Another update

Wait, am I actually going to post two updates this year?! Well, I’m typing this now, but that’s never a guarantee; we’ll see what happens!

Things have been pretty much the same as the last time I left it; L and I continue to have a kind-of relationship (like a lot of siblings do), texting occasionally but just about little stuff. I don’t think we could be considered in any way “close”, but it doesn’t bother me like it used to. Yea, I miss it, but I know I can live without it too.

Some things that have happened, in loosely chronological order:

Sometime early in March (I could look up the exact date, but I don’t think it matters that much, in the long run) I finally got through all the hurdles and started using a CPAP machine to help with my sleep apnea. How is it working for me?

If you’re one of those weird people who doesn’t stop breathing multiple times in the middle of the night, and snoring and gasping loudly when you do breath; if you’re one of those oddballs who can actually sleep instead of having to wake up every time your body decides it really, really wants to get some air in it, then I envy you. That is literally something that I’ve not had in 20 years. Yes, being overweight contributes to it, but it’s a problem regardless of my weight and/or fitness level. It’s just that the past two years or so, when my weight has been really high, it’s gotten so much worse.

So again, how is the CPAP working for me? Hoe. Lee. SHIT! Is this what the rest of you do at night, breath while sleeping?! No wonder some of you are so chipper in the mornings, and don’t complain of headaches all the time!

Is my sleep perfect now? No, not really; I still struggle to get to sleep at a reasonable enough hour to get enough sleep. But right now, the sleep I do get is head and shoulders above what it used to be! The wife doesn’t have to kick me out of bed because my snoring was keeping her up! I can fall asleep before her if I want to!

My insurance company requires that my doctor send in the info that is gathered from the machine during the first 60 days to make sure I’m using it. Apparently a lot of people have gotten a CPAP and then don’t use it for reasons. I just don’t get that! I couldn’t imagine trying to sleep without mine under any circumstances!

On the last Friday of April, after another disappointing week of not having lost any weight despite “trying” to eat less, I stumbled across /r/keto/ on reddit. I had no idea what it was, but as I read more of the post and the FAQ that goes along with the subreddit, I found out that it means ketogenic diet. It’s low carb-high fat, similar to Atkins, and the more I read about it the more interested I became.

That night I told the wife about it, and over the weekend we expunged our house of the sugary, starchy, carb-loaded foods we had in the house. Some items were already opened, so we threw those out altogether. A lot of it was canned or boxed unperishables, which we bundled up and donated to a local food bank. Things that kind of fell in between the wife took to work and gave to some of her coworkers.

Most of my early guidance I took from the FAQs on the subreddit I mentioned above, and from the blog I Breath, I’m Hungry (www.ibreathimhungry.com), including the shopping list of items I’d need to purchase to get us started on the weekly meal plan. I’ve since moved away from that pre-determined meal plan idea to where I now plan the meals myself, based on the foods I know we like, and I’ve simplified the menus during the week. Instead of making somewhat elaborate recipes for each night and lunch, during the week we’re often having simple meat plus veggie meals, and on the weekends I’ll stretch my wings a bit to try some of the other things.

The long and short of it is, as of last Monday, six weeks after starting, I’ve lost 26 lbs and the wife has lost 16 lbs! I no longer take Prilosec once or twice a day for acid reflux, and I haven’t even had to take a Tums before bed in more than a month now. I still have a long way to go to reach my goal, but meanwhile we’re going to make a trip to Goodwill so I can find some smaller pants!

I’m not going to go on and on about it, but I will say this: if you are interested in it, look at the link above, and check out www.reddit.com/r/keto for more information. And if you want to ask me anything else about it, send me an email and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you, and give any pointers I’ve picked up along the way.

The wife had surgery to replace the joint in her right-hand ring finger on May 18. On top of all the meal planning and cooking I was doing, I also had to help her with pretty much everything for two weeks. It was a pretty stressful time, but we got through it, and as she continues to heal and get use of her hand back, she’s doing almost everything for herself now. Next year or the year after she’ll probably have to get the same thing done on her left hand, which I dread! (She has non-rheumatoid arthritis, which affects all of her fingers to some degree, but especially the ring fingers on both hands.)

She’s made really good progress on her physical therapy since the surgery, and has almost gotten to full mobility in her finger. She still can’t put a lot of pressure on it, but she can do more and more with it every day. She’s off work (on disability) until at least the end of June, and probably until the middle of July, but her doctor and therapist both say she’s right on track for full recovery.

There’s nothing new sexually to recount, or at least not yet (wink, wink.) Whether or not anything something happens remains to be seen, and even if it does I may not be able to write about it; it will depend on the person(s) involved. (How’s that for a tease?)

Anyway, not that I intend to make regular updates or anything, but I will probably write more down the road. We’re making another trip to Kentucky for the 4th of July weekend, and I have a physical scheduled the week after that I’m actually looking forward to. I’m especially interested in seeing how my blood work numbers will turn out!