2022-06 BP

 

224.0

I am pleased with me!

So far, the diet is going well. I have already lost a half bag of sugar. That's in just four days. 

I was concerned to see my weight this morning because I cheated yesterday. Along with my steak, I had mashed potatoes. I have to fight those urges. The mashed potatoes weren't even that great. 

On top of having made the potatoes, I made too much and I'm too frugal to just throw them out. But I won't eat them today.

Other than that one cheat, and the beer I had the other day, I've been pretty good at following my plan. No sugar, no grains, lots of protein.   

226.8

There was no loss in my weight today but no gain either. I consider that a win since I ate somewhat badly yesterday. I had some of the tuna casserole that's sitting in the fridge. I will not do that today. I have a barbecued steak in mind for later in the day. 

However, I'm also meeting a friend in the Valley for a beer. I will have one beer and that will be it.

I am waiting for 9:00 to get here so I can start mowing. I missed my mow day last week so the lawn is ready for a trim. Since I'm going to the dump today, I'm going to add the lawn clippings into my load, keeping my garbage can free of any yard debris this week, and then filling it next.

Good News! I finally found my sprinkler. I put it away last fall in a place that would be conveniently out of the way but easy to find. Then I forgot where that place was. I knew it had to be in a draw or cabinet, possibly in the Carriage House but most likely in the garage. 

I finally found it in a drawer in a cabinet in the garage that I had ignored. Once again, I spend waaaay too much time looking for tools that should be easily findable.

I am learning...but slowly.   

The Diet Commenseth

I begin my diet with some encouraging news and a not so flattering photograph.

I weighed in this morning at a surprising 226.6 pounds. I lost three pounds yesterday. If I can only keep that up! 

I also tried a picture where I sucked in my gut.

Also not very pretty! 

Well, I've spent about an hour of my day taking these pictures and getting them posted. I guess I should go out and carpe the diem. 

Bags of Sugar

I am currently carrying around three bags of sugar and I've had enough. Oh sure, they could be bags of flour, or beans or Raisonettes. Whatever they are, I want to loose 30 pounds and I feel pretty committed to it. 

Of course, I've committed to it in the past and the results have been less than spectacular. That's why I'm writing it down here. I need to be reminded and reaffirmed constantly.

Since this was my first day of the rest of my diet, I did pretty good. I didn't eat anything all day long. We went over to the pool after working in the yard all afternoon and I had a beer. That was the last beer I'll have for the week. Susan made a tuna casserole that was tasty and I really needed it. Tomorrow, I start in earnest! 

Yard Work & BiPap

 I’m taking a break from mowing the lawn because it has really wiped me out. I have a slight sweat going and I feel a little wobbly. I want to keep mowing my own lawn. It’s the least thing I can do around here. Even if I take my time to do it, I want to be the guy that gets it done.

While I’m waiting to return to the yard, I would like to take a moment to express my extreme dislike for my BiPap machine. I accept it as a necessary evil but make no mistake, evil it is.

I cannot seem to regulate the thing between turning my mouth into an arid wasteland or a slimy swamp. I need to wear it at least four hours a night. Generally, once I hit four hours, the mask comes off but I have lots of nights where it’s on for se7en hours.

There is an app on my iPad that rates my nightly sleep based on how long I wear it, how tight the seal is, and how many events I have per hour. I have a goal of getting a perfect score (100) on it but it seems fleeting. The best I’ve done is a 97.

Okay, enough of this. Time to get back to yard care.  

Summer is Coming?

 I am writing this post now so I have something to refer back to when it happens, but I don't think we are going to have a warm day ever again. Here we are well into June and have had only a couple of days where the thermometer got to 70°...and not much more. 

It rained ALL DAY yesterday and I have over one and a quarter inches in my rain gauge to prove it.

It's a little nicer today and I'm just about to head out on my morning walk, which I have let slide for too long now.

Later: Okay, my walk is complete and I am pleased with myself for getting it done. I overcame my nature to make the walk short. I had many reasons to make the walk short. It was cold, it was a little bit rainy, my glutes hurt. But I soldiered through and did the mile and a half in about 35 minutes.

It's been a couple weeks since I took a walk and a lot has changed along my route. Kabots Kitchen looks like they are out of business. They have a sign on the door that says, "Closed for Vacation". But there are signs missing from the windows. 

There is a house on Euclid that is have solar panels installed on their roof. The old cannibalized Ford pickup sitting in a driveway near the end of my walk is suddenly missing the cab. All that remains is a rusty frame. I wonder how long it will sit there now.

Still Alive

I guess I should have posted before now to announce that I survived the Heart Cath, which I did. However, we did not get very good results. My heart is pumping much less blood than Dr. Mooney had hoped for. So much less that she is starting to talk about my becoming a candidate for a heart transplant. That was kind of shocking to hear but we are over the shock and looking forward to seeing what’s next.

I had a stress test yesterday that involved breathing tests and a stint on the exercise bike to see where I am.

We meet with Dr. Mooney on Monday to talk about the results.

I got out and walked my mile this morning despite the pouring rain. Then I enjoyed a sit in the hot tub, in the rain, which is no big deal. I mean, are you afraid of getting wet?!

I did something I haven’t done in a while. I jumped in a old shower. It’s alway s quite invigorating but I had a second motive. I wanted to stop sweating from being in the hot tub. Didn’t work! Still sweating.

May BP