It was a long day. I will try to write tomorrow, but the entire week looks to be long days. It’s a good thing that I enjoy my work!
Category: Work
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Day 669
Recording a three-pound drop from yesterday morning was a good way to start my morning. When there is little good in one’s life it is helpful when even the most minor successes are achieved.
My new clothes are on a truck out for delivery, which means that sometime today I will get my new shirts and sports jacket. That would have been so exciting just a few weeks ago. Now? Well, at least I will have new shirts to wear next week when I am teaching. I am not nearly as excited as I would have been.
Speaking of clothes, I went shopping yesterday. I am likely going to return most of what I bought, but it was so exciting to be able to purchase a ski jacket in size XL. The one I purchased two years ago was a 4XL, and the one I was wearing since 2005 (which did not fit when I was at my most extreme weight) is a 3XL. I will be taking both of those to the charity donation bin later this week, even though I will not be wearing either the ski jacket or the coat that I bought (yes, I bought a jacket and a coat… don’t ask). I will take them both back and go looking for a proper long jacket that will serve both purposes. Yes, it will cost a little more, but it will still likely cost less than the two items combined. I am keeping the sweater I bought… it is a size L, in contrast to the size XXL that I purchased two years ago. Actually, Leslie bought it for me. Maybe that’s why I needed a new sweater.
I noticed something on my body a few nights ago that is a bit worrisome. If I did not have an appointment with my doctor for tomorrow morning, I would have made one. I have a weird sensitivity and a lump in my pelvic area. I am not one for Doctor Google but from everything I know, I suspect it is a hernia. I will not self-diagnose and will ask my doctor in the morning.
Speaking of my doctor’s visit, my weight this morning was within .2 lb. of what I weighed the morning of my last appointment with her. With a bit of luck (and a lot of effort) I might drop another pound tomorrow morning, but even if I do not, I am both relieved that I do not weigh more, and disappointed that I have not lost more. Of course, that is ignoring the fact that three weeks after that appointment I was down nearly 8 lbs., and that just three days ago I was 3 lbs. up from that. The last month has been a maelstrom of travel, emotion, and some wonderful and some terrible things… all of this putting aside the fact that my country is still at war and that the lies of public opinion make Hamas look like the heroes of the story while my people are seen as the forces of pure evil.
It is nearly 1:00pm and I have had a slightly productive morning. I also realized that I did not defrost chicken, which means that I can either put it in the microwave, or I can go to the supermarket to pick up a defrosted package. I think that is the option I am going to take, as the packages are too large to rotate in my microwave oven… and I do not have the ‘stay put’ tray for it. In the afternoon I will be studying for the exam that I need to take within the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I will be able to focus and remember what is in my head. I am not placing any bets on that. The exam is paid for and it expires in two weeks so I am going to take it whether or not I am fully prepared… but I really do not want to fail.
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Day 664
My weight is up this morning, but only by .2 lb. which is up… but within the margin of error of any given day. Considering my stress and anxiety levels, I am not pleased… but I am also not giving up. I did not eat more, but I also did not cut out my starch with the evening meal. No wonder.
My food plans for today are to change it up slightly. Rather than having chicken for lunch and dinner, I will have meatless burgers and air-fried potatoes for dinner.
I have three more days of the 14-hour teaching schedule, and then I have ten days off. I am looking forward to being able to being able to get some exercise back into my schedule. That should help to reverse the trend of these last three days.
One of my students last week broke down emotionally after failing her mid-course exam, and I spent a lot of extra time tutoring her. This morning she told me that she passed it and was feeling better about understanding more of what I am teaching. There are some very rewarding moments in my job!
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Day 652
I am happy that my weight is down another .8 lb. from yesterday, which puts me four pounds up from my best weight ever, one pound up from the day I left Canada, and 3.6 pounds down from my highest weight since flying to Texas. Considering I expected my weight to go up significantly more during this trip, I am still happy with that.
I know that the bathroom scale would have been slightly nicer to me this morning had I been able to successfully move my bowels, but that just means that when I eventually do that later today, it will come off of tomorrow’s weigh-in. I will need that because I know that we are having a sinful treat for dinner this evening, and I am expecting to be reminded of that tomorrow.
I did not end up going for a walk yesterday. It was a mostly sedentary day of work – I have three different classes that I will be teaching next week (it is a weird schedule with a morning group learning one topic, an afternoon group learning a second, and an evening group learning a third), so I am making sure I have all of the material that I need to deliver them prepared. Yes, I know the material – none of them are going to be overly challenging deliveries for me – but I do need to get into the proper headspace. I also am resigned to the fact that I will only be able to work out on the weekends, and my eating schedule might be a bit of a challenge. That will start with having to go shopping on my lunch break Monday, as I will only be arriving home late Sunday night. I have eggs in the fridge so I will be prepared to start the day right.
