Feb 16

It's halfway through February (a bit more) and I have been back home for five days. In those five days I have done absolutely nothing in the way of walking or exercising. It is just too dang cold to go outside most of the time and I haven't yet found the motivation to use my indoor stuff. That needs to change.

Diet has been okay. It is more challenging since there are more food options here at home than there were while staying with the kids. They had the option of walking to a store or a restaurant or having food delivered to them. We have a full refrigerator and pantry. There really isn't much in the way of junk food, but there is always something to eat. 
My weight has been steady at 265 for a couple of days. I need to get it moving downward again.

Maybe I'll get some treadmill or stationary cycle time in today.

John

Feb 12

Back home.
I don't know if it's the different scale, a heavy day, or a poor final week in Puerto Vallarta, but I was a little disappointed with today's weigh-in. 266 isn't bad, but neither is it good. The lack of progress needs to change and I'm concerned that being back in the cold will impede my daily exercise. I'm going to have to find a way to work through it.

John

Feb 6

Yesterday was a nothing burger when it came to the implant surgery. Other than not eating anything solid and taking care of my mouth it was pretty much like any other day. I walked both to and from the dentist's office and then walked to the pharmacy, so I managed to get 11,000 steps for the day.

Today will be another take it easy kind of day. I may take a beach walk. I'll be eating more yogurt, soup, and soft foods. That will continue for several days. 
Mostly I expect to spend my last few days just relaxing in the warm, tropical climate of PV.

John

Feb 4 (end of day)

I was slow getting started today, but wanted to have a good step day since I am not expecting to do much walking tomorrow. I have dental surgery scheduled for 9am and expect to be taking it easy for the rest of the day. I've got over 47,000 steps for the first 4 days of February and have a nine day streak of hitting my 7000 daily step goal. I may feel like taking an afternoon walk, but I'm not counting on it.

Also I may be on a liquid or soft food diet for a couple of days. That should be beneficial for weight loss.

Be well,
John

 

Feb 3

So I did a lot of walking yesterday.
I began with a short walk for coffee on my way to the Romantic Zone for brunch. I took the long way along the malecon so that I could enjoy the bay and perhaps see some whales. No whales yesterday, but it was a beautiful day. After lunch I had planned to Uber to the Costco that is less than a mile from the kids' place and then walk back from there after picking up a few things.
High season, Sunday afternoon, and high demand had pushed the Uber cost to much more than I wanted to pay, so I decided to walk back. With that and some additional afternoon/evening walking I found myself at 19,475 steps and 8.9 miles by around 10PM. So I went out to get the extra steps to push me over the 20K steps and 9 miles distance.

With weight, there are some days when you just weigh a little heavy. Such must have been the case when I first stepped on the scale at the kids' place. The last couple of days have been less and put me at close to -20 pounds for the two months since the beginning of December. It's not great, but it is also not bad. I'd like to step it up a little bit. The current pace will get me below the BMI obesity number by my 65th birthday in June, but it would be nice to be a little closer to 200 pounds and also be off the high BP meds by then.

I know that only a handful of people see this "daily diary" kind of post as I haven't been sharing it on my social media platforms. I also haven't been posting daily, but usually manage 4 or 5 times per week. I will probably continue to post this way with just a monthly update on social media platforms.

Be well,
John

Feb 1

Using the scale the kids have shows that I haven't lost any weight since being here in PV over the past two and a half weeks. Bummer.
Even so, I feel pretty good and have been much more active than I would have been at home. Overall, my eating habits have been better, but I have had more beer than I usually drink and I know that losing weight while drinking beer is difficult for me. 
I will pay more attention to the weight loss in the coming eleven days and hope to be down a few pounds before going home.

John

Jan 30

I haven't been keeping up with my daily diary as much as I should. Truthfully, I think keeping up daily will be more important when I get home than it is currently. Here, in Puerto Vallarta, it is easy to stay active and walk every day. It will take more of an effort when I get home.
I have managed more than my targeted steps for the past several days and I am getting started a little earlier in the day for the most part. Again, that will be more difficult back home and with colder mornings.

The diet part has also been easier. Here, I eat out for nearly all meals and there isn't much in the way of snack food (or food at all) at the kids' place. At home, there is always something to eat, even if it's just toast and peanut butter. I am going to need to be more disciplined.

