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Post by M@ on Aug 23, 2020 13:07:02 GMT
Weight: 295.2 lbs
I had a great night's sleep, but woke up with pain in my back. It's kind of in my kidney area, but it feels like muscle pain and not organ pain (i.e. it flares up when I try to get up out of a sitting position and isn't a constant dull ache). It's probably from my kids' favorite new activity: Climbing up on my shoulders while I sit on the bed and making me lean side to side until I throw them off. Lily's still only like 25 lbs so it's not a huge deal, but Alex is approaching 40 lbs and has a higher center of gravity. We're going to have to put a hold on that activity for while.
Another possibility could be my absolutely horrible posture while practicing my guitar. I've been spending a lot of time practicing recently and I really hunch over the instrument. I need to start playing standing up.
We're going to my in-laws today because they want us to go through their stuff and tell them what things we want before they get rid of/sell off furniture and whatnot to downsize. I'm going to try to get to the driving range for my physical activity and am going to play a round tomorrow morning so that I can get one last game in before my TRT implant and the beach.
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Post by phillydude on Aug 25, 2020 15:31:43 GMT
1) I never understood playing the guitar sitting down, especially an electric guitar.
2) Are you getting a Testopel implant? My doctor has been saying there is a world-wide shortage and can't tell me when it will be available again.
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Post by M@ on Aug 25, 2020 18:06:47 GMT
1) I never understood playing the guitar sitting down, especially an electric guitar. You didn't understand it? You know it's a thing, right? Lots of people play guitar sitting down. Most people practice guitar sitting down, only standing for rehearsal and gigs. Chairs are comfortable. 2) Are you getting a Testopel implant? My doctor has been saying there is a world-wide shortage and can't tell me when it will be available again. My GP uses SottoPelle. She didn't mention anything about any shortage when I went in for it today. After she finished the procedure this morning, I told her it was the best it had ever gone because I didn't feel a thing. She said, "You're not supposed to feel anything. I numbed you. Have you felt anything in the past?" When I told her that I had, she asked if it had hurt. When I told her that it did, she was extremely flustered and angry and made me promise to ask for more anesthetic if I ever felt it again. Weight: 294.8 lbsI shot 84 yesterday at Algonkian. It was by far my best round of the year and I was hitting the ball my average range distances, not shorter like I had been in recent rounds. I attribute the improvement to me not going to the driving range ahead of time and pounding out 135 balls in practice. Instead, the practice the night before got me in good form and maintained my energy. Will have to keep that approach in the future. As mentioned above, I got my testosterone implant this morning. No workout of any kind (golf, weight training, and even walking are out of the question) until next Tuesday. Edit: I saw my shadow on the wall of the office building when I went to my doctors and could clearly see my gastrocnemius and soleus on both legs from the front. The attention I've been paying to that muscle group is definitely paying off. Same goes for my forearms.
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Post by M@ on Aug 26, 2020 17:19:15 GMT
Weight: 300.5 lbs
Whoa! 5.7 lbs jump overnight. I ate an entire box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese right before bed, so I know where it's coming from, but I really didn't expect that kind of jump. Blood pressure is up, too. It might be time to cut out the salt.
I'm in my enforced week off of weight training so there's nothing to report on the fitness end, really. Still getting psyched up for the beach. Chicken and rice are cooking on the stove top. Beach can't come soon enough.
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Post by phillydude on Aug 27, 2020 12:06:11 GMT
Beach can't come soon enough.
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Post by M@ on Aug 27, 2020 20:31:07 GMT
Was that from Sandals, too? Weight 299.5 lbsIt has been a decent day so far, but I'm pretty miserable at the moment. I really want a beer. First really bad craving in a couple of weeks. I have no idea what brought it on, but it's getting worse. Just need to ride it out.
