upbeat, stick to the plan, and take pride in all successes, no matter how small.

Until next time…..

KS

Why two weeks

Tues, Sept 21 2010

People keep asking me why I only check my weight loss every two weeks, wouldn't checking weekly show you progress sooner and give you more hope.  Maybe, but also in the past on other diets, sometimes you will plateau for a week or so, sometimes you have slow weeks, and sometimes you have fast weeks.  By weighing only once every two weeks I get to see a pretty steady progression, no spikes and no valleys (fast and slow weeks), I get the balance and for me, that is more encouraging than everything else.  Plus I don't panic if I slip on one or two days, I have the other 10 or so to make up for it.  Every week may work for others, hell, every day works for some, just not for me.  You have to monitor you weight in a  way that works best for you.

Good Luck on your Journey

One Rough Monday

20 September 2010

Had a rough weekend, Soccer games all weekend plus Mary going to Homecoming with her boyfriend.  Got up Sunday Morning and it was still raining, Mary had a Soccer game in Highland IL.  We went to the game and it continued to rain through most of the game.  Stopped home for dry clothes and the ran some errands after that and by the time we got home it was about 3:30.  Had a dripping nose and a headache.  Didn't really feel like exercising so put it off till Monday.

Woke up Monday, hadn't slept much all night, called in work cause I was just feeling like garbage.  Spent most of the day sleeping, drinking tea, and trying to feel better.  Finally about 4 I realized I still had to run some places tonight, things to do, errands to run, and it never ends.  So to get moving I decided to exercise, after 30 minutes on the bike, my lungs still hurt, my head is still stuffed although it is a little clearer, but my legs feel better.  So at least I am staying on the program toward my weight loss goals.

Day after Week 4 Weigh-In

Was a bad day, had a lot of stuff come down on me at work.  Heavy strain but we got it done.  The thing was by the time I got off work I was worn out, all I wanted to do was sleep.  So I decided to take a nap and then exercise afterwords.

So I take my nap and get up and start playing on the computer, then my daughter says she needs to refill her acid reflux meds.  Now I am thinking maybe I will just wait till tomorrow to work out.  See the pattern here?

As I thought about it, so did I, I keep doing this and I won't work out today, and then something will come up tomorrow, and pretty soon I will be right back where I have started.

So despite the fact that my legs were killing me and my back and knees hurt, I was tired and had a headache, I still got on the bike with my mp3 player and worked out for 30 minutes at level 4.

That was about a 1/2 hour ago that I  finished, my back feels looser, my knees aren't groaning as much, my legs are tired but not burning like before.  Still tired but the headache is gone.

Exercise is a wonderful medication for what ails you....

Weigh In Day - End of Week 4

16 September 2010

End of Week 4

Today was the end of week 4 of my lifestyle change, by the end of week 4 I have increased my exercise level (still working out every other day) to level 4.  I also had some days where I cheated on the carbs, like Labor Day weekend.  The first two weeks of the change were the easy ones in some ways, you’re all pumped up about what you’re are doing and you haven’t gotten to the day to day drudgery yet.  The support level the first two weeks is also different, you’re just starting out and everyone is there to help you and maybe even join you, but by week three the supporters are all giving excuses as to why they are sliding back, not working out as much, cheating on the diet more.  This was when it was hard to be strong.

I started my journey at 407 lbs (yes, you read that correctly), after 1 month I am down to 370.  My weight loss from weeks 2 – 4 was 16 lbs.  Not as much as the first 2 weeks, but significant none the less.  And considering I had some weakness over Labor Day, I am proud of that.

People have asked me how I let myself get this way, since when I was in the service most of my career I weighed 185.  My last couple of years in the USAF were rough, I had some knee injuries which made exercise difficult and then I quit smoking with caused me to gain some weight.  I was in the process of losing the weight, and on a descent schedule when I received a new supervisor who did not like me(for those who knew me then his initials are RT), he flat out told me that it was his goal in life to get me kicked out of the service.  None of my immediate chain of command (Msgt. TC and Msgt. MW) would believe a Tsgt. Would act that way, like being an NCO makes you lose are petty behavior.  What a laugh, anyway, he succeeded by constantly badgering me until I just gave up.  I didn’t hurt that he seems to have lost a medical eval request that I filed, which if it had gone through would have probably caused me to be medically retired at about 40%.  So this drove me into a depression which caused me to eat more, exercise less and gain weight.  A few years later a friend of mine from the USAF, Kathy, suggested I file a VA claim for my knees and back, I may be able to get something out of my years in the military.  So I did and with the help of the DAV my claim was evaluated and I found out I was eligible for some pension, 60% in fact (the sleep apnea that everyone in the AF ignored was a bigger problem than they thought).  This validated my time in service in my heart and I felt the depression lifting.  Then one day I was walking and having problems breathing and this scared me.  So that day I decided to go back on the low carb diet and start losing the weight.

So that is the beginning of the story, my goal is 200 lbs, half my starting weight, my reward for making my goals?  My knees with hurt less, I should be able to bowl, play paintball, softball, play with my kids again.  Maybe go on a rollercoaster.  The big reward will be my health.  This should help my diabetes get under complete control, allow me control of my blood pressure,  I hope my knees with stop hurting as much (with the meniscus partially removed from one knee, the pain will never completely go away), hopefully the edema and circulation in my legs with improve greatly (this is what I have been told will happen).  So the rewards should be great.

