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Sunday Weigh in February 4, 2024
Good morning, everyone. Yep, it is still morning. A dark, cloudy morning, but still morning. Neighbor and I decided not to walk this morning because of rain, but it hasn't started yet, so it looks like we could have gone ahead and went. I guess it doesn't hurt to take a day off, now and then.
I guess you all know, by now, that the groundhog didn't see his shadow on Friday, so those of you going through the nasty winter are in for an early spring... we all hope!! :-)
So my week has been sort of "on and off" - busy some days and not busy other days. I think I mentioned that I'd had my hearing tested because of (what I consider) severe tinnitus (ringing in my ears). I've had the tinnitus for as long as I can remember and have been told there's nothing to be done about it. Hearing tests showed that my regular hearing, such as listening to people talk and other sounds we hear the most is pretty normal. I can't hear high pitched sounds at all unless they're louder than the ringing in my ears. The hearing doctor - audiologist(?) said that hearing aids might help because she could program sounds to play in the background that would give my brain something else to think about, other than the tinnitus. Anyway, we went to pick up the hearing aids on Thursday. It always takes time to get used to new devices, so I'm giving the hearing aids the benefit of doubt, but so far, I'm pretty disappointed. Since I don't really need the "aid" for hearing, everything seems too loud and the background sounds don't seem to do much for the tinnitus. I have 45 days to decide whether to keep them or not, but it seems like a rather expensive way to create background sound. I'd think a good pair of ear buds paired with sounds on my phone should do almost the same thing... Anyway, I have to give that situation some thought.
Friday night was our monthly, First Friday Art Walk, which is held on the downtown square. That's an event at which artists set up their products along the street, community art entities, such as our calligraphy guild, local library and others have tents right on the square to let people know about our organizations. The calligraphy guild usually writes people's names on book marks in calligraphy. This month, we did Valentine's cards, which went over very well. It was SO cold out there though. I had 4 layers of shirts, 2 blankets, gloves, etc. I did end up sharing my blankets and gloves... we can't write with a glove and one of the ladies had a medical condition that paralyzed her left hand, so it gets super cold. She forgot her own gloves, so of course, I shared mine - as I said, we can't write with a glove, so we each had one for our left hand (the gloves I have can go on either hand). Hopefully, by next month's event it will be warmer. If not, I'll make sure I have the same items with me!!
I've still be walking nearly every day. Because of the cold mornings (low 30's and 40's), my neighbor and I have changed our walking time to right after lunch many days, but that's working quite well. As noted, we didn't go this morning because it was supposed to be raining, but it hasn't yet. We'd just now be getting back, so we could have. I did talk to my cardiologist about my legs feeling weak and tired when I'm walking, especially, uphill, so they will be doing an ultrasound to check the arteries in my legs. I also talked to him about shortness of breath. He doesn't think there's anything in my heart causing that, so recommended that I ask my pcp for a referral to a pulmonologist since I'm a former smoker. I still have to call my pcp about that.
Through all that, this week, I've lost another 1.6 lbs. I'm still using October as my starting point since that's when the med changes were made, and I'm down 13.2 lbs since then. I was pretty sure my medication was causing a lot of my weight issues, but had no inkling it would start coming off like it has. Of course, I'm happy with it and hope it continues until I get to a decent weight again.
So that's my story. How was your week? I hope it was all good and you were able to meet your goal(s).
~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~
I guess you all know, by now, that the groundhog didn't see his shadow on Friday, so those of you going through the nasty winter are in for an early spring... we all hope!! :-)
So my week has been sort of "on and off" - busy some days and not busy other days. I think I mentioned that I'd had my hearing tested because of (what I consider) severe tinnitus (ringing in my ears). I've had the tinnitus for as long as I can remember and have been told there's nothing to be done about it. Hearing tests showed that my regular hearing, such as listening to people talk and other sounds we hear the most is pretty normal. I can't hear high pitched sounds at all unless they're louder than the ringing in my ears. The hearing doctor - audiologist(?) said that hearing aids might help because she could program sounds to play in the background that would give my brain something else to think about, other than the tinnitus. Anyway, we went to pick up the hearing aids on Thursday. It always takes time to get used to new devices, so I'm giving the hearing aids the benefit of doubt, but so far, I'm pretty disappointed. Since I don't really need the "aid" for hearing, everything seems too loud and the background sounds don't seem to do much for the tinnitus. I have 45 days to decide whether to keep them or not, but it seems like a rather expensive way to create background sound. I'd think a good pair of ear buds paired with sounds on my phone should do almost the same thing... Anyway, I have to give that situation some thought.
