There's something about this that's so black, it's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.
One of my favorite cases I've ever handled ended with me paraphrasing that as my closing argument:
Minnesota Statutes section 169.64, subdivision 4 prohibits almost all blue lights on motor vehicles. They admit the light was blue, but are it wasn't a dark blue. But the law doesn't care. The question is how much more blue does a blue light have to be to violate the law. None. None more blue.
(The judge and court reporter but completely caught the reference.)
Raise your hand if you came here to make this same "none more black" joke.
Lebron was, as always, the best (starting) Cav on the floor last night. -11 +/-, 6 turnovers.
So, I turned 50 on Monday. I woke up, looked in the mirror and declared it was time. Time for what? Time to rid myself of a vice (nicotine) and lose some weight. I had a massive blot clot 3 years ago that could have killed me, but that didn't get me to change. I have half heartedly tried to lose weight in the past, but I was always doing it because "I probably should". Monday I thought "I want to lose weight". I am 4 days in. First 2 days it was really tough not to stop in the C-store and buy a tin of snus. The past 2 days? I am so over it. For the lose weight thing: I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app. I am tracking calories, and just have a simple plan. No more than 1800 calories in a day. Eat mostly healthier food like veggies and protein while greatly reducing breads, pastas, potatoes, etc. I took sweets out of my diet a long time ago. Beverages? One cup of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day. I do think "bai - cocofusion" is the best tasting 10 calories in the history of the world. I have one of those and a "kind" bar (200 calories) for breakfast. Light healthy lunch, and usually a reasonably portioned dinner of something tasty. A few light snacks throughout the day.
My initial goal at age 50 is to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks. I was 278 lbs when this journey began. With a recovering knee it is tough to get in a lot of exercise, so I think a pound per week is a reasonable goal. 4 days in and I feel a bit healthier. Dropped 6 pounds in 4 days which makes me scratch my head. Energy levels are more stable. Mood is much better. I feel like this will stick. I know there will be up and down days, but I just feel different this time. Anyway, part of my success in sticking with this is letting people around me know, so it is harder to drop the ball. Thanks for reading and feel free to fling me some crap if I veer off the path.
In my experience the first 20 pounds come off pretty easy, especially at the 1800 calorie range. When I put 1800 per day into MyFitnessPal, that calculates out to 2 pounds per week, but body types are different. When I don't track calories and am not doing well, I don't doubt I have over 3,000 a day and making that change is huge
Huh. Your LTE hadn't posted yet when I wrote mine below. Looks like we're sharing a wavelength today. But keep going, brother. The best thing I ever did for myself and my family was to quit smoking. Now I'm trying to do the next best thing. I also recommend you read up on the most recent research on the link between sugar and chronic inflammation and how it contributes to degenerative disease. I have arthritis in my left knee after meniscus surgery 20 years ago and can't do any kind of high impact stuff on it so I stick to walking and biking. Swimming is also good if you have joint issues.
Mmm, knee arthritis and meniscal damage.
*Raises hand*
I am 27 years out from my second 'scope. My adult life has been one of pain management and staving off the day when I become a cyborg.
I have been on an over-the-counter NSAID regimen for years, since the powers that be decided that Celebrex and Vioxx were too dangerous (the evidence of which was weak, btw). And about five years ago I started an uncontrolled experiment with fish oil supplements to help control inflammation. Who knows?
Congrats and good luck!
Welcome to the club. I recently decided I also need to shed some pounds and increase my stamina at the same time. My main concern is to help with my curling game, which has suffered some in the past year or two because I've put on quite a bit of weight. So I made it a point to actually use my bike this summer. I started about 3 weeks ago, although I've only managed to actually get outside with it once. I found a bike trainer on craigslist for $20, and I've been putting in work on that 6 days of the week along with continuing the weight lifting I've been doing. I've lost about 5 or 6 pounds so far, but I've made a lot of gains in just how I feel in general, mainly in getting less winded, ankles feeling better, and having the energy and desire to get up and do things.
Like you say, I also think this will stick. The hardest thing for me was fitting it into my schedule and the bike trainer solves that problem. Its not as enjoyable as getting outside, but I can do it with some music on. I'm up to 30-35 minutes per session with a goal of getting to 45. Eventually it'd be great if I could do 20-25 miles like I was able to do in college, but those days may never come again.
Anyway, good luck keeping up with it. Sounds like there's plenty of us here making the same decision, so support group!
