Yipee Ki-Yay M----- F------!

I have now lost 98 pounds, which is the same weight as the "98 pound weakling" featured in the old Charles Atlas advertisements in the back of comic books.  I have now lost as much weight as an official person.  Sure, a tiny person, but a person nonetheless.

With this loss, I am pleased to report that I am officially back on track after our little Italian visit and scale calibration induced deviation from the plan last week.  I am feeling a little saucy today because I not only got back to my two-weeks ago low, I managed to lose a bit more, erasing last week like it never happened.  And we shall never speak of it again. [grin]

The lesson I learned from all this is that consistency is critical - - staying on track with my eating and plowing through my exercise 6 days a week even when I had gone up meant that my gain last week was just a blip, nothing more.  And we all have blips - - much as I would like to see it happen, no one's weight loss path is perfectly linear in only a downward direction.  Everyone gains occasionally, and we all plateau from time to time. 

The important thing is not how you got there when the scale shows you something you don't want to see, it's what you do.  Do you give up and start binge eating again on the premise that you gained anyways, what's a little "cheat day"?  Do you stop exercising because it's too hard to do if it's not going to pay any dividends?  The correct answer is "No", because you can't let minor blips get the better of you.  Because then they turn into major problems, rather than minor blips.  And it's much more difficult to fix a major problem, I will tell you right now.  The way to succeed is to keep consistently working your plan, even in the face of adversity or minor setbacks.  As the wise people over at Tristar Gym say, "If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up". 

I have to admit that this week the news that the Patriarch was diagnosed with Type II diabetes threw me for a bit of a loop.  On sober reflection after I let all the emotion drain away, I think it's because "there but for the grace of god goes I" - - he and I are so similar attitudinally, emotionally, and physically, that it's as if I am looking in a mirror.  A mirror that knew he was pre-diabetic last year and did nothing.  I discovered I was pre-diabetic last year as well - - maybe even around the same time - - but the big difference is that I took it as the wake up call that it was, and motivation to keep on my eating plan and exercise regimen.  

I suppose what really threw me and made me feel just a little sorry for myself is the realization that if I stop working out and stop eating well, I will absolutely become diabetic.  With my family history, and with the Patriarch's demonstration of the progression from pre-diabetes to Type II diabetes, there's simply no other conclusion that I could draw.  And before, I suppose in the back of my dinosaur brain I had thought that I would not become diabetic, simply because my mother (and her entire family) was diabetic.  I thought that I could live as I wished, and diabetes would be something for other people.  But now I have to face the fact that if I do nothing, I will (much more likely than not) also get Type II diabetes.

That is not to say that it is inevitable that I will become diabetic, on my current path - - just the opposite, in fact.  I am losing weight more or less consistently (ahem) each week (recent blips excluded), and have significantly improved my eating habits, both in terms of quality and quantity.  I do 55-60 minutes of cardio exercise 6 days a week, and weights 3 days a week for a further 30 minutes each day.  My resting heart rate was 47 the last time I checked, and my blood pressure was 115/61.  I have lost 98 pounds, or more than 29% of my starting body weight.  All of these things are positive, and you can see the results in my fasting blood sugar numbers, which have declined from the mid-high 6s to 5.7 mmol/L.  Given more time, and more weight loss, I expect to see those sugars decline still further.  Eventually, I will have enough normal readings that I no longer qualify as pre-diabetic. 

I just wish wasn't so clear what my path could be.  I would like to pretend that I have some choice in the matter, you know?  I would like to think that I would still be working out every day and eating well just because it's the right thing to do, not merely because I have a significant looming health issue I am trying to avoid.  I suppose anyone who has ever experienced a lifestyle-related health issue (heart attack, high blood pressure, knee and back issues) is in the same boat. 

Next week will be better, as I will have processed all of this diagnosis-related angst, and will be back in my normal routine. 

7 months down - an update

Another month on the books, and 14 straight weeks of working out without missing a workout, and the results are in.

