Two pounds

It's just two pounds. Many people eat that much in one meal. We all gain and lose up to or more than that during a day, and over time from our exercise, eating and activities. And it's weight easily absorbed by the body, often stored as fat, and kept in the digestive system until it processed and expelled.

It's just two pounds. But to my body it's everything. As I finally reached 135 pounds, the weight now varies between 135.0 and 137.0 pounds. I got there over a week about a month ago dropping from 140 pounds to 136 pounds. Not sure why, only that it did.

Since then I don't get to or over 137.0 pounds anymore, but it takes exercising (walking 6-8 miles 5-6 days a week) and watching my diet (what, how much, when I eat). I don't count calories except in estimates to know where I'm at for my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and adding calories from walks.

This is about 1400-1500 calories on non-walking days and 2000-2200 calories on walking days. None of that however is reflected so much in my weight, measured daily first thing in the morning before anything else. The naturopath said it's the time must before you body begins to change from sleep to awake.

I don't worry too much about the number so much, just to know the lowest weight I am for an idea of the floor my body is at when the digestive system is completely empty. The fat level is slowly decreasing, but it's not so much reflected in the weight except over weeks or months.

What I monitor is the change between days as it's indicative of what the body kept or lost from the previous day(s), which is why is varies 0 to 1+ pounds. This relates back to what, how much and when I ate the day(s) before the digestive system is still holds or lost.

What's important these days is that this small difference is in the digestive tract, which in turn enlarges the large colon, which in turn puts pressure on the lower back and Sciatic nerve, causing the lower back and legs to hurt.

I'm not sure why this happens, only it does. There's no pain when I'm 135.0, mild pain at 135.5, moderate at 136.0 and more at 136.5-137.0. And the pain makes the walks harder for every .5 pound, reflected in muscles feeling tired and sore and the pace slows, from 14 minutes per mile to 15+ minutes per mile.

This is where I'm at. Not where I thought or want do be, but am. The back specialist noted two years ago from scan of my lower spine (L3 and lower) from the 2012 and 2015 scans my compression is less but the degeneration is slightly worse. Two years later it's likely a little more worse for wear.

Anyway, this is where I'm at now. I walk 5-6 days a week, and watch my diet, namely what, how much and when I eat. From there it's helping the digestive system with supplements the naturopath recommends after all the tests, to process food through in a timely manner.

So it's the work to balance the exercise, diet and body, specifically the digestive system to work. I've learned the less I eat the better I feel, the more I eat the worse I feel, which is counter to what the body needs for energy.

And the more I stay within my short food list the better I feel, the more foods I try, as naturopath recommends to expand microbiome in digestive tract, the worse I feel as the body takes time generate the bacteria and digest the food(s), usually adding weight for 2-3 days while it processes the food.

That's conundrum between food and digestive system, digestive system and lower back, lower back and walking, walking and fat/weight. Such is life now.

Why

On my walks some mornings, people will stop to say they see me walking a lot (20-24 days a month), and ask why. After an explanation about my Sciatic nerve I pinched in June and July 2012 which left me flat on my back, I realized I continue walks for a few reasons.

This has been a question I've asked myself since reaching my goal weight of 140, and now under 140,  for the last 3-4 months. I haven't lost all the fat yet, still 1-2 lbs left to lose which will take most of the rest of this year at the rate I lose it now. 

The first is about reaching 60 where time and age catches up with the body and it's a slow decline from now on. It's really simple, every morning I get get better or get worse. It's not really that simple because after 60 you're only slowing the decline of time and age of your body and mind.

The second is I've driven the weight and fat below my genetic predisposition, so after not walking for a few days, the body will begin to readjust to add both back. I feel it at the 3-4 day mark where it takes a few walking days to get the body back.

So walking is keeping the weight and fat off, and hopefully losing the remaining fat over the spring and summer. Walks are now for sustaining what I've gained. The third is a followup to the second, the less weight, the less pressure on the lower back and Sciatic nerve.

The last is simply it's good mental and physical exercise. I'm basically lazy, and can be a good couch potato, so forcing myself to get up and ready and then get out the door to walk 6-8 miles helps remind me who's in control.

Anyway, that's the thoughts on the walk this morning when a couple asked me why I walk so much. It makes my day.

Food Experiments

I've been trying new foods or retrying old foods for years through the problems with my digstive system, almost always ending in an adverse reaction, usually moderate to extreme constipation. Some foods would work normally once but then never again, to be crossed off the list.

