This is just a general update with a little bit of everything in it.
Overall things are going really good. While I am not losing weight as fast as I was in the beginning (which is to be expected) I am still losing. Thankfully I haven’t had a stall in a while, so that’s good! Some weeks it’s less than a pound, some weeks it’s still 2 or 3. But I’m still headed in the right direction.
I am going to the gym about once a week. Not as much at this point as I’d hoped. I don’t think I will ever be gym rat, but I was hoping to at least be there on Saturdays and Sundays. Last week I didn’t make either. This week I did make Saturday. I need to get more consistent with those two days at least. With the weather warming up, I hope to do more non-gym exercise like walking. I’d like to even consider a small hike in the spring.
Even though I’m not in the gym a lot I do feel I’m starting to build a tiny bit of muscle. I usually do about 15 minutes on the treadmill. That was a real struggle at first, physically, but it’s getting ever easier. Still…I hate the treadmill. It’s soooo boring! I wish the street we live on wasn’t one big hill. My knees don’t like hills but it’s either go up then down, or go down then up.
But after forcing myself to do some treadmill I do various machines. Most of them are arm related, but also doing a few back and shoulder machines. Occasionally a leg machine too. Those are harder with my bad knees but I need them.
I do find that I have more energy and I’m getting more stuff done. Building little projects in my garage, cleaning off the back porch I’ve been putting off for….years. Things like that. And the stuff counts as exercise so that’s good.
Still having some bathroom struggles with constipation. I’ve had some bad ones. I knew it was a high probability but formerly having no problems in that area, it’s been a real struggle physically and mentally. I’m trying to do things to counter it, taking some probiotics and other things, as well as trying to get more fiber in my diet with fruit and veggies.
Diet overall is a constant learning experience. I haven’t struggled much with foods overall. Eggs still make me feel a little nauseous (which they never did pre-op) and the few times I’ve had pizza sans crust it seems like pepperoni sits a little odd with me (which bums me because pepperoni pizza is my #1 favorite food).
For a while I was eating pure proteins some meals but now I’m learning I have to work in more fruits and veggies while maintaining protein counts. This is an oddity that seems rare, but it seems my spice tolerance has gone up slightly. I don’t have a high one, but I’m more apt to get buffalo wings, or to add hot sauce to something, where I never did that before.
That honeymoon the first three months of never being hungry is over. I now have to fight with that again. And to be transparent, I’m not always making the best choices. I’m not eating high quantities, but I’ve been partaking in some less than ideal food choices, like chips and Girl Scout cookies. Again, just 2 or 3 chips, or one of two cookies. At the end of most days I’m still within my numbers on carbs and the like…but I recognize it’s not a good habit to start to reach for these junk food items.
With all the good and the bad, I’m still losing weight. I know the ultimate goal is “healthy” not “weight loss” but right now, those two go hand in hand. I’m still very, VERY happy I’m losing weight! I’m still finding those on-scale and off-scale victories. I’m still 100% happy with my decision to take this path.
I started at 508. As of this writing I weighed about 353 this morning. I will soon write more about this when I hit the 340’s or 330’s, but this is the lowest I’ve been in maybe 15 years…maybe more.
Still taking it day by day. Still happy with the decision and the results so far. Moving on!