Tag Archives: measurements

Post-Op Week 41 Progress Report: Buckling Down and Filling a Void

image

Slight gain this week, but I am not surprised.  Given that I lost nearly 6 pounds last week, this pound up doesn’t surprise me.  I also had a bit more sodium than usual yesterday and didn’t drink as much water as I normally do.  I’ve also eaten a little more starch than usual lately, which is not something I normally do either.

I know what I need to do; I just need to buckle down and do it.  Sometimes self-discipline is tough.  Believe it or not, self-discipline is something I’ve sorely lacked where eating is concerned.  The lack of self-discipline in my eating is what got me to 440 pounds.  So when I say that this new normal of mine has been more than challenging, I’m not exaggerating one bit.

I need to get back to my Daily Bite photojournaling.  I log everything I eat and drink in MyFitnessPal, but I’ve fallen off the photojournaling for the past month.  I really need to get back on that train, because I think it helps me add yet another layer of self-accountability, something else that I lacked for so long.

I won’t lie, I’ve slacked off in a lot of little ways.  But the little things do add up to big things if you let them.  So it’s time to tighten the reins, dial back the carb intake, increase my exercise, and get back on track.  These last 64 pounds aren’t going to leave my body without some real hard work, and I’ve gotta put in work to get them gone.  NOW.

Continue reading

Post-Op Week 36 Progress Report: Tweaking the Program

image

This week’s progress was a surprise.  I lost what I’d gained last week due to water retention, and then a little extra.  I will note that I am still retaining water (stupid hormones; it’ll stop this week thank goodness), as my ankles are a little puffy and parts of me are still swollen.

As I move forward through my 8th month of post-op life into my 9th, I’ve decided it’s time to tweak things again to make this tool work to my advantage.  I have 73 pounds left to lose to get to my goal and 23 to get to my surgeon’s goal.

Continue reading

Post-Op Week 28 Progress Report

image
This week’s date with the scale ended well.  I think I’ll go on another one next week to see where things head with our relationship.

Continue reading

Post-Op Week 10 Progress Report and Musings on a Gain

This week’s progress photo:

image

I got new specs!  Cat-eyes.  I love the retro styling.  I also had a small gain this week.  I knew it would happen, just like I wrote about yesterday.  I’m not stressed about it though.  Here’s why.

Continue reading

Measurements Matter

A month ago, I began pre-op dieting so that I could lose as much weight as possible prior to surgery.  At that time, I took measurements of my biceps, forearms, neck, chest, bust, waist, hip, thighs and calves so that I could see how much I would shrink over time.

Continue reading

And so it begins

June 17, 2013:  Three weeks pre-op.  Pre-op diet began today.

June 17, 2013: Three weeks pre-op. Pre-op diet began today.

I met with my primary care doc this morning to review my latest labs and to get my pre-op clearance from her taken care of.  Labs, while not fabulous, are providing me with baseline a1c, fasting glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels.  My EKG was picture perfect and I have been deemed fit for surgery.

Continue reading

Metrics of Success

How do you measure weight loss success?

Is it just a number on the scale?  A clothing size?

Does success always have to be measured numerically?

The scientist in me likes empirical measurements and prefers quantitative measures of success to qualitative measures.   Why?  Because there’s a number associated with it, and that’s something concrete in my mind. I have always liked numerical data, because you can manipulate it in all kinds of ways–do statistical calculations, analyze it and make visual representations from it.

But the realist in me knows that those qualitative measures are the ones that will propel me through the times that the numbers don’t come back the way I’d like them to.  So how do I plan to measure my success at losing weight in ways that are not just a number?  Here are a few things I’ve thought of:

Continue reading