Sounds like you all have a pretty good plan. A pound a week sounds reasonable--it's about the pace at which I lost weight. Just be aware that, for me at least, the weight loss did not always go on a smooth, level path. You might hit a plateau where you go a week or two without seeing any particular difference. Don't get discouraged. If you keep at, the weight loss will resume until you reach the level at which your weight should be.
I have hit that plateau. April kicked up the activity and stress levels at work, and I just haven't found the time or energy to really give it my all. I still weigh myself every morning, just to see, and I've maintained where I'm at, but the losses have stopped. Even these last few days, I've felt some more resolve to improve, I just haven't also haven't quite gotten back on that path...
I don't mean this to sound judgmental, because I have no idea what may be going on in your life. I just know that for me, it's really easy for me to use things like "stress" and "busy-ness" as excuses to eat things I'm not supposed to eat. And believe me, I can be really, really good at making those kinds of excuses. I can justify almost anything to myself if I want to badly enough.
I've also found that when it comes to things like chocolate and ice cream, I'm pretty much an addict. I have to stay away from it completely. If I eat one cookie I want ten. If I have one bite of ice cream I want the super-jumbo-size blizzard. That's just how I am.
I've read that if you stay off of things like that long enough, you get to a point where you no longer desire them. All I can tell you is that it'll be a year next week, and I have not reached that point yet. When I eat at home it's not that hard, because we don't keep that kind of stuff at home and if I don't see it, I don't think about it. But then I have days like yesterday, when I had a funeral followed by a lunch of cookies and bars, and we had our closing night of VBS, followed by a lunch of cookies and bars. And our church ladies can make some really good cookies and bars. It helps a lot that Mrs. A is on the same diet regimen that I am. It's a lot easier to resist if you have someone to encourage you and support you.
For me, the stress and busyness have been more about interrupting good routines. So, for example, I had a jury trial get set for 9 days after we made the request. Usually you get 60 or more. So suddenly everything else I had scheduled in that week got pushed aside and I was rushing around, with less time for grocery shopping and meal planning and less mental energy for scheduling meals and thinking about those things. Fortunately it has less to do with using stress as an excuse for indulging (for example, I'm still drinking less pop) and more to do with stress interrupting the design (my eating out has gone back up, because of convenience). At least, that's what I'm telling myself.
It is much harder when you get thrown out of your routine. That, especially, is where Mrs. A is so valuable at helping me stay on track.
Kudos for remaining on the plateau, at least. The next best thing to losing weight is not gaining any weight.
Back in January I stepped on the scale and it read 212 and change. Since then, I've cut way, way back on the fast food (not so hard when you're unemployed) and convenience foods at home. Since the last big snowstorm, I've been exercising pretty regularly. I walk and play Frisbee with the dog, and ride my bike nearly every day for 30 minutes or so. Last week I had my first follow-up appointment with my new doctor (internist, not family practice) and because my glucose has always tended to the high side of normal, he did a metabolic panel with an A1C, which is an indicator of average glucose over the past 3 months. An A1C below 5.7 percent is considered normal, between 5.7 and 6.4 percent is prediabetic, and anything over 6.5 is Type 2 diabetes. Mine was 5.0, the lowest point of the scale. I had a colonoscopy in December with a great result, and my last cardiology appointment was also quite good, cholesterol down to 100 and every other indicator over the past 5 years trending in the right direction. Today I stepped on the scale and it read 192 on the nose. I'd like get it down to 185 or 185 before I'm done, but I may have to buy a lot of new pants pretty soon if I keep going. Feeling good, Louis.
I'm in the club! I have a 1600 calorie goal on Map my Fitness and been hitting 1500 or so. Plus exercising everyday, including a 2 mile run every other day. The I've only lost 3 pounds the last 10 days or so but doing well. Goal is lose 10-12 pounds by the Tri-Loppet on July 22.
Steve Kerr:
"It's just typical of the NFL," Kerr said, ... "They're just playing to their fanbase. Basically just trying to use the anthem as fake patriotism, nationalism, scaring people. It's idiotic. But that's how the NFL has conducted their business. I'm proud to be in a league that understands patriotism in America is about free speech and peacefully protesting. Our leadership in the NBA understands when the NFL players were kneeling, they were kneeling to protest police brutality, to protest racial inequality. They weren't disrespecting the flag or military. But our president decided to make it about that and the NFL followed suit, pandered to their fan base, created this hysteria. It's kind of what's wrong with our country right now – people in high places are trying to divide us, divide loyalties, make this about the flag as if the flag is something other than it really is – which is a representation of what we're about, which is diversity, peaceful protests, right to free speech. It's ironic actually."