This past week I lost an amazing 3.6 pounds, for a total of 49.6 pounds lost total.  That represents 15% of my starting body weight lost, and 29% of my total goal weight lost.  Even more fun, I have gone down another dress size, down to a size 22 from my starting point of a 26.

The changes are evident on my body as well.  This month I lost another inch on my bust, half an inch on my waist, an inch on my hips, 3/4 of an inch on my thighs and more than half an inch on my calves.  Overall, since starting, I have lost 19 3/4". That's a lot of inches

I am within kissing distance of losing 50 pounds, which is apparently the equivalent of a small bale of hay or a small bag of cement.  Go, me.

My resting heart rate continues to trend down as my fitness level improves, as shown in the chart below:

My blood pressure continues to be normal, too, so all this cardio (still 35 minutes on the elliptical x 6 days per week, plus incremental walks during the week) is paying dividends.

I am most pleased about the workouts.

I never would have thought, with my workout-aversion, that I would be able to go 7 months with regular workouts, and 14 weeks without missing a single workout.  I would also never have thought in a million years that I would be using the elliptical 6 times a week, and then would willingly add more exercise on top of that, in the form of incremental walks.  I only did one walk this week on my own, so I hope to do at least a couple of walks with the Nerd this weekend.

The only thing that is not a positive trend this week is my blood sugar.  I did not have a single normal value this week, and although the high values did not put me into the diabetic range, I was solidly pre-diabetic this week.  I think part of that is due to the number of calories I am eating, and the fact that I was seldom able to keep the carbs below 200g each day this week.

Speaking of eating, I tried to eat more than before, on purpose.  I was aiming for between 1800 - 2000 calories per day, which would cover my BMR plus much of my exercise.  Overall, it's generally easier for me to control my eating on the weekends when the Nerd is cooking, but this week he made a bunch of meals ahead of time that I could pack for lunches and dinners at the office.  And I could see the results: this week I was able to keep the daily calorie intake around 1800-1850, which is much more than I had previously been eating.  I am not going to say that my fantastic weight loss results this week are due to eating enough that my body does not go into starvation mode, but it is likely a contributing factor.

My short term goals are still in sight.  I would like to get down to a size 20, which only requires that I lose a couple of inches on my hips (my bust and waist measurements are already there).

I want to get my weight down to 270, which would give me a BMI of 40, which would put me into "Obese Class II" from the present "Obese Class III" (at least according to the Government of Canada).  (Obese Class I has a BMI of 30 - 35, below which is merely "Overweight".  I will be "Overweight" at 203 pounds, or thereabouts).

I would like to be able to walk 3 miles by the end of September.  In one sitting, not in individual walk-ettes like I have been doing. 

I would like to have 2 consecutive days with normal blood sugar values by the end of September.

I don't think any of these objectives are out of reach, given my present lifestyle and habits.  It is almost ingrained to drink water rather than pop now, and I walked to work and home from the office every day this week, a new first for me.  It's just easier and quicker to walk than to wait for the streetcar, which is always jam packed anyways.  Exercising on the elliptical is like second nature to me now, and the only question for me is when I will up the time again.  Walking is still not so comfortable for me, or at least not as comfortable as the elliptical, but it is easier every day that I do a longish walk.

So all in all, it was a positive month.   Here are some progress photos showing the difference between now and last year, before I began working out.  Please disregard the disastrous hair in the recent photo, but it is windy outside.

Weekly Progress Report

Another week is in the books, and I am another 1.1 pounds down, for a total of 44.9 pounds lost overall, which represents 27% of my total weight loss objective. 

My blood pressure continues to be generally good, and this morning I was pleased to see that my resting heart rate was back down to 48 bpm, after having been running between 55 and 61 this past week (likely completely unrelated to my stressful week - ha!). 

You can see the new walking element added to my routine in the chart above.  Today's numbers look a little hinky because it looks like I did two workouts this morning when in fact I did one - I had an issue with the DigiFit app dropping the heart rate sensor, and had to restart it. 

