Being Sick is the Worst

Weight: 236.4 pounds

One of the benefits of my time on the Somae Plan is that I really only had one spell of being "sick", a sinus infection that cleared up pretty quickly. Since I finished the Somae Plan in December, I've been plagued with several head and chest colds, not to mention my fissure issue.

The past 9 days or so have been absolutely horrible, and my weight is reflecting not only my decrease in exercise but also my increased consumption of "comfort foods" in the form of processed carbs and a decrease in consumption of raw fruits and vegetables. I'm becoming convinced that I'm in a vicious cycle, and am trying to work my way out of it.

4 months and counting---confession time

Weight: 230.2 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 44.4 pounds

Today marks the 4 month anniversary of my beginning the Somae Plan. When I started at nearly 275 pounds in September, I was tired all of the time, unable to focus, easily distracted, and binge eating almost every night after my wife and kids went to bed. Today, I'm more productive at work and home, have a ton of energy and, as I type this, I'm ripping music to listen to while jogging in the coming week.

I've made some veiled references to an embarrassing medical condition I've developed over the past 2 months or so. When I moved from the HIGH fiber low calorie Phase 2 meal plan to the more substantial Phase 3 meal plan, I started to develop pretty bad constipation. I also developed a bad habit of "straining" during bowel movements, which ended up causing a literal "pain in the butt" that I thought to be hemorrhoids. I treated them as such with over the counter remedies, but nothing really helped and the pain only increased.

About 3 weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a fissure. Gross, I know, but nonetheless real. A fissure is a tear in one or more of the muscles that control the opening and closing of the sphincter. When healthy, the muscles loosen and constrict with bowel movements. When a fissure is present, the muscles tend to NOT loosen up and then OVERTIGHTEN, causing additional pain and tearing. SO, what to do....?

I'm now using a prescription ointment of nitroglycerin, yes the same thing used in explosives (insert joke here) and for heart patients. The purpose of the nitroglycerin, applied at the area of injury, is to dilate the blood vessels which promotes healing. It's working so far with less pain for the past several days.

I've also added fiber supplemets into my daily regimen which have made a WORLD of difference. More on this new discovery in a later post.

A Good Week of Training, but...

I actually had a good week of training this week on the Couch-to-5K program. My distances and times continue to improve. Despite some muscle pain during my interval sessions, I was able to stretch and avoid any post-run soreness. I'm breaking my new shoes in and getting used to the way they feel. I've also been doing some research on running form to ensure that I'm not running the "wrong way" (which I was), so I've been able to address some of those issues as well.

Unfortunately, my weight has spiked this week. In looking at it, I think the reintroduction of some particular carbs and a decrease in my sleep at night are taking their toll. I've also developed--or rather, redeveloped--a painful (and embarrassing) condition that will probably put a damper on my schedule. Let's put it this way, I can walk and probably run but sitting is a BIG problem. As of Saturday, I'm back on a whole foods diet with as much fiber and water as I can get. I purchased a stylish pillow to sit on today, and will be visiting the doctor sometime this week to see what my options are.

New Shoes for a New Me

As I've posted before, I'm training for the Flying Pig 5K race on April 30, 2011. Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing interval training through Couch-to-5K (C25K). It's a nine-week program, but since I have been so out-of-shape for so long, I'm easing into it by doing my interval walk/jog sessions 2 or 3 days a week. On New Year's Eve I actually walked a full 5K (3.1 miles) in just over an hour, but most of my sessions have been more like 30 minutes or so.

The one thing I've noticed, however, and as I've also been told by numerous runners...no matter how good of shape you're in, you MUST have a good pair of shoes. I had picked up a new pair of running shoes at the local "big box" retailer in early December, but my legs (and even my neck) were not doing very well with the added impact from the exercise.

Today, I broke down and went to a local running shoe store and had a professional fitting done. The sales staff was great and, after trying on probably 6 different pairs of shoes, settled on a nice pair, the Asics Gel-Cumulus 12. They were uber-comfortable in the store and even with a quick jog up and down the sidewalk at the store, I was convinced. Tonight, I took them out on the road for the first time...and OUCH. The shoes feel fine and the impact is certainly minimized, but the balls of my feet are KILLING me. I'll be going back tomorrow to see what may be wrong or if I may need an insert of some kind...I'm certainly open to suggestions.