From >450 to <160 lb by 2022

Gosh should we start a singles club??? i've also been single for a long time. Happily so though. I'm always in awe of people who manage good healthy happy relationships (like our Cate!) but imagine myself going the long haul alone....
Excellent approach of being careful about how you lose the weight, Err, so that you maintain a good lean mass!
 
Chipping away at my pace. When I very first started (walking) at the beginning of the year I was doing about a 25 minute mile. Now I'm doing about half that with a mix of jogging & walking (and I'd be ecstatic if I could half that again in another year).

Screenshot 2020-10-27 at 16.08.14.png

I kind of want to cheat and run just 1 mile on a school's track on Friday just to see if I can do it in under 10 minutes (because round numbers). Last time I ran a timed mile - in high school PE - I did it in 5:30 and I have faint hopes I'll one day be able to do that again...
 
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Err2 said:
Chipping away at my pace. When I very first started (walking) at the beginning of the year I was doing about a 25 minute mile. Now I'm doing about half that with a mix of jogging & walking (and I'd be ecstatic if I could half that again in another year).

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I kind of want to cheat and run just 1 mile on a school's track on Friday just to see if I can do it in under 10 minutes (because round numbers). Last time I ran a timed mile - in high school PE - I did it in 5:30 and I have faint hopes I'll one day be able to do that again...
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Keep that hope alive Err! Even if you do a mile in 6 or even 10 minutes, its still a huge win! Who knows, you keep working as hard as you are and you may just get that 5:30 mile again.
 
Good! It will be pretty cool for you to have all of that data to monitor pace. I'm sure it is going to keep improving.
 
I messaged my doctor again and, after including 30 days' worth of blood pressure readings this time, finally convinced him to change my prescription from lisinopril hctz (ACE inhibitor + diuretic) to straight lisinopril (ACE inhibitor). To be fair to him, I do tend to have "white coat hypertension" (read: anxiety) so my in office readings tend to be about 10 points higher than at home. This is not a measurement error - I have taken my wrist cuff in to compare against their arm cuff and they read nearly identically. Anyway, me saying "my blood pressure isn't normally this high" probably wasn't as convincing as "here's my bp record for 30 days..."

I had hoped to come completely off blood pressure meds by now, but without any meds my systolic pressure still tends to be in the low 130s on days when I do no cardio. At the full 20/12.5 dose I would sometimes get dizzy when first standing and my diastolic pressure tended to drop into the 40s (extremely low) - particularly on days when I did lots of cardio (and was probably mildly dehydrated). I experimented with 1/2 pill which worked better, although systolic sometimes exceeded 120 on non cardio days. So then I began alternating a whole pill one day and 1/2 pill the next, which seemed to work best, especially if I took the full dose on strength training days and the 1/2 dose on cardio days. But it also seems overly complicated and I'd like to take as little medication (and as few medications) as possible.

As a blood pressure refresher:
BloodPressureChart1200x630.jpg


So hopefully by dropping hydrochlorothiazide (the diuretic - a "water pill") my diastolic won't get quite as low on cardio days with mild dehydration, but my systolic will stay in the 110s on days when I do just strength training (or nothing at all). ACE inhibitors lower blood volume which isn't really desirable for cardio endurance, but with a (fitbit-indicated) resting pulse rate of 50 beta blockers seem even less appropriate. And by getting rid of the water pill I could, if I want to, begin experimenting with creatine supplementation to help retain muscle mass during my weight loss.

The potential downside is that I'll begin to retain more water and/or my weight may fluctuate more than normal.

Anyway, I have seen very little on the subject of tailoring blood pressure meds during weight loss so I thought I'd share my thoughts. That said, I'm not a doctor, didn't stay at a holiday inn last night, and I learned what little I know from the internet which is known for dubious information. Take everything I've said with a grain of salt, YMMV, etc...
 
