Health and Fitness

[DigitalGypsy66]

What's weird is that I was fine March 2020-December 2020. Actually lost weight. For some reason, I put 12 pounds on in January-February. My schedule tightened up, with having to take my kids to school five days a week (my older son goes to a magnet high school 30 minutes away from our house), so I lost my workout mornings 3 days a week. Stress eating too?

My health insurer did a wellness program where I got a Fitbit scale and tracker, so I've been utilizing both...interesting stuff. I'd used a Fitbit back in 2013-4, and this new model collects a lot more useful data, particularly the sleep score.

[dodint]

I am down 25 from January but taking a little break while on my vacation(s). Will start again in earnest when I get home in mid June.

[shafnutz05]

I’m almost under 200 (203) for the first time since prepandemic. I was up to 235 from a low of 191.

Congrats Ben! Hitting the 100s is such a great feeling.

[shafnutz05]

I am down 25 from January but taking a little break while on my vacation(s). Will start again in earnest when I get home in mid June.

Bravo Zulu

[skullman80]

Went back to the gym for the first time this past saturday in over a year.

I told myself I was going to take it easy.... and of course I didn't. I ran a full 5k on the treadmill (without stretching)..at damn near my normal pace after a year off from running at all really.

My strength is not near where it was, but not as bad as expected.

The moral of the story though is... don't push yourself so hard that first day back. It is now Tuesday and my thighs and calves are still on fire from running , and my arms hurt from lifting.

[shafnutz05]

Went back to the gym for the first time this past saturday in over a year.

I told myself I was going to take it easy.... and of course I didn't. I ran a full 5k on the treadmill (without stretching)..at damn near my normal pace after a year off from running at all really.

My strength is not near where it was, but not as bad as expected.

The moral of the story though is... don't push yourself so hard that first day back. It is now Tuesday and my thighs and calves are still on fire from running , and my arms hurt from lifting.

[skullman80]

It's kind of crazy how two doctors can treat something so differently. I've been dealing with this blood issue for like 5 years now. I'm sure I've explained it before, but the TLDR version is my blood is too thick so I have to get phlebotomies fairly often.

I had been seeing one doctor the original one I was referred to when this started up until he retired last year. Nice guy, always willing to explain things, but he was always fixated on one number. If that number was even .1 over where it should be.. I had to get phlebotomized. This meant pretty much every 6 -8 weeks I was getting a full liter of blood taken out. It was annoying, not fun, and expensive ($200+ or so a visit after insurance on top of my normal copay).

That doctor retired last year and I start seeing this younger guy. He immediately says there is no need to do this as often as it was being done, that as long as I keep things in a steady range that I may have to get it done once or twice a year. He ran some other tests to just rule out things, but basically that is was a secondary blood disorder not primary and now I go every 3 months to get checked, and haven't had to get a phlebotomy since he started presiding over my care late last year.

Like today my number was on the high range of normal, but still normal. It was the exact same as it was 3 months ago when I last got tested. He walked and said your numbers are the same as they were last time, everything is holding steady, we will monitor you... are you having any issues blah blah blah. I said no.. he said great I'll see you September if you don't have any other questions for me. If that was my old doctor I would have had a phlebotomy on my last visit and on this visit.

[dodint]

That's great.

[count2infinity]

This may sound like a stupid question, but does donating blood work the same way as a phlebotomy?

[skullman80]

This may sound like a stupid question, but does donating blood work the same way as a phlebotomy?

Yes just a bigger needle for guys like me(looks like an ice pick no joke) with thick blood... and my blood goes right in the biohazard bin as I can't donate it because of my condition.

[count2infinity]

Ah... I see. And the doctor said it was a secondary not primary condition. What does that mean exactly?

[count2infinity]

And sorry for the questions... I've just never met someone with maple syrup blood.

[skullman80]

Ah... I see. And the doctor said it was a secondary not primary condition. What does that mean exactly?

The link below probably breaks it down better than I can... you are a smart guy the words will make sense to you haha. Basically though what I have been told is I don't have the gene mutation (based off bone marrow biopsy) that would make it a primary condition.

https://www.medicinenet.com/polycythemi ... rticle.htm

[AuthorTony]

nm

[dodint]

No. Life keeps getting better every year.