So far, no one has said anything at all to me as I've knelt at each Twins game I've attended this year. Either people truly don't care or they're just internet tough-guys.
We sat together for one last year and indeed, nobody seemed to care. Or at least didn't care enough to speak to us about it.
I sat, with my hat on, during the anthem at the Vikings/Packers game last year at the height of this nonsense and was kind of shocked no one accosted me.
I remained sitting for “God Bless America” at a Twins game last year, with my hat on. My uncle, who’s, uh, very devout, asked me about it — did I not want God to bless America? I replied that I remove my hat for only two songs, and “God Bless America” isn’t one of them. He looked genuinely surprised, and more than a little concerned about his nephew. I probably didn’t help when I made it pretty clear I resent the expectation I endorse someone else’s profession of religious conviction as a condition of my patriotism.
Thankfully I don't wear hats.
Don't even get me started on "God Bless America".
Just a quick bump for my comment that may have gotten buried at the end of the yesterday's Cup. Here's a link if you are willing and able to make a donation, no matter how small, to support my latest MS150 ride in a couple of weeks.
Paxton and Romero are on the mound tonight. Offense might be hard to come by. These day game/off day/night game stretches are rough on us junkies.
(tomorrow)
D'oh! Yes. Tomorrow.
Some random notes now that I've updated my database of players statistics from all the games I've attended (and note, there are many late 80's early 90's games not included because I just don't have a recollection of attending the specific game):
1. Lance Lynn's 11.2 shutout innings is now the most innings I've ever seen from a pitcher who has not allowed a run in my presence. The next highest total is 9 innings (both Craig Breslow and Tim Leary).
2. I've now seen Ryan Pressly pitch 22 times, and he's passed Rick Aguilera for the second most games pitched in my presence. He's now just 2 behind Guardado.
3. In his career, Trevor Hildenberger has a 2.31 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in games I have not attended, and a 8.71 ERA and 2.13 WHIP in his 10 games I have attended. Weird.
4. Eduardo Escobar recently passed Justin Morneau in plate appearances, yet both have homered fewer times in my presence than both Salvador Perez and Josh Donaldson.
Speaking of Perez, I hear the Royals are ready to sell.
I don't even remember what outfit I wore to work yesterday.
You poor thing! You should probably start keeping track on a spreadsheet...
That is one empty cuppa joe.
There's something about this that's so black, it's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.
One of my favorite cases I've ever handled ended with me paraphrasing that as my closing argument:
(The judge and court reporter but completely caught the reference.)
Raise your hand if you came here to make this same "none more black" joke.
Lebron was, as always, the best (starting) Cav on the floor last night. -11 +/-, 6 turnovers.
So, I turned 50 on Monday. I woke up, looked in the mirror and declared it was time. Time for what? Time to rid myself of a vice (nicotine) and lose some weight. I had a massive blot clot 3 years ago that could have killed me, but that didn't get me to change. I have half heartedly tried to lose weight in the past, but I was always doing it because "I probably should". Monday I thought "I want to lose weight". I am 4 days in. First 2 days it was really tough not to stop in the C-store and buy a tin of snus. The past 2 days? I am so over it. For the lose weight thing: I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app. I am tracking calories, and just have a simple plan. No more than 1800 calories in a day. Eat mostly healthier food like veggies and protein while greatly reducing breads, pastas, potatoes, etc. I took sweets out of my diet a long time ago. Beverages? One cup of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day. I do think "bai - cocofusion" is the best tasting 10 calories in the history of the world. I have one of those and a "kind" bar (200 calories) for breakfast. Light healthy lunch, and usually a reasonably portioned dinner of something tasty. A few light snacks throughout the day.
My initial goal at age 50 is to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks. I was 278 lbs when this journey began. With a recovering knee it is tough to get in a lot of exercise, so I think a pound per week is a reasonable goal. 4 days in and I feel a bit healthier. Dropped 6 pounds in 4 days which makes me scratch my head. Energy levels are more stable. Mood is much better. I feel like this will stick. I know there will be up and down days, but I just feel different this time. Anyway, part of my success in sticking with this is letting people around me know, so it is harder to drop the ball. Thanks for reading and feel free to fling me some crap if I veer off the path.