I will likely not be doing a power walk today, but I have some parcels I need to drop off at the UPS Store, and I might walk them over rather than driving. It should be a moderately nice day. Knowing what’s for dinner I suspect I can use the steps!
My class this evening is the last class that I will be with the group of students that I began with in July. It will be weird parting from them, but I hope that some of them will stay in touch with me and let me know how their careers progress because of our time together. It is an exciting step for all of them, and I love seeing my students succeed. Just yesterday morning I received an email from a student I taught last week telling me that he has already passed the exam for the class. I feel great every time I get one of these emails! I expect to continue getting them from this group… some slower than others. I was told that I will be getting another group from the same company sometime in April, which is exciting. I am glad that I will be able to continue helping this company’s employees.
Okay, I have some work to do and then it’s time to relax with my wife. Have a great day folks!
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Day 643
After speaking with my wife last night I made a decision. I have adjusted my weight goal on the app that ties to my scale. I am feeling so much better about myself than I have in so many years, and while I think I still have a little way to go, I also recognize that I want to be slim, but not sickly thin. With that, my new weight loss goal is 210 lbs., both for my well-being and for a number of other reasons.
I had a stressful day yesterday and I did eat (and snack) a little more than I should have. I was a bit concerned about the numbers, but sure enough (after a half decent bowel movement) I had lost .6 lb. from yesterday morning. I am not back to where I was before my stumble began, but I have always said that down is better than up. I will call it a win!
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that now that I am wearing my pants around my waist and not around my belly there is a significant difference in the length. For decades I have bought pants in a 30” length. Since changing to the waist I have been showing off a lot more sock than I used to. Late last week I ordered my first pair of pants that were a 36×32… the smaller waist and the longer leg. They arrived at Leslie’s mailbox on Friday and were here when I arrived. I was afraid to try them on – not because of the length, but because of the 36” waist. I know I have a couple of pair in that waist that do fit, but I have several others that do not. This morning I tried them on. Lo and behold… they fit perfectly! I was (and am) so excited about that!
One more thing that I realized a while ago was that my underwear has been much looser than it could be. I ordered several new pair, some of which arrived Monday. For the first time in I don’t know how long I am wearing Size Large! It has been so many years since I have worn anything that was not XL (or XXL or XXXL…) and it really feels great to be able to order some things in regular sizes. I am not going to say that I am over the moon about underwear, but it is a nice feeling to know that I can wear normal sizes.
Today will be a very long day. I am teaching from 8:00am to 8:00pm, and then we are driving to Houston (probably a 4-hour drive). When we get to the hotel, I am sure we will both be ready to collapse into bed immediately! My workday tomorrow begins at 8:00am again, although it is mercifully much shorter. In the evening we are going to the Davidoff event at the Blend Bar – the entire purpose for our trip to Houston, and the reason behind the timing of this trip. Yes, there will be fatigue, and the anxiety of working from a hotel room, but it will be worth it. We will look like a million bucks together as we enjoy our event… and our weekend away together.
Have a great day folks!
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Day 642
I thought I ate better yesterday than I have the last couple of days, so I was a bit disappointed to discover my weight actually went up (only by .2 lb.) this morning. I think it is the combination of Leslie’s amazing protein balls and the can of Japanese coffee that I drank that did it. That, and the fact that I did not leave the house at any point, and only took 1300 steps. That is what happens when you work from 8:00am to 8:00pm with hardly a break.
I am working during the day today, but when my class ends at 3:30pm I will be free for the afternoon and evening. I might go for a little walk, but I also have an errand that I have to run. Yes, I have to visit my cigar lounge in order to pick something up which we need before we go to Houston tomorrow evening. It will be nice to see the boys and to chat for a few minutes, but I do not expect that I will be sticking around for a cigar. Leslie’s son goes back to his father’s tomorrow, so this will be the last evening we can spend as a family for the week. I would rather be with them, and I will be able to smoke a cigar after he goes to sleep.
Okay, it is time for me to get to work. Have a great day folks!
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Day 624
Yesterday was another stressful day of teaching, but I did not try to relax by eating. In fact, at the end of the day I had originally planned to go to a friend’s house for a cigar but decided instead to go for a long walk to clear my head (and to get some exercise). How did it go? Well, when combined with the evening cigar I smoked after showering I think it turned out fairly well.
