From alpha testing to the QUERCUS 200

So a couple good things yesterday. I had a discount at Target so I went ahead and bought some size large Ts, They have some super soft/warm sleep pants on sale that I bought a pair before in size large. they were out of large so I bought a second pair in medium. Now I know these are sleep pants (loose) and not jeans, but I've never wore a size medium anything and these fit. I slept in size medium sleep pants and a size large long sleeve T. The shirt is a bit snug for me to want to wear in public, but people wear shirts that tight all the time. So in short, kiss my ass scale!

Off to the doctor to discuss my bloodtests.
 
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Woohoo! I´d say your bloodtests can´t be bad when you´re living as healthily as you are but my fingers are crossed anyway ;)
 
The clothes are definitely way ahead of the numbers Oaks. It will be nice when they even up a bit.

Thanks Hana!

Thanks LaMa!

So every single measure improved. All of them. I have two things that are still a bit worrisome, but even they improved a little.

So I have to take cholesterol medicine and a baby aspirin. My overall score dropped 34 points and is in the normal range, my triglycerides dropped by almost 100 points, but my good cholesterol is low and my bad choesterol is high. The numbers improved, but a very small amount compared to the other readings. In other words the lifestyle changes aren't going to cut it. I suspected as much as my father has cholesterol issues and isn't overweight. I though maybe a vegan diet might make the difference, but the doctor suspects that I have a genetic abnormality that predisposes me to high LDL and low HDL.

So I need to take some medicine so I don't have a heart attack/stroke. Otherwise I was congratulated and commended by nurse and doctor and was even asked advice by the doctor on how to be vegan in our rural area.
 
Quercus said:
I'm feeling pretty good. I am ready for some serious sleep, but I'm in much better sorts than this morning. That's another benefit of taking better care of myself. Even when I feel crappy it doesn't seem to be lasting. That has held true for allergies, congestion, stomach woes, and soreness/aches.
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It only gets better from here. It's remarkable how much better physically you're able to deal with things all around, even things you wouldn't normally have guessed were related. Things like stomach problems and allergies seem to be far less severe and happen less often.

On the blood work, good job on lowering most of the numbers, especially the triglycerides. The 25th anniversary of my Dad's heartattack is in 12 days (they hit him with the paddles three times and he came back) and I have a mitral valve prolapse discovered when I was like 8 years old. And so heart disease is a scary disease for me.

Shame about the HDL and LDL stuff but if you stay on top of it you should be fine. Plus I think there's probably still more room to improve those numbers as you get in better and better shape. I and my doctor were thrilled with my bloodwork at 220 pounds, but the numbers the next year at 185 blew those away (an 80 HDL). You're doing a fantastic job.

And welcome to the "I've never worn a medium in my life" club. There's just something weird about looking at that 'M' and then putting the shirt on. But 'L's are loose and the 'XL's are now comically large. I miss my Mello Yello shirt and they stopped giving them out on the Coke Rewards program.
 
I was around two different groups of sick people over Thanksgiving and hugged some of them. Then I came back to work and was around two others that were working sick. Before this would have resulted in at least one full blown illness for sure. I though I was getting sick, but I either didn't or it was extremely short lived and mild (unlike the sick people I was around). My immune system indicators were markedly improved.

My father had heart surgery to place multiple stints and has high cholesterol with high dose meds and he isn't and hasn't been overweight. The doctor is pretty sure that I have a genetic issue that will make the meds necessary, but should the numbers get great I will certainly discuss getting off of the meds. I am hopeful for my numbers in 6 months and certainly for when I hit the 1 hundreds.

The large shirts are too snug for me still and medium shirts are a distant hope at this point, but yeah medium anything is a shocker. I also realized that shirts are made plenty long for a 6' 3" man so long as that man isn't super wide.
 
:party: Medium sleep pants hey? :party:
Re cholesterol- Mine was always really low until a couple of years after I lost my 36kg & then it went right up & stayed up. I had smugly thought it would have improved. Yep- it's genetic apparently. (The same thing happened with my Mum.) I'm now on 40mg Atorvastatin, which is just a "maintenance" dose. I tried halving it & my chol. went right up again! My LH was on a 80mg dose for years, but has been able to halve his dose to the same as mine. He had been told that if he had a heart attack he would not survive it, unless he went on medication. Being on medication is not our first choice any time, but we don't regret it.
It's great that your immune system is getting stronger Q. I really want mine to as I have had enough of chest infections etc. Staying away from air-con is the key for me I think. Cheers, Cate.
 