In my experience the first 20 pounds come off pretty easy, especially at the 1800 calorie range. When I put 1800 per day into MyFitnessPal, that calculates out to 2 pounds per week, but body types are different. When I don't track calories and am not doing well, I don't doubt I have over 3,000 a day and making that change is huge
Huh. Your LTE hadn't posted yet when I wrote mine below. Looks like we're sharing a wavelength today. But keep going, brother. The best thing I ever did for myself and my family was to quit smoking. Now I'm trying to do the next best thing. I also recommend you read up on the most recent research on the link between sugar and chronic inflammation and how it contributes to degenerative disease. I have arthritis in my left knee after meniscus surgery 20 years ago and can't do any kind of high impact stuff on it so I stick to walking and biking. Swimming is also good if you have joint issues.
Mmm, knee arthritis and meniscal damage.
*Raises hand*
I am 27 years out from my second 'scope. My adult life has been one of pain management and staving off the day when I become a cyborg.
I have been on an over-the-counter NSAID regimen for years, since the powers that be decided that Celebrex and Vioxx were too dangerous (the evidence of which was weak, btw). And about five years ago I started an uncontrolled experiment with fish oil supplements to help control inflammation. Who knows?
Congrats and good luck!
Welcome to the club. I recently decided I also need to shed some pounds and increase my stamina at the same time. My main concern is to help with my curling game, which has suffered some in the past year or two because I've put on quite a bit of weight. So I made it a point to actually use my bike this summer. I started about 3 weeks ago, although I've only managed to actually get outside with it once. I found a bike trainer on craigslist for $20, and I've been putting in work on that 6 days of the week along with continuing the weight lifting I've been doing. I've lost about 5 or 6 pounds so far, but I've made a lot of gains in just how I feel in general, mainly in getting less winded, ankles feeling better, and having the energy and desire to get up and do things.
Like you say, I also think this will stick. The hardest thing for me was fitting it into my schedule and the bike trainer solves that problem. Its not as enjoyable as getting outside, but I can do it with some music on. I'm up to 30-35 minutes per session with a goal of getting to 45. Eventually it'd be great if I could do 20-25 miles like I was able to do in college, but those days may never come again.
Anyway, good luck keeping up with it. Sounds like there's plenty of us here making the same decision, so support group!
Sounds like you all have a pretty good plan. A pound a week sounds reasonable--it's about the pace at which I lost weight. Just be aware that, for me at least, the weight loss did not always go on a smooth, level path. You might hit a plateau where you go a week or two without seeing any particular difference. Don't get discouraged. If you keep at, the weight loss will resume until you reach the level at which your weight should be.
I have hit that plateau. April kicked up the activity and stress levels at work, and I just haven't found the time or energy to really give it my all. I still weigh myself every morning, just to see, and I've maintained where I'm at, but the losses have stopped. Even these last few days, I've felt some more resolve to improve, I just haven't also haven't quite gotten back on that path...
I don't mean this to sound judgmental, because I have no idea what may be going on in your life. I just know that for me, it's really easy for me to use things like "stress" and "busy-ness" as excuses to eat things I'm not supposed to eat. And believe me, I can be really, really good at making those kinds of excuses. I can justify almost anything to myself if I want to badly enough.
I've also found that when it comes to things like chocolate and ice cream, I'm pretty much an addict. I have to stay away from it completely. If I eat one cookie I want ten. If I have one bite of ice cream I want the super-jumbo-size blizzard. That's just how I am.
I've read that if you stay off of things like that long enough, you get to a point where you no longer desire them. All I can tell you is that it'll be a year next week, and I have not reached that point yet. When I eat at home it's not that hard, because we don't keep that kind of stuff at home and if I don't see it, I don't think about it. But then I have days like yesterday, when I had a funeral followed by a lunch of cookies and bars, and we had our closing night of VBS, followed by a lunch of cookies and bars. And our church ladies can make some really good cookies and bars. It helps a lot that Mrs. A is on the same diet regimen that I am. It's a lot easier to resist if you have someone to encourage you and support you.
