Day 387 - Cable TV/Modem

Over the past couple of weeks, the stability of the cable modem is not that impressive.  Last night, Cable TV, along with cable modem went out completely.  I'm on-call this week, naturally, I'm rather angry about the situation.  My backup data connection is through my cell phone, considering that I have to buy a femtocell repeater (which lives off from the disconnected cable modem), means that my connectivity is next to nill.

I called up the cable company.  While I'm tempted to yell at whoever I'm talked to at the support line, but it won't bring connection back.  Fortunately, I survived the night without incident coming through.

118/77/44 184.4lb 85 mg/DL

Day 386 - Monday Mystery Weight Gain

For the past couple of weeks, I'll be at a certain weight on Sunday morning, only to be crushed on Monday, when my weight mysteriously increased, sometimes by 2-3 pounds range.  The only explanation is that I can think of is that I tends to not stick to the plan on my Sunday meals, and the fact that I wake up much later during the weekends compared to the weekdays.  But that's still something I'm working through


116/77/71 183.8lb 95 mg/DL

Day 385 - Loosing My Memory

I've mentioned before that if my head wasn't attached to my neck, I'd loose it a long time ago.  For example, this morning, I have to go from my car back to the house 3 times to retrieve things I've forgotten prior to going to work.  The third item happened to be left in the office...

115/75/63 184lb 93 mg/DL

Day 384 - End of Week 55

08-07-2010 Front

08-07-2010 Side

08-28-2011 Front

08-28-2011 Side

I wasted 30 minutes yesterday driving to and from Time Warner Cable's office trying to get the cable bill transferred to my name, as I've been paying it for the last 2 years.  Unfortunately, they don't do that anymore, and my only recourse is to cancel the current cable service, return all equipment and start over.  This is quit unacceptable, but yelling at the guys at that office won't do me any good.  I left and went over to Camarillo and got the rest of the gym shorts I had wanted to buy.  At least I'm stocked in that regard.

In my quest for the single bottle apple juice that someone at the office want me to buy, I finally found them at Van Nuys Costco.  The woman at the check out counter claimed that they've always have it in stock, so at least one of the mysteries in the universe is solved.  I'm not drinking them, but the person at the office will not go with out them for long.

This week isn't spectacular in terms of weight loss.  I actually spend most of the week correcting the gains between last Sunday and Monday.  Fortunately, it work off for the best.  Next week has the long weekend, but I don't have any particular plans.

113/79/55 182.6lb 93 mg/DL
Week to Week 0.6
Total Weight Loss 145.4
BMI 26.20

Day 383 - Pain in the Foot

Or in my case, pain in the left foot.  I woke up on Monday with soreness on the top of my left foot.  Where it makes contact with the shoe is where it hurts.  Walking around in the office also hurts.  The only good thing about it is 5 days later, the pain have subsided.

114/77/55 182.6lb 91 mg/DL

Day 382 - Hypoglycemia

As usual, I was eating my father & brother's left over for dinner from previous night.  Rice, tofu with chicken.  As usual when I eat too much fast acting carbohydrate, I think my body release too much insulin, and I quickly have an episode of hypoglycemia.  I was sweating, and shaking.  Measurement of the glucose came back as 61 mg/DL.  I ate one of those no sugar added fudge bar from the refrigerator, and stabilized the situation, but it would appear that despite tolerating glucose such as potato and rice, I simply cannot have too much of it at once.  Hypoglycemia isn't fun.

105/69/45 183.6lb 89 mg/DL

Day 381 - Raised Veins

One of the side effect of my weight loss is that veins is now quit visible, for example:

Raised Veins

The veins used to be buried underneath all of my former fat.  It's a bit easier for me to get blood drawn now.

