Friday, September 08, 2006

Wow, it's been a while

Yeah, I'd say that 7 months is a while.

I've just fallen out of the blog thing lately. Haven't had any political or other commentary to foist upon the blogosphere. That and I have something of a mindless vanity blog somewhere else (that I will refrain from linking).

You can rest assured that if I felt passionately about something, I'd post it here. As is, I'm not feeling terribly passionate about much these days. Life is wrapped up in the all-consuming hunt for employment (got laid off), and the lesser (and more enjoyable) Quest for Health!

Back in April (the 16th in fact) I was officially diagnosed with Hypertension. It wasn't terribly bad, but it was high, and the doc put me on meds. I hate taking meds. I hate paying for meds even more, but all of my medical care is out of pocket, so oh well. I also weighed in at 316lbs (5'11" if you're wondering) at that visit, and, duh, the weight was a MAJOR contributor to the hypertension.

So I decided that it was time to do something about it. I started watching what I ate, doing light exercise, lost some weight. Bought a bicycle, and began riding regularly with friends. Lost some more weight. Started adding in other exercises, some weight lifting, and even a bit of jogging. Lost some more weight.

I bought a pair of trousers today. First pair I've bought since I started. It was rather nice. The numbers? Okay, here they are:

April 16th, 2006
--Weight: 316lbs
--Trouser size: 46x30 (and very tight, I might add)
--BP: Somewhereabouts 189/105 or so
--Resting pulse: about 117
--Bodyfat: Roughly 36%

September 08, 2006
--Weight: 255lbs
--Trouser size: 40x30 (fits a tad snug, but 42x30 were a bit too loose)
--BP: 149/78
--Resting pulse: 87
--Bodyfat: roughly 26%

The good news is 60lbs lost. The bad news is that 10lbs of it was muscle. Booo. Sucks to lose lean muscle mass. Then again, I can accept a 10lbs lean for every 50lbs fat for a loss ratio. Especially as I need to lose another about 35-40lbs or so to hit my target (210-220).

Overall, I feel pretty darned good. My old chronic knee pain has gone away, though I've replaced it with new overuse aches in the knee (went from non-specific pain in the overall joint to chrondomalacia, aka Runner's Knee). The new pain is FAR less bothersome though, and is fixable by proper training. Back feels better, skin looks better. I look better. It's about damned time.

If you're trying to lose weight, and having trouble dieting (which is the first thing to do if your heavy, diet, then exercise. The extra weight should be trimmed down a bit before you really start working out) Try Dr Gullo's book "The Thin Commandments". It's an excellent resource.

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