steve, Author at FitnessFor.Us

December 29, 2019January 18, 2020

4 months sober and NyQuil®

I quit drinking about 4 months ago. I wrote about it in a post a couple weeks ago.

I recently had a cold, which I also discussed in a different earlier post.

I hate having a cold, as I’m sure you do, too. It’s terrible to feel congested, but I really hate not feeling bad enough to stay in, but fretting about giving my illness to others.

At any rate, I bought a 2-pack of cold medication, the Target house brand version of DayQuilÂ® and NyQuilÂ®.

(For the record, I like the taste of DayQuil better than NyQuil, but that’s neither here nor there.)

I don’t use medications like that when I have the occasional cold — I stick with zinc and megadoses of garlic — but in this case, I was headed to Houston to perform a longform improv set at Station Theater, and I wanted to make sure I’d be able to do a show without being too symptomatic. So I tried them.

December 20, 2019December 20, 2019

Sickness v. Fitness

I rarely get sick any more, but I’ve had a cold for a few days now. At least, I think it’s just a cold, I hope so.

Illness is bad enough, but when I’m sick and hanging at home, I tend to overeat. I mean, I eat everything in sight. So it’s a good thing that I don’t keep any really “bad” foods around the apartment.

I powered my way through the rest of my boxes of Post Shredded Wheat and Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch cereals, both of which I love. I also polished off an older box of Nature’s Path Qi’a Superflakes – Cocoa Coconut, which is not that appealing to me, unless I’m sick, apparently.

That’s not to mention a pint of hummus and other comestibles lying about. Oh, and some delicious soup that my partner Tara made, that I think was supposed to be two servings, but I devoured in one.

I may also have bought and eaten a 3-pack of Magnum White ice cream bars last night. Okay, I did that. They were delicious.

In addition to eating a lot when I’m ill, I also tend not to be as active, and, despite the fact that I had a window of feeling well yesterday and managed to play some disc golf, that has held true. The cold, rainy weather hasn’t helped. My walking has fallen off dramatically.

Even though I’m overeating and not exercising, I’m okay. It’s all okay.

December 9, 2019December 15, 2019

Losing weight with Noom

After 6 weeks on the Noom weight loss program, I had hoped to be at my goal weight. But I’m not.

But let me tell you: I could not be happier with the program!

I’ll give you the numbers and let you decide. I started at 195.0. I am now, 6 weeks later, at 182.8

My goal, or, rather, the goal Noom set for me after my digital interview, was 181.3 after 6 weeks. I’m 1.5 pounds above that.

But I am down 12 pounds! That is 2 pounds per week, and that, as I recall from all my reading over the years on nutrition, health, and weight loss, is a good rate of loss for sustainable downsizing.

I’m ecstatic!

I’ve been trying to lose fat for the past few years, and I’ve failed. When I went below 190 after a couple weeks, I was pretty excited. When I went below 185, I was elated. When I popped back up a little, I was disappointed, but now that the first 6 weeks are over and I’m down 12(.2) pounds, I have a feeling of accomplishment.

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019

My zigzag weight loss plan

I’m still on the Noom weight loss program. It’s been 5 weeks.

However, something different happened this week: my weight went up.

Now, I know that weight loss, slow, healthy weight loss doesn’t happen in a line that heads straight down. There will be plateaus and even moves upward.

That knowledge makes it a little less disheartening. But it’s still a little disheartening.

After all, it was the Thanksgiving holiday, and I still ate well. I busted through my calorie budget a few days, but I always do that. I definitely did not overeat junk on Thanksgiving. In fact, my entree was a delicious butternut squash along with some mashed potatoes, green beans, and pomegranate salad, plus one almond flour roll and gravy. Dessert was baked pears. It was all delicious, and I did not feel stuffed at the end.

But my weight went up.

November 26, 2019March 6, 2020

Decluttering my life

I was at my partner’s house recently, and, while I’ve always noticed that she tends to be fairly minimal — buying smaller amounts of items that generally buy in bulk, and only owning two forks, for example — on this occasion we needed an AA battery for a new computer mouse. She did not have one.

Now, I cannot imagine not having an AA battery on hand. Or an AAA battery, for that matter.

But she didn’t have one. And we didn’t go out and get one, either. We did something else that did not involve using that mouse.

I want to be more like that.