Discussion Board

Norm, you look great. And losing the canes is the best part of all.

I love reading about your success.

Your looking great Norm. Looking more healthy and definitely happier. BIG HUGS!!!

Congrats Norm! I'm sure you've past your last 327 and you're looking healthier!

Good to know you're not just losing weight this time but getting your body healthier so you won't have to fear a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, etc.

Huge congrats on all your progress - I'm amazed by all the 'brain changes' I have been reading about in your journal that have seemed effortless. Nice work! So excited to hear about that coat you've hung onto and can now fit & get fixed. Great work!

Haven't posted here lately... time for some updates!

I neglected to post a weigh-in update last week... So for those who didn't catch it on my blog or elsewhere, here is what I wrote about it last week:



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Things I am trying to do to "steer" my weight loss a bit higher are:

I'm intentionally eating more greens and raw vegetables. I have found that I simply do not desire these things at dinner time. Even if they're available, dinner is all about the starches for me, with some cooked veggies added in. But I have also found that I don't mind eating them earlier in the day. So that's what I'm doing. Greens and raw veggies earlier in the day, which means fewer oats and fewer leftover starches.

I'm increasing my exercise. I had backed off of it because of arthritis issues, and doing so seems to have helped. I only get the "crunch crunch" in my hip if I walk very fast, and I haven't had any "snap, crackle, and pop" in my knee. So now I'm going to increase my exercise a bit, making an effort not to overdo it so I don't bring back those problems.

Yesterday I went for a trike ride. I pushed myself hard and had my best time ever!! I did the uphill half of the 15 mile ride in 56 minutes, shaving 9 minutes off my last best time and 24 minutes off my time a few months ago, when I first timed myself. Awesome is the only word I have for how I felt! I actually passed people on the return trip! Not bad for a fat guy on a monster heavy trike!


-Norm

Way to go, Norm! Your consistent progress is inspiring.

I love hearing that your triking is improving, too! I can't remember the exact figures but DH once told me how much additional effort it requires for each extra pound of weight going uphill on a bicycle. As you know, Lance Armstrong's performance on hills skyrocketed with just a meager 15 pound weight loss from his cancer treatment years ago. Imagine how fast you'll be flying up your hill when you shed even more weight!

Great progress Norm. I am thinking about getting an adult trike myself. I can't seem to balance on a regular bike anymore.

Keep up the new way of eating! It definitely works.

Fulenn

Your latest pictures are great! You look many years younger and so much slimmer in the current picture. It is an amazing transformation! I love to read about your successes, so keep at the McDougalling path!

Today is a good day!! I rode my trike 30 miles, and boy, let me tell you, I am TIRED!! And stiff! And sore!! And sunburned. But I had a great time for the most part, even though I was really dragging at the end.
I did this once before. About 7 years ago, I think. The difference between then and now that I can think of off the top of my head...

-Then it took me a whole summer of riding almost every day to build up to it. This time it's been only a few months of riding only once or twice a week and some weeks not at all.
-Then it took me over 6 hours to do the whole 30 miles. This time I did it in 4.5.
-Then I hurt so bad when I was finished I could barely walk for three or four days and I swore I'd never do it again. This time? We'll see.

Noteworthy events on the trail:

- I raced a train!! And won!! The bike path parallels a train track for a while and a train and I crossed a road at the same time. The crossing where the path crossed the train tracks was about 3/4 mile up the path and I busted butt to get there first! Okay... granted.. it's a VERY slow moving train and it turned out I beat it by about 100 yards... but so what? I raced a train, and won! That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

- I passed a Google Street View camera car on the section of the path that parallels a road. I will be watching to see if I got on camera!!


Afterwards I stopped to check my blood pressure. It was 102/75 with a pulse rate of 90. After five minutes of sitting I took it again and it was 105/75 with a pulse of 88. I've never had my top number be that low. Is that normal after extreme physical exertion? Also, my pulse rate was almost twice what it normally runs, which is in the high 40's. I've noticed in the past my pulse rate goes up after exercise. Again, is that normal?

