Winter Blahs

We haven't been anywhere since the beginning of the month so I decided to post an update on how we've been doing.

I mentioned in my Christmas post that I had my last cigarette on November 27th. That was still my last cigarette. As for my general lack of motivation, I have gotten a few things done but am still coasting for the most part. On the plus side, I have lots to keep me busy once I get going.

One of the negatives lately has been my weight. On December 5th, I tipped the scale at 210 pounds. On January 24th, I was almost 225. Ouch. Sitting around watching TV, eating all the wrong foods and not going to the gym have a price. Plus my blood sugar hasn't been very well controlled, either.

That changed on the 25th. Since then I haven't had one thing that wasn't on my good foods list and have watched my portion control. I've started back at the gym, taking it slow at first, and I am getting plenty of water. My weight this morning was 218 and my blood sugar has been much better. This rate of weight loss won't continue. There is always a loss of excess fluids at the start of an effective diet (for me, anyway) and I expect to settle in at about two pounds a week based on approximately 1,600 balanced calories a day. The only thing I worry about is that tobacco used to be my way of ignoring food. Now I need to ignore both. So far, so good.

I also finally got in to see the cardiologist for the consult regarding my echo cardiogram and stress test last October. My Doctor had the reports in November and told me the echo showed increased calcification of my aortic valve while my stress test was "equivocal". The cardiologist cleared up my concerns. He said the Aortic Valve Stenosis (big words) was only marginally increased and the murmur was still a level one. He had me schedule another echo for two years down the road to keep an eye on it. As for the stress test, he said I handled the treadmill well and the only equivocal signs came at the end of my cool down period. He said not to worry about it.

It has been a mild winter without much snow. A few weeks ago, I fired up the 25 year old snowblower. Despite working fine a few weeks before, the auger drive seized up. I think it was the gearbox. In any case, it was very old so we headed over to Lowe's and bought a new one. Since it doesn't get used that much any more, we bought the house brand unit that was on sale. It is a 27" approximately 10HP unit and has been working fine for the few snowfalls we've had.

I need to get to work clearing my backlog. Some people are depending on things and I need to get things out of the way so I can get around to planning the spring trip. The days are getting longer and things should be right with the world before too long.