In terms of actual weight loss, the month was a wash, with a negligible increase of 0.1 pounds–basically the difference of leaning harder or more gently on the scale. More notably, Fitbit believes I have amassed a pound of fat over the last month, despite the minimal weight gain and my overall fat percentage went up, too. Not good!
I did do a bit of snacking, which was bad, but never gained traction for the entire month. Twice I dipped below 173 pounds, but never carried any momentum after doing so. I climbed over 175 a few times, so maybe I should be glad I ended up breaking even by the end. Still disappointing. But I have no one to blame but myself!
And so my quest to hit 160 pounds by the start of June–tomorrow–ends a full 13.5 pounds short. Only emergency magic liposuction can help me hit that goal now.
Instead, I will vow to swear off snacking in June and aim for a more modest loss of five pounds by the end of the month. Will I be reporting a weigh-in of 168.5 pounds in 30 days? We shall see!
Stats:
Weight:
January 1, 2022: 180.6 pounds
Current: 173.5 pounds
Year to date: Down 7.1 pounds
May 1: 173.4 pounds
May 31: 173.5 pounds (up 0.1pounds)
Body fat:
January 1: 23.2% (42.1 pounds of fat)
April 30: 21.3% (37 pounds of fat--down 5.1 pounds)
Not quite this hefty–yet! Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com
Today the weather was sunny and almost seasonal. I decided to celebrate by going out and taking birb pictures. But before going out, I contemplated wearing shorts. I ended up wearing my comfy covid sweatpants (to be fair, I got them pre-pandemic). But while I contemplated, I pulled out a nice pair of casual shorts, the kind I wore in summers of yore, size 31 waist. I pulled them on. I zipped up the zipper. I did the button up at the top of the zipper. As you can see, I remembered perfectly how to put on shorts.
There was one small problem, though. Or rather a big problem. A big FAT problem.
My waist.
My waist is currently not size 31. I daresay it is not 32 or maybe even 33, either. I think it may be back to my pre-2008 size of 34. Technically I could wear the shorts, but in this case technically is not the best kind of correct, because I was being squeezed to death by clothing. The only way wearing those shorts would have been practical in any way would have been through spontaneous and magical liposuction.
So I wore the sweatpants.
My weight is currently at a bit of a plateau at the moment, but it should start coming down again through the remainder of the month. Will it be enough to let me revisit the bygone days of being under 170 pounds before we (jelly) roll into June? Perhaps. I’d like to think that by then I could wear those size 31 shorts without having to give up breathing, but I know that is unlikely. So that is my goal, my north star–to be able to wear my size 31 shorts before the weather becomes inhospitable to exposing my legs to the elements.
Let’s have a look at how I did on my first day (a recap in case you arrived at this post directly):
Draw one thing (when lacking a specific subject, I will grab a prompt and limit myself to 5 minutes total time to get this done) DONE
Record a journal entry (using Diarium, which has a somewhat unfortunate name, but is cross-platform) DONE
Write a blog entry DONE
Take a photo of something. It doesn’t have to be good or even interesting, just a photo…of something. DONE
Exercise: Walk outside, walk on the treadmill, run on the treadmill or run outside. Or ride my bike, skip rope or something that can actually be considered exercise and isn’t like, “I lifted the TV remote 20 times today!” DONE
Spend time learning more of the software I use to become a professional expert of impressive knowledge or something. This includes:
Unity
Affinity Designer
Affinity Photo
Procreate
DaVinci Resolve
Blender
Visual Studio/C#
Obsidian
Various other 2D animation and other art programs DONE
Work in some way on my snazzy newsletter DONE
Yes, I went 7 for 7 on my first day. I gave myself an imaginary medal! I did better on some of these than others, but hey, I did it.
Now let’s see if I can maintain momentum for two entire days in a row.
I am feeling revitalized for reasons unknown and feel it’s time to exercise some discipline, make things happen and other assorted clichés.
Here’s my list of things I will be doing every day. Note: I have excluded essential things for healthy living or just living, period, like eating, sleeping, breathing and pooping.
Daily activities for 2022 and beyond™
Draw one thing (when lacking a specific subject, I will grab a prompt and limit myself to 5 minutes total time to get this done)
Record a journal entry (using Diarium, which has a somewhat unfortunate name, but is cross-platform)
Write a blog entry
Take a photo of something. It doesn’t have to be good or even interesting, just a photo…of something.
Exercise: Walk outside, walk on the treadmill, run on the treadmill or run outside. Or ride my bike, skip rope or something that can actually be considered exercise and isn’t like, “I lifted the TV remote 20 times today!”
Spend time learning more of the software I use to become a professional expert of impressive knowledge or something. This includes:
Unity
Affinity Designer
Affinity Photo
Procreate
DaVinci Resolve
Blender
Visual Studio/C#
Obsidian
Various other 2D animation and other art programs
Work in some way on my snazzy newsletter
I think that’s enough for now. Let’s see how well I do tomorrow, ho ho.