For me, the stress and busyness have been more about interrupting good routines. So, for example, I had a jury trial get set for 9 days after we made the request. Usually you get 60 or more. So suddenly everything else I had scheduled in that week got pushed aside and I was rushing around, with less time for grocery shopping and meal planning and less mental energy for scheduling meals and thinking about those things. Fortunately it has less to do with using stress as an excuse for indulging (for example, I'm still drinking less pop) and more to do with stress interrupting the design (my eating out has gone back up, because of convenience). At least, that's what I'm telling myself.
It is much harder when you get thrown out of your routine. That, especially, is where Mrs. A is so valuable at helping me stay on track.
Kudos for remaining on the plateau, at least. The next best thing to losing weight is not gaining any weight.
Back in January I stepped on the scale and it read 212 and change. Since then, I've cut way, way back on the fast food (not so hard when you're unemployed) and convenience foods at home. Since the last big snowstorm, I've been exercising pretty regularly. I walk and play Frisbee with the dog, and ride my bike nearly every day for 30 minutes or so. Last week I had my first follow-up appointment with my new doctor (internist, not family practice) and because my glucose has always tended to the high side of normal, he did a metabolic panel with an A1C, which is an indicator of average glucose over the past 3 months. An A1C below 5.7 percent is considered normal, between 5.7 and 6.4 percent is prediabetic, and anything over 6.5 is Type 2 diabetes. Mine was 5.0, the lowest point of the scale. I had a colonoscopy in December with a great result, and my last cardiology appointment was also quite good, cholesterol down to 100 and every other indicator over the past 5 years trending in the right direction. Today I stepped on the scale and it read 192 on the nose. I'd like get it down to 185 or 185 before I'm done, but I may have to buy a lot of new pants pretty soon if I keep going. Feeling good, Louis.
Good Man!
A Better Man, at any rate. 🙂
Welcome back, Miguel Sano!
I'm in the club! I have a 1600 calorie goal on Map my Fitness and been hitting 1500 or so. Plus exercising everyday, including a 2 mile run every other day. The I've only lost 3 pounds the last 10 days or so but doing well. Goal is lose 10-12 pounds by the Tri-Loppet on July 22.
Steve Kerr:
So far, no one has said anything at all to me as I've knelt at each Twins game I've attended this year. Either people truly don't care or they're just internet tough-guys.
We sat together for one last year and indeed, nobody seemed to care. Or at least didn't care enough to speak to us about it.
I sat, with my hat on, during the anthem at the Vikings/Packers game last year at the height of this nonsense and was kind of shocked no one accosted me.
I remained sitting for “God Bless America” at a Twins game last year, with my hat on. My uncle, who’s, uh, very devout, asked me about it — did I not want God to bless America? I replied that I remove my hat for only two songs, and “God Bless America” isn’t one of them. He looked genuinely surprised, and more than a little concerned about his nephew. I probably didn’t help when I made it pretty clear I resent the expectation I endorse someone else’s profession of religious conviction as a condition of my patriotism.
Thankfully I don't wear hats.
Don't even get me started on "God Bless America".
Just a quick bump for my comment that may have gotten buried at the end of the yesterday's Cup. Here's a link if you are willing and able to make a donation, no matter how small, to support my latest MS150 ride in a couple of weeks.
In which a judge references South Park in an opinion
Paxton and Romero are on the mound tonight. Offense might be hard to come by. These day game/off day/night game stretches are rough on us junkies.
(tomorrow)
D'oh! Yes. Tomorrow.
Some random notes now that I've updated my database of players statistics from all the games I've attended (and note, there are many late 80's early 90's games not included because I just don't have a recollection of attending the specific game):
1. Lance Lynn's 11.2 shutout innings is now the most innings I've ever seen from a pitcher who has not allowed a run in my presence. The next highest total is 9 innings (both Craig Breslow and Tim Leary).
2. I've now seen Ryan Pressly pitch 22 times, and he's passed Rick Aguilera for the second most games pitched in my presence. He's now just 2 behind Guardado.
3. In his career, Trevor Hildenberger has a 2.31 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in games I have not attended, and a 8.71 ERA and 2.13 WHIP in his 10 games I have attended. Weird.
4. Eduardo Escobar recently passed Justin Morneau in plate appearances, yet both have homered fewer times in my presence than both Salvador Perez and Josh Donaldson.
Speaking of Perez, I hear the Royals are ready to sell.
I don't even remember what outfit I wore to work yesterday.
You poor thing! You should probably start keeping track on a spreadsheet...