Yesterday, when I thought I lost too much weight in one day, I drank gallons of water in case I was dehydrated. This morning my ankles were swollen so I know I was retaining water. My weight this morning was 328.9 (up from yesterday's 327). I ate fine vegan foods yesterday and today. By the way, Tokyo Joe's has an incredible dish called the Boulder something. It's brown rice with steamed vegetables and grilled tofu. I had peanut sauce on it and it was great! I was only able to eat about 1/4 of it, so my wife got a treat.
This morning Greg and I headed out for a ride to Denver, but I had some technical difficulties on my road bike and had to run into Mojo Wheels. Greg and I went back home and decided to start all over. We rode down the Bear Creek trail from Morrison to the Plate trail to downtown Denver and cruised around for a while. It was late so we took the light rail back to Englewood, but we still rode for about 40 miles today. Tomorrow morning my friend DW and I will recreate the Denver loop. I have the melanoma surgery in the afternoon, so we kind of have to hustle. We're both on road bikes so that shouldn't be a problem. Tomorrow's ride should be more than 50 miles.
Showing posts with label melanoma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melanoma. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
End of Day Post- 07-16-09
First, the doctor said my melanoma wasn't too serious, so she will excise some more skin around the original biopsy. Just a 30 minute procedure, but it will keep me out of the pool for a while; bummer.
Today was a pretty good day. Survived the bike ride and still made it to the gym, but I am a bit sore. I'm kind of surprised that I'm sore. You get sore when you stress out and stretch out your muscles. You actually get small microscopic tears. You usually get real sore when you start a new program, but I'm pretty used to mine. That's why it's good to mix up your routine. It lets the tears heal and builds your muscles. I usually do weight lifting one day, swimming the next, and mountain biking on the third; rinse and repeat :-) However, now that I can't swim for a while, I've had improvise. I need the cardiovascular workout at least every other day, so sometimes I do both the bike ride and the weights. I have to ride tomorrow with my friend, but I won't lift again until Saturday or Sunday. I'll ride both days. It seriously gets you pumped to sweat that much.
Today was a pretty good day. Survived the bike ride and still made it to the gym, but I am a bit sore. I'm kind of surprised that I'm sore. You get sore when you stress out and stretch out your muscles. You actually get small microscopic tears. You usually get real sore when you start a new program, but I'm pretty used to mine. That's why it's good to mix up your routine. It lets the tears heal and builds your muscles. I usually do weight lifting one day, swimming the next, and mountain biking on the third; rinse and repeat :-) However, now that I can't swim for a while, I've had improvise. I need the cardiovascular workout at least every other day, so sometimes I do both the bike ride and the weights. I have to ride tomorrow with my friend, but I won't lift again until Saturday or Sunday. I'll ride both days. It seriously gets you pumped to sweat that much.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The end of a beautiful Colorado day 7-15-09
What a beautiful day for mountain biking. Sunny and fairly cool and very good company. It would seem that my blog visitor's have really increased. Thank you. For those of you that are new to my blog, let me summarize what you'll find here. For one thing, this is a brutally honest site about my struggle with obesity, but it's really more than that. I believe we are the whole package and if you want to be healthy you need to pay attention to everything. You should be well versed on mental health because low self-esteem and depression run rampant in obese people. You not only need to have good health care and doctors that genuinely care about you, but it is also your responsibility to know what they are talking about. Nobody, even the best doctors, knows your body better than you. You need to know what all those test results really mean and you need to know your medications as well as the pharmacists. Fortunately, we have the internet, but that can sometimes turn you sideways. Always pay attention to who owns the site and their biases. Do a little research on reputable sites before you dive into any health changes. I'm a new convert to the vegan diet and I not only work with my primary care physician, but I also read and research. Any diet can be dangerous without knowledge.
In a nut shell, I am a 44 year old husband, father, vegan with bipolar disorder, a fluctuating low platelet count, and now, a melanoma. As if you couldn't tell, I love to write. I write classroom curriculum, articles, "blogs," and I'm now working on a book about... you guessed it, obesity. I am also the only child of the late filmmaker and artist, Paul Sharits. With the help from some very good friends in the art world, I try to manage his thriving career.
In March 2009, I was admitted to the hospital, again, for a variety of weight related issues. I had lost a lot of weight through a very poor diet, but I had hit a wall. Something needed to change right then and there. I started working out like a mad man and was seriously considering bariatric surgery. I do believe that many obese people, particularly the super morbidly obese, should have this life saving procedure, but I've personally converted to vegan because I believe it's a more healthy diet and because it's helping me lose weight. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I exercise everyday. If you're interested in the vegan diet, try reading "Skinny Bitch" or "Skinny Bastard." I'm sure you will see food in a new light. Tomorrow I see the dermatologist about the melanoma issue and I'm going to try to duplicate today's bike ride and hit the gym. I really miss swimming, but I have to abstain from the pool until my melanoma is healed.
In a nut shell, I am a 44 year old husband, father, vegan with bipolar disorder, a fluctuating low platelet count, and now, a melanoma. As if you couldn't tell, I love to write. I write classroom curriculum, articles, "blogs," and I'm now working on a book about... you guessed it, obesity. I am also the only child of the late filmmaker and artist, Paul Sharits. With the help from some very good friends in the art world, I try to manage his thriving career.
In March 2009, I was admitted to the hospital, again, for a variety of weight related issues. I had lost a lot of weight through a very poor diet, but I had hit a wall. Something needed to change right then and there. I started working out like a mad man and was seriously considering bariatric surgery. I do believe that many obese people, particularly the super morbidly obese, should have this life saving procedure, but I've personally converted to vegan because I believe it's a more healthy diet and because it's helping me lose weight. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I exercise everyday. If you're interested in the vegan diet, try reading "Skinny Bitch" or "Skinny Bastard." I'm sure you will see food in a new light. Tomorrow I see the dermatologist about the melanoma issue and I'm going to try to duplicate today's bike ride and hit the gym. I really miss swimming, but I have to abstain from the pool until my melanoma is healed.
Melanoma: first of two post's today
I've calmed down about the skin cancer thing. It's probably just a case of removing more skin and getting a graph. I can handle that. There was two other "moles" on my back. I guess they'll have to check those out now. At any rate, when I called the dermatologist they were going to set me up for August until they found out what's going on. Now, they'll fit me in tomorrow. I'm not really clear as to the treatment if it is more progressed. I'll cross that bridge when I need to.
Apparently, I was stressed out after the news, so I went to the gym and worked real hard. Now my upper body is sore. In a few minutes, I'll start out on today's growling bike ride. Yesterday I ate fairly good. I went to meet some friends for a BBQ and they had veggie burgers for me. How sweet is that! I would give yesterday a "4" (out of 5) on the sticking to the diet. My weight this morning was 338.6. I'm sure I'll make it to my goal of 20 pounds by the end of July.
Apparently, I was stressed out after the news, so I went to the gym and worked real hard. Now my upper body is sore. In a few minutes, I'll start out on today's growling bike ride. Yesterday I ate fairly good. I went to meet some friends for a BBQ and they had veggie burgers for me. How sweet is that! I would give yesterday a "4" (out of 5) on the sticking to the diet. My weight this morning was 338.6. I'm sure I'll make it to my goal of 20 pounds by the end of July.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Life can throw curve balls
My doctor called. My biopsy was positive for melanoma. Having a very low fluctuating platelet count and an enlarged spleen was enough to convince me to get as healthy as I possibly could just so I could handle these curve balls. I did get a little upset, so I hit the gym for an hour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)