That’s not a typo! Thanks to a misplaced Christmas miracle, I was not only down this month, I was down a not insignificant 4.6 pounds. Woo. It looks even better if you go back one day from April 1st to March 31st when I was 177.7 pounds. From there I’ve lost 5.3 pounds. While this leaves my rate of weight loss coming up short to reach 16 pounds by June 1st, it’s still very good and finally reverses the sluggish trend of minimal or no weight loss that has been happening for many months.
How did I do it? Let’s make a list!
I got COVID-19 right at the start of the month and immediately shed about two pounds
Those two pounds did not automatically come back when I recovered
After-dinner snacking was reduced to near-zero
Overall snacking was way down and concentrated more on lighter fare, like an occasional banana or baked crackers
I was way more active, working out on the treadmill, doing some runs and walking, walking, walking, to the point that I completed the April 2022 fitness challenge on my watch two days earlier. The challenge was to hit 2210 exercise minutes a month or about 73 minutes per day.
I was actually down on the last day of the month. I don’t know why, but often on the last day of the month I suddenly gain weight, as if my body delights in springing sudden disappointments on me
As always, I do not recommend getting sick as a method of weight loss, but the timing this month seemed to help pave the way for gradual loss over the course of the month.
For the year so far, I am now down 8.2 pounds and lopped off 6.1 pounds of body fat. Woo x2!
Here’s hoping I can at least repeat the effort for May. If I do, I’ll actually drop into the 160 pound range for the first time in about a hundred years.
Stats:
Weight:
January 1, 2022: 180.6 pounds
Current: 172.4 pounds
Year to date: Down 8.2 pounds
April 1: 177.0 pounds
April 30: 172.4 pounds (down 4.6 pounds)
Body fat:
January 1: 23.2% (42.1 pounds of fat)
April 30: 20.8% (36 pounds of fat--down 6.1 pounds)
I’ve also hit 200% on my move goal eight times since April 13 (nine days ago). There are various reasons for all this moving–some good, some not so good. But it’s keeping me active, which is always good.
As I type this, the Fitness app on my watch is reporting that I have completed:
31,878 steps
25.31 km
This is not just higher than my average daily going-out-and-aboot, it’s way higher. Was I tied to a runaway horse? Yes! Well, no. I decided to go for a walk to Burnaby Lake, to take photos of birds and soak in nature for awhile.
Weirdly, I chose to start this at 7 a.m. (I got up and had breakfast at 5:30). I got there shortly after 8 a.m., spent some time at Piper Spit, took about 350 photos, then continued to walk the entire lake loop and back home, returning just after 11:30 a.m.
A few observations on this early morning trek:
It was chilly starting out–only 2C. By the time I was back, it was up to 8C and fairly comfy.
Despite the chilly start, I only felt a little cold while snapping pictures at Piper Spit, since there was a breeze coming off the lake and my hands were naked while holding the camera.
Speaking of Piper Spit, there were only two people there, both at the far end of the pier with absurdly gigantic telephoto lenses on their cameras. I believe they were taking photos of the recently-returned swallows.
Speaking of Piper Spit even more, a lot of birds were snoozing at 8 a.m. and most were farther away from the pier, possibly because there was a noticeable lack of free food supplied by the public.
Even though I walked over 20 km as part of the trip there and back, it felt entirely manageable, as I broke it down into chunks, stopping and taking what were effectively breaks when I saw things to take pictures of.
The weather was perfectly decent, with little wind, and the sun eventually came out. I wore my lined hoodie and t-shirt and this was quite adequate. I also wore pants.
I didn’t see as many birds as I had hoped, but I still saw a bunch, plus two bunnies! No squirrels, though. Maybe it was too early for them.
I am very glad I went out.
Going early was aces, as the kids say. It’s already light at 7 a.m. and the only people around are joggers and people walking their dogs and wishing they were still in bed. So peaceful and still.
I will post select pics in a follow-up post. Yesterday was bad, but today did a lot to erase the bad, or at least smear it around so it’s less easily identifiable.
UPDATE, April 7, 2022: A fitting (?) coda to this post: This morning, a week after my first symptoms, I tested again and still came back positive. Boo. This is not unusual and I'll test again tomorrow or the next day, but it's still a bummer.
For the last two years, I have considered myself an observer of the pandemic. I was affected, of course, right from the early days when toilet paper suddenly became scarce, to working remotely, to facing mask mandates, and restrictions on where I could even go.
But in all these things, I was just like most everyone else: Inconvenienced, maybe a little annoyed, but ultimately understanding why things were happening as they were.
But that changed this week when I felt a scratchy throat and a few days later, with the symptoms of what felt like a head cold settling in, I tested positive on a rapid response test for COVID-19.
There is always a chance that the result was wrong. In fact, just after the scratchiness began, I took my first test and it came back negative. I read today that about half of cases similar to mine (Omicron variant, fully vaccinated) can produce false negatives if tested too soon, because the virus takes a little more time to show up in these kinds of less-than-lab accurate tests. My partner had been sick and had tested positive, so I did entertain the idea briefly that the negative was a legit result, but I know now that’s pretty unlikely.
And so I have now had the virus and become an active participant, a statistic, if an uncounted one. How does it make me feel?