An even more important win is in my fasting blood sugar levels.  The first two weeks of tracking my fasting blood sugar I did not have a single value in the normal range - each reading was high, in the pre-diabetic range.  Last week I had a single normal reading, which was very exciting, because it showed me that exercise and attention to my diet could, in fact, reduce my blood sugar levels. 

This week was even better - - I had 3 normal values this week, including this morning.  Sure, they are all 'high normal', but the operative word there is NORMAL.  This is a fantastic trend, and I am confident that with time, I can bring all my readings into the normal range.  Even my high readings were not so high this week as when I first started looking at my blood sugars, so I can definitely see substantial and positive progress here.

I have to confess that even losing another 1.1 pounds and having a normal blood sugar reading this morning, I was frustrated with my weigh-in.  There is still a part of my dinosaur brain way in the back of my head that thinks "I worked really hard this week, and watched what I ate, made sure to eat enough, and to eat the right things, and for this iron discipline I lose a lousy pound??".

The rational part of my brain has now kicked in to remind me that 1 - 1.5 pounds lost per week is the objective, and I am perfectly within that range.  Plus, there's all the positives, what with my improving stamina on walks, and greater frequency of normal blood sugar readings - - these are all things that I need to focus on, not the fact that weight loss is not instantaneous.

The real positive thing is that no matter how heavy the scale thought I was this morning, I was clearly under the 300 pound mark (in fact, my weight was not even close to 300 pounds).  And that 300 pound mark is well under the 333.9 pound mark where I started.   I know I am particularly guilty of focusing on the weight I am not losing, when I should be focusing instead on what I have accomplished.  Even with minor fluctuations in my weight (that you can see in the first chart, above), I weigh nowhere near what I once did.  That means that my workout and eating plan is working, and working well.

I am eating delicious meals (especially on the weekend when the Nerd cooks) and I can still go out and enjoy dinner with friends, and I am still losing weight, overall.  This is a much more healthy and sustainable pattern than I had when I was first working out in 2000.  Back then I starved myself during the week only to binge on the weekends, and because I was on such a calorie restricted diet, I eventually gave in to the cravings and gained all the weight back and more.  This time, I am able to eat the things I enjoy, but in moderate portions.  

What this process has taught me is to adopt more of a lifestyle change than quick fixes.  My understanding of nutrition and portions and carbs is having a significant effect on the way I eat, and on the choices I make.  And that will serve me well, I think, for a long time to come. 

Finally, some progress!

Photo credit: Maggie Q. Magniloquent, Some Rights Reserved

It's the first full week of the new program, where I have worked out for 30 minutes on the elliptical, 6 days a week.  Technically, I did 6 days a week last week, too, but it feels like this is the first full week with the new routine, mainly because it was the first full week with the heart rate monitor and blood pressure readings. 

And the results?  Down 2.9 pounds from last week, and 1.6 pounds down from my previous lowest weight.  I weighted in at 295.3 pounds, with 48.8% body fat.  The body fat percentage varies by day, but hovers in this 48%-49% zone.  My objective is to bring it down to around 30%, eventually.  But for now, we can consider me to be "well marbled". 

For the last 3 days I have been trying out an elliptical workout app called BeatBurn Elliptical, by lolo.  The idea behind this app is that it uses your own music from your iPod to create a variety of interval based workouts, adjusting the speed of the beat to desired strides per minute, from 80 to 160.  I have been playing a little bit with the tension, but not to the extent required by the program, because I can't do the math on the fly to know when I am at 15% or 35% when my tension goes from 1-20.  For now, I have been counting each as a single unit, so when the app instructs me to put the tension at 20%, I choose '2' on the resistance scale.  Primitive, I know, but it does result in me changing up the tension from 1-5 during each workout, with the result that the heart rate goes up and down, with each interval period (as shown in the graph, above, showing my heart rate during today's workout).

I have used the BeatBurn app 3 full days, and the workout has been a little different each day.  Throughout each workout the app gives vocal instructions as well as encouragement and tips (like remembering to use good posture).  At the end of each workout the voiceover gives a little pat on the back for making the time to workout, and this is also surprisingly effective.  I would hate to be doing all of this for nothing!