Now that my digestive problems have been diagnosed and treated, first to treat the bacterial infections/overgrowth with anti-biotics and probiotics, and second to treat the damage to the digestive system with supplements for the acids, enzymes and proteins to digest food, it's taken time to rebuild it and make it work again.

The other missing part of the treatment was a diversity of foods to rebuild the bacteria in the small and large intestine, mostly the latter, to digest and process a greater variety of foods. The problem is the first time you try a food, the system doesn't have the bacteria for it, so it has to build it.

This means I never know how the system will react with new foods, because you have to eat it a few times to build the bacteria for it. With that the food experiments have taken on a new role, but first I have to want to eat the foods, something I don't have an interest to try a range of foods.

The naturopath recommended starting with plants, mostly vegetables since they have the greater variety of bacteria to add to the system. Before I've reduced the list of them to carrots, celery and occasionally peas. To that I've been trying two vegetables a week.

A few weeks ago it was asparagus and cauliflower, two vegetables I really like, and they worked enough I can eat them again. Last week was tomatoes and lettuce with refried beans. I love tacos with refried beans, some meat, tomatoes and lettuce - the food experiment minus the meat for now.

The beans are high in fiber, which I rarely eat because of its effects on the digestive system, like a tunnel boring machine. Yeah, they and the vegetables were not good reactions, so I have to decide if I want to try them again in the future.

This week is green beans, another one I like. No idea of the other one yet, something to browse the produce market and follow the taste buds. I've only added a few non-vegetables to focus the system on the fewest new foods as possible.

Some foods are old foods I've had a range of reactions to over the years, mostly potatoes, but they have a lot of starch which strains the system. I still try one of my favorite foods, potato chips, every now and then, but stopped when the system has problems digesting it.

Anyway, just some thoughts on foods. There's a long list of foods to try this year, and at one or two a week it will take awhile. The two health supplements to help the digestive system works very well, something I recommend now if your system isn't working.

Don't always assume it's a bacteria balance/imbalance issue and just try probiotics, something most gastroenterologists say because they don't know anymore or any better. There are tests to check for some of the acids, enzymes and proteins needed for digesting and processing foods.

Get them if you haven't had the test. That's how the naturopath discovered my pancreas wasn't working to produce enough enzymes to digest some foods. You can also add the supplements which provide these elements, but I would recommend clinicial standard supplements for their quality and quantity and lack of unnecessary ingredients.

The worst case scenarios is the supplements just add to existing acids, enzymes and proteins you don't need and you can then discontinue them. The other supplement is Butyric acid which feeds the cells in the lining of the large intestine to protect it and help process foods, which has been a great help.

That's it for now.

Food Anew

After my naturopath, who specializes in digestive system care, found and treated the problems I’ve been having for 9 years now, after 3 gastroenterologists couldn’t find with a succession of tests which in hindsight were a waste only but they had to follow the diagnostic protocols and then, finding nothing, said there wasn’t anything more they could do for me, I’ve found food again. 

After two ant-biotics to eliminate the bacterial infections, probiotics to rebuild the bacterial balance, and then taking two health supplements to restore the digestive system’s acids, enzymes and proteins, the digestive system is normal again, adding a variety of foods to rebuild the diversity of bacteria in foods in the system for digeting foods.

Yes, I’ve found food again, and going to the supermarket to buy what I can eat and not just go to see what I can’t eat, albeit only a few at at time and in small amounts for now to reorient my digestive system to the variety of foods it won’t revolt but simply taste, digest and process like a normal system should and does. 

Food. Real food again. Simple word but a world of joy. The joy of walking around a good grocery store (Metropolitan Market in Tacoma, any of them are good along with PCC markets in Seattle) seeing all the foods from around the world, seeing and smelling all the food in the deli, browsing all the fresh produce, fish/seafood/meats, just enjoy the privilege many people in the world don’t have, and enjoying the thought of eating again and not worrying about the effects, or worse problems, later, but simply enjoying it.

Food. A basic staple of life. Food again. Lost and found anew. So much exploration ahead to renew my connection with food and life. Simple things the vast majority never think about other than a momentary thought what they wanted to eat without regard should anything go wrong because it won’t. Simple decisions, momentary, to think, “You know what would taste good right now?”, or walk into their kitchen with the whole array of foods to decide what to fix and eat for the sheer joy of food.

Food. We take for granted until we can’t and find we’ve lost the right to that joy. But now I’ve found it again, and on the slow road back to what everyone else accepts as common, food, any food. Time will provide that as I explore food again.