113/72/49 184.2lb 89 mg/DL

Day 380 - KFC Leftover Experiment

And you honestly expect anything other than failure?  Yes, I can tolerate the chicken, even the breading.  No, I don't think that third piece was wise.  I didn't reheat the chicken, opting to just eat it straight from the fridge.  Not that I think it'll make much differences.  (BTW, the experiment is from Monday's dinner, I only get to blog about it today).

I simply lost an hour this morning.  Normally my alarm goes off at 4:45AM, and it'll take me almost 10 minutes to actually get out of my room and start my morning routine.  Usually I hit the treadmill at about 5:15 AM.  Today, when I finally look at the clock when I was ready to go, it's 5:45AM...

107/69/50 184lb 96 mg/DL

Day 379 - On Taxes

I posted this on Google+ back in July 27 2011:

Remember, if you feel you're not paying your fair share of tax. The United State Treasury will accept your generous donation to pay down public debt.

Send your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

Read their FAQ regarding how to donate money, on the section Financing the Debt.

117/76/52 184.2lb 98 mg/DL

Day 378 - New Gym Shorts

I'm not exactly asking a lot.  I've been wearing old style all cotton gym shorts for the longest time.  Unfortunately for me, most of them are threadbare and falling apart.  However, try as I may, I simply cannot find any of these shorts.  All I ask for is cotton shorts with 2 side pockets, and 1 rear pocket.  Natural feel cotton fabric.

After many many search, I finally found it in Camarillo Gaps Factory Outlet.  I bought a medium size shorts, and it fits well enough that I'm going back next week and get a couple of more.

This morning's number is a bit off the chart.  I kind of have excessive amount f caffeine yesterday, and had caffeine induced energy well into 11PM.  So not the best night of sleep.

117/77/79 185.8lb 94 mg/DL

Day 377 - End of Week 54

08-07-2010 Front

08-07-2010 Side

08-21-2011 Front

08-21-2011 Side

A rather uneventful week.  The weight loss is still in the right direction, and I'm about 9 pounds away from goal weight.  Perhaps after I reach that goal I can set another one?

102/66/59 183.2lb 97 mg/DL
Week to Week 2.2
Total Weight Loss 144.8
BMI 26.28

Day 376 - Another Make-Up Post

For some reason I utterly forgot to post yesterday.  It wasn't as if all of my times got consumed, just that I forgot.  Well, here it is.

115/78/66 184.4lb 91 mg/DL

Day 375 - Kindle & Out of Print Books

One of the advantage of Kindle reader system is that book publisher can keep books in print indefinitely.  I'm currently re-reading Jack Vance's excellent Lyonesse Trilogy, which isn't always in print.  What joy it is to re-enjoy books that I can no longer find in library nor my pile of books.

111/77/55 184.4lb 91 mg/DL

Day 374 - Lean Body Mass

Yesterday was the last of my first year follow up appointments with the surgeon.  In all, they were very please with the progress of my weight loss and the exercise regiment.  Most of my blood test came back positive, except for two area, protein is a bit low and Vitamin D.  I guess I'll be taking another supplement pill.  I'll also be cutting back my iron intake by half and see if this pans out.

In the last 3 rounds of examination, I have use the InBody 520 machine to measure various body mass.  Here's some of the results:

02-09-2011: Weight: 231.0lb, Body Fat 83.11lb, LBM 147.9lb
05-12-2011: Weight: 210.3lb, Body Fat 62.0lb,  LBM 148.4lb
08-17-2011: Weight 187.6lb, Body Fat 38.8lb, LBM 148.8lb

This is actually pretty good progress.  I've been worry about whether I've been loosing the wrong kind of weight (muscle), but it would appear that the only thing I'm loosing is just body fat.  At least that's one worry off my mind.

114/75/63 185lb 92 mg/DL

Day 373 - Chrome

Well, one of the web application that I use daily does work with Chrome.  Guess that's one less thing I have to worry about with using Internet Explorer.