I’m not entirely sure yet. My immediate concerns were getting better and minimizing risk to others by resisting the urge to run into the street and randomly hug strangers (ie. self-isolate). Now, as the symptoms have largely cleared up (hooray for being fully vaccinated + booster) I ponder.
How likely is it that I’ll get sick again? What will it be like if I do? Will I experience “long covid”? Will I just be fine and dandy?
I suppose in a way I feel…unclean? Uncertain? I thought I would escape the pandemic without getting sick and now that it’s happened, I realize it was a bit of a faint hope once the variants started getting more and more infectious. In the last few months I’ve gone from knowing no one who had COVID-19 to knowing…more than a few. And that quiet little part whispering about my mortality—that’s there, too. I think of how it would have gone if I’d gotten sick before the vaccines had been developed. I’m not in my 20s anymore, even if I mostly act like I still am (I don’t know how to act “old”, but maybe I’m just fooling myself and I’m six months away from lapsing into “How do you do, fellow kids?”).
I may have further thoughts on this, but that’s all for now—other than hoping this whole stupid pandemic wraps up (for real, not just in some people’s minds) by the end of the year or something.
Good news: My sore throat is no longer sore today!
Bad news: My nose is stuffed up, and I’m now coughing intermittently. But I think I am overall on the mend.
Not surprising news: Once again, getting sick is a great way to lose weight. This morning, I weighed in at 175.7 pounds, my lowest of the year. If only I can keep it off. Without getting sick again, that is.
Appalling news: I took another rapid test tonight and this time shoved the swab far enough up my honker to make myself sneeze (I am glad this didn’t take place in a clinic), so I think the result was more accurate. And it was positive for COVID-19. Boo.
Two lines is bad. Unless you like viruses.
Day 4 and 5 of self-isolation are tomorrow and Monday, so I’ll test again on Tuesday to see if I am still unclean. If I am, I will curl up in a ball and weep quietly. And then probably stay home for another day to be on the safe side.
I was hoping to escape the pandemic without getting sick, but despite working from home since March 18, 2020, no such luck. It was a good run, though. The last time I was sick was in January 2020 (with symptoms that were suspiciously COVID-like in retrospect); I don’t think I’ve ever gone 26 months of my adult life without getting sick with something.
Right now it’s a sore throat–scratchy and all gummed up, so I’m constantly clearing my throat, to no avail. I’m hoping this is the worst of it, and will be on the mend by tomorrow morning.
Here’s the sequence of events:
A few days ago, Jeff gets sick and stays home
Yesterday, and after he has largely recovered, he describes his symptoms, which make tiny alarms go off in my head
I advise him to use one of the rapid response COVID-19 tests we have (five total). He does. It comes back positive.
At this point, my throat is feeling very lightly scratchy, but I attribute it to singing loudly with the earphones on earlier in the day. I take the test. It comes back negative.
My throat gets worse overnight and remains sore today. I start canceling outings and planning out five days of isolation.
I am tentatively planning on taking a second test tomorrow morning to see if my negative result persists. I strongly doubt the sore throat is a coincidence and unrelated to COVID-19, but you never know!
But yeah, being sick for the first time in over two years reminds me how much being sick bites. Bleah. Do not recommend. If it is COVID-19, I suppose I can take solace in escaping it for so long and being triple-vaccinated by the time it caught up with me.
On the plus side, I went out today to Hume Park and took pictures of birds, which was a nice distraction. I stayed clear of other people, feeling a strong Typhoid Mary vibe happening. Some shots are pretty decent, too. Woo!
Early in the month I was tracking downward, then mid-month something shifted and the trend reversed. I’m not entirely sure what happened, as I totally for real did not start scarfing bags of cookies. The trend then began going back down in the final week until a weird 1.1 pound gain overnight and then stalled, so for the month overall it was basically treading water. Or retaining water.
And that got me thinking. Because I’ve worked out nearly every day this month, is it possible I could be gaining a bit of muscle mass? I went to grab the cloth measuring tape to find out, but it has vanished, so I’ll need to get a replacement, then read up on where exactly to measure (that’s what she said :drumroll:).
My sub-quest to reach 160 pounds by June 1st is thus more difficult now, as there are 61 days and 17.7 pounds between now and then. To hit that number, I need to lose an average of 0.29 pounds per day, or just over two pounds per week. Two pounds may not sound like much but again, look over the last month. I should have lost about eight pounds and gained 0.3 instead. Oops.
So for April my plan is thus:
Continue to workout like a madman, or at least someone who works out a lot
Swear off all snacking save for the following items:
Bananas
Other types of fruit I am not currently consuming
Vegetables
Easy peasy! I’ll report back in a month, when I will no doubt be…
169.7 pounds–or less!
Ho ho.
One tiny bit of good news: The 0.3 pound gain did not offset the 0.4 pound loss of February, so I am still down overall for the year to date.
Stats:
Weight:
January 1, 2022: 180.6 pounds
Current: 172.4 pounds
Year to date: Down 8.2 pounds
April 1: 177.0 pounds
April 30: 172.4 pounds (down 4.6 pounds)
Body fat:
January 1: 23.2% (42.1 pounds of fat)
April 30: 20.8% (36 pounds of fat--down 6.1 pounds)
