Which is not a phrase I get to type out every day.
But today I do, because a visit to the urologist has resulted in a referral to get an ultrasound. From there, plans will be made (or not) for a camera that would further probe my innards.
You can probably guess what outcome I’m hoping for here.
This one was weird.
Yesterday, I had a 1.8 pound jump in weight to a monthly high of 171.6, which would have put me up for the month.
But this morning, I was down a massive 2.7 pounds, which is my lowest for the month.
It also means for the month I’m down 1.8 pounds, undoing some of the February bloating.
I am running more and trying to eat better. I will continue to do both.
The bad news is I’m still up for the year, the good news is, I’m trending in the right direction again.
Stats:
January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds
Current: 168.9 pounds
Year to date: Up 2.1 pounds
March 1: 170.7 pounds
March 31: 168.9 pounds (down 1.8 pounds)
Body fat:
March 1: 25.9%
March 28: 26.1% (up 0.2%)
Skeletal muscle mass:
March 1: 30.2 kg
March 28: 29.9 kg (down 0.3 kg)
BMI:
March 1: 24.5
March 28: 24.2 (down 0.3)
Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds
Also known as The Pop Tart Month.
February was the month I spent recovering from battling a kidney infection for much of December and January and I clearly sought solace in food, specifically:
This resulted in a rapid gaining of weight, which I could not shed. I course-corrected near the end of the month, steering my metaphorical ship about from the fatberg, but it was too late to make a difference. It didn’t help that I also jumped up another 0.5 pounds on the final day of the month (today). I started the month at 167.3 pounds, which should have been an easy target to beat, and instead ended at 170.7 pounds. Sigh.
Despite this setback, I do think I will begin losing weight again. I am back to running and my health seems at least OK for the moment. Also, my muscle mass increased by 0.4 kg (0.88 pounds), so it wasn’t ALL fat. Just mostly fat.
Stats:
January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds
Current: 170.7 pounds
Year to date: Up 3.9 pounds
February 1: 167.3 pounds
February 28: 170.7 pounds (up 3.4 pounds)
Body fat:
February 1: 25.8%
February 28: 26.3% (up 0.5%)
Skeletal muscle mass:
February 1: 29.8 kg
February 28: 30.2 kg (up 0.4 kg)
BMI:
February 1: 23.9
February 28: 24.4 (up 0.5)
Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds
This was today’s advice from Arnold Schwarzenegger1 I almost spelled the name right on the first try.
It’s not bad advice. Turkeys are fine, but they can’t fly. Eagles can fly, look cool, and one tried attacking Donald Trump1.
I think I’m more a turkey-eagle hybrid, though. A turkgle. I can fly like an eagle, provided I’m in a plane, hot air balloon or the clutches of a California condor, but I’m generally ground-based like a turkey. Also, like a turkey, we have a similar amount of hair on the head. I think I wear my lack of hair better. No offence to any turkeys reading this.
You can read Arnie’s advice (in his accent for best effect) in his Pump Club newsletter.
But I still got in some activity, as you can see.
I’m not entirely sure, but I feel like it’s been so long since I ran outside (December 30, or 50 days) that I’ve become accustomed to it and am kind of avoiding running now.
For example, today is Wednesday–a run day! The snow is gone, the temperatures are mild, but the forecast calls for light rain, and I think, “I can’t run in that” like I’d melt or something.
But maybe if I just change into my running clothes and go out without a formal goal, I can test the waters, so to speak.
I will report back later with my success or lack thereof.
Also, filing this under “Health” since I may not actually do any exercise. 
I look at other apps, but just stick with what I know. For 4400 days and counting, so far:
I spent 6.5 hours in the ER today. It was as fun as it sounds. I have a prescription for another week of antibiotics.
I’ll perhaps add to this post later, but not now. Now I sleep.
As I’ve reported before, my trusty Garmin Forerunner 255 has been reporting that I have been under a great deal of stress, experiencing high stress while sleeping and generally having Very Stressful days for about two months now. At first, I thought it was misinterpreting my kidney infection as stress and acted accordingly. But I’ve been off the antibiotics for a few weeks now and haven’t seen any return of symptoms, yet the Very Stressful reports persist.
So, I thought, maybe it’s something else. What else has coincided with the infection over the past few months?
So, that’s a lot of stuff. Some I can deal with easily. I can fix not running by running. I can fix not drawing by drawing. The health stuff I just need to put aside for now. I feel fine and there’s nothing else to be done at the moment.
But the condo stuff, this got my attention this morning when I realized something: My mind wanders over to it constantly. When I say constantly, I am not engaging in hyperbole, or even just regular bole. Multiple times this morning, I caught myself thinking about condo stuff. It just comes up, unbidden, in my mind. Really, it’s kind of weird. It’s like my brain has adapted to just slotting in thoughts about the condo/strata whenever I’m not focused on anything else.
I think this may be a large part of my Very Stressful days.
Now, I do and will have to deal with strata stuff for at least a few more months, so there is no escaping it. But I don’t need to be constantly thinking about it. So my goal is to somehow train my mind to not think about it or if I do, to quickly divert to some other thought, such as:
Basically, anything that will focus me away from strata and onto something relaxing.
I’ll see how it goes and report my findings soon, in the name of science and possibly my sanity.
It was close, but in the end, I was up a bit this month–0.4 pounds, thanks to a whole lot of comfort food indulgence as January was a very bad month (see previous post) and I sought refuge in yummy food when I had an actual appetite.
The one concerning stat is body fat, which climbed a full 0.7% over the course of the month–not a good trend.
I make no predictions for February, but barring calamity (and this year, calamity always seems like a possibility), I expect these stats to all start improving as I resume some exercise and eating better, healthier food.
Stats:
January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds
Current: 167.2 pounds
Year to date: Up 0.4 pounds
January 1: 166.8 pounds
January 31: 167.2 pounds (up 0.4 pounds)
Body fat:
January 1: 25.3%
January 31: 26.0% (up 0.7%)
Skeletal muscle mass:
January 1: 29.8.0%
January 31: 29.8% (unchanged)
BMI:
January 1: 23.9
January 31: 23.9 (unchanged)
Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds
Sometimes I am glad a particular month is over. Sometimes a month was mostly fun or rewarding.
And then there is January 2025, the start of a new calendar year and a month that was just kind of horrible, mostly due to health issues. Let’s look:
On the plus side:
I’ve been thinking about stress a lot lately. Well, maybe not a lot, but more than usual. I usually don’t think about it at all.
So while I contemplate yoga, meditation or becoming a monk, here is a haiku on stress.
Stress
My teeth set on edge
Body tenses, muscles tight
Time for funny cats