I love that you've added running into the mix. Once I'm fully recovered I will be right there with you trying to get my times as low as possible. However, I have never been and wont likely ever be that fast. But I have full faith that you can and will get there.

At this point I don't think there isn't much anything you cant do with that amazing mind and heart of yours. :)
 
Saturday progress report:

Week ________ Weight __ BF ___ Calories
Sep 27-Oct 03: _ 284.7 _ 40.0% __ 1439
October 04-10: _ 279.2 _ 39.3% __ 1483
October 11-17: _ 277.6 _ 38.7% __ 1472
October 18-24: _ 274.2 _ 38.0% __ 1506
October 25-31: _ 272.5 _ 37.5% __ 1599

1 week weight loss: 0.6% and body fat loss: 0.5%
2 week weight loss: 1.9% and body fat loss: 1.2%
3 week weight loss: 2.4% and body fat loss: 1.8%
4 week weight loss: 4.3% and body fat loss: 2.4%


I'm now running just a little behind my 1% per week schedule on weight loss, but I'm still ahead of 0.5% per week schedule on body fat. I'm okay with that, plus it has only been 1.5 weeks at the higher calorie level so no changes are planned for next week.

I hiked that mountain today and did very well. It took me 3 hours up and 1.5 down compared to 7 hours round trip last time. And this time I also scrambled the last 0.1mile beyond the trail to the survey marker at the very peak - a steep slog with hands on the loose ground/rock and feet sliding back about half of the forward progress on every step... (For comparison, the first trip was 20,983 steps and this one, with the extra 0.1 mile scramble, was 25,722). My legs felt a little tired on the way down, but nothing like the noodles they were last time. We'll see how I feel in the morning, but I do not expect a repeat of the extended DOMS either.

Heart rate log. Started hiking up about 3, got to the top around 6, hung out 30 minutes or so and then headed back down. Aside from the top I didn't take any long breaks, but there were frequent small stops to step off the trail far enough to give 6+ feet of room to other hikers:
Screenshot 2020-11-01 at 01.14.00.png

Timed it to watch the sun set and the full moon rise, but cell phone pictures don't do either justice. It was the Hunter's moon and a blue moon, though the color appeared a Halloween appropriate orange through the distant wildfire smoke. (Trivia: a blue moon occurs about every 2 1/2 years)
 
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LaMaria said:
Great news on the bp front! I'd be interested in any further developments there.
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Now off the diuretic for four days, my weight has ticked up slightly (not quite 2 lb), as has my waist measurement (~ 0.5 inch). My fitbit is also a little tighter on my wrist. But blood pressure on the ACE inhibitor alone looks reasonably good so far:

124/58 70
117/57 64
109/64 55
118/69 62
 
Looks like you made some really great time!
It is too bad cell phones never quite catch the beauty of a full moon...just one of those things we have to enjoy in the moment.

Glad to see progress on the blood pressure too! I imagine you may go off the meds entirely at some point.

Keep up the great job! ;)
 
Great job on the hike! About the diuretics: sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to not having them but if 2 pounds is all you´re gaining you´re doing very well!
 
Feeling slightly more sore today than yesterday - well more stiff than sore. Walking the dog helps loosen things up, but I still feel my quads & calves on stairs and down slopes...

I was planning on advancing to the next stage in the running plan (run 3 walk 3 & repeat for ~30 minutes), but I think I'll give it another 2 days (will probably do an easy bicycle ride tomorrow, and run the next day)
Err2 said:
Now off the diuretic for four days, my weight has ticked up slightly (not quite 2 lb), as has my waist measurement (~ 0.5 inch). My fitbit is also a little tighter on my wrist. But blood pressure on the ACE inhibitor alone looks reasonably good so far:

124/58 70
117/57 64
109/64 55
118/69 62
Click to expand...

Just a quick blood pressure update:
107/57 61
117/72 49

49 is the lowest pulse I've recorded while awake (I even double checked the cuff against the fitbit and they agreed). It'll dip to 41-42 beats per minute while sleeping, but usually it is in the 60s or high 50s when taking my blood pressure. Hard to believe my resting heart rate was in the 90s and 100s in January!
 
