A Weighty Issue : Part 1

 So, we are going back to work and some of us are dealing with a renewed epidemic of sorts : Weight Gain. 

When March 17, 2020 California effectively shut down. I really hoped it was only going to be two (2) weeks. I had not been prepared for the next two years. 

Aside from the disappointment of my employer literally telling me "Go File for Unemployment" I had a secondary disappointment of cancelling my membership with a new workout partner. 

I weighed just 239lbs. I started to do insane working out. I tried to take up running which was more like an awkward trot that turned into speed walking. I went on a spree of workouts from Virtual Boxing to Virtual Eating but more like I actually ate afterward in real life. 

I subscribed to Youtube/Instagram/Twitter Fitness channels in vain effort to combat what would be my constrained efforts to stop weight gain. 

Five (5) months later I would join the workforce with only 10lbs gained 249lbs. I was happy to be working and I was eager to see the pandemic move on. 

It would be 1 Year Later and I gained a total of another 25lbs. What? How? This is impossible? I was taking public transit, I was hustling to work in San Francisco 45 Miles away. I was paying $20 for a sandwich and a coke for lunch everyday. How did I gain weight? 

What I learned in short order was no matter the cost I had to do something more proactive and that was go see a Doctor because something had to be wrong, right? 

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I didn't have PCOS on first diagnosis, I didn't have Diabetic because my A1C was lower and my blood pressure was normal. Yet, in two weeks after that visit I gained 8 lbs. It was deflating and I figured I needed to do SOMETHING! 

Going to the gym was not financially or physically feasible. So, I tried to two new things 1) Document all the food I ate, keep a diary and track what I ate and how much 2) Get a stationary bike and a set of hand weights. 

My goal was 20 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes hand weight exercises at minimum of 3 times a week.

Guess what ? I only lost minimal amount of weight and I felt more frustrated because making time to lose weight interrupted my time to relax and have dinner. 

But I made progress of a different sort I realized that the little red and white can might be causing me to gain weight both the regular and diet versions. 

Also, riding the stationary bike was good but, I got weird leg cramps horribly in the middle of the night. Plus my feet would cramp this was not making it easy to sleep. 

Finally, I asked my doctor...there is nothing wrong with me no abnormalities and some of the conditions were attributed to the most dreaded word  Perimenopause. This became the excuse for everything from migraines to weight gain to the eventual depression I felt with the weigh scale. 

But I was making progress.....