Steve's Blog Spot

Looking back, I just noticed I started this blog almost 9 years ago to the day! 9 years and 8 days. Wow! A lot has happened in that time. I remarried, and retired. I had just started walking and continue to do so today. I love it and it's great exercise! Lost weight, gained it back and have lost it all again, though this time it's staying off. My goal is another 40 pounds by year end, if I can do it without muscle loss.

Check out this simple, lo-cal dessert recipe . All of 117 calories!

I hit a milestone while walking last night. I have now walked 600 miles since beginning my walking program last April 1. I needed to walk only 4.25 miles, but ended up doing 7.6! I started thinking about how far that distance really is. It's the equivalent of my house to the Mississippi river at Vicksburg, or to Tampa, or St. Louis. I am on my fourth pair of walking shoes. Perhaps I should be reed-thin by now, but I do like to eat, and enjoy an occasional - heh! - bottle of red wine. Hey, life's a compromise! If I'm not losing pounds, then I seem to be losing inches. Slowly, but surely. I have to force myself to walk over 60% of the time, but I always seem to be rewarded by something. Right now, it's the fall colors. They are amazingly rich! So, I'll keep on trucking, as it were. Go, Forrest, go!

This hasn't been exactly a piece of cake, no pun intended! I last wrote in August about hitting a plateau. Well, I have managed to break through it. Gradually. Persistently. Painfully slowly. So far, I've lost a total of 40 pounds. Please, spare the applause. I have a long way to go, no time to sit back and dwell in it. The biggest effect has shown up in my waistline - I'm down 6 inches there. I am now wearing pants that date back several years. They're still just a little tight, but once I get past them, it will require investing in some new ones. I am still eating healthier - more fruit and vegetables, fish a couple of times a week, whole grains, smaller portions - but I haven't exactly given up on certain indulgences, as in - and not limited to - a good bottle of red wine. I guess I could have lost more weight faster, but my approach was to make lifestyle changes, and look longer term. Walking has been the key. It's gotten to the point where I can't not w...

the polyp removed during my colonscopy 2 weeks ago was benign. The only down side is that they want to take another look in 7 years. Oh boy. I can't wait.

Got back home about 11:30, ate a PB&J sandwich and laid down for a 2 1/2 hour nap. Ahhhh! I don't remember much about the procedure, except that it was pretty dream-like. I do remember watching the little TV screen and seeing the doctor remove 2 or 3 polyps. There was no pain at all, just a little discomfort in the recovery room due to the air injected during the procedure. This should have been called the fart room, because you could hear the other patients let 'em rip! In fact the nurses said, "Make us proud!". And I did! Overall, it has been a fairly mild experience, its anticipation was far worse than the event. The benefit far outweighs the annoyance. I'll know more once the biopsies have been performed on the polyps, although there was no concern on the doctor's part. My only concern is that this will require a future follow-up. At least I know what to expect. I think I'm gonna veg out for the rest of the day. Doctor's orders!

Only one interruption at about 1:30 am. I am totally cleaned out as of this morning! I'm still not as hungry as I thought I'd be. Rather, I'm pretty thirsty. A nice cold glass of ice water would be great! Weight loss since yesterday morning at this time: about 5 lbs. Gotta go - heading over to my neighbor's - great people who will be providing "ambulance service" for me this morning. Back in a few hours. I hope.

So far, so good. I've not had anything solid to eat today, and I am not as hungry as I thought I would be, although I have to resist the temptation to watch the Food Network! Thank God for the Olympics. Also, beef broth at 11 am and chicken broth at 6 pm have helped a lot. The purge process has also been tolerable. Not nearly as explosive as I had anticipated. In fact, it's been about the same as an upset stomach, except more numerous! The first dose of Drano, I mean laxative, was at noon, and only 30 minutes later it had snaked its way through. All afternoon has been 8 oz doses of Gatorade, 30 minutes apart, so the overall experience has been numerous #1's and #2's! It settled down just about the time for my second and final dose of that stuff. That "stuff" was only a 1.5 oz bottle to be taken with a carbonated beverage (no, not beer!), so rather than mix it, I just tilted my head back and threw it down the hatch, followed by a Mountain Dew chaser! Mmmm, good...

because I'll be on the right side of an interesting little medical procedure called a colonoscopy ! Gulp! My throat tightens just to say the word. Scheduled for Monday at 10 am. Actually, though, since I have never had one, I don't have the first-hand experience to say I'm actually dreading it. It's just one of those things in life that everyone needs to go through, hopefully only once. I guess... It's the prep portion I'm most apprehensive about, not so much the "cleansing out" part, but the fasting part! Beginning Sunday morning, no solid food. Only clear liquids. Nothing to eat all day, and into Monday! Cardboard slathered in BBQ sauce will sound good! I can man-up only to a point. Foul-tasting liquid? ok. Frequent potty trips? ok. Exploding entrails? ok. But no food? Awe, man, that sucks! Anyway, I've decided to weigh myself first thing Sunday morning, then again on Monday morning and see what the difference is. That way, when someone tells me ...