Whisper's Diary

All of the above. Except for wine. Maybe I should try that! :)

Anything is possible. I want an "aha" moment where I figure out what it is and move on, but I don't think that will happen. I even looked back at old eating journals and so forth and don't really see a difference.

I know mostly what I am experiencing is allergy related. I sneezed like 15 times this morning. I did feel better this afternoon and went for a walk, but now I'm super tired since then. Oh well. I went and recalculated calories and I put sedentary (which I haven't been) and that puts me about 1800 calories which is what I have been doing. I should be losing something. Anyway, now I'm doing it at 1700 and see how that goes.
 
Allergies & inflammation seem to go hand in hand with me. This could be what is holding you back.
 
whispers65 said:
I sneezed like 15 times this morning. I did feel better this afternoon and went for a walk, but now I'm super tired since then.
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Yup, sounds like allergies... How's the wheat avoidance going? If you have a low-grade background allergy it can intensify your other allergic reactions.
 
LaMaria said:
Yup, sounds like allergies... How's the wheat avoidance going? If you have a low-grade background allergy it can intensify your other allergic reactions.
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It's not the best. I have very little money to eat the way I really should. I also noticed that my feet are more swollen. I did the measure test and it's more so I know I'm holding water. In the summer time it is so hot that I drink more and bloat more. And since I haven't felt good this week, I haven't been walking as much. I did walk today though.
 
Please do keep drinking; your body needs it. Often drinking more will actually make it easier for your body to get rid of the bloat than when your dehydrated.
 
Starting Today.....Operation Code Name: End the Bloat

I'm down 2 lbs in the last couple of days, but I feel more bloated than ever. While I know I retain water, I don't necessarily know everything that contributes to it or to inflammation in general for that matter.

I'm on a quest to find out. Like this morning, I read that 1g of carbs brings along 3g of water when stored. That is something to know. But if I limit carbs, where will I get calories? Meat is expensive and veggies provide very little calories.

Here's what I know:

(Causes - Water Retention)

1) Sitting too long or how I am sitting (as pointed out by LaMaria).
2) Standing too long
3) Summertime
4) Too much sodium
5) Not enough exercise
6) Medication

(There may be others that I'm not sure about yet like does eating too many carbs cause water retention? I thought I read where someone said cheese causes them water retention because cheese contains something I don't remember. Or as LaMaria suggested, maybe it could be a wheat intolerance. I need to find out what other things there are, knowing that just because it is a problem for someone else doesn't mean it's a problem for me and vice versa. I have my own share of body weirdisms I know.)

(Ways to help Water Retention that I have found)

1) Walking - helps get the circulation going
2) Sweating - pretty immediate results
3) Lemon - acts as a diuretic
4) Cranberry juice - acts as a diuretic
5) Oatmeal - draws extra water to digestive track (I have fast results)
6) Propping my legs up. Helps the drainage
7) Limiting sodium
8) Compression Socks
9) drinking more water

What I am working on:

1) Propping legs up on bed - I still haven't found anything suitable to get my legs up higher (than my heart anyway) while laying in bed. I tried a couple of blankets but they didn't boost my legs up that much before they sink back down.
2) Sitting. I'm in no way comfortable with sitting. My legs are up too high I feel and I'm leaning over at the same time so I feel squished. I need to find a better sitting method when I do sit.
3) Walking - I'm working on at least walking a mile a day. More if I feel like it.
4) Exercise, lowering sodium, sweating (in essence, yard work. *sneeze* not the best method but it works)
5) Allergies. Allergies are killing me right now. I have no energy and feel sick when I get outside. I'm looking for more natural ways if possible. I don't do drugs well so I don't take a lot of stuff in general. Maybe 1 advil or tylenol every six months or maybe some nose spray - nasalcrom or xlcear.

So while I am working on stuff, I'm inconsistent. I'm tired and I don't feel well. I want to find ways to limit retention that is automatic as possible. If I am not supposed to be dieting rather living a life style of change, then this needs to be apart of it.
 
whispers65 said:
knowing that just because it is a problem for someone else doesn't mean it's a problem for me and vice versa.
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This is do important! People who cut out foods (or even food groups) just because it's possible to be allergic/intolerant without checking if it's true for them specifically limit their choices unnecessarily and it can end up being very unhealthy.
About the things you're working on:
- If you're flat on your back your legs really only need a couple of cm of lift
- Putting your legs up while sitting is only useful if you can lean back a bit so your hips don't bend more than 90°. More flexion than that blocks the drainage.
- I find that drinking a lot of water helps a bit with my allergies.