My weight this morning was up from yesterday. It was not a significant increase – .2 lb. – so I am not concerned. When I was first gaining the weight in early adulthood, I would make the excuse that muscle was heavier than fat. Looking at the stats from my bathroom scale app it might be, for the first time ever, that might have something to do with it. There are only three stats that increased from yesterday to today: weight, BMI, and muscle mass. Maybe the 12km walk did build my leg muscles somewhat… and increased my weight ever so slightly.
The measures on the scale yesterday were all over the place. After my walk I weighed less than I did in the morning. Before bed it was four pounds up from the morning. That worried me because I usually drop as much as 2-2.5 lbs. overnight, but seldom more. What I did not take into account was how much water I must have consumed and been retaining. I was feeling a discomfort in my bladder all day, but I couldn’t figure out why. If you want to know why I did not sleep well last night it is probably because I got up to pee seven times, each of which was a long and steady stream. While my weight was up this morning, it was not up enough to worry about… but the excess water is what caused my concern (and the discomfort).
I should mention that I have once again not moved my bowels for four days. As I promised my doctor I am not going to wait until it gets painful and will take a laxative. I do not want to take it until my teaching is done because I do not know how my body will react. I will say that I have been feeling the sensations that I would like to go the last hour but will have to wait until lunch. I know that it will likely be more than a 2-minute pain-free experience. In my life I never thought I would be in the market for stool softeners and things like that. Not fun.
My class lectures are done for the week! My students now have a few hours to work on their labs and of course I am happy to help them with those, but the lecture portion is done. I will take my lunch break in a few minutes during which I have some calls to make and will try to do those from the balcony. It is a beautiful day out, and in the Great White North we should never take those for granted.
Have a great day folks!
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Day 623
For the second day in a row my weight remained where it was. Not only did I not cheat yesterday, but I also did not have all of my meal replacements. I am teaching a very stressful class during the day (for very different reasons from my previous stressful classes) and so I did not have the opportunity to prepare my first meal replacement until nearly 2:30pm. At the end of my daytime class I was so stressed that I needed to sit on the balcony with a cigar to decompress. I knew that I would have an easier class in the evening (which I did), but I was thinking about anything but food. Combine that with the fact that it was less than two hours since I had finished my first replacement. When I began my evening class I figured I would take it at the break… which was late as well.
Today has been a very stressful day with my course but it is almost over. It is now 2:30pm and I just prepared my meal replacement. It looks like today might be another ‘less than normal’ day. I am hoping to go for a walk this evening but there are a number of factors that might depend on. We will see.
Have a great day folks!
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Day 622
I was only a wee bit disappointed to see that the numbers on the bathroom scale this morning were the same as they were yesterday morning. As I had previously written, it is not surprising after several days of dropping for it to stay the same (or even go up a little) for a day or two. Despite my decision to go out exercising after class yesterday (which I did not think I would have the opportunity to do this week) my weight stayed put. That’s quite alright… I would rather it stay put where it is than go up.
There are two milestones that I would like to achieve before my next trip to Dallas (in just under three weeks):
- I would like to drop below 240 lbs. (and then below 235 lbs.).
- I would like to drop out of the Obesity Class I category.
I am less than 10 lbs. away from not being obese for the first time in twenty-five years or more. I will still be, according to the Body Mass Index (BMI), be Overweight, but that is not nearly the same animal. I am a fifty-one year old man who has no aspirations to be an athlete, but I do want to prove to myself that obesity no longer needs to define me.
I was rewarded last night, after logging my walk, to see that I have cracked the top 9% on the 2023 Challenge. Of 206,000 participants I am ranked 18,520; that puts me in the top 8.99% of participants. I never thought that I would crack into the top 10%… not even with half that number registered! I am not competing against them – I do not know who any of them are – I am just trying to push myself to be the best me that I can be, and if those faceless names attached to the other participants registered help to encourage my being more active then so be it… thanks Peep T. and Matthew H. and Bill J. for that.
I suppose I did not get enough sleep once again last night. I am really feeling it this morning, and I am going to need to focus on staying awake and alert… not to mention relying on my pot of coffee to help that. I hope that I will get more sleep this evening, but that is entirely on me; I know what time my alarm is set for in the morning, so it is my responsibility to go to sleep earlier when I am feeling tired. After my walk last night I picked a very long cigar which kept me on the balcony rather later than I should have stayed out. This evening I will select a much shorter one… if I smoke one at all. I do have to teach until 9:15pm today, so a short cigar would still allow me to be in bed by 11:00pm. I will endeavour to be in bed and asleep by then.
Today will be a long day, but I doubt it will be overly taxing. Yes, my daytime class is a bit of a challenge, but it is technology that I am pretty comfortable with, and I have a small and good group of students. My evening class is the same group I have been working with since July and I know the material cold, so I am not worried about that. Nonetheless I am still looking at a thirteen-hour day, so it will just be long. I know how to handle that.
