ardbeg

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Sometimes you just feel like are hitting on all cylinders, and that was definitely the case the last couple weeks for me. I was spot-on on my eating/protein, and I exercised like my life depended on it (it does). The result? I spent only one weigh-in in the 260s (by comparison, I spent 5 weigh-ins in the 280s, which seemed like forever).

From early on I've had my sights set on an intermediate goal of 219 by the end of October, when I have a couple of trips planned.  Will I get there?  Probably not, according to my spreadsheet predictor.  But I intend to work extra hard until then to come as close as possible.

Smaller Hair Loss  It's still falling out, but not at nearly the ridiculous pace established in the previous two weeks.  Had a doctor's appointment this week, and he advised upping my biotin to at least 3000mcg a day.  I'll do what he says, though I wonder if it's too late to make much of a difference since my reading suggests the hair loss is merely a manifestation of damage done months ago.

Larger Weight Loss Good week for me, lost 3.4 pounds.  I exercised like mad this week, so I might have hoped for a bit more, but if I could get 3+ every week, I’d have no complaints whatsoever.

HIIT I recently added three 20-25 minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts per week. Right now I'm doing them on my stationary bike, since it was 105 degrees outside here yesterday (the heat index got to 115 this week). In late fall I may try some run/jog splits.  I'm hoping to move them to the morning, partly because that would put some time between them and my other routines, partly because it would save me a couple extra showers, partly because some people claim morning exercise burns more fat and you get more metabolic benefit. The scientific literature is mixed on that last argument, but it's worth a shot.

Large Hair Loss I knew it was coming, and I understand the reasons why.  I'm also doing everything I can to minimize it (high protein, biotin, zinc, voodoo).  Still, nothing quite prepares you for the level of hair loss I've had in the last few days.  It's hard to estimate, but I'd guess I'm dropping at least 300 hairs a day for the last week or so.  I noticed maybe 20-50 a day the week before, and almost none before that.  Just running my fingers through my hair can easily pick up 20+.

When I take a step back, I'm not that worried about it.  I have very dense hair, perhaps 2-3 times normal (barbers complain, I have to brush it down several times a day because it does the Conan O'Brien thing on its own ).  So I could probably lose like this for several months without it being dire.  I also just got it cut really short, which reduces the irritation somewhat.  I just hope my shower and sink drains hold up...

Just a note to those just having or about to have surgery: if hair loss bothers you, take your protein, biotin, and zinc (and maybe iron, according to some people) early.  I took some biotin and zinc early, but my attitude was "Well, if I start seeing hair loss, I'll step that stuff up."  But my understanding now is that this type of hair loss (Telogen alopecia, see link) takes about 100 days to manifest.  So really, the damage was all done 100 days ago, shortly after surgery.  And to the extent that any of the treatments actually reduce telogen effluvium, they must be taken at the beginning.

Once a folicle begins the process of going dormant, there's no stopping it.

Small Weight Loss Down a pound this week; I think that's mostly hair loss (jk).   I'm expecting a good loss next week based on the drop I had in body fat percentage. Overall, things are great.

Last week I gained about half a pound to 274, and most of this week I kept gaining, to a high of 278 yesterday morning.  24 hours later, I was 271 for my official weekly weigh-in.  Huh?  More vivid proof that there is a lot of "noise" in the scale in terms of its ability to measure fat loss. 

My body fat percentage has been on a more stable decline throughout my weight loss, though it actually jumped a bit this morning (no doubt because much of the seven pound 1-day loss was water, thus lowering my lean mass).  Even though I know that the measured results have a heavy random component, I still weigh myself daily out of curiosity.  But folks who are bothered by the swings would probably be well advised to weigh weekly or even less frequently.

Great Week.  After being zeroed out on the scale last week, I lost 8.4 pounds this week, my best week ever other than the one right after surgery.

Exercise.  Also had my best week yet on exercise (probably no coincidence).  Lifted weights three times, played racquetball for over four hours total, and even biked a bit.  I feel great.

Protein.  Calories are up near 1400, but that's fine with me.  Unfortunately, for some reason I'm suddenly not getting in all my protein each day.  I only averaged 92 grams a day this week (my goal was 118).  Granted, 92 is probably enough, but it's probably that mentality that allowed me to slip.  Similarly, I've become less consistent about my vitamins, and I need to get that under control ASAP.

On February 13 of this year, I hit my highest measured weight, 375. This morning - one day under five months later - I weighed 274.8, for a 100.2 pound loss.

100 is an arbitrary number, but it sure is a fun one. Pounds-wise (though not time-wise) I am now more than half-way to my goal (assuming something in the range of 180-205).

Though I considered myself a pretty healthy 375-pounder, with no significant problems that could be "cured," the difference has still been remarkable. I am sleeping soundly and feel much more rested during the day; I can play racquetball for over an hour and not feel winded at all; simple tasks involving standing for a long time (like cooking, or cleaning, or just hanging out with friends) are now no problem, whereas before I'd hunt for a chair within minutes; and most importantly, I'm getting back to the heart of my wardrobe where I can wear most of my clothes and feel comfortable in them, instead of cramming myself into a shirt and pants that barely fit (or only fit standing up).

I'm really excited for what the next stage would be like, because this is already about as good as I'd hoped for.