Friday night was our monthly, First Friday Art Walk, which is held on the downtown square. That's an event at which artists set up their products along the street, community art entities, such as our calligraphy guild, local library and others have tents right on the square to let people know about our organizations. The calligraphy guild usually writes people's names on book marks in calligraphy. This month, we did Valentine's cards, which went over very well. It was SO cold out there though. I had 4 layers of shirts, 2 blankets, gloves, etc. I did end up sharing my blankets and gloves... we can't write with a glove and one of the ladies had a medical condition that paralyzed her left hand, so it gets super cold. She forgot her own gloves, so of course, I shared mine - as I said, we can't write with a glove, so we each had one for our left hand (the gloves I have can go on either hand). Hopefully, by next month's event it will be warmer. If not, I'll make sure I have the same items with me!!
I've still be walking nearly every day. Because of the cold mornings (low 30's and 40's), my neighbor and I have changed our walking time to right after lunch many days, but that's working quite well. As noted, we didn't go this morning because it was supposed to be raining, but it hasn't yet. We'd just now be getting back, so we could have. I did talk to my cardiologist about my legs feeling weak and tired when I'm walking, especially, uphill, so they will be doing an ultrasound to check the arteries in my legs. I also talked to him about shortness of breath. He doesn't think there's anything in my heart causing that, so recommended that I ask my pcp for a referral to a pulmonologist since I'm a former smoker. I still have to call my pcp about that.
Through all that, this week, I've lost another 1.6 lbs. I'm still using October as my starting point since that's when the med changes were made, and I'm down 13.2 lbs since then. I was pretty sure my medication was causing a lot of my weight issues, but had no inkling it would start coming off like it has. Of course, I'm happy with it and hope it continues until I get to a decent weight again.
So that's my story. How was your week? I hope it was all good and you were able to meet your goal(s).
~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~
Hmm, I'm up a pound. Not the direction I want to be going! It would be nice to believe my Pilates classes are simply increasing my muscle, but I have to acknowledge that I might just have reached a stage of life where I need to eat a little less. I ran across an old calendar yesterday from two years ago (when my time was crammed with getting my mom's house cleaned out and ready to sell) and it had a notation of my weight, and I was indeed down ten pounds from where I am now. That was unusual, but it shows that I'm not entirely stuck at this weight point. Too bad there aren't any more old houses in the family that need to be improved so they can be sold!
Last week was finals week for my high-school son, and as they say, stress is contagious -- very glad that's over. (Now it's on to taking practice tests for the ACT and SATs and looking into colleges.) A kid used to just go on to the college down the street and look forward to getting a good job afterward. Times have changed, and it puts such stress on kids at test time because they are afraid their whole future hangs on their grades now.
Barb, 13 pounds since October is so great. I remember that the doctors acted like bozos about your medication for so long, and that you did suspect your weight would react if you got to the proper level. This is really validating and quite dramatic! I'm totally glad for you and only wish your doc had listened to you sooner.
I got a bunch of bills cleared off my desk last night. By now, most of them are entered in my bank's "bill pay" program, where I just call up the name of the utility or whatever and type in the amount and off the money goes, but it still takes a bit of time and the ability to focus. I even cleaned out a box of old paperwork (only about 100 to go, I think!) And my husband got a few yard chores done. Slowly but surely we're making progress. LOL
Have a great week!
Last week was finals week for my high-school son, and as they say, stress is contagious -- very glad that's over. (Now it's on to taking practice tests for the ACT and SATs and looking into colleges.) A kid used to just go on to the college down the street and look forward to getting a good job afterward. Times have changed, and it puts such stress on kids at test time because they are afraid their whole future hangs on their grades now.
Barb, 13 pounds since October is so great. I remember that the doctors acted like bozos about your medication for so long, and that you did suspect your weight would react if you got to the proper level. This is really validating and quite dramatic! I'm totally glad for you and only wish your doc had listened to you sooner.
I got a bunch of bills cleared off my desk last night. By now, most of them are entered in my bank's "bill pay" program, where I just call up the name of the utility or whatever and type in the amount and off the money goes, but it still takes a bit of time and the ability to focus. I even cleaned out a box of old paperwork (only about 100 to go, I think!) And my husband got a few yard chores done. Slowly but surely we're making progress. LOL
Have a great week!
1 Comments
Hmmm, it's unfortunate that the scale is going the wrong way. It would be nice to think that because we're exercising and gaining muscle, it's natural to gain weight; unfortunately, that's not the case. A pound is a pound, whether it consists of muscle, fat or fluid, so while your Pilates is building muscle, it should be burning fat and not gaining weight. Sometimes as we get older we do retain more fluid and of course, our weight can depend on the last time we had a few sips of water or a meal (and what that consisted of), went to the bathroom, had a BM. Walking up a flight of steps can affect my weight, as can driving 20 miles to my doctor's office. My goal is always to lose a pound a week, but I have no way of knowing whether that pound I might have lost is fat, muscle or fluid. I just have to hope it doesn't show up again next week!!
