More benefits of having a dog

As my new dog suspenders gets used to being part of our family, I m seeing more benefits to having her.

I am more relaxed.  I don’t have time to think about problems because the dog keeps me busy.

Since the dog likes to play fetch with her toys in the house, I am moving around even when not walking the dog

Tough day

Yesterday was a tough day.   It sees every meeting or event I attended didn’t go well.

I got up early, to walk the dog and have my coffee.  Then I went over to a friend to help someone to set up a web site like this one.   I expected to be there fewer than 30 minutes.  When I got to my friend’s home she and her husband were having computer problems and assumed I was an expert at windows 7.   ( am a MAC user).  I spent time trying to help with those issues.

Then we set up her blog site..    She wanted a friend to come over to see the site and get a demo of things we can do with the sites.  Finally, I left after spending two hours helping her.

The water was too cool for water volley ball and I was quite cold after doing water exercises for an hour.

Then I attended a two hour club meeting that was stressful.

I was tired and stress and ended up eating around 500 extra calories.

I slept late today and feel better.  I am doing a better job of sticking to my calorie budget.

52 pounds

I went to my general practice doctor today.  He was happy.  I was down to 290 with clothing and shoes.   He agrees that my dog suspenders will help me keep a good attitude and keep exercising.

Today I rewarded myself with extra food and still only ate 2300 calories.

I burned around 2950.

I still keep my log. It prevents me from eating and eating

Dog and mood

I find that I feel better since we got our dog.  I spend lots of time with the pooch and don’t think much about problems.  Since I am more relaxed, I find it easier not to eat.

Dog and exercise

Since I got my dog, I have been doing a lot of walking.  The walking is spread throughout the day and evening.   I seem to be losing weight even faster than before I got the dog.

Up until now, I have been trying to hold to about 2000 calories a day.

I think I should up my calories to 2250 to compensate for the extra dog walking

Exercise gizmo

I got a wonderful exercise gizmo today.

I adopted a dog who loves to walk.  We have walked all over my community.

The dog also shares some of my food so I don’t eat as much.

Volunteer opportunities

If you are looking for a way to share your free time to do some good, Casa Grande has many opportunities.  The medical medical center has many things available.  The police and fire depart may also have oportunities.

I am going to see if there are opportunities at the animal shelter.

Volunteering helps you to feel good about things.  Felling good helps you eat less.

I don’t want a career

I don’t want my weight loss efforts to become a career where I spend most of my free time trying to exercise or reduce calories.

I am hoping that in my next phase, I can do other important things AND keep my exerercise up and my calories down.

Doctor update

I went for my 3 month check at the cardiologist.  I found that the starting point of my weight loss quest was 346.   Today I was 298 on his scale.   My heart sounded OK. my lungs were clear.

We had a long discussion on phentermine..  He agreed with my earlier post that this is a short term solution.   As of now, I am off that med and depending om my new habits and my log book to keep me going.

More good news I ordered an extra padded cover for the seat on my exercise bike.  It arrived yesterday afternoon.

I go back to the cardiologist on May 6.   My goal is to be between 250 and 275

I will keep you up to date

Not just will power

I am 62 years old and I have been heaver than I should be for most of my life.  I went to my cardiologist and he noted that I had gained too much weight.  I went from less than 300 pounds to beyond the 333 pounds that my scale would register.  The cardiologist was concerned about the affect of the weight on my heart and blood flow.   After some serious discussion, he prescribed  Phentermine.  The drug is similar to the phen-fen and redux from the 90′s. This med can have some serious side effects.  While I am taking it, I avoid driving my car.  It has taken my body awhile to adjust to the med.  I stayed on the med because it works for me.  It has helped me  to keep my daily calorie intake to 2000 or fewer for all but a few holiday type days.  It has given me a head-start on losing weight and it has helped me develop strong habits and new tastes.  I have made a habit of logging everthing I eat and also of keeping track of how many calories I burn.

I would not recommend this med unless you are seriously overweight AND your doctor agrees that you should take it.

I had a discussion/argument with my GP doctor about whether a prescription diet medicine or even surgery would help me. He doesn’t like the idea that I am taking Phentermine.

The doctor felt that I should go to a diet counselor and learn how to eat properly and count calories.

I see both doctors soon.   My hope is that I can stop the Phentermine and let my new habits keep me going.

Since I have always eventually regained weight that I have lost, I FEAR that over time, I may need to temporarily go back to phentermine or something to hep me get back on track.

Wish me luck everyone.