Tuesday, May 24, 2016

LENS and Life, week of 5/24/16

No sites again this week, but many blood tests did certainly ensue.

My uneducated eyes, given the averages and my scores, tell me I should be taking the vitamin D supplement I have every day instead of every day in winter.  So I've started doing that.  I really don't notice a difference, which annoys me.  Perhaps I need to be taking two a day?  But each one is supposed to be 500% of what you need, so that seems unlikely.  I'll be discussing my results with my primary care person in a couple days, and he'll probably tell me to take more vitamin D as well.

Beyond that I can't tell if there's anything impressively wrong with me.  Which is worrying, because if there isn't, I don't see a clear next step.  And I'm pretty sure my PCP is going to say, "well, a few imbalances here but you're basically fine, now about all the exercise I recommended?"  That's understandable, and exercise is in fact an excellent way to speed up your metabolism and feel better, but I don't have 6 days a week to devote to it right now, or anytime in the foreseeable future.  I say 6 days a week, because I have exactly one recollection of actually losing weight: in college, I was taking a weight training class and a jogging class.  I had buffet meals available to me 7 days a week.  I ate (big) salads for two meals a day, and exercised for an hour and more, 6 days a week, rotating between aerobic exercise and anerobic (weight lifting, muscle-building machines).  I was able to do my homework while exercising, which is how I didn't fail all my classes in the process of spending so much time at the gym. 

Under that immensely strict regimen for four months or so, I lost weight.  It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to go down a couple pants-sizes.  Unfortunately, I'm an adult now.  I have to cook my own meals.  There isn't a gym in a five minute walk from where I live.  I have responsibilities and a career to focus on, and little work that could be done while lifting weights or peddling a stationary bicycle.  Short of becoming super-rich, these things aren't going to change.  Thus, replicating my past success isn't possible.

Which leaves me stuck gaining more and more weight.  Did you know there's sensations involved with carrying more weight?  Because you start to get more folds around your middle, and your arms and legs smush more when you sit or lie down.  I have those, but there's also the sensation of folds in my neck.  It's not quite accurate, if I touch the skin there, but it's uncomfortable enough to disrupt my attempts to go to sleep.

I know most people want a quick and easy want to lose weight, like a simple pill once per day or something.  I would like that as well, not merely for vanity's sake but because if I gain any more weight those sensations will increase and I'll start gaining more weight around the middle.  Mostly my protective blubber (how I refer to my excess fat) gathers around my thighs, which is a healthier place to have weight.  But around the middle, it can shorten your lifespan by putting extra weight on your organs.  I was hoping the blood tests will show something obvious, but it doesn't seem like anything is terribly off-kilter... I guess we'll see.  I have an appointment this Thursday with my PCP, and another on the 1st with the LENS-doctor. 

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