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Post by M@ on Aug 28, 2020 18:48:02 GMT
Weight: 299.3 lbsYesterday evening sucked big time, but I made it to bed without caving in and taking a drink of anything. No idea what happened there, but it was rough. I think part of it may have been back pain. I broke my office chair on Tuesday evening. The steel plate that joins the seat to the piston completely cracked from my fat ass leaning back in it for the past couple of years. So - instead of sitting in a comfortable, swivel office chair - I spent the past two days sitting in front of my computer on one of our high-backed dining room chairs. It's less than ideal and I think my back wore out pretty early in the day. My replacement chair was supposed to be here today, but it has been delayed and has a new arrival estimate of Monday. I've spent most of the day sitting on the couch in the study near my work computer set up. I'll get up and go over to the computer when I get an alert, but I'm spending most of the day on my MacBook Pro doing mandatory annual training stuff. The great thing about last night was that - even though I was in a miserable mood, tired, and in a lot of pain - I wasn't an asshole to my family. When I'm that strung out, my temper gets really short and any little thing will set me off. Last night, I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and spilled chicken grease all over the floor. I literally said, " Gosh darn it." and calmly cleaned it up with a paper towel. Sara was all tensed up like she expected me to explode. I didn't. I'm very happy about that and I'm kind of sick at the thought of how my wife and kids have seen me over the past couple of years as alcohol has eliminated that kind of self control. I can't believe I said, "Gosh darn it." I don't know that I've ever said that un-ironically in my life. I practiced guitar in the time when I would've normally worked out today. I have a LinkedIN Learning (formerly Lynda.com) account through work and, while checking out the guitar programs available, I saw that they had courses on electric bass by Billy Sheehan. Billy was a big deal when I first started playing bass as a kid and his rock 'n roll credentials are impeccable. I set my guitar aside, pulled my Thunderbird bass off the wall, and went through the first two segments of his course. It was hilarious how little Billy knows about theory. At one point he said, "You should have an idea of what the notes are on the fretboard. There are books about that. You should look one of them up and learn that." and another, "There are scales and modes. Modes are like different ways of playing scales. I don't know what they are. I don't really know theory. I'm just a rock bassist." However, there was some incredible basic stuff that I'd just never considered, like only using the first two joints of your fingers to finger pick instead of using all three in a come here motion. It's faster and sounds more precise/consistent. I'm definitely going through that entire course. After last night, I've decided that I'm going to take the money I would've spent on beer and save up for a decent guitar. The quality of the Squier and Epiphones that I'm using (and my old MIK Fender acoustic) is good (miles and miles beyond what I started out playing in 1988), but having owned professional-tier guitars, I know there's a world of difference in quality. They also (unlike my camera, golf clubs, motorcycle, ipad, etc.) hold their value. My son said he doesn't want to actually go to the beach when we're at the beach. He wants to, "Stay in the beach house and play video games." Ugh...I need to take him out more.
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Post by M@ on Aug 30, 2020 11:15:33 GMT
Weight: 297.3 lbs
It's weird not working out every day. I've been filling the time with guitar practice and playing with the kids, but it feels like there's a big chunk missing out of my day.
My blood pressure is trending downward and I've been under 140 systolic and 100 diastolic for several days. I still haven't experienced any gout flare up and I noticed yesterday that my hands aren't swollen or arthritic in the morning. I'm still retaining a good bit of fluid (I had by legs crossed ankle-over-ankle last night and there was a big dent in my shin when I uncrossed them), but it seems to be getting a little bit better on a daily basis.
I'm going to take the kids to mini golf this morning to give Sara a lazy Sunday. She has a huge list of things to do pre-beach that seems to keep getting longer, even though she's crossing stuff off of it. I need to get my list going, too. There's not much time left. I'm not used to going to Rehoboth until after Labor Day weekend. I'm very curious as to what the Bay Bridge traffic will be like on Saturday.
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Post by macdiver on Aug 31, 2020 19:29:02 GMT
I'm going to take the kids to mini golf this morning to give Sara a lazy Sunday. She has a huge list of things to do pre-beach that seems to keep getting longer, even though she's crossing stuff off of it. I need to get my list going, too. There's not much time left. I'm not used to going to Rehoboth until after Labor Day weekend. I'm very curious as to what the Bay Bridge traffic will be like on Saturday. I can't say specifically about that bridge and route but your best bet is an early start to be in Rehoboth before 10 or 11. Even if you can't get into your place until later there is plenty of stuff to do and that will put you ahead of the traffic. My experience on Saturdays is that Route 1 is a parking lot heading into town from about 10:30 until 3 or 4.
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Post by M@ on Aug 31, 2020 19:35:34 GMT
...your best bet is an early start to be in Rehoboth before 10 or 11. Getting an early start would be my ideal approach, but it's not going to happen. I have to get Sara and the kids on the road in her car - she goes to pick up her mom since her dad loads up his car and heads out at the crack of dawn - by early afternoon and then I can load everything into my car. If I'm lucky, I'll leave my house by 3pm, however that sounds like it might work. Weight: 298.7 lbsI'm eager to be able to do energetic things again tomorrow. It's technically an off day, so I'll just hit the driving range. I'm going to do the power portion of my weight training on Wed/Thu/Fri and then leave it at that until I'm back from vacation. I have definitely grown during this week off. My calves and forearms just look bigger.
