Damn The Torpedoes

The first bump is the Disney Trip, which was just about one week post A-Fib relapse. The second bump is past week, where my A-Fib got reset.

A-Fib isn't an excuse, or a free pass. It's a serious heart condition with side effects ranging from shortness of breath & exhaustion to blood clots & stroke.

I've experienced everything short of blood clots. It's felt at times like I have an angry fish flopping around inside my chest, and there is NO doubt that exhaustion has played a big part in my recent fitness inconsistency.

...but I kept plugging at it, as best I could...

I stayed on-track with my eating, which continues to be an excellent habit. I have returned to Aqua Fit, but I'm not yet back at the level of multiple visits per week.

This week I intend to pick up with my bodyweight exercises, and begin some light bicycling. I intend to start lightly & work up slowly, both to minimize exhaustion and adding any stress to my system.

Stress is the big issue. First, I believe it was a combination of stress & anger that helped push me back into A-Fib.

Secondly, I 'think' that the week at Disney resulted in a weight bump due to a stress response. My body was already stressed w/ A-Fib, and then adding a ton of exertion probably bumped up my Cortisol level, which is well known to affect blood sugar (which has historically been the root of my weight issue). After all, the proof in the pudding is that the week following Disney I did nearly zero activity & my weight began self-correcting!

THAT may actually be the golden nugget of good news inside this messy 30 day roller-coaster. Being able to self-correct during a recovery period is fantastic news, and that's hopefully where I am now - on the downslope of bump #2, and hopefully back on track with my rock-steady decline in weight.

So, I've got that going for me...

The bummer is that I did not meet my weight loss goal for April Fool's Day. I still lost weight over the last 30 days (HUGE WIN!), but it looks like I'll hit my 100lb halfway mark sometime in the next week or so.

...and that ain't too shabby...


-Lee
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R. Lee Putman, Jr.

Email:
leeputmanjr@mac.com

Phone / Text: 847.687.7291