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magictoy · 11-24-2006, 11:02 PM

This thread rocks.

First, the history: I was athletic in high school, and I enjoyed exercising. At 6' and 185, I was pretty muscular. Time and two jobs crept up on me though, and over many years I crept up to 220. Hey, it was only 2 pounds a year over eighteen years.

What I didn't realize over the next few years was that I have sleep apnea. I ballooned up to 249. Then came a high school reunion. I went on Jenny Craig for three months, learned portion control, and got down to 227 or so.

However, the sleep apnea was still around. All it took was a few days where I had to burn the midnight oil with work, and my workout routine was shot. Plus, if you're tired and sleepy all of the time, you don't go to the gym--you just kind of doze off after eating dinner. Then my physician died at about age 43. I think it might have been sleep apnea.

This year, maybe because of the deaths of Reggie White, my physician, and some others, I decided to get the physical I'd been skipping since my physician died. First, I did a sleep study. I pay my own health insurance, so to make the high deductible work for me, I crammed everything into this year. The sleep study alone was $3600 --no problem hitting my deductible.

Then came all of the blood work. And an EKG, since my physician mentioned that sleep apnea can give you right side heart failure. The EKG was fine.

Conclusions: I'm pre-everything. In general, carrying weight around the middle is hazardous for men. At 249, my BP was 140/90, blood sugar 107, and I forget what my cholesterol was, but it was too high (over 200), and the good cholesterol level sucked. In short:

Get the BP down, or I'm risking a stroke in a few years. The physician wants me on a blood pressure medication, but I think that's just masking the problem, which is too much weight.

Get the cholesterol down, or I'm risking heart attack down the road.

Get the blood sugar down, or I'm risking diabetes down the road.

It's amazing that modern medicine can give you warnings like these. I'm not the type of person who has to be hit over the head with something to get the message. The weight has to come off.

So I've been working out more, both with weights and cardio exercise. I rejoined Jenny Craig, with a longer-term obligation. My goal is to lose 50 pounds over the next year.

Some may fault Jenny Craig, but it's the type of thing I need. You have a list of what you're to eat that day, and it's already prepared for you. My schedule is busy enough that I will eat whatever is fast and handy, so my plan is to make sure the proper food is readily accessible. If you don't know, the other thing involved in their plan is something called "free foods." I can eat all the salad (but not dressing) that I want. All the broccoli I want. All the sugar-free jello I want. Since I like all three, I can usually get enough of a feeling of fullness from them to be satisfied with the meals from Jenny, which seem to total only about 1000 calories a day. If you've done it before, it wouldn't be hard at all to follow their guidelines without buying their food, but I want the obligation to go once a week for weigh-in. Otherwise, I might backslide. Besides, their food actually tastes pretty good, and there is a lot of variety.

I didn't want to mess around with half-assed measures on the sleep apnea, so I jumped right to a CPAP. For those who don't know, it provides room air under pressure through a nasal mask. The appropriate pressure for me, according to the sleep study, was on the high end of low, if that makes any sense. It has helped quite a bit. My hope is that the CPAP will no longer be necessary if I lose the 50.

My home scales today said I weigh 241, but the one at the gym said 244. One week ago, at Jenny (with clothes on--it's not THAT much of a fun place) their scale said 249. It will be interesting to see what theirs says tomorrow.

I hardly drink, so that's not a factor. I only slightly splurged for Thanksgiving--no sense in being so hardcore you don't enjoy it.

This is going to be for the long haul. One or two pounds a week is my goal; I'm considering this a year-long project. If it happens faster, great.

It was nice to spot this thread after it got bumped. Putting it in writing gives me more motivation.

One other thing: I don't think my physician thinks I can do it, so I have a little more motivation to prove him wrong. I'm to see him again in three months.

Stay tuned.

11-24-2006, 11:02 PM	#366 (permalink)
magictoy Crazy	This thread rocks. First, the history: I was athletic in high school, and I enjoyed exercising. At 6' and 185, I was pretty muscular. Time and two jobs crept up on me though, and over many years I crept up to 220. Hey, it was only 2 pounds a year over eighteen years. What I didn't realize over the next few years was that I have sleep apnea. I ballooned up to 249. Then came a high school reunion. I went on Jenny Craig for three months, learned portion control, and got down to 227 or so. However, the sleep apnea was still around. All it took was a few days where I had to burn the midnight oil with work, and my workout routine was shot. Plus, if you're tired and sleepy all of the time, you don't go to the gym--you just kind of doze off after eating dinner. Then my physician died at about age 43. I think it might have been sleep apnea. This year, maybe because of the deaths of Reggie White, my physician, and some others, I decided to get the physical I'd been skipping since my physician died. First, I did a sleep study. I pay my own health insurance, so to make the high deductible work for me, I crammed everything into this year. The sleep study alone was $3600 --no problem hitting my deductible. Then came all of the blood work. And an EKG, since my physician mentioned that sleep apnea can give you right side heart failure. The EKG was fine. Conclusions: I'm pre-everything. In general, carrying weight around the middle is hazardous for men. At 249, my BP was 140/90, blood sugar 107, and I forget what my cholesterol was, but it was too high (over 200), and the good cholesterol level sucked. In short: Get the BP down, or I'm risking a stroke in a few years. The physician wants me on a blood pressure medication, but I think that's just masking the problem, which is too much weight. Get the cholesterol down, or I'm risking heart attack down the road. Get the blood sugar down, or I'm risking diabetes down the road. It's amazing that modern medicine can give you warnings like these. I'm not the type of person who has to be hit over the head with something to get the message. The weight has to come off. So I've been working out more, both with weights and cardio exercise. I rejoined Jenny Craig, with a longer-term obligation. My goal is to lose 50 pounds over the next year. Some may fault Jenny Craig, but it's the type of thing I need. You have a list of what you're to eat that day, and it's already prepared for you. My schedule is busy enough that I will eat whatever is fast and handy, so my plan is to make sure the proper food is readily accessible. If you don't know, the other thing involved in their plan is something called "free foods." I can eat all the salad (but not dressing) that I want. All the broccoli I want. All the sugar-free jello I want. Since I like all three, I can usually get enough of a feeling of fullness from them to be satisfied with the meals from Jenny, which seem to total only about 1000 calories a day. If you've done it before, it wouldn't be hard at all to follow their guidelines without buying their food, but I want the obligation to go once a week for weigh-in. Otherwise, I might backslide. Besides, their food actually tastes pretty good, and there is a lot of variety. I didn't want to mess around with half-assed measures on the sleep apnea, so I jumped right to a CPAP. For those who don't know, it provides room air under pressure through a nasal mask. The appropriate pressure for me, according to the sleep study, was on the high end of low, if that makes any sense. It has helped quite a bit. My hope is that the CPAP will no longer be necessary if I lose the 50. My home scales today said I weigh 241, but the one at the gym said 244. One week ago, at Jenny (with clothes on--it's not THAT much of a fun place) their scale said 249. It will be interesting to see what theirs says tomorrow. I hardly drink, so that's not a factor. I only slightly splurged for Thanksgiving--no sense in being so hardcore you don't enjoy it. This is going to be for the long haul. One or two pounds a week is my goal; I'm considering this a year-long project. If it happens faster, great. It was nice to spot this thread after it got bumped. Putting it in writing gives me more motivation. One other thing: I don't think my physician thinks I can do it, so I have a little more motivation to prove him wrong. I'm to see him again in three months. Stay tuned.