No Loss (sort of): My weight was the same this week as last on Sunday, 282.0.  However, this morning (Monday) I was 277.8, so things are looking up.  Thank goodness; after dropping so fast at first, I feel like I've been in the 280s forever.

Racquetball: Well, three weeks after joining the gym I'm still going 3 times a week to lift.  I haven't been doing the bike much lately, but I did pick up racquetball last week for the first time in years, and I think I'll be playing at least weekly for a while.  Objectively I'm not very good anymore, but my coworkers are pretty new to the game, so at least I can school them, even if they are younger and much fitter than me.

Chez Ardbeg: Cooked dinner for a bunch of people at my house this weekend.  I like to taste things as I'm cooking to see how they are coming along, and with my new stomach size, that meant I essentially couldn't eat once the food was actually served.  But I enjoyed cooking a big meal for the first time in a long time.  I also set all my recipes to 16 people when in fact 11 were coming ("just in case").  So after finally clearing all the leftovers out of my fridge, I now have a fridge full of food.

Good Loss:  Down 5 pounds this week, though it was mostly water weight leftover from my last two weeks' stall. If I can lose seven pounds in the next couple weeks, I'll be down 100 pounds from five months prior (including 6 weeks preop). 

Joined a Gym:  Bowed to peer pressure; the good kind, I guess.  Went three times during lunch with a couple coworkers.  Given that's three meals I didn't eat out, the membership already paid for itself this week. 

A friend asked me to be his workout partner for a while, so I've switched to his volume routine (upper/lower split routine, 3 sets each of about 8 exercises a day).  It was a good opportunity for me, to have a spotter and someone to watch my form as I transition back to freeweights.  He does upper/lower/upper one week then lower/upper/lower the next.   So far, it's definitely been a lot more taxing than my home workouts; I could barely walk Friday. I'm going to skip his Friday workout for a while until my muscles adjust.  Hopefully I can get myself to do some cardio instead, which I still find myself unmotivated to do most days.

No Loss Well, virtually no loss anyway.  Down 0.4 pounds on the week.  My body is showing impressive resistance to dropping the last few weeks, especially given that I have upped the cardio a notch.  Can't get too worried though: if I keep eating <1500 calories a day, exercising, and getting my protein, eventually the scale has to submit.

Body Fat % Earlier, I noted that my body fat scale gives a different result depending on whether my calves were touching, and I had been tracking both results the last few weeks side-by-side.  Well, now they have shrunk to the point that they don't touch unless I do it on purpose, so I'm using the not-touching result exclusively from now on.  I've gone back and revised my earlier results based on based on the comparisons from the last few weeks (also roughly consistent with a formula that predicts body fat % based on height, weight, age, and gender). 

Both the revised numbers and the legs-touching numbers suggest I've gained 13 pounds of lean body mass (LBM) since this began, which is somewhat baffling.  Another number that is interesting is my

Hydration Levels.  They show that I had 117 pounds of water in my body at 375, and 129 pounds now at 287.  So almost my entire LBM gain can be accounted for in water retention.  Am I holding too much water now, or was I dehydrated at 375?  Probably some of both.  But it helps explain the last few weeks of weight being rather static while body fat percentage drops.  The hydration and body fat numbers suggest I've actually lost over 100 pounds of fat in the 20 weeks since I started losing, balanced against a 12 pound gain in water and a 1 pound gain in other stuff.  Presumably the 1 pound of "other stuff" is mostly the dry part of muscle, and given that muscle is about 75% water, that would mean 4 pounds of muscle. 

The simplest explanation for the water gain, by the way, is sporadic creatine supplementation, which is known to increase muscle volumization (water retention).

Leftovers I eat out most days at lunch with my coworkers, and my refrigerator has become a leftovers storage bin.  I've even taken to labeling the containers so I know when to eat stuff or throw it out.  In the old days, the leftovers had an easy dating system: if there were any, they by definition were less than 24 hours old.

Consequently, I rarely get to cook anymore right now.  My dinners are composed almost entirely of leftovers, protein shakes, and the occasional cheese, yogurt, or fresh fruit.  When I eat out with friends at night, things really back up.  I threw out leftover pulled pork yesterday.  Pork BBQ!!!!  What has the world come to? 

I miss cooking; it's one of the things I do well.  I'm joining a gym soon, and planning to go at lunch with a couple friends who already do so several days a week.  That should let me use some leftovers for lunch on those days and get in a few cooking evenings.  I'm also planning on hosting a dinner party next weekend for friends.  It's my only hope of getting rid of the 6 pound pork loin in my freezer. 

About three months ago, I sat and thought about what my health goals were, beyond losing weight.  I set a few benchmarks for strength, body composition, and aerobic ability.  Among those, I figured if I could stationary bike 20 miles, I'd be about as aerobically fit as I was in college.  Perhaps that was conservative, but it seemed about right.

I'm still a long way from my strength and body comp goals, but I hit that 20 mile target tonight.  Distance 20.05 miles, Time 64:45, Resistance Level 6/8.

I expected I wouldn't get to 20 miles until at least a few months more and about 50 pounds lighter.  It's time for a new goal, and I think things are evolving too fast to have an end goal right now.  So my next intermediate goal is 30 miles in 75 minutes or less, with a target date of July 31.

ETA: I repeated the experiment again the next day, dropping the resistance to get a better time: Distance 20.00 miles, Time 59:20, Resistance Level 5/8.