My last blog was in August. An eternity ago. A mountain of extra weight has been thrown into the mix since then. Well, the battle began again today. I will continue to wage this war until the last pound has melted into the bowels of the universe. Any help will be appreciated. Smack me down, yell at me, call me chicken (bwak, bwak, bwak.)  I don't care what you call me, except don't call me thin until I hit my goal.  Thanks ALL!!!!

The game has re-begun.

I wake up feeling great, ready to continue my running. Gather all my stuff and head out the door. Then, without warning, as I am driving along, I sneeze. Ok, it happens. Well, I just kept right on sneezing all day. I was miserable, my head was clogged and had a hard time thinking with a rag sticking out of my nose. The medication only helped me to think of things other than work (like sleep.)  There is one good thing about having a cold today. I wasn't hungry.  I hope this will help me get back into the dieting groove. I didn't just jump off the diet wagon, I did a swan dive from it. Dove right into my old eating habbits. A Gained 8 pounds. (or maybe 6.) But anyway, I gained more than I wanted.  I gotta get back into it.

I'll talk to ya soon...

   Let me first explain by saying that I broke a tooth about a year ago and it got infected. I went to the dentist and he said ‘ROOT CANAL’ Well I didn’t have the money so, a temp filling, antibiotics and pain pills took the pain away and I forgot all about the problem. Until a week ago, when the problem came back full force. I tried Tylenol at first but it never helped. I went to a friend to see if she had something. She gave me some antibiotics but not enough to take away any pain or any of the infection. So while I waited for my wife to make me a dental appointment (she takes good care of me), I suffered extremely.
   When, we went to get our unrelated prescriptions, my wife asked the pharmacist if she had any suggestions. She suggested clove oil and Motrin. This has worked for the most part, but taking 25 Motrin a day seemed a little excessive to me. I finally saw the dentist and he said the same ‘ROOT CANAL.’ At this point, I was ready to remove my lower jaw to get rid of the pain. So I applied for and got FINANCING to pay to fix this one tooth. I would normally say yank it and pay the hundred bucks, but this is one of the K-9’s so a hole in my smile was not really an option. So now I wait on the financing paperwork so I can sign away my life for the next 18 months. But in the meantime, I suffer extreme pain and none of the prescription pain pills are helping. I have tried Vicodin and Tylenol 4’s, both have done nothing. I have doubled the dose, still nothing but the side effects (dizziness, drowsiness, etc…) and the pain continues. It got so bad Saturday night that I was pacing back and forth trying to prevent the tears from starting. I got so desperate that I went online to look for anything, some home remedy that could help. I needed something to ease this pain. It was so bad that I had considered suicide to prevent myself from going insane from the pain. I did find one, which worked as described.  I filled a glass with warm water and poured a huge amount of table salt into the glass and stirred it up. I then poured some into my mouth and swished it around. I did it again, and again. Then finally, the pain subsided. It didn’t go away, but it went away enough to feel like I had just been given a vacation. This was enough to help me get to sleep. I still woke up 4 hours later, the pain was back enough to wake me. I tried the salt water again, and again, and again. It helped a little, but still not a great deal. I was able to sleep the rest of the night. I got up today and the pain is still my enemy. So I went online to find more remedies. Listed below are the ones that I tried and that at least provided a small amount of relief.

The first remedy attempted was from a Pharmacist:

Clove oil (expensive for such a small bottle) to kill the infection

Motrin 200 mg (over the counter)

Dip a Q-tip into the clove oil, careful, allowing this to run down your tongue will cause gagging (nasty stuff.)

Take four of the Motrin pills (same as prescription strength Motrin 800)

A friend recommended a kanka stick. This is basically a tube that has a brush on the applying end and a twist bottom to feed the gel to the brush. The text on the product reads:

‘KANKA SoftBrush Gel’

Benzocaine 20.0% (w/w) Oral anesthetic

I use this all the time, and sometimes it helps. The brush end allows you to get the gel in between teeth without smearing it all over your tongue like a tube of gel. It’s also good when one infection causes all of your teeth to hurt. This doesn’t last long though.

The Salt Water remedy came from:
Paradise Now - http://www.paradisenow.net/healing.html
Ursula R. Schmid, P.O. Box 120244 , 10592 Berlin, Germany,
Fax: 49 30 2639173 02053.

