I feel better and they almost fit….well kinda!!

After a lost weekend brought on by muscle relaxors and very good pain pills, my back is actually feeling better and I think I can continue my walking and weight loss.  The pain I felt from my back kept me from doing just about anything and only today do I feel better and I am looking forward to some walking this weekend.

As any fat person will tell you we all have a stash of clothes that we have purchased over the years and for one reason or another never fit.  These new clothes sit in the deep dark recesses of our closet because we dont want to get rid of them and swear someday they will fit.  When I started this journey i actually dug out this pile of clothes that I stashed away and found that I had various sizes of jeans that should fit me for several size changes as I lose this weight.  I started out at size 64 and probably should have been a size 66.  (gulp.. I actually wrote size 64!!) I am currently in a size 62 and had the courage to bring out the next size in my jean parade, a size 60.  A month ago I tried the 60’s on and they were not budging over my more than ample butt.  I was reminded of this dissapointment as I picked up these jeans from the corner of the closet where they layed rumpled and in the same location I kicked them off after being upset they didnt fit the last time.  Once again I picked these same jeans up and got the courage to give them another try.  I slipped one leg on and tried hard to put the other leg in but had a difficult time because now my back was starting to let me know the pain pills were wearing off.  I sat on the bed and finally pulled the other leg on and slowly stood up.  As I inched the jeans higher there was serious doubts in my mind if they would make their destination or have to be surgically removed from my body.  As the jeans neared the mark where they last failed, I took a deep breath and gave them a swift yank upward and once again exhailed.  To my ultimate shock the jeans made it over the mountains and had only one more stop to make for complete success.  Once again I breathed deeply and gave another upward yank and to my astonishment the jeans made it to their final location….and then I exhaled! Yes they were tight and yes they were uncomfortable but they were around my waist, or what passes as a waist for me.

I have now placed these jeans in a place where I will see them every day and will only encourage me more to lose that additional 20 or so pounds that will allow me to retire my size 62’s and jump with both feet into the 60’s.   I just dont want to think about those 58’s that are now sitting in the corner just mocking me!!!

It Hurts real bad!

After weighing in last week and starting the week off great by taking a nice walk, I got up Sunday morning and did some lounging around the house.  While getting up from the couch I bent over to pick up a pillow and then I felt something “twinge” in my lower back.  I didnt feel all that bad at the time but it seemed to get worse as the week went by,  It was so bad that I actually went to the doctors office to have it looked at on Thursday.  He felt it was nothing more than a muscle strain and sent me on my way with some pain pills and he told me to take it easy the next few weeks.

Friday morning brought even more pain but I had to go to work as there was  a special project happening that I needed to be there for.  I toughed it out and got home and took the pain meds the doctor had prescribed for me the day before.  After 3 hours it was apparent to me that the pain meds were not even making a dent into the lower back pain I was experiencing and it was going to be a long night.  I was up all night and alternated between trying to sleep in the living room chair and going on WebMD trying to diagnose my own ailment.    Could it be a kidney stone or a bowel obstruction?  I think I looked up every potential ailment with the exception of pregnancy, which I was pretty positive I did not have!

About 9 am I called up stairs and woke my wife up begging her to take me to the emergency room because the pain was just too much.  We arrived at the hospital and were quickly rushed into the emergency room where it was determined that my vital signs were very normal.  (the doctors are still trying to figure out how a man my size can have blood pressure of 128 over 70!)  The doctor came in and examined me and determined that I really didnt have a kidney stone or any other ailment that I was convinced I had. It appears it is nothing more than a muscle strain and the only thing I can do is relax and take some really good pain meds.

So most of this weekend has been lost in a prescription drug induced sleep but the bright side is my back does feel better.  I am just concerned how I will feel when the pain meds actually wear off!!  So if this post does not make alot of sense its because I am still somewhat loopy and trying to put a few sentences together that make sense.

Because of my back situation I was unable to do any exercise this week and I am sure any amount of weight loss just did not happen either.  As soon as my back feels better I will be back at it and losing more weight at a more rapid pace.  My wife will be heading out for a extended vacation to see our daughter and the old/new grandkids which will leave me alone for a number of weeks.  I am determined that when she comes back and I pick her up from the airport she will look at me and her jaw will drop and see a noticable difference in my weight.  The time away will be somewhat upsetting but she is going out to Maryland for a good cause and it will also give me the time I need, alone, to address my continual weight loss.

Well its time to take some more pain meds nd lay down and wait for them to hit me.  Hopefully this back ache will be gone by the end of the week and I can get back to walking pain free and losing more weight.

How long has it been?

I had a quick minute to stop by and type some witty comments here on my blog and I cant believe its been 2 weeks since I last stopped by.  So I will spare you the witty comments and just apologize up front as I am probably going to ramble.