So, now, 25 weeks into my exercise program, here's my thoughts on some of the machines and apps I have been using.

The Elliptical Machine
The Precor EFX 5.33 elliptical machine is a piece of work.  But a good piece of work.  I have found it consistently easier to complete a 30 minute workout on this machine than a 20 minute workout on the old recumbent bike, and the elliptical is more efficient at getting (and keeping) my heart rate in the training zone, too.  I am finding the machine easy on my knees and back, and I certainly feel like I have had a workout when I get off the machine.  This model is pricey, around CAD$4,000 - $5,000, but if you can find it in your budget, or pick one up secondhand, it is well worth it.  [whispers] I don't absolutely loathe exercising on the elliptical machine [/stops whispering]. 

The Fitbit Activity Tracker
 The Fitbit Ultra is a 3-D motion sensor that tracks your day down to details a pedometer can't catch, showing your exact steps taken, calories burned, and distance traveled. The altimeter tracks floors climbed, which encourages me to take the stairs at home or work, or walk to the office/home instead of taking the streetcar.  The Fitbit Ultra also has a sleep sensor that  lets you see how long it takes to get to sleep, and how often you are awakened.  I sleep like a log, so I do not often use this feature, but it is interesting to put it on occasionally to see what quality of sleep I am getting. 

What I love most about the Fitbit Ultra is that I can wear it all the time, and then see my activity levels on the convenient web-based dashboard.  The Fitbit Ultra works with an app for iPad and iPhone, so I can track the amount of water I drink, or the meals I eat each day, which are then compared to my fitness goals.  Fitbit Ultra also works with other apps such as LoseIt!, DigiFit, and MyFitnessPal. 

DigiFit
DigiFit is a multi-purpose app.  With the required upgrades (available at a nominal price), it will speak with other devices, such as a Garmin ANT+ heart rate monitor, a Fitbit Ultra tracker, a Withings blood pressure monitor and Withings scale. 

Put all that together and you have a real snapshot of your health and fitness.  Each day's workout can be tracked to show your heart rate, intensity, and duration.  Sleep cycles can be recorded, either with a partner sleep monitor (which I don't use), or manually.  I use the DigiFit app every morning during my workout, then synch the app with the Withings app for my weight and blood pressure measurements.  I find it instructive to see how the measurements change over time, permitting me to make more informed fitness decisions. 

LoseIt!
LoseIt! is another multi-purpose tracking app, which tracks weight, exercise, and food taken in.  I particularly like it for the food tracker, and for the fact that it synchs with my Fitbit Ultra and Withings scale.  Apparently studies have shown that people who keep track of what they eat are more successful at both losing weight and keeping the weight off, I suppose because they are more aware of what they are actually putting into their body.  I have only been tracking my food intake for a few days, but I am already much more sensitive to portion size and food type.  I have found it easy to find the foods I eat in the large database of foods, and I have found it just as easy to add new foods, when required. 

Gym-Pact
The premise behind Gym-Pact is simple: commit to working out a set number of times a week, and pay money for every missed workout.  For those paying for a gym membership, there is an easy way to calculate the cost of each workout - - it's the pro-rated value of each workout, based on the number of workouts you do and the cost of your gym membership.  For example, for me, it is worth $10 for each missed workout.  I have committed to do 5 workouts a week (I am giving myself a buffer in there, since I actually have 6 workouts each week in my plan).  At the end of each week, the number of workouts I miss (and therefore the amount of money I owe) is calculated.  For every workout I make, I get a pro-rated share of the pool of funds generated by peoples' missed workouts.  So far, since joining Gym-Pact, I have not missed a single workout (and have therefore paid nothing), and I have "earned" $14.50.  The total earnings usually work out to $3/week, on average.  I remain highly skeptical that I will ever see any money from this program, which feels a lot like a pyramid scheme to me (for now, all my "earnings" are electronic), but it's an incredible motivator, which is why I keep doing it. 

Withings
Withings produces a series of wireless tools, including a blood pressure monitor and digital scale.  I purchased both, because these are all metrics that I wanted to track.  The products have each delivered to my expectations - after a brief working in period - and now form an integral part of my daily monitoring program. 

