Hey.
Yesterday went kind of okay. I have been eating really poorly lately, and it showed when I stepped on the scale and found that my weight hasn't changed since last week.
At least it didn't go up - I guess my workouts kept me from gaining. But I really do have to refocus on my diet. I have been letting myself slide slowly to this point, and it has to stop.
During my lunch break at work yesterday I took a quick 30 minute walk. I had plans to go to the gym in the evening, but by the time supper was taken care of it was after 7:00, and I checked the schedule and the damn place closes at 8:00 on Friday. Grr.
So instead I went downstairs and pounded on the heavy bag for 45 minutes. It really doesn't wear me out the way it used to.
Had my doctor's appointment yesterday as well.
Mostly good - all the bloodwork came back normal except one. I have no thyroid problems, I'm not diabetic, my cholesterol is great (hdl is a touch low, but not significantly so, and ldl is nicely low, which is good). X-rays were fine for the most part - there is a slight narrowing in my left knee which will likely turn into arthritis some day. Doc thinks the sharp pain that I get when one particular spot on my knee is touched is probably a calcium deposit.
There was one problem though.
The bloodwork shows that I have a _really_ low level of testosterone, like half the normal value. So he is recommending hormone therapy. He is setting up an appointment with an endocrinologist in Vancouver, probably for next month sometime.
I'm not really excited about this. There are some potentially nasty side effects of the therapy, most significant of which is an increased chance of prostate cancer.
On the upside, it will likely increase my energy levels, decrease my man-boobs (which, not having enough male hormones, aren't actually man-boobs, but just boobs, it turns out), and possibly lead to the development of additional muscle mass.
It does explain why I'm having so much trouble lifting weights, and why my upper body musculature is relatively undeveloped compared to most guys.
Interesting fact - one common symptom/effect of low testosterone is obesity.
I'm not using that as an excuse, but I wonder to what degree it contributed to my current situation.
Okay, that was really hard to spit out - very hard to admit to a lack of general manliness. I hope I haven't creeped anyone out.
I won't have any more news on this subject until I see the specialist, which won't be for a while.
Hope everyone has a good weekend. I'll be at work - day shift today short-changing to the graveyard shift tonight.