I'm back

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Now that the period of Tour de France/Conestoga/Worldcon/Armadillocon is over and done with, it's back to the walking for me (and that's it for now, since the weight room at the leasing office is closed outside of office hours due to a recent robbery. Bastards).

On the upside, I haven't gained back the initial 10-pound loss, and I did a full 30 minutes last night (in a pouring rainstorm, mind you -- I came back to the apartment, dripping wet, and told Lyndon that it was a bit humid out there) without a problem. On the other hand, I haven't lost any more weight in the intervening month. So now it's time to kick the walking back into gear, and I've gotten some nice suggestions from Taffy on tasty low-carb stuff to eat for breakfast.

Update on the Achilles bursitis -- if I'm good about taking my ibuprofen and wearing my walking shoes, it seems to settle down. If I wear forget the ibu and wear dress shoes, oh dear God. This whole getting older thing sucks.

I am also seriously considering turning Jordan into a pair of black-and-white slippers. It's bad enough that I have King Hell insomnia, but him wiggling next to me, headbutting me for attenion and nipping my butt at 4:00 AM is really, REALLY not helping the situation. I don't want to take sleeping aids if I can avoid them, but Jesus, this cat is working my last nerve.

Tuesday's total mileage: 1.25 miles. 486.55 miles to Isengard.

Interesting...

Monday, July 14, 2008

Lost 1.4 pounds over the weekend, and I don't really know why. I didn't eat much, true, but I also sprawled around the house watching the Tour or doing work for a web client so it's hardly as if I was out there doing aerobics. I also added a Super B Complex vitamin to the SAM-e to help with metabolization and prevent an unsafe increase in homocysteine, but that was this morning so it doesn't really explain the weight drop over the weekend. Oh, well -- stop complaining and enjoy it, Mel.

I also just realized that Worldcon is three weeks away and I really, REALLY need to find a nice dress for the Hugos (the semiprozine I'm associated with is up for a Hugo -- we don't have a shot in hell, but I'm going to dress for the occasion nonetheless). Where is Albin when I need him?

Chugging Onwards

Friday, July 11, 2008

Sorry about not posting recently -- I've been walking, but I've also been watching the Tour de France and I'm somewhat sleep-deprived because of the little black and white bastard, so I'm shamefully behind in all of my blogs.

However, as of this morning I officially scored a 10 pound loss since all of this started. Yes, true, this has been going on for, what, four months now, but I also feel really good because while the weight loss is slow, it's not bouncing up and down on a weekly basis. For me in this particular situation, slow is good.

The new walking shoes have really helped -- walking with them is a pleasure, and my heel only starts hurting when I switch back to my dress shoes and have to go walking for any distance. Now I just need to start hauling my still-large butt to the gym so that I can lift weights on a regular basis, because a muscled Melanie is a happy Melanie.

I've also tried something for the last month, not so much for weight loss but to counteract the constant exhaustion and aching joints I've had for the first part of the year. There's a supplement called SAM-e that is a synthetic form of a compound formed naturally in the body from the essential amino acid methionine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy-producing compound found in all cells in the body. SAMe is believed to work by being a methyl group donor in many reactions in the body. After donating the methyl group, it is converted to a compound called S-adenosyl-homocysteine.

People use SAMe for a variety of reasons -- osteoarthritis (SAM-e appears to diminish osteoarthritis pain as effectively as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication), depression (it has been hypothesized that SAMe increases the availaibility of neurotransmitter serotonin and dopamine), and liver disease (preliminary research suggests it may help to normalize liver enzyme levels and help with cholestasis). I read about it in a fitness magazine and thought, "well, I don't have liver problems but osteoarthritis pain and depression -- oh, yeah."

So I started taking a 400 mg pill every day about a month ago, and I do believe there's been a marked improvement in both my knees and my mood. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties I also haven't been retaining water like a camel, which is frigging marvelous. There are side effects -- it can produce manic behavior and cause insomnia -- which is why you're supposed to taper off to a 200 mg pill every other day once you've recharged your ATP levels. Since I have thyroid issues anyway and haven't noticed any manic behavior (insomnia, yes, but I've always had problems with that and the recent insomnia has been prompted by a small black and white feline from the inner circle of Hell), I'm continuing with the daily 400 mg pill for at least the next few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Holy Achilles bursa, Batman!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Okay, so last Saturday I used my Google-fu and found Run On!, a good running shoe store in Richardson with people who will evaluate your stride, measure your feet, fit proper shoes to you, et al. I headed over there and was somewhat surprised at the crowd gathered around the cash registers and the fitting area -- they actually had a sign-up sheet so that you'd get fitted in the order you arrived. Then again, the fact that they were slammed did seem to indicate that they knew what they were doing. So I signed in and got a nice woman named Joanna who studied my stride, decided that I was a moderate pronator with low arches, and brought out three pairs of walking shoes -- New Balance, Saucony, and Nike -- with arch support and side stabilizers.