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Glad to have the forum back - I sure missed it yesterday!

Strength Training Update:
I have been slacking on strength training and I think it is starting to show in the slowing of the rate at which I'm losing body fat %:
Screenshot 2020-11-06 at 20.31.07.png

I need to make sure I'm doing strength training at least twice a week, preferably three. My progress in push-ups has stalled - back slid even - as I could only muster 5 today (down from 7 last week). On the positive side, I am making some progress on my goal of 1 pull up by December: I still can't pull myself up at all, but if I start at the top of the bar and try to lower myself slowly I no longer fall as quickly :D Strange as it sounds, I do think that is helping - a few repetitions of me trying not to fall and my arms start to get tired & sore...


Running update:
I was progressing nicely through the 4th of those 12 walk-run stages - so nicely in fact that I decided to ignore them and just listen to my body instead. I was supposed to be running 3, walking 3, but out of boredom & impatience I started cutting down the walking time and would just resume running as soon as my breathing returned to normal and my legs felt fine.

Since I walk briskly at a 15 minute mile pace and the fitbit was saying my walk-run combos were at a 12-13 minute pace I had hoped to break a 10 minute mile as soon as I could run continuously. Unfortunately, I discovered the fitbit GPS is not as accurate as I thought when it recorded 3.24, 3.03, and 2.54 mile distances for the exact same 3-mile route on three different days.

To get a better fix on where my pace stands, I decided to run exactly 1 mile on a known course. Unfortunately, all of the schools have closed their tracks to the public and none of the nearby walking/running trails have mile markers so I wound up just running on the shoulder of a lightly-traveled road between two points a mile apart. The good news is that I was able to run continuously for the entire mile without getting winded or experiencing any discomfort. The disappointing news is that my time was 13 minutes, 2 seconds - a pace that seems downright glacial considering I can just about walk that fast. It is very hard to imagine cutting that time in half, but I need to do even more than that to reach my goal of a <6 minute mile. Right now that seems daunting...


Blood Pressure update:
My blood pressure definitely went up after dropping the diuretic, but it still seems to be reasonably well controlled on the ACE-inhibitor alone. Pulse seems unchanged:

124/58 70
117/57 64
109/64 55
118/69 62
107/57 61
117/72 49
114/63 69
115/58 62
120/63 60
115/70 56

120 & above is elevated so my systolic was a bit higher than I'd like on 2 of the 10 days, but my diastolic is no longer crazy low. Coming off the diuretic did seem to cause me to retain a little extra water - my weight stagnated for 5 days before resuming its gradual decline. My dosage of lisinopril is 20mg and it is prescribed as low as 2.5mg so I'm still quite a ways away from coming off blood pressure medications (if that is even possible).


Diet update:
I'm still targeting ~1500 calories & 150g protein, but lately it seems like I find myself being above a lot more often than at or under 1500. My weight has been dropping nicely these last few days so I'm not too concerned about trying to stay militant about calorie intake, but I do fear that letting things slide a little will snowball into letting things slide a lot...
 
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120 and 124 are 100% unremarkable if you ask me. Here doctors say 120/80 is the gold standard and they don´t start worrying unless you go over 130 regularly.
 
Keep doing what you're doing Err and you will be off those tablets in no time. Blood pressure tablets are very strong so I completely understand the desire to get off them. So don't let your diet snowball, there is too much at stake here!

Having said that, you sound like you are doing great. The pace of running will start to come down. Have patience with that. As the weight drops, you will naturally get faster. I know we're all meant to be 'body positive' now but the reality is that it is so much easier to go about your daily life when you are in good shape and fit and healthy. You have put the wheels in motion now and in a few months time, you'll be so delighted with the progress you've made.
 
Your progress all around continues to sound great Err!
 
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