Week 3 VSG - Firing the scale

Nov 18, 2010

I fired my scale yesterday.

That stupid thing is all over the map. It is one of those digital WW scales, that I have had for about 5 years. I have it on a hard level surface, fresh batteries, and can step on multiple times and the range of measurements I get are +/- 3 lbs. within a 5-minute period. I am pretty sure it does the memory retention trick to give false repeatability as well, so I was having to spoof it between readings to get a fresh reading. Taking about 5 readings (That's 9 times I turn the scale on, due to the spoofing) and averaging. I weigh daily, and this is quite a hassle. So it's gone.

I really wanted a physician beam scale, but the budget and decorating committee nixed the request. My new scale is a Tanita, and I am pretty impressed. It was dead accurate with a number of objects of known weight, and correctly incremented my weight by .5 lb when I stepped on with 8oz of water. I believe it takes a longer average before displaying the weight, which I like since it always takes me a second to find a good balance when stepping on those tiny platforms.

So this morning, after 2 weeks of 281-284 readings I am finally under 280.  I'm not calling the plateau broken yet, but it is progress.

This week I have been shaking things up a bit. I have started tracking my food on MyFitnessPal . It has a really great food database with user-submitted items as well. The interface is super-easy, and looks to have some nice Apps for those with smartphones. I was using livestrong/daily plate before, but there were too many ads for me. I put in a call to my NUT to verify my goals but haven't heard back yet. I am trying to get my excercise back on track.

My insurance company, Aetna, has assigned telephone-support nurse, behavioral counselor, and healthy lifestyle coach at no additional charge. That was kind of cool - I know they are just trying to protect their investment, but I am taking all the support I can get right now.

No more taste and spit this week. Soft foods have opened up a whole new world for me, and I am able to find something legal for just about any taste craving. However, the soft foods have been much more difficult to eat comfortably, and I have had to learn the lesson of chew,chew,chew, the hard way twice this week. On the plus side they are MUCH more satisfying.

Seriously - it took me almost an hour to eat 1/2 cup of refried beans, and I was stuffed. I could have eaten 2 mexican dinners in that time before surgery. it is hard to resist the urge to drink during meals. It really helps when the bite was just a little too big.

Feeling a bit more positive this week, as I am starting to take control of my habits, and getting more variety.

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