After trying them all on and walking up and down the store, I decided that the Nike Air Structure Triax pair were the best fit -- they provided arch support without it becoming annoying, and the toe box was nice and roomy. After I picked them, she informed me with a grin that they were on sale for $50 -- "I usually don't tell folks what the shoes cost until after they pick a pair, because I don't want the price to affect their judgement, but you really lucked out here!" she said.

So I bought them, took them home, went for a walk and HOLY SHIT. No bursitis pain. WHATSOEVER. My calves ached a bit from suddenly being expected to work again, but it didn't feel like I was walking on ground glass anymore. Woohoo! I then got slammed with work this week so I haven't been as good as I should've been, but I just went out for a half hour walk and I feel fabulous! It's amazing how not being in pain will help with regards to exercise.

And I have to admit, rather shyly and in a very small voice, that tonight...I was tempted to run. Just for a short stretch. I didn't, partially because I didn't want to scare the locals and partially because I'd like to make sure that the bursitis is completely healed before I start putting that sort of strain on my Achilles tendon, but still -- me, running. Whoda thunk it?

Oh, I also had a pleasant little egoboo burst while trying on shoes -- after Joanna said that I had low arches, I explained that I was flatfooted as a child, and in fact wore orthopedic shoes as a toddler until I got fed up with them and started tossing them in the toilet (after the third toss, Mom decided that I could live with plain old gymshoes). Joanna laughed and said that it seemed like everyone was wearing orthopedic shoes in the 1970s.

Of course, I was wearing mine in the 1960's. Hee, hee, hee...

Saturday's total mileage: .94 miles. 489.99 miles to Isengard.
Tuesday's total mileage: .94 miles. 489.05 miles to Isengard.
Thursday's total mileage: 1.25 miles. 487.80 miles to Isengard.

Ha. You thought I was gone, didn't you?

Friday, June 20, 2008

No, I just had a rather severe problem with achilles bursitis that I needed to work on. According to my doctor, I'm supposed to ice it, take ibuprofen religiously, and go get a decent pair of walking shoes from somewhere where I can be fit properly.

I'm picking up the shoes this weekend, but last night I couldn't stand it anymore and went out for a walk. Only managed 22.5 minutes before I was limping again, dammit, but at least I was out there.

I've also added SAM-e as a supplement, not so much for weight loss as to offset the fact that I felt exhausted, depressed and my knees sound like popcorn. I'm now six days into the course and I have to say that I do see an improvement -- I'm not getting crackles in my knees and neck as badly, and I was able to get through a VERY stressful week without crashing. Now if I can just get my ankle working properly again, I'll be a happy camper.

Thursday's total mileage: .94 miles. 490.93 miles to Isengard.

Oh, dear Lord

Friday, May 30, 2008

Four straight hours of cleaning my office, the foyer, the kitchen and living room. Considering that I was drenched in sweat at the end of it, that's got to count for SOMETHING in the way of exercising, right? Especially since my feet felt like they wanted to explode and my bad Achilles tendon was screaming for mercy. Good thing we finally got our medical insurance cards -- now I can go in to the doctor and get that checked out.

Oh, and I was down another pound this morning. Like I said, it's all good and I'm happy, but I really do need to avoid obsessing about it.

No, I'm not dead

Thursday, May 29, 2008

And I have been walking, although not that regularly -- however, I HAVE been busting a move cleaning the joint in preparation for an incoming houseguest, so Mellie has been exercising.

I'm also freaking out the tiniest bit, because I've lost 3 pounds over the last three days. This is freaking me out because I KNOW from past experience that this is when I sabotage myself by thinking, "Okay, how can we increase this? What can I do to make it go even faster? Should I reduce my calories even more? Drink gallons of water? WHAT?" I really, REALLY need to stop that particular line of thinking, because it usually explodes in my face.

I do kinda wonder if the change in my eating habits is what's causing the weight loss, however -- I usually have breakfast, then a big lunch around 11:00 AM, then something at night. This week, however, I've been having breakfast, then a midmorning snack (usually a protein bar), then a light lunch at 1:00 PM, then dinner. I know that stringing out his meals like that really helped Lyndon lose weight; I didn't think it would work for me, but maybe I was full of poo. We'll just have to see.

Recent total mileage: 1.9 miles. 491.87 miles to Isengard.