Thanks Cate! Having asthma I've always been prone to chest infections. The asthma has improved greatly and with it the frequency of illness. I was taken off of a preventative asthma medication so I swapped what I take rather than added one. My dose is 40 so it isn't too bad. Hopefully it works and doesn't bother me.

276.6 this morning so I am creeping back down to my low, but it doesn't seem to be in a hurry. Running at the gym tonight.

I tried on a long sleeve large shirt this morning and decided to wear it as an undershirt, but my wife assured me it would be fine as an outer shirt. I thought it was too snug. I got rained on all morning in the field so I ended up stripping off the wet layers once back in the heat of the truck. My coworker is a good friend of mine and so I knew I could get an honest opinion from him. He said that it was too snug. Not embarrassing, but too snug to say it fit well. I think my wife honestly thought I looked fine, but she may have the love filter leading her astray. So I now have an official fashion consultant and my damp sweatshirt back on. Okay it's actually dried now, but that sounded more dramatic.

I may model the shirt and sleep pants for all my fans here this weekend. Pins and needles, right?

Also I haven't done my yoga or weight lifting so I need to do that twice before Monday. I have an out of town trip next week and that will be a real challenge to the run streak. I will bring my clothes with me in the field and run if we end up waiting on someone or taking a lunch break. Worst case scenario I have a headlamp.

Happy Friday!
 
Day 16 of the Run Streak
indoor track run
3.13 miles
33:55
avg hr 157 bpm

So a decent 5K. I worked in the rain today and was feeling rather tired, but once I got going I felt quite good.

I drank a ton of water today so maybe I'll have run/drunk off some flubber tomorrow.
 
I scrolled back quickly, is that your longest distance for the streak? That pace is more than respectable! Take credit for that, dude. Startin' the weekend off strong.
 
Is your coworker male? If yes: women are often more used to tighter clothing and will therefore see things differently. Also: if you were in the car you were sitting down whereas at home you were probably standing up. No love filter needed then. Great job on the 5k! Upping both frequency and distance is a real achievement.
 
LaMa it was a he and he saw it sitting and standing with the same opinion. Thanks!

Well Hana I'd planned on sleeping in, but I have been up since 6:30 instead. I feel fully rested I just have to learn to not be upset when I can't sleep like I used to.

Maybe we will go into town and do some more shopping.

276.4 this morning which is 1 pound above my low and the lowest it has been since the rebound.
 
Ha, for me that´s one of the major advantages to eating more healthily: I wake up in the morning and don´t want to doze on but am ready to start doing something useful!
 
I'm having to teach myself that getting up on my own is sleeping in regardless of the hour. Staying in bed a long time is a waste of time unless I need it. I guess I thought I'd need it. Sometimes it's good to be wrong.

Day 17 of the run streak
Recovery run
1 mile
13:53

Easy pace until the last little bit because I felt like running fast for a while. The 5K didn't phase me it seems.

2,300 calories yesterday. That's 14 days in a row since Thanksgiving and 72 days out of 74 days since October 1st at or below 2,300 which is a tad over 97%.

Despite the rebound this last week I have managed to lose 2.6 pounds/week since October 1st and 1.1 for the year.
 
Thanks LaMa! I've had some bad times and some poor choices this year, but I've learned from them and so they don't matter now.

1. Pushing too hard made me fall.
2. Falling made me injured.
3. Pushing too hard while injured made me get a bad infection in my knee.
4. Operation on my knee made me in pain and sedentary.
5. Feeling sorry for myself was an excuse for me to eat like a pig and regain 12 pounds while I was laid up.

So what did I learn?

1. I shouldn't push too hard.

That results in setbacks in progress not acceleration.

2. Be patient.

I pushed too hard because I lacked patience even with the great progress I was showing.

3. Excuses are bullshit.

Don't feel sorry for yourself for dumb mistakes that you put on yourself and if you do it's no excuse to quit what remains of your healthy lifestyle. Yes the fall was an accident, but I set myself up to be injured and I'm lucky it wasn't worse.

4. I need to count calories.

I often ate barely below maintenance and lost much less than I could have for the first 10 months of the year. Hopefully calorie counting is something I can move away after I'm done with the weight loss phase of my journey.

Thanks Hana! Being positive is key for me as it's not my default setting. Seeing your recent changes helps me to keep pressing forward. Lovely comments help me stay positive as well. Cheers!

275.8 this morning. So 0.4 above my low weight now. Whatever happened to make the quick loss happen it wasn't real. The loss since the "rebound" has been steady and solid and the rapid loss before that was what seemed out of whack. No worries either way.

I'll run later. Today will be 50% completed for the 36 day streak. I'm feeling good and not overdoing it. This week will be a challenge being out of town, but I'll at least get 1 milers in.
 
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