Monday, August 8, 2011

217.4

Just a few moments ago, I weighed in at 217.4 on the Tanita scale. Of course, this means the Bod Pod would have me at 216.55 this morning. That is a new low. I doubt I have been this low since 1991, when I was a 31V10 in the U.S. Army in Europe.

The lowest I have ever been in my adult life is 192, this happened at the tender young age of 22 after Basic Training and AIT at Fort Sill Oklahoma. I have never reached that low point at any other time. Many felt I was too skinny at that point. So did I. I am not particularly driven to get there, but I may see that number again. I am only 24.55 pounds away from it.

I think the indication is that I have broken on through to the other side of this set-point. The system has capitulated. My metabolism hung-up around at 220 for more than a week, not wanting to go lower. The floor has caved in, and I am falling again.

There are a couple of downsides to this weight loss. Only my size 50 jerseys fit moderately well, and they are a bit baggy. I could stand a few size 48s. A significant number of my Jerseys are size 54. They are now much too baggy for good comfort. A couple of my Jerseys, such as my Dan Fouts jersey, are size 56. That is officially too baggy to wear in public now.

This makes me sad, and shrinks my wardrobe considerably. The jersey rotation is getting a little short now.

The second thing is that I have certainly lost a few of my favorite foods.

I tried making Chili con Carne for the second time (post-gastric bypass) last night, and I got the same results as the first time: I threw up explosively. Chili is just too rich and spicy for my abbreviated digestive tract. The system gets rid of it the fastest way it knows how. This is very disappointing.

Second, I was about the biggest rice-eater on planet Earth during my pre-gastric bypass reign. I love rice in all its many forms: Risotto, Pilaf, fried rice, rice pudding, rice balls, rice noodles, etc. Now I just can't seem to handle it. It gets stuck in my gut like a drainage plug in your kitchen sink. It doesn't allow anything to pass through until I throw up. I can't even drink water while the plug is in.

Third, any sort of raw or grilled vegetable gets stuck and forms a plug in my gut. This is much worse than the rice. I tried some grilled broccoli recently, and that was the worst sticking experience I ever had. Veggies have to be steamed or sauteed with lots of water until they are very soft and very moist. They go down fine then. If they are dry or crunchy, forget about it. You will be in hell. This is the least of my worries, though. I have never been a fan of raw vegetables.