-Norm

Wow, 30 miles - I'm impressed! I sure couldn't ride that right now. (Well, I could, if I cheated and used the bike with the electric assist. ) And so cool you got to race and beat a train. Did it make you feel like a kid?

Pulse rate definitely rises with exercise. That's one measurement of exertion and is a useful tool for aerobic exercise using heartrate zone training. I prefer the breath tests as opposed to having to wear a heart rate monitor. If you can carry on a conversation while exercising, that's good. If you are so out of breath that you can't, you're exercising above your aerobic zone and that's less helpful healthwise.

Hubby has told me in the past, too, that one measure of fitness is how quickly your heart rate returns to normal after you've stopped doing the physical exercise. For me, when my heart is pounding after climbing a steep hill on a trail, it seems to take forever for it to come back down to normal. As we get more fit, though, it should drop more quickly. Dr. McDougall talked about exercise in the MWL book. I think the discussion was about how the metabolism stayed revved up for hours after exercise, burning more calories. (It's been a while since I've read that book so I may not be remembering this correctly.)

Yes!

Yes, I know this. I should have been more specific.. I measured my blood pressure and pulse about 30 minutes after I stopped exercising, at the pharmacy, not while I was pedaling the trike!
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I slept almost 9 hours last night and this morning I am still very tired and sore from my adventure yesterday, but I don't feel any severe pain in my back from it. I'll go for a walk in a bit and we'll see.
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In other news... my CPAP pressure is at a new low... 10.2 cm/H2O, and my machine reports 0 apnea events last night. My pressure is now less than half of what my prescribed pressure was when at my peak weight!! And I very seldom have bloating issues anymore from the CPAP, and when I do, it's minor compared to what I suffered at higher pressures!! I still look forward to the day I get to toss that dang machine out the window!!!

-Norm

So glad everything is improving! The biking sounds really fun.

Fulenn

Last Friday I rode my trike 30 miles.... and by today I felt so good I did it again!! I rode another 30 miles!! Today was much hotter, and I rode slower as a result. I also held an umbrella to keep the sun off of me as I am sunburned enough... It worked so well that I'm going to fashion a canopy for my trike to keep me in the shade no matter how hot the sun is!!
I feel better tonight than I did Friday night, which amazes me. I am acclimating myself to increased exercise quicker than I thought possible! I did, however, have some pretty serious pain in my sacroiliac joints... I have ankylosing spondylitis, and while I don't have any fusing of vertebrae in my lower spine yet I thought my sacroiliac joints has fused long ago... Based on the fact that they had given me considerable discomfort in years past but that slowly went away, as happens when they fuse... But after 30 miles the other day and 30 miles today they were sore.. so sore that I let out some expletives when I hit some unexpected bumps.... Maybe they aren't completely fused yet? Maybe that process is reversing? I dunno. Once I stopped riding the trike those pains went away. Time will tell!! I know I am not as stiff and sore as I was Friday night, which amazes me.
4.5 hours after finishing my ride I checked my blood pressure. It was 121/67 with a pulse of 56 the first time, then after five minutes total resting it was 111/62 with the pulse the same at 56. I was curious what it'd be as I consumed a good bit of salt both yesterday and today. I knew it was going to be hot and I tend to sweat a lot so thought it might be prudent to get some salt in me. Is that a good idea? Or is it even necessary?
Wednesday is weigh-in day. I've been surprised at weigh-in numbers enough in the past to not make predictions. However, I have put more effort into exercise and eating fewer calories than I ever have and I wouldn't be surprised if I had a significant drop come weigh in day and I'd be somewhat surprised if I didn't. We'll see!!

-Norm

Sounds like your doing really good and having fun. Be careful of over doing it though and injuring your back. I did that when I first started out biking before I changed to this food plan. I so know the sun burn got one on my 20 mile bike ride sunday.