Carbs only cause limited water retention: pretty sure the 1g carbs vs 3 g water is only true for your glycogen stores, so the carbs that are stored in your muscles for quick energy.
 
LaMaria said:
This is do important! People who cut out foods (or even food groups) just because it's possible to be allergic/intolerant without checking if it's true for them specifically limit their choices unnecessarily and it can end up being very unhealthy.
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No worries there. I always test things out. I've tried diets where you cut out stuff and always felt "off" so I don't do that anymore. I tend to shoot for balance.

LaMaria said:
About the things you're working on:
- If you're flat on your back your legs really only need a couple of cm of lift
- Putting your legs up while sitting is only useful if you can lean back a bit so your hips don't bend more than 90°. More flexion than that blocks the drainage.
- I find that drinking a lot of water helps a bit with my allergies.

Carbs only cause limited water retention: pretty sure the 1g carbs vs 3 g water is only true for your glycogen stores, so the carbs that are stored in your muscles for quick energy.
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Interesting to know. If I lean back, then the situation I have works well. I just need something when I am sitting up and playing a game or whatever. I still have my timer on so I'm getting up at least every 30 to 60 minutes and walking around.
 
I did an experiment today with my feet swelling. This morning I measured and it was 18 inches. Today, I wore a compression sock on my left leg (I couldn't find the other one) and went about my normal routine. I drank water when I wanted to. I went for a couple of walks, and sat, and did whatever. All in all it was a pretty normal day.

So under these circumstances, I wanted to see how much it would swell. Not only did it not swell, it did not stay the same either. Actually, it went down to 17.5 which is pretty impressive to me. The other one was down also.

So I'm wondering, does fluid drain into your legs evenly like both the left and right at the same time, or does it go into the left first and then spill over into the right? I thought I read something about that, but not sure.

So I'll see if I can find my other sock tomorrow. Ugh, I'm the world's worst keeping up with anything.
 
Depends on why you get swelling. If it's to do with the heart there's often asymmetry but if it's just about the veins being weak, not moving enough, or other general factors it tends to be symmetrical. That's so interesting that both legs shrank though!
 
LaMaria said:
Depends on why you get swelling. If it's to do with the heart there's often asymmetry but if it's just about the veins being weak, not moving enough, or other general factors it tends to be symmetrical. That's so interesting that both legs shrank though!
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I've had my heart checked out several times and talked to several doctors about this and basically it's me sitting too much or how I am sitting. Some of it could be medication also though. That is one of the side effects.

We will see how today goes. 17.5 for Left (same as when I went to bed last night. And right was 17.85 or something like that. I will say though that my entire right side of my body is bigger than my left. So there's always going to be some difference between the two. Maybe that is a common thing, I don't know. Because my left leg is shorter, I tend to lean in that direction and causes more friction on that hip when I walk so it's not the most comfortable. Why I mentioned that, I don't know. That's a freebie.
 
Week 12 Update:

Start Weight: 268.8

Last Week - 254.7
This Week - 249.8

Lost this week: -4.9 lbs
Total Lost: -19.0 lbs

Total word count for Nanowrimo: 6200 (Stalled. With everything going on I don't know if I have the will to continue)

Achievements This Week: Lost 15Lbs, 10LB Marker @ 250, 5% of body weight lost (currently, 7.27%)

Exercise:
Power 90 (old school) - Mon, Wed, Fri (Did not do this week)
Ab routine - Tue, Thu, Sat (Did not do this week)
Additional - yardwork and walking (Didn't feel the greatest. Didn't do much; but made an attempt to walk each day)

All I have to say is that I am trying hard. It's been a rough 4 weeks. I've either stayed the same or up. But one thing I've learned is to just stay the course and try out different things. Before I'd give up and then gain everything back. But like it is though, I'm trying my best to at least stay even until my body wants to lose again. At least this way, I don't have to start over from scratch each time which is both humiliating and discouraging.

Looks like my "End the Bloat" strategy is working. I find it is a combination of things. I dropped my calories by 100 (down to 1700). I try to stay around 1500 sodium, but don't panic if I go over. I try and walk at least twice a day to keep the circulation going. I prop my legs up while sitting. And I wear compression socks (at least on one leg). All of that combined seems to be making a difference.

So did I really lose -4.9 lbs this week???? No. I've been losing all along like some have suggested (AlligatoRob for one). I didn't give up the process. It just took the scale and my body a while to catch up with the water weight. Even sitting here typing this, I still feel bloated. Which is good, because I know I will be losing more weight.