KS

Night before weigh in at the end of Week 4

Sept 15, 2010

I sit here at my desk munching on raw carrots, tomatoes with a little dressing and I worry, “How will my weight check be tomorrow? (The end of the 4^th week)  Will I have lost anything? Did I backslide?”  Some of the signs are good, I have had to increase the level on my exercise equipment to get my heart rate up.  My patterns of exercise are steady.  I am pretty sure I have cut almost all carbs out of my diet, yes there are some in there but I think they are under the recommended 20 a day to start which is supposed to jump start the weight loss.  And most of all, if I don’t have on a belt or suspenders (suspenders mostly cause this even happens sometimes with the belt) then my pants are starting to fall off cause they are loose in the waist.  My blood sugar is steadying out, fewer and fewer spikes, and I can walk from the far parking lot to my office without feeling like I am having a heart attack.  I also have noticed that my legs don’t hurt as much as they have been in the past few months, the edema from the diabetes is still there but it is getting better.  Another couple of weeks and maybe my legs and ankles will look normal again.  And yesterday I did something that I haven’t done in many many moons, I was crawling around on the floor moving computer equipment and wires.  My knees hurt like hell when I was done, but I didn’t have to get someone to do it for me like a cripple. (It’s my blog so I don’t have to be PC)

It gets discouraging sometimes though, people who are supposed to be dieting with me tell me things like, I am just not cutting back as drastically as you are.  And then they have chips and salsa, or a sandwich, or mashed potatoes with dinner.  If you’re not going to do the diet, just say so, and if you’re going to do it, they actually do it.  But don’t feed me BS.

Another friend of mine is starting on the diet, she has many of the same problems that I have as far as health, knee, leg and feet issues, high blood pressure, etc.  Her doc recommended a low carb diet from what she said, smart doc, cause we can live without the bread and potatoes but don’t take my meat and dairy.  Discussed some exercise options with her yesterday, she hadn’t heard of recumbent exercise bikes (a lot of people haven’t) and didn’t realize that you could do a good strong cardio workout with them without killing your knees, maybe I should have told her that her leg muscles are gonna feel the the burn real bad at first, but this goes away after about 10 minutes…..why ruin the surprise, besides it’s a good burn.  I always loved that burn, it was the burn of muscles working.

I will say one thing, when I was allowed to eat rice, potatoes, bread or any other big carbo food;  I really couldn’t have cared less.  Now that I cannot have them, oh boy do I crave them  But every time I think about how much I want the carbs, I also think about how much I want to lose the weight.

8:50 PM – Realized something, it’s almost 9PM and I haven’t had a chance to exercise today.  My legs are killing me, so I decided to not push it off til tomorrow.  Did 30 minutes on the bike and my body is feeling a whole lot better.  Even had increased the workout level to 4, so I think my body is now to the point where if I don’t exercise my body is starting to crave it.  This is a very good sign.  Stand by for tomorrows weigh-in, even if it is not much or in reverse it is the beginning of a new stage of my diet/exercise program.  HUAH!

Day 1 Week 4

This is not a weigh-in week.  Back on diet and exercise schedule.  Can't miss a day of exercise, if I do then my legs really give me hell.  Between the weight and the diabetes (yes, that's an issue too) my legs give me hell. For about 2 days after I exercise they are okay, if I miss that day though, they hurt like hell.  Kind of keeps me honest though.  Hopefully next week will have at least a little loss for the motivation.   We will see.

Day after Labor Day

Once you get your body used to a diet, don't cheat.  It cost me a day of sick leave today because of it.

Labor Day

Went to family get together over the weekend, cheated on my diet.   BIG MISTAKE!!  I am paying for it today, even the Imodium is working, got so bad it clogged the plumbing, had to get new plunger, and then snake the toilet.   This is definitely not a good day.

Day 1 Week 3

First weigh-in since start (2 weeks), have lost 21 lbs.  It's a good day today, motivation level is still high.  Diet is hard to stay on some days, miss my carbs.  Body is used to it, but I am not yet.  Gets discouraging, I keep getting told that I won't be alone but then all the excuses start as to why I am the only one on the diet, only one exercising, etc.  Ah, well, still lost 21 lbs.

Day 1 Week 2

Working out every other day, seems to work best, first 3 days of the diet were rough.  Body was not happy with me, also had to many salads, all that roughage.  Well, I am sure you can figure out the effect.  Thank God for Imodium.  The plan is to weight myself every 2 weeks.  This will allow me to see progress if any. 

Day 1 Week 1

Starting my journey, it is Thursday.   I will be using a low-card diet that I have successfully used in the past.  I put the weight back on because after I left the military I went through bouts of depression.  This caused me to stop exercising and eating right, hence I am at now where I am.  I am to embarrassed to say what my weight currently is.  Maybe some day, but not today.  Wish me luck.


(First couple of weeks of journal entries are being transferred all at once from my journal to my blog)