Overall, I am pleased with how I have done this first month of the year. I have been regularly active and I have been much more aware of what I am consuming and doing a better job of eating healthy and eating less. I did find out that the kids have a bathroom scale in their room, so I may see what my weight is tomorrow morning. Obviously, there may be a slight difference in calibration from our home scale, but it should give me some idea of how things are going weight-wise. 

John 

Jan 27

Uh-oh
Two consecutive days of missing my daily step goal.
Okay, I'm not making a big deal of it and I probably should be. A change in our schedule meant I didn't get an expected walk in. I'll have to do better at making alternate plans. I got a little bit of an early walk this morning and am more hopeful of completing my goal for today.
 
My diet remains good and I am hopeful of seeing good numbers on the scale when I get back home. I think not snacking throughout the day or just day grazing is a good thing. I might need to do more about not having snacks or easy to grab foods readily available in the house when I get back. 
I have a doctor's appointment the day after I get back as a follow up visit to my blood pressure meds. I really hope to be off of them by summer. For now it's just a daily necessity.

John

Jan 25

Not only did I make my daily step goal yesterday, but I'm giving myself extra credit since most of the steps were in Guadalajara and at a mile high!

I did okay on the dieting and have been doing well today. 
I don't have all of my steps in for today, but I think I'll get them walking to and from Jenny's softball game this evening.

Life is good.
Be well,

John

Jan 24

It's been a good few days. Good walks and step totals and mostly good eating. 

Step totals may take a bit of a hit in the next couple of days as we head to Guadalajara to watch a baseball game. I may still get them in. I'll just have to see how it goes. 

I don't know if I'm losing any weight or not, but I feel good. I've been drinking more beer than I usually do and I know that tends to make weight loss more difficult for me. I guess I'll see when I get home in a couple of weeks.

John

Jan 20

Hmmm...
I don't know how I have missed posting for the past few days. I've been doing a good job of getting my steps in every day.  I don't know if it's going to happen today, but I'm okay with that. I picked up a package of mixed candy bars and M&Ms the other day. Definitely not the best idea for the diet part of healthy living. Other than the sweets, though, I've been doing fairly well.

I'll need to get back on the walking tomorrow.

John

Jan 17

A good day today.
I took a nice long walk and ate well. 

Maybe I'll do some beach sitting tomorrow. Maybe not.
I really did enjoy walking along the Malecon today and feeling the energy of the ocean. I think the water must be pretty cool. Nobody was getting in more than walking along the edge and letting the waves lap at their ankles. I'm sure the Pacific La Nina plays a part in that cold surface water.

It's only 8:30 and I'm a little short of 10,000 steps for the day, so I'll probably take a short stroll tonight to top that mark. Not much else to report.

John

Jan 16

It's a morning post today. Yesterday was a good day. I am going to need to be more purposeful about walking in the coming days. I got some good walking in, but could have (should have) done a little more. It is different walking here with the uneven road surfaces and irregular sidewalks. I do love the warmer temps, even with the humidity.

I am continuing to do well with the diet and hope that I will continue to drop pounds throughout my stay here in PV. Aaron will be here today, but will be leaving for the weekend in the morning.

Be well,
John

Jan 15

After a couple of crazy days I think I'm back to posting every day. I don't have a weigh-in today because I'm not at home and won't be for a few weeks. My Jan 14th weight was 268. That's -10 for the month and -17 since the beginning of December.
Yesterday was a good diet day and I managed to get my steps in even though I spent most of the day sitting in a cramped, crowded airplane.

Looking forward to a relaxing day today.

John 

Jan 11

Well I wouldn't put getting sick on the list of healthy weight loss solutions, but after three days of feeling crappy and not eating hardly anything I am down to 270 lbs this morning. That's -15 since December 1st and -8 since Jan 1st. I guess I need to eat like I'm sick when I'm not, or maybe add a little food to compensate for some activity and exercise.

No exercise for the 9th or 10th, probably not going to be any for today either. 

Jan 9

Sick day

Ugh

Jan 8

Damn. These two overnight shifts have kicked my butt. I know that it is partially due to trying to get back to my regular sleep schedule and having a couple of short sleep days, but I'm feeling pretty wiped out. I did manage to hit my daily step goal, but not much else.

On the weightless front -- I lost two pounds for week one. 
It's not much, but it is a start in the right direction.

