GETTING MY STRIDE
DAY 15: Wednesday January 3, 2018
Food: 1/2 cup collard greens; one small gatorade; 1/2 cup apple juice.
Well today starts Week 3 on this 24-week journey. Last week the main objective was trying to develop a plan of action going forward. This week it's about finding my stride. I'm really trying to see what plans work, and which will not. What foods I can eat, and what I can't. So I'm really trying to find my stride this week as I play with different ways of accomplishing my goals as I go to find out what works best.
I visited the research team today and got that nice little package for reporting my progress. Last night I had a brief moment of feeling down as I compared the amount of exercise I was doing to the amount my girlfriend does. But after sleeping on it and I realize each person has their own motivation to work hard, and I have to find my own purpose, goals, and motivation. I am my main competition, and I have to find ways each day to improve myself and become better and better. One important thing to keep in mind is that this process is not a sprint, and it's not a marathon either- because it's not a race. It has no end. It has to be about making lifetime changes. Because I know that if I don't make permanent changes, I'll be right back where I started in 18 months. And I sure don't want to be here- EVER AGAIN.
So today I'm feeling motivated and recommitted as I start out Week 3. I'm going to make the right food choices, get my exercise in, do what I know I"m supposed to do, and I know the results will come.
Since it's still too cold to ride my bike today, I'll set my step goal for 12,000 again. I reached it Monday and will do the same today. I'm also cooking collard greens for dinner and I bought some Miralax. I've got to get the BM's going again. I'm sure that's part of the bloatedness I feel. I'm setting another 3 lb weight loss goal for this week. So let's go get it.
DAY 16: Thursday January 4, 2018
Food: 1 popsicle; 1 gatorade (80c); 1 scrambled egg (70c); 1 tsp grits.
So the word of the day is "constipated." It's been two weeks and still no action. While I haven't eaten a lot, everything I've had is still inside of me- two cans of tuna, shrimp, crackers, etc. So I know I have a few pounds of waste stuffed inside of me and I'm really starting to feel bloated. Yesterday I took the Miralax and it didn't help at all. Tonight I'm going to take a laxative and drink plenty of water. Hopefully this will work by tomorrow morning. I'm just too stuffed.
Other than that, my exercise went well yesterday. I got over 16,000 steps and burned over 3000 calories yesterday. Since the cold spell seems to be something that will be hanging around, looks like I won't be able to incorporate regular biking into my exercise plan for a while. I've thought about joining a gym, but I will hold off on that for at least another week.
This week I will set a goal of walking 12,000 steps/day for 7 days in a row. That's yesterday, all the way to next Tuesday. That's about 6 miles/day, and I'll usually burn at least my calories goal of 2750 calories/day.
Since this is the week of finding my stride, I'll work with this goal, and see how it affects my weight loss.
It's has also become obvious that food just doesn't taste the same. I can crave something, get it, take a bit, find that it doesn't taste like anything, so I just put it away and don't want to have anything else to do with it. This lets me know that I definitely shouldn't prepare too much of anything, because usually after a few bites, I just don't want it anymore. I did eat tuna a few days in a row last week. But I don't know how many days I'll want the collard greens I cooked yesterday. I had about 1/2 cup yesterday, and I really just don't want it anymore. But I'll definitely try to eat more of it tonight. This food bill is starting to add up. Thank God for the Clinical Trial funds.
Step goal met for Thursday. Day 2 of 12,000+ steps/day, plus my calorie goal was met.
DAY 17: Friday January 5, 2018
Food: 1 12 oz. gatorade (80c); 1/2 of turkey pot pie (200c)
Well to day I'm still waiting for for the action in the bathroom. Wednesday I took Miralax and last night I took Phillips laxatives and so far this morning there hasn't been any action. For reason laxatives make me very nauseous, so I knew I wouldn't be able to lie down flat last night or I would've thrown up. That's really been the case for years. So after I took the Phillips, I sat up in the bed and stayed awake as long as I could then I just propped myself up on the pillow and went to sleep sitting up to keep from throwing up. I could kinda feel the taste of the laxative coming up my throat but I knew I had to keep it down if it was going to work. I managed to not throw up last night. Perhaps it'll take a little longer to work, since it takes everything longer to digest with this thing in my stomach, so I'll keep waiting patiently for some action. I'm really starting to get worried though because while I haven't been eating much, everything I've had since the procedure is still inside of me and its starting to add up. My stomach is very bloated now and stuck out. I really need some relief.
Meanwhile, I'll keep stepping towards my goal of 12,000+ steps/day for seven days in a row. If I'd gotten it Tuesday, I'd already have 4 consecutive days. But I started over on Wednesday and only have two days now. But today will be three days. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll get more. I'll even work these abs, arms, and shoulders today.
I guess I'll be sipping on hot tea today, trying to get my system going.
Step goal met for Friday. Day 3 of 12,000+ steps/day, plus my calorie goal of 2500 calories was met.
DAY 18: Saturday January 6, 2018
Food:
Yesterday I met my 12,000 steps goal again for the third day in a row. I really had to push it because as you can see from the screenshot of my watch above, it was 11:30 pm last night when I finally met it. It was after 10:00 pm when I finally hit 10,000 steps and I was about to call it a night, but because I made it a GOAL, I knew I needed to keep going. Once I get 7 days in a row, I know I can stick to it. I know that walking the equivalent of six miles/day will have great long term benefits- not only for getting the most success out of this ballon, but my overall health and wellbeing. Exercise has got to be a ongoing, lifetime commitment.
I have also learned this week, that Miralax has also got to be an ongoing part of this program, and that I should probably be taking it daily. So that's something additional I'll have to add to the program daily and monitor more closely.
I'm still not able to eat much of a well-balanced meal yet because I still really can't eat too much. The nutritionist said that I'm right where I should be at about 500 calories/day. She said that it's usually about a month into game when I can start thinking about the meal delivery services to bring a healthy balanced meal, when I get to the point when I can start eating more calories. She also recommended the same service I'd pretty much already decided on: mymanagedmeals.com. So I'll probably start having my meals delivered in early February. I think I'll certainly save some money.
My weight is holding steady at 197.2 lbs. (13 lbs lost). I've got to get those three pounds this week, so I have more work to do.
DAY 19: Sunday January 7, 2018
Food: Fluids only.
I feel very very sick and weak today. I'm not sure if its my body reacting to the laxatives or what. But I can hardly even stand up. I definitely won't be getting any steps in today. All I'm going to do is just lay down and try to get in as many fluids as possible.
DAY 20: Monday January 8, 2018
Food: Fluids only.
I'm still feeling pretty horrible today. Yesterday I spent the whole day trying to force down fluids, then threw it all up at the end of the day. I'm still very weak and can barely walk. Plus my back is starting to hurt. I'm very concerned about my heath today and I'm seriously thinking about going to the doctor.
DAY 21: Tuesday January 9, 2018
Food: Fluids only.
After three days in a row of feeling pretty bad, today I'm definitely going to the ER this evening. I'm pretty sure I'm dehydrated. Not only do I need IV fluids, but I really want them to check everything out to make sure everything is okay. Dehydration can lead to kidney problems, heart problems, impacted feces, and other issues. Since my back is hurting my very bad, I'm very concerned and will go the ER today. The only problem is that I'm so weak I can barely get dressed to go. I've been trying to find the energy for hours to take a shower and get out of here, but I'm just so weak. But I don't care how late it gets, I'm definitely going tonight. If there are any problems I don't want the problems getting worse. One of my resolutions this year, was to be more proactive about my heath. If there's a problem, I want to know about it and not just ignore it. So, let me continue trying to get ready so I can get to the ER.
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