Normal II

It's been a week since the initial post-antibiotic update, so here's some more thoughts on events of the last week. First, the antibiotics didn't kill and flush all of the bacteria overgrowths but enough the body is working on the rest, even a week later. This will last awhile.

Second, the probiotics are also working more to replace the bacteria overgrowth and restore the digestive system bacteria, but it's clearly a different dynamic balance than I've had before so the digestive system is adjusting to it with a range of reactions.

Third, I've added more foods than I have eaten in years without any severe adverse reaction, which in part was due to the bad or other bacteria in the system than the current bacteria. This includes wheat where I've added baguette bread, cornbread, croissants, and my favorite Ritz crackers (sorry, we all need our junk food).

The new foods still take time for the system to get used to them, which to date is just a few different vegetables, eg. broccoli, cauliflower, etc. I have a whole list of foods I want to eventually try from all the food groups, but I'm parsing the food experiments out slowly, one or two per week.

Fourth, I've resumed my morning 6-mile walks. I moved the time I walk out the door from 5 am to 6 am to give me more time in the morning and have daylight on the walk home (3 miles to town and back with a break at a Starbucks) until latter this winter when sunrise is later than my walks. This also allows me to run errands at shops that open early.

Lastly, the weight. During the problems with the bacteria I gained 3-5 lbs depending on the day and the severity of the bacteria's effects on the body. During my 3-week hiatus from walking I also gained 1-2 lbs, which is normal as I've pushed the body lower than it wants so it adds it back quickly.

Since the end of the antibiotics, it took awhile, but I managed to lose all but 1+ lb of the weight, from the loss of the accumulation of the bacteria masses and side effects, and from the walking getting toward losing weight again.

For now I'm about 1-1 1/2 lbs above the weight I was two months ago when the worse problems started. This will take about a month to work off with walking and watching my diet. I don't eat on a regular schedule or eat full meals, but just snack my way through the day eating about every 2-3 hours or so.

I've calculated my basal metabolic rate with and without walking and calculated the approximate calories with the diet I normally eat, nothing exact or specific, but enough to be in the ballpark to know where I'm at everyday. It doesn't mean I skimp on foods, I just make sure I don't do overeat too often or too many days.

For now I can look to work toward my goal I've had for over a year, to get to 140 lbs. I've come close a few times for a few days but never longer due to the bacteria problems. I also know my body likes to be about 150 lbs, so I'm pushing it below my genetic predispostion.

I'm pushing it not to lose the weight but lose the fat. The genetic predisposition includes a fair amount of fat I've never lost, even when I was my healtiest and fittest, I still weighed 150-155 with 10-15 lbs of fat. It's just my body type.

The reasoning when I started walking and still is that at 67 I'm at the point it's my last, best chance to lower the weight and risks from the fat through an activity, walking, I can do consistently throughout the year to stay fit. I'll likely get back to some weight training.

Anyway, that's life so far.