 

My personal best toothache cure: how to get rid of a toothache,
even involving severe, intense or excruciating pain

 

Dissolve enough salt* in warm water (body temperature) to make a strong solution and rinse your mouth repeatedly, vigorously swishing the salty water around your mouth (if the pain allows) or just allowing the brine to work in your mouth (it will make you salivate). The dental pain, especially when extremely severe, may instantly subside or perhaps take a while before it goes away, but it will (it certainly has done so for me every time I have used it, the longest it took for acute pain to stop was about two minutes. I have also seen a few others reporting near-instantaneous dental pain relief achieved in identical fashion). Repeat application of the salt rinse - even over several days in case the pain reoccurs or doesn’t fully go away - may be required. One may also lodge some salt crystals directly against the tooth or gum area that hurts.

The following remedies are from: http://www.otan.dni.us/webfarm/emailproject/tooth4.htm

Ingredients: Acupressure
Instructions: 1. On the sides of both index fingers. Just below the bottom of the finger nail apply even but FIRM pressure gently massaging it until pain goes away...REALLY works. Do as often as necessary until pain subsides.

Ingredients: toothache gum
Instructions: go to your local druggist and get "Dent's Toothache Gum". Rinse moth with warm water the cut a piece of gum to fit your tooth and
apply. This works very well when you have a toothache that when air hits the tooth it hurts worse, this gum creates a barrier against cool air and food partials. Also great for exposed cavities.

Ingredients: ANYTHING COLD !
Instructions: When you have a toothache, by pressing something cold on the outside of your mouth can give you TEMPORARY RELIEF. Especially if you are having problems sleeping. Instead of worrying about Ice that will melt in the middle of the night, just grab anything from your fridge or freezer.

After the long break in the full fledged diet, I have begun again. I ran each day at work during lunch. Only for about 15 minutes, but I ran. I stuck to the diet for the most part, but I did eat the weekly breakfast at work. So the stick-to-it'dness worked to the tune of a two pound loss. Pretty good but still a long way to go. Back at 210, and still shooting for 170. So 40 to go, almost half way there.

So, what did I learn? The ride called diet is never ending. A diet is a daily lifestyle of food intake. It's a rollercoaster who's excitement level is determined by a value measured on a scale. A scale that, when stepped on, determines if you were on the exciting down hill at 70 mph, or the boring uphill at 5 mph.  It only lasts for a few seconds, but the result sticks with you until the next time you step on the scale. So, while there are uphill struggles, there always has to be the fight to get the downhill freefall.

Keep up to fight and I'll see you at the bottom...

Ok, back to the grind here. No more cheating! Today I re-start the diet with all 'motivation' and 'will' intact (I hope.)  In two weeks I'll post my next picture and see if there is any change.  I'm running now, so hopefully the weight will melt away with the summer heat. Life has been busy, but that's no excuse to cave in when someone mentions food. This Friday, I was asked to go out to lunch with the normal crowd, but I declined.  I REALLY wanted to go (Italian) but stayed behind and had my Nutrisystem meal instead. It was the 'Cheese Tortellini' meal which is, or would be considered Italian food. So I guess I can get back on track. It's really hard once you taste the sweet life after so many weeks to jump back into the 'no sweet' life. I feel like I'm losing a really good friend, Again. It's like my stomach needs constant companionship so I must shovel the food in until the stomach goes to sleep for the night. Eating all you want is like having a really good friend, it makes you feel great at the time, but stabs you in the back every time you look at the scale.

So until next week,
'May YOUR friend treat you light.' 

Life is so short. Sometimes before you know it, you find that all this time has passed and you have no idea where it went. During this time you know you are supposed to be doing this one thing (or several things) but you just put it off until tomorrow. Then you look back and see how many tomorrows have passed without even doing the one thing you really meant to do tomorrow. This happens to me all the time. Sometimes, time just gets in my way. You know, I look back at the last few weeks and wonder where all the time went.
Yes I was heavily distracted with personal problems, car, money, you know, the usual stuff. But this time, I just kind of let go for a while. I just rode the storm and thought what ever happens, happens. Well, sometimes that can be good, but not when you are dieting. I found myself doing what I should during the week, and just blowing it all on the weekends. I'd be bored and just start snacking. I ate out on weekends, and dieted on weekdays. I basically maintained my current weight, actually I gained about 4 lbs. back during this time. After my birthday week and all, I thought it would be easy to get right back in there and buckle down. But then came June. I never realized how many days there are in June to celebrate until
this year. I have 2 sons (birthdays), a brother in law (birthday), and a daughters' fiance (birthday), then, of coarse, there's Father's Day. Then came July, niece (birthday) and Now, today, (Independence Day.) One excuse after another to break the diet for just this one day, a day that seems to extend of the whole weekend. Boredom, just like food too much? I don't
know yet. It sounds like the kind of excuses I used to come up with when I was finally trying to quit smoking. Always some excuse to keep on smoking for just one more day. I need to get my head right, and this is the week to do it. I have been running at work during lunch, so at least I know I can continue with that. I will find something to keep me occupied on weekends so I wont have time to think about snacking. Well, I guess actions speak louder than words, so until Sunday, when I resume my weekly entry. So long, and may
time be on your side during the holiday.