113/75/69 185.4lb 89 mg/DL

Day 372 - Firefox 6 Upgrade

Well, this is likely to be the least disruptive Firefox upgrade I've ever experienced.  All of the old extension still works.  And I only have to upgrade the Appearance mod, which is available.  However, I'm now debating on whether to switch over to Chrome, as it seemed to be a whole lot less resource intensive, and doesn't exhibit the weird lock up that Firefox has been exhibiting recently.  My two main extension that have kept me in Firefox (All-In-One Mouse Gesture and NoScript) have equivalent (Smooth Gestures and NotScript).

Not everything works the way I want in Chrome, but it's enough that I'm seriously considering switching the vast majority of my browsing over.

105/73/50 183.8lb 90 mg/DL

Day 371 - On Google Buying Motorola

When I get on my computer this morning to put in my wake up blood pressure meter (the only piece of brain work I get before hitting the web), I naturally fired up my browser and looked at Google+.  The very first thing that caught my eye is a post by Geoff Atteberry about Google buying Motorola Mobility (which includes the cell phone & the set top cable box).

The very first thing that pop into my mind is that this is a patent defense/offense move by Google.  They can afford it, and they're probably either going to spin-off the set top cable box business (as suggested by Eric Raymond in his Google+ posting) or they're going to just keep the patent and sell off the remaining cellular phone business.

Personally, in the immediate future, not much will change.  Motorola will not be integrated into Google anytime soon.  For one thing, this is the biggest thing Google have ever acquired.  For another thing, they're not going to antagonize the rest of the Android makers by playing favors.

Lets just hope that Verizon (my carrier of choice, since I bought their cell tower repeater to service my house) gets a Nexus phone.

107/74/56 183.8lb 91 mg/DL

Day 370 - End of Week 53

08-07-2010 Front

08-07-2010 Side

08-14-2011 Front

08-14-2011 Side

A good week in terms of weight loss.  I'm about 11 pounds to go on my goal weight. I'll do some more shopping when I get there.

I'll be spending some times today doing some computer shopping, including a new head set for my computer.  The old one is both a bit heavy and falling apart.

That's all for me today.

117/74/53 94 185.4lb 96 mg/DL
Week to Week 2.6lb
Total Weight Loss 142.6lb
Body Mass Index 26.60

Day 369 - Friday Night Dinner

I usually go to Rose Hills on Friday afternoon, and having Chinese dinner in Alhambra.  It's one of my few indulgence I still practice.  I've noticed that the past few weeks, I tends to pick up very salty soup that I parceled out the rest of the weekend meals.  And my weight loss seemed to stall or go in reverse.

This week, I did  a couple of things.  I bought a more fitting belt.  I know that I'm due for another set of wardrobe changes, but I can hold out until I hit my goal weight.  I also cut back on my morning eggs from three to two.  And I try my best to drink as much water as I can.  Thus far the result has been encouraging.

I also decided to change out my weekend routine a bit.  Yesterday I went to Noodle King in Alhambra.  I usually order one plate of fried stinky tofu, but not this night.  What I want is protein, and what I order is a slice hard tofu with shredded beef tripe and tendon with spicy sauce.  This is what it looks like

And I ordered a plate of oyster omelette

I used to go to Kang Kang food court for the omelet, but their quality (at least on Friday night) have been slipping.  I also order a set of pan fried pork bun, which my brother actually preferred.

In terms of eating these, I purposely save half of each plate for lunch today, and only eat half of each plate.  That turn out to satisfy me just fine.  Albeit, the big cup of Starbuck coffee actually managed to push me into a hypoglycemia state (61 mg/DL).  I'll see what next week brings me.

122/78/54 184.8lb 97 mg/DL

Day 368 - Joy of Computer Re-imaging

Yesterday, my work computer was being backup and re-imaged.  Today, I'm struggling to get everything back.  Unfortunately for me, one of the critical program that I use has an older license key that isn't compatible with the latest version of the software.  Kindle doesn't seemed to want to work on this box, and other issues.