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Post by macdiver on Aug 31, 2020 21:52:38 GMT
Yes leaving later works too.
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Post by M@ on Sept 1, 2020 18:34:54 GMT
Yes leaving later works too. We'll see what happens. I normally wind up rolling in around sundown no matter how early I try to leave. It's part of having kids and having a wife who is not a morning person. Weight: 296.7 lbsIt felt so good to get out to the driving range today. It felt good to leave the house and do stuff. My son's getting cabin fever, too. I realized last night that I have access to thousands of guitar effects via my MacBook and Apple's free GarageBand app. I played around with it all morning. I also looked into the tutorials and had forgotten that my friend Tim Blane is the instructor for the videos. I watched one and actually learned some stuff (e.g. mute strings 5-1 with your index finger when playing a power chord on 6; mute string 6 with the tip of your index finger when playing a power chord on 5). He's a pretty good teacher.
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Post by M@ on Sept 2, 2020 20:10:12 GMT
Weight: 293.3 lbsVery happy with the scale weight this morning. The strange thing is, though, that I feel and look bloated. It took a good hour and a half for the marks from my CPAP machine to fade from my face. I really need to cut down on the salt for a week or two and see what happens. It's not going to be this week or the next two, however. I'm wrapping things up ahead of vacation and it's getting exciting. Gout reared its ugly head for the first time in a month. My left ankle is very stiff and sore, but it's only about a 3 on a 1-10 scale of gout flare ups. It was enough to prevent me from getting a full range of motion in on my calf exercises today. Not a problem: I can do calf raises anywhere I can find a step and something to hold on to. I'll also be doing a lot of bike riding at the beach, much of it with around 80 lbs of kids and trailer in tow. It's exciting to think that gout attacks could be behind me as I continue to eat right, exercise, and avoid alcohol. I'm attaching a shot of my sleep tracking app to illustrate the difference in sleep quality between healthy living and beer intake. The nearly month's worth of green lines indicate nights with 7.5 hours of sleep or better. Previous jagged yellow lines (or blanks) were short, disrupted sleep because of the alcohol in my system or because I stayed up too late mindlessly surfing YouTube and drinking beer. Attachments:
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Post by M@ on Sept 3, 2020 17:56:43 GMT
Weight: 295.0 lbs
Yesterdays 3 on the gout scale escalated to about an 8.5 overnight. The pain in my ankle woke me up around 4:00 am and I never really got back to sleep. I took some extra colchicine and a handful of Advil and can walk around now. It's just a dull throbbing. It feels like it should abate in a day or two, but I doubt I'll be able to do any hinging exercises with it tomorrow. Good job I got that leg extension/curl machine!
Just finished upper body power in the weight room. I'm scrambling to get stuff done for work so that I can get out. I'm probably not going to get everything done and will have to push some stuff off onto my coworkers. So be it. Vacation is around the corner.
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Post by M@ on Sept 4, 2020 19:19:20 GMT
Weight: 297.4 lbs
The kids both woke up much earlier than usual today. It's the first time Alex has woken up before me in a long time. I was freaked out to wake up and find him in the room. Even when he has woken up before me in the past five months or so, he's just gone downstairs on his own and started watching his iPad.
I only just finished up at work, despite the early start. My ankle is feeling a lot better. There's no pain, but it's really stiff and the mobility is next to nothing. I'm going to skip my weight training in favor using the time to get packing and pre-departure stuff squared away. I sweat through my clothes yesterday after work while I got stuff ready for the beach (installing bike baskets and bike tune-ups), so it's definitely a workout. The activities themselves aren't that challenging, it's just the fact that I have to move 400 lbs of shit in 25 lb increments to get to anything, and then have to move it all back. I remember when this house was empty.
It feels shockingly good to be done with work for a while. I'm not even taking my work-issued laptop to the beach with me this year.
My blood pressure was 126/89 this morning, officially in Hypertension Stage I for the first time since February. That reading used to be classified as high normal. Having spent all my life with low blood pressure, though, it's worrisome. Still a sign that I'm on the right track.
The replacement office chair that I ordered on 8/25, which had an Amazon Prime delivery estimate of 8/29 (later revised to 9/1), shipped from GA on 8/28 and disappeared into the ether. I got a notification last night that it had arrived at the USPS distribution facility in TX and just got another notification that it has departed that facility. It will arrive (maybe) while I'm at the beach. The neighbor who's taking care of the cats will bring it inside. I'm so sick of sitting in this hard-backed dining-room chair. Incidents like this, apocryphal as they may be, make me believe in all the shit the papers are saying about the postal service being sabotaged from within.
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