[dodint]

I wondered why nobody gave a serious answer to that question. Turns out my jackassery shut Tony down.

Without giving away your inquiry; my truthful answer would be "yes" but losing so many close people during that time period kind of pushed me well beyond worrying about it.

Sorry you didn't get the discussion you deserved.

[AuthorTony]

I wondered why nobody gave a serious answer to that question. Turns out my jackassery shut Tony down.

Without giving away your inquiry; my truthful answer would be "yes" but losing so many close people during that time period kind of pushed me well beyond worrying about it.

Sorry you didn't get the discussion you deserved.

Ha - No worries, my friend. It's really hard to explain how I'm feeling right now. It's not anything with feeling unfilled career-wise, and I don't have any desire to go out and bang hookers or buy a Ferrari, which I know are the stereotypical mid life crisis signs. I just feel adrift right now, like my best years are behind me. It's just me being weird.

[dodint]

I don't think you are alone by any stretch. For me it is about doors closing. I will never drive in F1 or go to Harvard. Things I could have only did if I committed to it when I was 8.
Right now I am trying to see what things I will be too old to for when I am 60 and am doing them now. That is why I build and race cars and want to get my pilots license before I turn 45.

My goals and targets move. Maybe you have something you desire but have yet to accomplish?
In a more abstract way I have also had the purely existential thoughts that are tied to age. But the above stuff about goals put them out of my mind.

[count2infinity]

Well Tony, my dad is retired, has a farm and a million hobbies. If you need a buddy, I can hook you up.

[AuthorTony]

I probably need to set some new goals. I made a list (a bucket list but that term wasn't around in 96) when I was a senior in high school and I've done everything on the list. Now don't get me wrong, my success had been middling at best. I'd love to double or triple my income, which is possible if I work hard enough and put in the time. But money isn't important to me aside from the freedom it provides. I really don't crave any "things" (well, I'd love to buy a new Wrangler, but that's only because mine is getting up in miles). I suppose I just need to figure out what I want out of the back half of my life.

[mamaemeritus]

Has anyone had a DEXA/body fat scan done in the Pgh area?

[iamjs]

So the quarantine 15 (or 30) is a real thing... time to hop back on my routine.

Yeah, I hopped on the scale for the first time in a long time during the pre-surgery weigh-in. I definitely put on the COVID-19 lbs and I knew exactly what it was from. I'm in a position where I usually walk about 2-3 miles a day in the office. We're on one floor and everything is pretty well spread out. I took walking that distance for granted. That, and being a lazy ass during the pandemic.

We're supposed to reopen full time in a few weeks so I'm wondering if I'll see even a slight drop in weight once I'm getting chased from one side of the building to the other. I won't be cleared to do any heavy lifting until probably closer to September and even getting cleared to run won't happen for another month because they don't want me to have the repetitive motion of swinging my arms while running for an extended period of time.

[count2infinity]

Monday will mark 4 weeks since I started tracking and at the very least paying attention to what I was doing... so far so good.

When I went from ~300 to ~200 in about a year, I was relentless. Gym daily. Calorie deficit daily. Maybe a cheat day here or there, but no more than one or two a month. On Monday I'll be 4 weeks in, so it'll a good time to see where we're at. No exercise change. Just caloric deficit during the week and try to maintain on weekends. I stepped on the scale yesterday or the day before and am down 5 pounds from the start, so I'd imagine things will be heading in the right direction a month in.

I just don't want it to occupy my everything like it did when I was going H.A.M. with it. I want to have my beer and drink it too.

[Shyster]

My weight loss has stalled out at around the 210 mark, but I haven't put any weight back on, either. Still hitting the exercise bike about 45 minutes every day, and I'm coming up on 2,000 miles on the odometer. While I'm still too fat, I'm happy with where I am, and I'm certainly in the best shape I've been in since I was a teenager. The improvement in cardiovascular fitness is really noticeable. Before, for example, I might get a little winded when mowing the lawn or shoveling snow. Now, not in the slightest.

[mikey]