Week 10 End - Close, But No Cigar!

I'm a little late getting this post done. I had a good week this week and was pleased with how I have been feeling and my progress. It was however a rather hectic weekend.

I had really good workouts most of the week and have continued to see a reduction in blood sugars as well as the fit of clothes. You would think with all the progress, I wouldn't be so impatient, but as usual I continue to wish things would progress more quickly.

3/12/2016 39.2 lbs.

This week's weigh in showed a loss of an additional 4.2 lbs.. That is encouraging, but again, that brought my total to just under 40 lbs. and of course I was hoping this would be the week I broke that barrier. I'm still very much ahead of schedule, but I always want to clear that next hurdle. I look at this thing as another challenge in my life and just want to overcome it. I know that it took years to get where I was and it will not disappear overnight, but I can't help but want to get there as soon as I can.

Don't worry. I know that I need to maintain a healthy weight loss strategy and continue to do so. It seems my battle is with my ego and desire as much as with the food and exercise.

I have had a great streak of getting to the gym since I started back in February. I started Feb. 8 (the day after Super Bowl Sunday) and have only missed 2 days in that time. The first was because I was out of town for the day and did not get back in time to make the gym. I was good with that. The second was this past Saturday. I was not so OK with that one.

I think I can safely say that I am somewhat addicted to the workouts and the extra calorie buffer it provides. While I continue to only eat what I am allotted without the exercise (at least most days), those exercise calories are bonus for me and help to contribute to my lead on my scheduled weight loss.

I started the day with every intention of getting to the gym. I was feeling particularly inspired to get some of the things done around the house that I had been putting off for some time, namely, a leaking tub/shower faucet and a leaking sink faucet. We set out for Lowe's armed with a shopping list. I had even pre-searched the location of the parts I needed with their "app" in order to streamline the shopping experience (I'm not a big fan of shopping). We picked up the parts and headed for home, ever optimistic that I would master the leaks in short order, then move on for the day.

I started with the tub/shower in my daughter's bathroom. It went off without and hitch, and I was very proud of myself when I showed my wife that the leak was gone. Next up, the sink in our master bath. This thing has been leaking for some time and has gotten progressively worse, so I was really wanting to deal with it, as the dripping has become really annoying. You can hear it from our bed.

Now, I had tried to address this faucet once in the past without success. This thing was original to the house and is therefore about 30 years old. The fix should be pretty straight forward. Pull the cartridge, replace a couple of O-rings and the spring seats and put it back together. The problem I had run into before was that I couldn't get it apart. This time I thought I had it licked. I was going to break out my trusty torch and a HUGE pair of channel locks.

Well since this is about how I missed the gym, you can guess, my bright idea didn't turn out to be so bright. As I was fussing and fuming and telling my wife that the stupid thing wasn't worth fixing anyway, she suggested maybe we could just install the new faucet that we had sitting in the garage waiting for a future remodel of this bathroom. Well, one thing lead to another, and we decided that we might as well  add the new sink/vanity as well (also waiting for the remodel). That's when the trouble started. Have any of you met my friend Mr. Murphy?

We removed the old vanity and sink without too much issue. We pulled the new set up out of the box, and looked it over and recognized several issues immediately. Now, remember that this was set aside for a future remodel of this bathroom, which was to entail re-arranging of all the fixtures in the bathroom. In it's current location, the drain for the sink came in from the left side of the vanity and the water lines came up out of the floor. To install this the way it was, would entail drilling a rather large hole in the side of the vanity to accommodate the drain. Were this the final resting place for the sink, that would have been ok. But, since that wasn't the case, I really didn't want to butcher a brand new (and relatively costly) vanity.

My wife suggested maybe we get a cheap sink and vanity for the time being and put that in. (The old one was no longer an option after removal) That of course got me to thinking that surely there was a less expensive way to deal with this (though certainly not easier). I proposed moving the drain to the wall behind the sink eliminating the need to drill the new vanity and positioning the drain similarly to the way we will use it in the future. Of course that idea led to the idea that we should also move the supply lines so that we don't have them coming up through the floor of the cabinet, which cuts down on the usable storage space down there. Remember, this is all a result of a dripping faucet.

My Saturday Gym Day

Well to shorten an already long and growing story, 2 more trips to Lowe's, and $150+ later, We had moved the drain and the supply lines. I was soaked from both drain water and supply water. I ruined a new t-shirt with PVC solvent and by 11 pm that night we finally gave up and went to bed.

Two more trips to Lowe's the next day finally gave us an installed sink that does not drip. There is still a little bit of trim work and caulking to do, but, we have a functioning sink (and it looks pretty nice if I do say so myself).

I was kind of upset at missing the gym on Sat.. But, in retrospect, it wasn't the big deal I made it out to be at the time. I was feeling guilty about a big lunch (1100+ calories, I still thought we were going to the gym). In the end, I tailored my dinner accordingly and still managed to stay just under my goal calories for the day. The sky didn't fall and I didn't magically put back on any of the weight I have lost. I just have to remember that this is a process and there will be times when the gym isn't an option. The funny part is, I didn't really eat any more calories than I do when I go to the gym, and I almost never eat my exercise calories. So, I don't really know why it seemed so traumatic at the time.

We returned to the gym the next day and all is right in my sort of skewed universe. It has occurred to me that I have gone on in several posts about going to the gym without actually sharing what my routine is. I will try to post an update that outlines what I am actually doing in the near future.

For those who continue to follow this journey with me, thank you for your support and encouragement. For those who have begun a lifestyle change as a result, keep up the good work. You can do this! Be well my friends, until next time.