Happy 4th!!!

Well, this is yet another week for the books. Yes, I found that stress
doesn't help the cause. Let's see, Monday, I start to drive to work and I
heard this weird crunching sound coming from my car. The car starts to jerk
as if the motor is locking up, but it wasn't that. The jerking only
happened while I was moving. I quickly turned around and drove home.
Luckily I was only 5 or 6 miles into my daily drive in so the return home
was rather short. Just so happened that my wife was off that day, so I
jumped in her car so I could get to work. I leave at 5:15 am, so it's still
dark out. I turn her car on and the inside light wouldn't go out. I can't
even see to back out of the driveway. So I shrugged it off and saw it as a
sign that I shouldn't go to work. Well, as it turns out, my transmission
went. About $2000 just for the part through the normal transmission shops.
So anyway, fury sets in, and I start complaining as most people would (maybe
a little more than a normal person,) and so I find yet another excuse to
cheat. I need a kick in the pants or something. The only good thing is that
I am maintaining my current weight. The way I feel, I should be about 10
pounds heavier. So, I need to step back, find my inner strength again.
Start over from here. And please, who ever it is that gives out the luck,
can you make mine good this time? Two major mechanical problems in two
months is two times too many.

Until next week... May your car be light on the wallet and your weight be
lighter still. Smile, I need one. =)

I think this weight loss game is a little confusing. Is a loss a gain? Is
a gain a loss? Hmmm....
Anyway, it was my birthday week. I celebrated with my wife and some of our
family. It worked out pretty well since I got some new clothes, and yes,
they were smaller. I got to eat some real food. I thought it would be ok
since this was Tuesday. I thought the food would work it's way out of my
system by today (Sunday.) Well, then at work, the word got out that it was
my birthday week and I was hounded relentlessly (not really, I think one
person asked,) to go out to lunch on Friday. I gave in (caved in) and went
to lunch. So I thought the week would be a total loss, but, I actually lost
the pound I gained last week. So now I am back to 210, a total of 35 pounds
lost, and a few pairs of new shorts and shirts to boot. It was a good
birthday week after all. It would have been better if I stepped on the scale
and weighed around 160, but I guess that'll have to wait until next year.
Still hovering at that 210 mark though, so I gotta be tough and dig in. I
did look at my calendar for the coming week and there was nothing that I
could use as an excuse to cheat, other than mothers day today. Gotta take my
wife to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner, but other than that, no special
date that'll give me an excuse to eat this week....
Although 'Next Week' is my sisters birthday... =)

Until next week,
May your thoughts and food be light....

Uhhh Ohhh.... I stepped on the scale this morning and now my plateau is
turning into a hill. I guess I need to start again. I need to figure out
what I am doing wrong and start again. I figured I would work through this
but it doesn't appear that this is the case. I have become complacent with
my diet, thinking too loosely about how much cheating I can actually do.
It's time to rev up and fly straight again (at least for a little while.) I
like to see results but this isn't the result I wanted. I need to put a
stop to this before it becomes a run away freight train, always picking up
speed and getting further out of control. I will be strict for the next
couple of weeks, fighting off all temptations. I will become 'The Weight
Loss Man.' A guy with a big 'WLM' sewn to my chest, and a tablecloth as a
cape. I will leap away from cupcakes in a single bound. I will run faster so
the awesome smell of cooking bacon wont make it's way into my nose. I will
become more powerful than a speeding temptation. Oh, wait a minute... I am
just human... But I will try harder.... =)

Oh, I forgot about updating my picture last week, so I'll do that today
(05/06/07)
So until next week, same BAT time, same BAT website... =)