I also know that unlike these last few days I will not be out and about, which means I will not have the (convenient) ability to buy peanuts. My plan for today is to space my meal replacements out well enough so that my last one is before 8:00pm. I feel that the earlier I stop eating the better chance I have of a successful number on the scale the following morning. As I will not be exercising today, it is a good opportunity to test that theory.
Have a great day folks!
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Day 619
Yesterday was a very frustrating day with regard to technology. I am not going to go into the details but suffice it to say that what I had hoped to have three days to accomplish I have to try to start from scratch again today and only have two days to go. Wait… while I was walking Her Floofness this morning I thought of one more thing that I wanted to try before giving up and starting over. I’ll be right back. (Three minutes later) OH MY G-D IT WORKED! I did not waste an entire day yesterday and I might be able to get everything done what I need done before Tuesday morning! Woohoo!
Because of that frustration (and the causes of it) I had time to go for a walk/jog. I did two stints jogging (the first 500m and the 4th) at a faster pace than I think I have run since I was in the Army. I was never a fast runner, but my pace was at or under 5m50s for the two running stints. It felt great, and I will try to push myself to go a little farther at that pace on my next outing.
I am not sure what prompted it but near the end of my walk I stopped at Fortinos. Instead of just buying water or Gatorade I bought a handful of peanuts. I do not know why I did it, but I walked out of the store with $1 worth of Virginia peanuts. I got home, showered, and prepared my second meal replacement shake. I sat down at the computer to fight with my tech problem. When I finished my meal replacement I moved on to the peanut portion of the meal. Hey Mitch! What part of MEAL REPLACEMENT was unclear to you? You are not meant to have the meal replacement… and desert! Fortunately I was sated to the point where I did not need my final meal replacement of the day, so the peanuts were in fact just that.
I have this habit of stepping onto the bathroom scale before I get into bed at night. Sometimes I even step onto it when I come in from a long exercise outing. Whatever numbers I may see are not accurate for my tracking, but the pre-bedtime number is usually a good indication of what my weight will be the following morning. Most mornings I will weigh 1-2 lbs. less than I did before bed, although this is not a scientific guarantee, and it has often been as low as .5 lb. and as much as 4.5 lbs. difference.
When I stepped onto the scale after my exercise yesterday, I was happy to see that I weighed .2 lb. less than my best weight ever… but that is a meaningless number as I have said before. You cannot walk and jog 10km and immediately step onto the scale expecting it to be in line with your daily morning weigh-ins, right? Before I got into bed, I was pleased to see that the number was lower than it had been that morning. I know, I did not have my evening meal replacement so it was probably skewed because of that; nevertheless, I was optimistic that I would see a big drop the next morning. I went to sleep disappointed by my peanuts but glad that I had used them as a meal replacement rather than as an additional snack.
I have of late stopped wasting my time by sitting on the potty in the mornings in hope that my previous regularity might somehow return, so my morning bathroom ritual is much shorter than it was… especially on days after a long walk/jog which means I would have showered in the afternoon. I walked to the bedroom (where my ‘bathroom’ scale has been for over a year) without any of these thoughts on my mind, only hoping that the numbers would be at least slightly down from yesterday.
“Mr. Garvis? Yes, your table is ready. Welcome back to Best Weight Ever. Please relax and try to not rest on your laurels.”
The day-over-day drop was not insubstantial. Not only was my weight lower than yesterday, but it was also a full pound lower than what it was the morning that I flew to California… the day when I dropped below 245 lbs. and for the first time could honestly say I had lost one hundred and fifty pounds! It was an amazing feeling. It would be another hour before I would walk to my fridge to cross off the next number on my countdown chart, but once Her Floofness was walked and fed that is exactly what I did. In the nearly two months since Leslie and I made our little wager to urge each other’s success I have lost just under 20 lbs., and that includes a week in California which did not help my progress at all.
My original plan for the day (and tomorrow) was to sequester myself at the computer working on my labs, and indeed I do intend to do a lot of work on them today. However, knowing now that I do not have to start from scratch (as I thought until that break in the first paragraph of this journal entry) I will not deprive myself. I will still work most of the day, but I will do so on the balcony with a cigar. It is a beautiful day outside with forecast high temperatures of 25° and sunny. Knowing now that the problem I was up against was caused by Microsoft and not by my not paying close attention because of my cigar I am more comfortable that I can continue to work outside. Depending on how far I get into my labs I might go out for another walk/jog this afternoon… but that will depend on the progress I make.
Have a great day folks!