So in the grand scheme of things. Everything is good. I wanted to lose about 1.5 pounds a week if possible and if I did I was supposed to weigh around 250.8 today. I'm at 249.8 so I'm a wee bit ahead of schedule. I'm averaging 1.58 pounds a week over 12 weeks and that's good for me.

Current Goals for the week:

1) Find the other compression sock lol. I'm the worst about losing stuff.
2) Find my laptop tray. Then I can recline back while sitting in front of the computer and not feel like I am all contorted up.
3) Try to feel better. I know hardly anyone around me feels great, but this is ridiculous. Zinc makes a difference.
4) Yoga. I hate it so much, but I can tell a difference even after one session.
5) Continue what I did this week.

Note: A lot of times when I lose a lot in a week, I have a rebound effect the next week where I stay the same or gain a little. Hopefully, it won't happen this time. I have high hopes of it not happening because the scale is catching up. It's not like I'm losing, losing, losing, and then a big loss. We'll see. At any rate, I'm moving forward.

Thanks as always!

Tom
 
Congratulations on the scale catching up! Even if you know you're doing the right thing it's disheartening when the scale won't cooperate.
 
I think it's great that you are staying the course & it is starting to pay off. Keep it up, Tom. We're behind you all the way!
 
Week 13 Update:

Start Weight: 268.8

Last Week - 249.8
This Week - 246.3

Lost this week: -3.5 lbs
Total Lost: -22.5 lbs

Total word count for Nanowrimo: 6200 (Stalled. With everything going on I don't know if I have the will to continue)

Achievements This Week: Lost 20LBS

Exercise:
Power 90 (old school) - Mon, Wed, Fri (Did not do this week)
Ab routine - Tue, Thu, Sat (Did not do this week)
Additional - yardwork and walking Felt better this week. Quite a bit of yardwork and lots of walking.

Well I am surprised. I was hoping to be down, but wasn't expecting this much. But on the other hand, I'm not surprised. This happens a lot. I'll be up and down all week and then boom, dramatic loss on Sunday. I still feel like I carry around quite a bit of water weight and right now it is easier to manage. The temperature is around 100 with heat indexes reaching up to 110 so it's easy to sweat. I am drinking lots of water too. We have window air units, but they don't work well when it gets this hot, but your body does adjust to the heat also. So 100 degrees doesn't feel as hot as it used to.

When I first started my diet, I lost weight easy. Then I hit that 5 week plateau or whatever you want to call it. Now, I feel like I am back to the losing phase. I need to stay motivated and take advantage of it. If I can, then I can hit my 230's. Mentally, it is much better after that. Once I go below 230, I'll just be considered regular obese. LOL. I'll be out of the Obese II category.

Goals for last week (how did I do?):

1) Find the other compression sock lol. I'm the worst about losing stuff.
2) Find my laptop tray. Then I can recline back while sitting in front of the computer and not feel like I am all contorted up.
3) Try to feel better. I know hardly anyone around me feels great, but this is ridiculous. Zinc makes a difference.
4) Yoga. I hate it so much, but I can tell a difference even after one session.
5) Continue what I did this week.

Hmmmmm....I didn't do anything of these lol. Well I do feel some better and I did work on operation "End the Bloat". But other than that, I didn't find anything. Oh well.

Goals this week:

1) maintain weight or have very little difference. Even with water weight, that's 8+ pounds in two weeks. I don't want a rebound effect. I want to continue to move forward. 230's here I come! I briefly hit 238 back in 2017 for a week or two, but haven't been below that in years upon years.
2) Find that other blasted sock and laptop tray!!!! I did search and I did go to the store and look for another pair but they were out of my size.
3) Survive the week as usual.


My motivation has really been waning this past week. I wanted to binge and drink cokes, but I didn't binge. And for cokes, I only had 4 oz a couple of times and stayed within my calorie range. Last night, I had lemon water, and about 3 oz of 100% cranberry juice in another bottle of water. I also had a serving of watermelon. I put it briefly in the freezer so it was nice and cold. I'm looking for different ways to stay hydrated. It's so hot and I am sweating a lot and drinking a lot of water. So it's harder not to retain water. Oh well. But I'm learning, water weight is temporary weight. That's summer.

Thanks as always!

Tom
 
Oh wow, that's a big drop! I agree that 8 pounds in two weeks is well on the high side but it must be a nice boost regardless.
 
Whoosh! :party:
 
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