Why Now...?

Well, it finally happened... no, I have not lost the lead; I have not stopped losing weight (although 2 lbs. can seem like a plateau); I have not gotten sick or ended up in the hospital. I have, however, gotten hurt. When? I don't exactly know. I think it started on a Saturday morning nearly two weeks ago, trying to do a one-legged leg press with my left (weaker) leg. I felt a twinge in my back, and had Johnnie pull the platen back up (probably not what it's called, but just go with it. All you really need to know is a large, heavy object was driving my leg into my chest, and it didn't feel good). It didn't hurt bad once I got up, but then little things started irritating it, and a week later, my sciatic nerve was mightily inflamed, and I felt the pain from my hip down to my foot. I did not miss a workout, I didn't skip an exercise, and only needed a slight modification on some, partially due to a right shoulder that has been giving me problems for a couple of weeks.

I made the soonest appointment I could, which was Wednesday. Wednesday morning's workout was pretty tough on me - at one point I had to stop the treadmill and take a knee, it hurt so bad. I hated it, because this was immediately after Johnnie had said, "No more exercise modifications. Either you CAN do it, or you CAN'T." Timing is everything, huh? Two hours later I saw my general practitioner, who was pretty happy with my weight loss, but not so much with my injury. He loaded me up with Vicodin and a couple of anti-inflammatory drugs. N-SAIDs, for those of you with some medical background - Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. Dr. Scott said the usual treatment was steroids; however, the most common side effect of steroids is weight gain, which he did not want to create. So I am on the strongest N-SAIDs, he said, that he could prescribe me. One of them I've taken before; one of them I had never heard of, but it's only one pill a day, so it must have some kick to it.

Today was somewhat better, after 18 hours of drugs. I was able to run this morning, even bumping my speed up to 9.6 mph in short bursts. I did a full hour on the treadmill and was still able to walk out of the gym under my own power. Later on in the morning, Johnnie had us all down at the TV station to film a 2-minute segment for Friday morning's newscast. (In case you ever feel like tuning in, in Augusta, we are on channel 26, the local NBC affiliate, usually between 6:20 and 6:30 AM Wednesdays and Fridays. You can also find most of the stuff after it airs at nbcaugusta.com/features/loser.) Liz Hill was at her desk in the newsroom, and she hadn't seen me since about 20 pounds ago. She said, "Wow - you look great!" It's always a treat when the people who don't have to talk to you take the time to do so.

After some errands to get my son ready for a youth ski trip, I headed up to PHC to meet with the nutritionist-of-the-day. I usually see Savannah, but my needs are small, so I'll talk to anyone there, pretty much. I asked Priscilla if my bloodwork had come back yet, and it had, with LOADS of good news on the lab report. My blood sugar, which wasn't too awful bad before, is down to 96, a 25% drop. My cholesterol is 119, down from 196, and my triglycerides have fallen from 121 to 51. I'm a little low on the blood factors that involve iron, so we may have to do something about that. I've had exactly 3 ounces of red meat in the last three and a half months, so that might have something to do with it. I was also down a pound and a half in the last two days, and this evening at home, I weighed tonight exactly what I weighed this morning, which means my scale at home should be down about a pound and a half in the morning. If it is, I will officially be OUT of the 250's, into the 240's. Each ten-pound marker seems to be harder and harder to break through. I'm hoping this food plan will be worth it, 'cause we're all on the same plan, and we're all HUNGRY!! My teammate Charles was going to make some comment about wanting to eat his young during the taping, but fortunately, all he had time for was name and weight.

I'm hoping the weight loss will pick back up soon - the last 3 months is going to FLY by, compared to the first 3 months!