In my boring life there is not really much to mention.  Labor day weekend was adventurous as my wife and I had a chance to attend the county fair that was located not far from us.  This is the largest county fair in Wisconsin and I would venture to guess just about any kind of garbage food you could find was located withing the fenced in fair grounds.  Now let me tell you, a fat man walking through the food area at a county fair will draw some stares and I have to admit that I was a little self conscious of this fact which helped me refrain from eating just about anything that didnt move (or MOO!).  Being in Wisconsin, one of the normal fair items offered for eating was grilled corn on the cob.  Fair goers who purchase this corn walk around with a ear of corn in their hand that has been grilled and the corn husk pulled down to form of a “handle” to make the eating easier. This grilled corn is then dunked into a large coffee can that is located on the grill and filled with what else?  melted Wisconsin butter.  It gets to the point where you are almost afraid to walk around and bump into people because they usually have butter dripping  from their elbows which makes for a bit of a messy afternoon walking in the crowd. 

The other most popular Wisconsin fair edible is something known as a cream puff.  Although fried cheese is a huge hit the cream puff is probably the most popular item that was for sale at this years fair.  The cream puff is a basic puff type pastry sliced in 2 sections and piled high with rich Wisconsin real sweet cream.  It was sold in singles or you can purchase “to go pack” of 4-6 cream puffs which were very popular with people as they were leaving. 

So you ask why I am bringing this up and going into detail about the food that was offered?   Because I didnt have any!!  I am not looking for a pat on my back but Sharon and I had to man a booth for a local non profit agency and it was located smack in the middle of the food midway.  I told Sharon that if I make it out of the fair without being on sugar overload I would consider it a success.  I actually had 3 bites of a very greasy (but good) corn dog and a handful of kettle corn but that was about it.  I consider it a moral victory that I didnt go nuts and topple over the funnel cake trailer in search of some fried morsel that was missed by the clean up crew.  We actually had a great time and it was nice to enjoy the fair without having the “food issue” hanging over my head.

On Labor day I dragged Sharon to a minor league baseball game held not to far from where we live.  I expected a huge crowd as this team usually draws fairly well but it appears the heat kept many people away which left about 200 of us die hard baseball fans to watch this meaningless baseball game.  It was a very warm day and we snuck up to the seating area that had a roof over it which shielded us from the suns rays which only made it feel like 90 degrees at that point.  I mentioned peanuts and beer to Sharon and to my surprise she said I should go get some.  I said “what peanuts?”  and she said, “yeah peanuts and beer”.Now for anyone who knows Sharon knows beer is not something she ever drinks but it just so happened to be dollar beer day so I came back with 2 beers and a large bag of peanuts for 5 bucks.  Talk about a cheap date!! 

Sharon also discovered large ice cream bars.  Now when I say large I mean LARGE as these are probably 3-4 times the size of normal ice cream bars you buy in the store.  We sat and watched a 2 year old trying to wrap her mouth around one of these cold treats and Sharon decided she needed one right away, because of the heat of course.  We went down to the vendor and purchased one of these treats and proceeded to be amazed as Sharon pulled it out of its package and realized just how huge this ice cream bar really was.  I took a few bites but Sharon made quick work of it as we watched the Beloit team lose to a team from Iowa in a bad way.

Throughout the game the team was giving out a number of team related souveniers to what was left of the crowd.  Baseballs, t shirts and even thunder sticks were given away to help clear the teams warehouse for a fresh crop of souveniers for next years give aways.  As we were leaving Sharon gathered up many of the items that we were given and put on her new hat that I bought for her earlier at the teams gift shop.  She decided that she wanted one more ice cream bar since we will not be able to get them until next year of course.  I went ahead and waited for her by the exit of the stadium and looked back to see her heading my way.  In what has to be the cutest mental image of my wife I will ever have, I saw my wife looking like a little child leaving the ball game.  She had a new hat on her head and a ton of souveniers that she was trying her best to hold on to.  She was also holding another HUGE ice cream bar in her hand and just looked like the little kid that spent the day at the ballgame with her parents and was given anything she wanted that day.  She looked up and had a wide smile on her face and it was that moment I wished I had my camera with me to record how she looked at that very moment.  I am sure words cannot describe what I felt at that moment but I just wanted to gather her up and hold her and not let that minute ever pass.  I believe this was the best weekend we had with each other in so many years. Sharon even said it felt like we were dating again and she hit the nail dead on.  At that point in time we were not just husband and wife but 2 people who also really enjoyed each others company that whole weekend.  It was one of those weekends you hope would never end.

I bring all of this up because after the ballgames and  the fair as well as some cookouts and other labor day munching…I still lost 2 pounds!!  I went to weigh in on Saturday and as I approached the scale I was tempted to not get on it as I was sure I didnt lose any weight and even possibly gained some.  I thought back to the last week and realized I had not eaten all that badly and I did walk alot at the fair and the ball game so i did get some exercise in.  As I stepped on the scale and the bright red numbers showed a 2 pound loss the look of shock I am sure spread across my face.  I pumped my fist in the air and recorded the new weight in my little book I have in our van.  I then headed to the local park and did some walking and was more determined to make this next weigh in a huge weight loss..if only we dont find out where they sell those HUGE ice cream bars!!