Here's looking at this coming weekend as I try to implement my new weekend dietary regiment.

105/67/51 186lb 98 mg/DL

Day 367 - Getting A Hang of the Hangout

As I scroll though my Google+ page today, I noticed that one of the person I encircle is having a Hangout.  Hop on, and enjoy the entire experience quit a bit.  Hell, I even got a webcam just to do the video part of the Hangout.

115/72/55 186.4lb 89 mg/DL

Day 366 - Sodium Intake

As I sat through yesterday's Bariatric Surgery Support meeting, one thing that pop into my head regarding my food intake, ALL of the Chinese take out food that I've been having these past couple of weekends are relatively high in sodium.  If I had more sodium in my system, then I retain more water, thus my weight loss slows.  Starting this weekend, I'll be bidding adieu to that weekend tradition of eating those delicious take outs. 

112/74/51 186.2lb 95 mg/DL

Day 365 - One Year Ago Today

I have my surgery one year ago at about 7AM PDT.  Hard to believe, this is what I looked like that Monday afternoon, about 5 hours after the surgery:

August 09 2010 4:22 PM

This is what I look like this morning:

August 09 2011 7:08AM

Even though 140lb loss is encouraging, this past month hasn't been as well as I can hope for.  The number either moved in the wrong direction or it barely moved at all.  I'll have more to say later.

112/69/45 187.8lb 90 mg/DL
Month 12 0.8lb

Day 364 - Clothing Donation

I finally got around to move the old clothing to be ready to be donated.  A lot of clothing gathered in the last 15 years.  I kept the 4x pants for demonstration purpose in tomorrow's support meeting.

Regarding the belt that I bought yesterday, already, I'm at the second hold for this belt.  It felt a bit tight, but that too will come to pass.

110/70/54 189.2lb 93 mg/DL

Day 363 - End of Week 52

08-07-2010 Front

08-07-2010 Side

08-07-2011 Front

08-07-2011 Side

For the most part, this has been a good week.  My weight even dropped to a record keeping low of 187.2lb this past Friday.  Unfortunately, I had the weekend and the very unstructured meals that tends to show up.

I'll have to finish clearing and categorizing my old clothing that will be donated this coming Tuesday.  Went out this afternoon and pick up a size 32-36 belt, the third belt since surgery.  It feels a bit tight now, but I'm fairly confident that waist size 36 is my current pants size.  I won't be getting new pants until I'm a couple of holes into this new belt.

107/69/54 94 188lb 94 mg/DL
Week to Week 0.8lb
Total Weight Loss 140lb
Body Mass Index 26.96

Day 362 - Now What?

One of the pre-surgery courses that Cedars had me take is a psychological course designed to prepare me for the post surgery reality.  The only thing that the surgery promised is a chance to loose weight.  It is a big change in terms of dietary restriction and life style.  It does not promised to fix anything else.  If anything does end up getting fixed, it'll just be added bonus.  For example, I had type 2 diabetes and hypertension, both not helped by my weight.  Within 6 months of the surgery, I'm off both medication, and eating more or less normally with less portion and some difficulty diggesting certain carbohydrate.  That's merely the good side benefit of the purpose of the surgery, and the primary reason I get it done.  But it's still only side benefit.

The fat on my body is not the cause of all my ills.  If I'm a depressed person (I'm not btw), chances are that the fat are not making it better, but it's unlikely to be the cause of it.  It is not a cure all.  It won't make me feel better about myself.  If I had problem relationship, chances are, they'll still just as bad after I loose weight.

When I drive around to and from cemetery weekly, I keep on getting annoyed at the band-mill (if you live in the West Coast, you know the one I'm talking about) billboard along the highway and radio ads that promised the lap-band as a cure-all.  If you're reading this and thinking about the surgery, I can promise you one thing, the surgery isn't a cure-all.