Food

I had a followup appointment with the naturopath last week after prescribing (in the sense they can) health supplements 3 months ago to help digest food. For the most part, they helped a little but not significantly, and not for periods when matters got worse.

At the end we discovered I have two problems. First she reasoned from the symptoms and results of the health supplements to date my digestive isn't working because it's not producing enough of the acids, enzymes and proteins to fully digest food.

We know from tests my pancreas doesn't produce enough enzymes to help break down foods. Now she suspects the stomach isn't producing enough acid to predigest food and the small and large intestine aren't producing enough of all three to fully digest and process food.

This is why I have a lot of undigested food among other symptoms. So she prescribed new health supplements which adds the recommended acid, enzymes and proteins to the whole system. In the short time since taking them the changes have been more than a significant improvement.

The system is working to digest food again, which leads to the second problem. She added a probiotic after the antibiotics which helped somewhat but often excerbated the problems, meaning too much bacteria in the system which was a reflection of the first problem, not working.

She talked about the idea it's less what you eat sometimes but what you don't eat. Since I've had the problems over the last 9 years and especially last 3 years I've reduced my diet to the minimal which doesn't cause problems, and only try new foods occasionally, which usually causes problems.

And this is the second problem. The digestive system adjusts the diversity of the bacteria to the foods you eat, the more diverse the foods, the more diverse the bacteria, and vice versa. This is key when I ate foods I haven't eaten in awhile, sometimes years, the bacteria isn't there to digest it.

That's what has been part of the problem. I need to expand my foods to give the digestive system a more diverse microbiome to tolerate and digest foods. But before I can do that I have to make the system work to digest food in the first place.

So that's where I'm at. First, get the digestive system working, which signs seem to show it is working now, but this will take time as it and the body adjusts to the health supplements. Then, slowly add news foods, mostly fruits and vegetables which diversfy the bacteria in the system.

The goal being not to worry about what I eat with a far more diverse diet. Eventually I might be able to drop the probiotics, but it's clear I won't be able to drop the other health supplements since they're the one adding the acids, enzymes and proteins my system doesn't produce anymore.

But I'll take it since I can begin to enjoy food and not worry how my system will react.

Weight and Miles

When I first started walking in September 2012 I weighed about 190 lbs. I had pinched my Sciatic nerve the previous July which left me flat on my back for nearly a week and the advice from the back specialist, "Get you ass out there and walk, as far as you can, as often as you can, and add a backpack to add weight later."

It took awhile to get the miles up from a few miles to 6 miles and later 8 miles a day with the plan to walk 20-25 days a month. It took only a few months to get to 5-6 miles and a few more months to get to 8 miles, but it took a year to get to 20 or more days per month.

And it wasn't consistent over the years, there were setbacks from bacteria problems with my digestive system which took 4 years to resolve, no thanks to gastroenterologists who did all sorts of tests but nary an answer, and a naturopath specializing in digestive system to find the answer and presecribe two antibiotics.

For the last 2 1/2 years I dropped the walks to 6 miles during the worst of the digestive problems, which caused intermittent problems with the lower back and Sciatic nerve. The 6-mile distance helped keep the walking while minimizing the problems.

For the most part when I walked at least 15-20 days I lost weight and after the first few months the ratio was about 80 miles per pound of weight, meaning fat. This was due to the calories for the weight loss based on distance, walking pace, and weather and temperature (all walks outdoors along rural roads).

As the weight dropped, the total calories used also dropped, and as you might expect, the miles per pound increased for every 10 pounds lost, but not in a linear manner, eg. at 180-170 lbs it was about 90 miles, 170-160 lbs it was about 100 miles, and 160-150 lbs it was about 120 miles, and 150-140 lbs it increased from 120 to 150 miles.

As I approached 140 lbs I was below my genetic weight and fat, where the body fights losing and changes to add the weight and fat back to the genetic predisposition level. Below 140 lbs it's become even harder, taking over 300 miles to lose one pound, 140 to 139 lbs, and recently reached 138 lbs after over 500 miles.

This means the remaining weight, about a pound of fat, will take even longer, and the walks will be to keep the weight under 140 lbs than to lose anymore weight. I don't know how many days or miles this will require but for now the walks are for habit, to get up and out the door early in the morning.