Each morning I get up and take my blood pressure, along with my resting heart rate, and then I do my 30 minute workout on the elliptical.  After the workout, and after I hose myself off, I hop onto the digital scale, and I can see each figure appear on the Withings app on my iPad, as well as the DigiFit app, and LoseIt! app.  It has made record keeping much more streamlined and simple, and it has removed a lot of the anxiety about my Friday morning weigh ins. 

So, net net, I am slightly more tracked and monitored than a space shuttle launch.  But it all helps give me little wins along the way that keep me motivated.  It's week 25 of working out, and I have lost 38.6 pounds, or a little over 1.5 pounds per week.  I can't think about how long it will take me to reach 50 pounds lost, or 100 pounds lost, so I focus on the little wins.  This week was full of little wins, which is why I will be back on the elliptical on Sunday, right on schedule.

New Toys, Lots of Sweat, and Negative Progress

Another week down, and another full week of workouts are on the books.  This week the program was 25 minutes on the elliptical at level 2, for 6 days.  I managed to hit all 6 days as planned, and although I forgot to put the tension up to 2 until half-way through the workout more days than not, it was definitely a step up.  The incremental day per week of working out is also a step up, and I am pleased to be able to do it. 

I finally got a heart rate monitor that works with the DigiFit app and tracks my heart rate throughout my workout.  I was only able to get usable results on the last workout of this week, Friday, but it is very informative:

Image by Maggie Q. Magniloquent, Some rights reserved

The red line shows my heart rate over the course of the 25 minute workout, and the pie chart shows the time spent in each of the various training zones.  For example, today I spent 3:48 min in zone 2 (fat burn) and 16:43 in zone 3 (endurance). 

The downside of this particular Garmin ANT+ heart rate monitor is that it is not automatically picked up by the elliptical like my old monitor, so if I want to see my heart rate at any given time I need to hold on to the bars on the elliptical so that the elliptical's own sensors can take a reading.  All things considered, it's not a bad trade off given the richness of the data provided by the DigiFit app, so I think I will stay with the Garmin monitor for now.

Another new toy this week is the Withings blood pressure monitor that plugs directly in to my iPad.  I am genuinely pleased with this app and device, as it is super easy to use, and tracks blood pressure as well as resting heart rate. 

The display is clear and easy to read, and the unit can sync with DigiFit, as well as be tracked on Withings own app.  I read my blood pressure yesterday when the unit arrived (normal), and it was normal this morning when I tracked upon waking.  My resting heart rate was 52 with the blood pressure cuff, which is pretty close to the measurements I was getting from my heart rate monitor, so I think the measurements are pretty accurate.  It will be very interesting to see how the numbers vary over time, and over my schedule. 

My new morning routine will be to get up, take my blood pressure and resting heart rate, work out on the elliptical, and hop on the scale.  I received the Withings wi-fi scale, but I have not yet had a chance to calibrate it and get it properly connected (it's not the kind of scale that works right out of the box, nor does it communicate with the iPad immediately, like the blood pressure cuff).

All of this is all well and good, but this week I actually gained 1.3 pounds.  Talk about utterly disheartening.  I was able to get a lower reading on the new scale (once), but on repeating it more of the subsequent readings were higher, so I went back to the old scale which consistently gave a reading of 298.2 pounds.  I generally ate healthily this week, and avoided most snacking and late night meals (my usual Achilles heel), and I worked out more than I have in years, and yet I still gained weight.  I know these things happen, and that weight loss is not a straight linear progression, but it is still extremely discouraging to put on weight when I am working so hard. 

However, I remain hopeful that it is a blip.  If I keep on the program and keep working out, I should be able to keep losing weight, eventually.  I keep reminding myself that it is a long term plan, not a quick fix, but at times like this, it feels like my objective is farther away than ever. 

Thank god I have new toys to distract me from obsessing too much about my weight.  Now, if I can only get that Withings scale up and running to see my body fat %, that might explain some things.