My knees are still busted from years of overweight wear and tear.  My shins are still scarred, and will takes years to properly heal from the fluid retention issue from 2 years ago.   Do I feel more healthy?   Absolutely.  I do feel a bit better about my self image, but I was never big on that other than being self conscience about being photographed.  Now I just have to live with this slightly more healthy body and go forth on slay other demons.

123/70/51 188.2lb 93 mg/DL

Day 361 - Flashback, the Summer of Our Discontent 2009

I've mentioned before that the decision for me to have the weight loss surgery was one that I should've made 2 years ago.  25 months ago, I was well into morbidly obese weight level.  For more than 2 years, I've had episodes of developing blisters on my shins, that doesn't heal completely.  In the summer of 2009, the situation has progressed to such extend, that I was basically bleeding blood, minus the red blood cell.  I have to have constant bandage changes just to soak up the plasma.

To make matter worse, I had a little accident.   In my house, we either wear slippers or barefoot.  Shoes are kept at either the garage or near the front door.  I go barefoot.  Right around June of 2009, I was walking towards the bathroom, in the dark when my left foot struck the base of the sofa.  The toenail on my big toe was a bit longer than usual, and it hit the sofa hard.  I didn't know it at the time, but the toenail was gone.  I was bleeding, oozing puss, and in pain.

In the midst of all this pain, I was the only member of my family that actually went to London to attend my cousin's wedding.  Needless to say, that trip wasn't fun.  There's a lot of walking in London, and with my extra weight, bleeding shins, toe with soon to broken off toenail, I was in no shape to walk all of the distances.

My doctor soon find out the cause of my feet and shin swelling, diabetic medication Actos and switch out that for Byetta injection.  The toenail eventually falls off and I was without toenail on that toe for more than a year.  My diabetic control, which despite doubling of the medication continue to deteriorate.  Finally on my year end appointment with my doctor, she mentioned that the next course of treatment will be Insulin injection.  That's how I end up making my mind about the surgery.

Despite this, it still takes me 3 more months to finally get started on the program.  Inertia is a great force indeed.

115/77/66 187.2lb 88 mg/DL

Day 360 - Another Late Late Post

Sorry about another late post.  This one will just have the measurement update.

124/76/57 189.4lb 89 mg/DL

Day 359 - Patch 4.2 Dailies Completed

My hunter was the last of my level 85 characters to completed all of the daily quest grind.  And was rewarded with the mount and the transformation locket.  Here she is with both items:

Druid of the Flames Hunter

Not a bad combo.

105/70/47 191.4lb 94 mg/DL

Day 358 - A Bit Alarming

I'm not sure how to explained this, but with the last 5 days, I've gain 4.6 pounds.  Now some of it I explained, but at least 3 pounds of it I cannot.  I've got to stop doing experiment like that turkey pot pie in yesterday's lunch.  Next 3 days, I'll have training that I'll be doing from home.  Perhaps this is time to reset my diet a bit and stop eating junk.

113/75/49 192.6lb 91 mg/DL

Day 357 - Searing Scorchling & Flameward Hippogryph

I've been hunting this particular companion pet for 3 years.  It was originally one of the possible pet for the Mid Summer dungeon quest reward, which they replace last year with Ice Chip.  With patch 4.2, they brought it back as a possible item contained within Zen'Vorka's Cache, something to buy when you've unlocked all of the Molten Front vendors, thus making Mark of the World Tree rather useless.  It is possible to buy individual capital city reputation token.  However, my paladin is already exalted with all of the capitals.  Fortunately, my paladin scored the scorchling on her very first bag.  Now, just doing the Regrowth/Molten Front dailies for money.

Dianora with Searing Scorchling in Molten Front

This make pet 161.

When any character finished unlocking all of the token progression, they'll get a fairly decent looking mount, Flameward Hippogryph.  Here's what Dianora's one looks like, also in Molten Front:

Flameward Hippogryph in Molten Front

This makes mount 137.

110/73/64 191lb 87 mg/DL