John

Jan 7

Well it's almost the end of the day on Jan 7 and I haven't spent any time dedicated to exercise. 
My change in schedule made it more difficult to accomplish, although I am sure I could have if I were more committed to it.
However, my morning and evening time at the shelter provided me with more than enough steps to achieve my daily step goal, so I'm counting the day as a win. 
I will have to do better tomorrow, though. This shelter won't be open tomorrow night, so I will definitely need some indoor cycle or treadmill time.

John

Jan 6

I did get some treadmill time today, as well as a little dumbbell work.
Yay, me.
Keeping track of my diet will be weird since I'll be up all night at one of the crisis cold weather shelters.
On the plus side, I think an afternoon/evening coffee is in order.

Tomorrow will be a trickier day. I'll be day sleeping and will need to get my exercise before going in for another overnight. I'm a pretty slow starter when I get up. I like my coffee and quiet time before doing anything else. However it works out, I'm not going to sweat it -- it's only one day. 

John

Jan 5

I think I may start doing these in the evenings. We'll see if that holds true.
Yesterday, the 4th, I took the day off and didn't do anything. Counting the days I started in December, I was on a five day streak, so taking a day off really wasn't a big deal. 

However, after a couple of light days and a day off I needed to get on the cycle today. I did 35 minutes, so that's the longest so far this year. I'll keep building up. It's going to be pretty cold the rest of the week, so I'll be on the cycle or treadmill. I suppose I could walk outside,but I'm not that big of a cold weather guy anymore. It's been a few years since I was out walking no matter what the weather was. I'm okay not doing that if I have an alternative. 

I've also decided that I'm only sharing this to social media once a week or so, but I hope to keep it as a daily diary. I'll weigh in on the morning of the 8th.

John

Jan 4

Nothing special yesterday.
Short ride on the exercise cycle. I'm going to have to do a longer ride today. I might add a few dumbbell exercises, too. We are heading into some pretty cold days and I am going to have to get used to getting my exercise time in by doing something other than walking. That's probably not a bad thing.

I ate a late night snack that I could have done without, but overall I don't think my intake was too bad-- a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, stir fry chicken thighs and veggies for dinner. 

John

Jan 3

Short walk, with hills.
I need to do more walking before tackling hills.
Or maybe I just need to do more hills.
Ugh!

John

Jan 2

I increased my walk distance from 2 miles to 3 yesterday. It wasn't because I just wanted to walk more, it was because Chris wanted something at the Dollar General that is 1.5 miles from the house. Now I'm wondering if I need to maintain the 3 mile distance because going back to two miles seems like regression. 
For right now, I'm okay with continuing to get some daily exercise. The coming days will have sub-freezing high temperatures, so I'll either be on the exercise cycle, the treadmill, or some combination of the two.
I should be able to get an outdoor walk today.

Diet felt good yesterday. I'm not ready to go back to calorie counting yet, but I may in the future.

John

Jan 1, 2025

It's been awhile.
I haven't been doing much in the way of healthy living during 2024. 
I reached my heaviest weight ever and am now on meds for my elevated blood pressure.
Although the 278 pounds (126 kg) is the most to begin a year, it is 7 lbs less than where I was at the beginning of last month. 

Damn! 
That's a lot of weight I need to lose.

Last week I was looking ahead and considering some healthful resolutions for 2025 and I decided that I didn't really need to wait until today to get started. I realize that starting slowly with a huge task ahead of me may seem counter intuitive to some, but I know that it is what will work for me. Today will be Day 4 in a daily exercise streak -- two days of walking, and one day on the exercise cycle. With the coming cold weather, I may be spending more days on the exercise cycle and treadmill than walking outside, but that will have to do for now.
My walks will get longer (2 miles, 3.2 km) so far, as will my cycling time (30 min). I'll also add in other work using body weight, dumbbells, and our weight machine.
The goal is to be in better shape and get off the blood pressure meds.

Diet wise -- damn, I just need to eat less.
A lot less!
The goals are simple -- lose weight.
Short term -- 5 lbs (2.26 kg) per week for the first 5 weeks, then half that (recommended for long term)...
Long term -- until I weigh less than 200 lbs (90.7 kg)

I should be getting close by the time I hit my 65th birthday in June.
I'll post regular updates in hopes that posting will keep me moving forward.

Wish me well,
John
278 lbs, 37.7 BMI