I'll still walk 6 miles, maybe increasing to 7-8 miles later this spring or summer, and keep the 20-24 days per month simply for the routine. I'd like to change to or add running but that's still on the horizon when the body feels it's ok, because of the pounding the lower back takes with running

I've run short distances with no problems, so there's promise, but for now walking works, and I get to stop at a cafe at the turn-around place in town.

Cold Weather II

Well, I learned this week, after a week of sub-freezing temperatures with 8-12 degree wind chills, that my body is better in cold weather than I wrote earlier, so much so I can walk in weather in the low 20's with a wind chill into the low-mid teens.

It's a matter of adding a layers of clothes, especially the legs since I wear above-the-knee shorts now all the time. I dragged out all the winter clothes I used over my 13 years of doing year-round field work in Oregon, Arizona and Washington.

Much of the clothes have shrank some, even though I'm smaller and weigh less than when I did field work, but there was enough to use to keep me warm under the NorthFace Gore-Tex two-layer coat wiht a down inner liner and some Marmot gloves for Reynaud's Syndrome.

In addition I changed my morning breakfast snack to help fuel the body better for the walks. And adding bread now adds some carbohydrates. The only problem is when it gets into the 30's and colder my nose runs faster than I walk so I go through a hankerchief every walk.

That said, I got out five days this week in sub-freezing weather is only problems with walking into 15-20 mph winds. Wind goes through Gore-Tex, but the underlayers do a good job keeping me warm. Only the face gets cold.

I learned I prefer 40's and rain to 20-30's and clear and windy. I can stay dry, but staying warm takes more work, although walking on the pre-dawn, moonless, clear mornings offer the stars, where in some places there's very little light from the area.

What's cool on some walks are the places where you can stop and hearing nothing, just silence except for the natural sounds, owls, etc. You can just stop and listen for awhile to the quiet, until commuters drive by which you can hear a mile away,

In other news, I've done more food experiments, some good and most not so good. I'm still limited on the vegetables (carrots, celery and peas) after trying a few more. The same happened with fruits, all but organges are out, including bananas.

Meat is still regional free-range turkey and some natural, drug-free brands of sandwich ham after trying a range of beef, veal, pork, etc. Seafood is ok occasionally (crab, shrimp). I haven't tried any fresh or canned fish yet, and probably won't for awhile.

Bread is still baguette, sourdough bread, some croissants (depends on bakery), cornbread and Ritz cracker, while muffins, biscuits, scones, etc. are out. Not sure why but it's the reality for now. I haven't tried regular breads yet, and like fish, won't for awhile.

The same applies to other foods, such as grains (rice, oats, etc.), meaning haven't tried them yet. Potatoes (white, yam, sweet, etc.) are ok occasionally in small quantities. They're great as a base for toppings.

Anyway, that's it from here for early January. The cold weather isn't stopping the walking, only bad food experiments are.

Newspaper

My parents and their siblings went through my paternal grandparents' home in Valley Falls, Kansas, in the mid-1970's moving all the furniture out to various family members, which I got the last of the bedroom sets from the 1880's with a rocking chair (their wedding present), and wholesaling out the rest of everything in the house.

Before the wholesaler's crew came they went through the house one last time. The basement was full of everything they saved from the day they move in after my grandfather had the house built around 1910 before sending for his future wife.

In the attic, more of the same, boxes and cupboards full of everything they saved. Surviving through the depression my grandmother never threw anything out she could save. In one cupboard in the attic they found this framed page from the Valley Falls Vindicator newspaper, dated September 28,1949.

They had no idea why she saved that page and had it framed, but they set it aside. Later reading the page they found the reason buried in the public notices.

My birth announcement. It's been hanging on my bedroom wall the day I got it to remind me one day those years ago someone cared to remember me. My parent would eventually go on to kick me out of the house in 1968 for failing their expectations in college.

I would enlist in the US Air Force and rarely return home, only for family reunions or emergencies, and my father rarely spoke to me during those visits. I would later learn his treatment of me was because his father (my grandfather) did the same to him as he did to me.

In 1940 after failing his father's expectations in college (one of the Kansas univerities) my grandfather kicked my father out of the house. He joined the US Army and later transferred after the war ot the US Air force when it was separated from Army (Air Corps). 

My father also rarely went home again, and rarely spoke to his father, not even attending his funeral in the early 1950's when we were stationed in Virginia prior to being transferred to England. I never knew the reason my father acted toward me as he experienced with his father, only that he did

But I always knew my grandmother loved me and kept a reminder I keep today to remind me to thank her.