Weight Update

Have lost 70 pounds. Continuing to lose. No longer on blood pressure medication. Can shop in regular size clothing stores, the choices are overwhelming. Very much enjoying the fact that I can now fit into some wonderful vintage clothing I had stashed away.

Feeling more at peace with food, less like it's the enemy. Not eating any sugar, white flour, white anything, just lean meats, veggies, fruits and whole grains. No mood swings, no crashing. Allow myself COFFEE.

Had a meeting with nutritionist and she was upset to learn I'd had a banana, no fiber, too high in sugar. Well, really, it's not like it's a Twinkie.

Cold Turkey, Ummm Turkey

Halfway through the 12 weeks of liquid diet. I've lost 35 pounds. I feel incredible. My feet don't hurt when I walk, clothes don't pinch. In fact it feels like my boobs are rattling around on the inside of the cups, might need to go down a size. Tons of energy. Don't miss eating real food. I do miss my drug of choice.

Felt blue a couple days ago and could not turn to pizza for solace. Speaking of pizza, I never noticed how many pizza ads are on TV at night, every other commercial. It was hard to sit and work through frustrations without going into sugar coma, induced by box of Snickers Ice Cream bars, but I made it. Taking frustrations out on house by reorganizing, cleaning and rearranging furniture, which I guess is more constructive than eating all the leftovers in the fridge.

Free at Last, Free at Last

So now begins the 12 week liquid diet part of the Weight Loss Study where I am the Lab Rat. I've been on the HMR800 now for 24 hours and I'm euphoric. I actually feel released from the burden of food. Noticeable physical changes immediately, I can breathe easier and an almost constant headache/headfog has lifted. It's like when there's a radio playing annoying music in the background and you don't really notice it until someone turns it off.

Oh, never volunteer for a muscle tissue biopsy. Yikes!

How much do I weigh? I'm about 100lbs. overweight.

This is about the 4th time I've had to lose this much. I'm never maintaining a weight, always gaining or losing. Diet over, weight lost, return to double cheese burgers and fries. Either on or off. I exercise the same way. Every summer I'd schedule a week long bike trip for July and start riding my bike in May 5, 10, 15, 20 miles a day working up to the week where I'd ride 50-70 miles a day on Michigander over Michigan's vast rail-trail network. For one week, I'm strong, Xena Warrior Princess strong. Then, vacation over, bike gets put away. I do walk the dogs 2 miles a day year round, but that's hardly exercise when you're used to 10-20 miles a day on a bike.

So they did a body scan. My "before picture". Amazing. Shows the Body Composition of tissue, fat, lean, bone. I've got really dense bones, which is what I've always said, "I'm big boned."

Committed

Just call me guinea pig.

Last week I signed up to participate in a two year weight loss study through U of M's Endocrinology and Diabetes Labs.

This week is a series of baseline tests. Today I found myself with Heidi and Christine in a Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan, running on a treadmill, wearing a mouth apparatus that measured my expulsion of CO2 as they slowly increased the incline and intensity of my workout. They offered to take a picture. I declined, I almost regret that, but, really, no one wants to see a picture of me sweating and sucking on what looks like an Electrolux strapped to my head.

Just prior to this test I had been relaxing for an hour in a darkened room, all comfy and snuggled on my gurney in order that they get a resting metabolic level of whatever they're measuring, blood pressure, heart rate, CO2. Half of the hour I had on a plastic bubble helmet with more hoses capturing my every breath. I was told not to fall asleep.

By Way of Introduction-from my ETSY Bio

The Physical Me

I'm an athlete in a gangly uncoordinated, non-physically disciplined, non-competitive sort of way. Unchanneled strength combined with an Amazonian stature, wildly erratic hair and breasts, and long muscular legs make me attractive and repulsive at the same time. On a tennis court, I'm fine, as long as I don't move. The minute you lob the ball you better duck. There's no telling, I'll either swing and miss or I'll rocket the thing at light speed past your cranium and lodge it permanently in the chain link fence. I'm usually good for two sets then I pass out from the heat coming off the pavement and dehydration. I operate best best at temperatures between 40-70 and should come with a warning label stating as much. If you make me exert myself at temps over 80, have paramedics standing by.

Team sports like basketball are right out. It's best to keep me from any sport that involves objects which become projectiles and equipment which has blunt trauma potential, like golf. Never been near a golf course. Also don't put me in the water, I sink. Don't put me on the water, the boat will capsize and you'll sink with me, irrational fear, I know. Large bodies of water should just leave me alone and be part of the view out the window where they belong. You can catch me a thunderstorm anytime, it's not like I melt in water. I love riding my bike in a good thunderstorm.

I'm at my best on a bicycle and firmly believe the rest of the world should join me. From the moment my father put me in that seat on the back of his bike and mangled my leg in the unprotected spokes, long before any sort of child protection consumer advocacy helmet insisting fun spoiling litigating lentiginous (yes, I mean lentiginous) LAWYERS involved themselves, well, I was exhilarated. I have ridden my bike back and forth across the country, upside down and sideways and around the perimeter, mind you, not physically, but in spirit. Mostly I've ridden back and forth across Michigan about 20 times (Michigander), around lake Tahoe and back and forth between Columbus, Ohio and Portsmouth, Ohio about 20 times (TOSRV).

Riding my bike is meditation, my Karamel Sutra, yes, the Ben and Jerry's Karamel Sutra. Who can resist the chunks of chocolate that is the pavement, the river of caramel up the center is the flavor of the air in May after a rain when the wind blows lightly at your back, creamy vanilla sky clouds melt down your throat in a sugary high that is cosmic and mystical. The biggest high is the self propulsion, the freedom the powerful strength in the thigh and calf muscles, the air parting, panting pausing and pushing you forward. That same sweet air courses though your lungs, driving oxygen to the blood, feeding the brain that honey high. It is flying without leaving the ground.

This is going to be fun when I get it all figured out.

So many new buttons to press and blanks to fill in.