It's interesting, though this time 2 yrs ago you were 10 pounds lighter. Remember the type of exercise you were getting then and how much/often you were eating. It's a known fact that as we age, we need less food - I guess that's based on the assumption that we're less active, so if you're staying as active, with similar exercises and eating approximately the same food, you should stay approximately the same weight. I think getting the house ready for sale was actually more "exercise" than the Pilates - maybe, partially because of the stress (which you don't want to add back in).
There are so many things to look at when we gain weight and want/need to lose it. It's not just a matter of calories in and calories out, like so many people like to say it is. There are a variety of hormones involved in weight control, including, but not limited to thyroid, insulin, cortisol. If you haven't had them all tested, I might suggest you do.
Oh, I'm sure the stress of finals stressed the whole family. I think there's way too much emphasis placed on the ACTs and SATs... Some students know the materials but aren't good test takers... Of course, times have changed from attending the college in town... gotta try out the one across the country!! That'll give mom and dad a thrill.. lol IMO, it doesn't matter where kids want to go to college - I just think there's too much stress put on the tests. It's all about the tests and as I said, some don't test well, but still know the material. I wish your son luck with the tests, but hope he doesn't place his future with them.
I'm really pleased with my 13 pound weight loss... yes I did try to convince my doctors that meds were part of my weight issues. One of them was my neuro and he released me back to my pcp, so I knew I'd be able to change neuropathy meds. I was really surprised when my pcp was willing to increase my thyroid meds though... that's what I really needed - both for weight loss and feeling better in general. Yes, the changes do validate my thoughts. I'm hoping to drop another 30 pounds this year.
Oh, the inevitable bills. I've been doing the online bill pay through the bank for at least 15 yrs. Before I did that, I hated to sit down and pay bills. With bill pay, I just click on the payee, enter, the amount and send it off. If I have a payee that doesn't accept electronic payments, my bank will even cut a paper check and send it in the mail free of charge to me. I've got most of ours set up on automatic where they come out of our checking account so I don't have to do anything. ... I just get a notice that they're paid. That's better yet because I don't have to remember to go online to make the transactions. yeah I'm lazy. :-)
Enjoy your week
It's interesting, though this time 2 yrs ago you were 10 pounds lighter. Remember the type of exercise you were getting then and how much/often you were eating. It's a known fact that as we age, we need less food - I guess that's based on the assumption that we're less active, so if you're staying as active, with similar exercises and eating approximately the same food, you should stay approximately the same weight. I think getting the house ready for sale was actually more "exercise" than the Pilates - maybe, partially because of the stress (which you don't want to add back in).
There are so many things to look at when we gain weight and want/need to lose it. It's not just a matter of calories in and calories out, like so many people like to say it is. There are a variety of hormones involved in weight control, including, but not limited to thyroid, insulin, cortisol. If you haven't had them all tested, I might suggest you do.
Oh, I'm sure the stress of finals stressed the whole family. I think there's way too much emphasis placed on the ACTs and SATs... Some students know the materials but aren't good test takers... Of course, times have changed from attending the college in town... gotta try out the one across the country!! That'll give mom and dad a thrill.. lol IMO, it doesn't matter where kids want to go to college - I just think there's too much stress put on the tests. It's all about the tests and as I said, some don't test well, but still know the material. I wish your son luck with the tests, but hope he doesn't place his future with them.
I'm really pleased with my 13 pound weight loss... yes I did try to convince my doctors that meds were part of my weight issues. One of them was my neuro and he released me back to my pcp, so I knew I'd be able to change neuropathy meds. I was really surprised when my pcp was willing to increase my thyroid meds though... that's what I really needed - both for weight loss and feeling better in general. Yes, the changes do validate my thoughts. I'm hoping to drop another 30 pounds this year.
Oh, the inevitable bills. I've been doing the online bill pay through the bank for at least 15 yrs. Before I did that, I hated to sit down and pay bills. With bill pay, I just click on the payee, enter, the amount and send it off. If I have a payee that doesn't accept electronic payments, my bank will even cut a paper check and send it in the mail free of charge to me. I've got most of ours set up on automatic where they come out of our checking account so I don't have to do anything. ... I just get a notice that they're paid. That's better yet because I don't have to remember to go online to make the transactions. yeah I'm lazy. :-)
Enjoy your week
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