Hamster's Treadmill

[Tina]

Great tip on the quinoa. Convenience can be a great motivator to make healthy choices! Keep good work--and good working out!

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day – the sun was shining, it was warm but not hot with a gentle breeze. On the subject of breezes, work was also a breeze – I’m basically at a loose end waiting for some information and until that arrives I’m basically doing nothing but odd jobs.

I did my normal 4 km lunchtime walk followed by my normal gym session – 2 kms rowing, 1 ½ km walking up random hills and then 2 kms on the flat. I think that 2 kms of rowing will be sufficient distance for the time being but I think that I might start slowly increasing the random hills. I have found that the best way to increase exercise is in tiny little amounts, but of course these tiny little amounts add up to a BIG increase over a period of several months.

Just is case anyone reading this needs another reason to achieve a healthy weight then you might find this interesting:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/obesi ... -f2jv.html

Seems that obesity may make a person more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease, dementia and cognitive decline.

[sksamboots]

Keep on keepin on

[Letha.]

Hi Hamster,
I like your “Gentle Reader” journal intro. Makes me think of LauraA’s reference to Mr. Roger’s neighborhood in her journal recently.

Interesting article. Good that he ends it by saying the negative effects on your brain can be reversed by weight loss. I can testify to a loss of cognitive function with severe obesity. In my case I’ve speculated it’s primarily the result of sleep apnea caused by the weight, but as stated in the article, it could also be an issue of blood flow, nutrients, and oxygen going to my brain. I am hoping to reverse the effect when I become fit & healthy.
Letha

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader,

Thank you all so for your kind comments and support. LauraA, Letha, sksamboots, Tina and Ege Bamyasi (if I've missed anybody than Hamster is truly sorry) your progress and positive attitude is an inspiration. Congratulations on your progress and may you all reach your goals.

Letha, I know about sleep apenea. I had it bad for over 10 years and it messes with your life something fierce. At least in my case (and I hope yours as well) it can be reversed with weight loss. I started at a setting of 18 (you American's might have your machines calibrated differently, but in Australia 20 is the highest setting) and as I lost weight I slowly reduced the setting. The trigger for a reduction was feeling bloated in the morning from swallowed air. After each reduction Mrs Hamster would go on "snore patrol" for the next couple of nights and I'd be alert for any symptoms of sleep apenea the next day. At first the reductions were many months apart, but then they became more frequent. Then, one night when we were staying with friends in the country there was a blackout and Hamster didn't have his machine. Well, the next day Hamster awoke feeling fine and Mrs Hamster described his snoring as "manly type snoring" and not "heavy industrial snoring". Now, my snoring without the machine ranges from gentle lady-like snoring to occasional manly-type snoring. According to my doctor lady-like snoring is acceptable, manly-snoring is sort of border-line and heavy industrial snoring is really bad. What weight loss has done for me is to reduce my sleep apenea from severe down to borderline, I really hope that it will do the same for you.

Yesterday Hamster was feeling tired so the daily exercise was only a walk to a local coffee shop and video shop, only around 4 kms in total. The afternoon was spent watching "The Kite Runner". This is a movie (and book) that Hamster highly recommends. It is an unusual event but Hamster felt a little moisture around his eyes at the ending not that it is a sad movie, because the ending is wonderful.

The dreaded dairy is still under control although I did put butter on some toast yesterday. While that's still bad it's a whole lot better than eating a litre of ice-cream.

As I said in an earlier entry in the journal Hamster is no longer obese so with Mrs Hamster we're planning a trip to the country next weekend. Hamster is likely to get very drunk and make a giant fool of himself. I'll keep you informed of whatever bits I can remember.

[Hamster]

Gentle reader,

Yesterday I got to do very little exercise apart from a 4 km walk. I was hopping for a much longer walk but Mrs Hamster was feeling poorly and well I didn’t like to leave her.

We watched “The Kite Runner” for a second time and I did a few odd jobs around the house and in the process broke my glasses. It will be a trip to the optometrist today to get a new pair.

It’s never happened before but there has been a price reduction in one of my medications. Diformin it’s now down to A$10 for 60 tablets. I have no idea why this has happened but hey I’m not complaining.

My weight this morning was 93.8 kg so all I’ve lost for the week is a pathetic 0.2 kg. I was kind of hopping for more but I guess that any lose is better than not loosing at all and staying the same is better than gaining. So all considered I should be pleased with my 0.2 kg. What normally seems to happen is that whenever I have a week when I loose very little it is followed by a week when I loose a lot. One should always take the long-term view.

Gentle reader, I hope that everything is going well for you and that all your wishes come true.

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader

Yesterday was a routine day and nothing particular to report. Mrs Hamster is still feeling miserable with a cold; it’s nothing serious and will soon pass.

I’ve got my rowing up to a slow 2 kms, my intention is to stay with that distance and allow the speed to naturally increase. I have been walking up random hills on the treadmill at 5 kms per hour for 18 minutes which gives me a distance of 1.5 kms. I intend to slowly increase this by 1 minute per week until I hit 24 minutes which will give me a distance of 2 kms. This will take me until early October to achieve then I can reassess and make some other changes.

I’m now starting to feel more alert and the coffee cravings have pretty much gone completely. I’m still drinking tea (without milk) and also rooibos tea which are both excellent alternatives to coffee. Over time I’ll increase the rooibos and reduce the tea but I’m happy to let this happen naturally.

I hope that everybody here is doing well.

[sksamboots]

Your doing great, hope Mrs. hamster feels better

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader

Well on the diet and exercise front not a lot has changed. My additional minute of random hills on the treadmill is ok, but I'm glad that I didn't extend it by a greater amount. Those 9% hills sure take their toll and Hamster has really short legs

You might remember that I lost only 0.2 kg last week and was a little disappointed. Well in the last two days I've dropped 2.2 kg! Go figure - I'm almost convinced that the laws of thermodynamics which apply across the entire universe don't apply to dieting Hamsters.

When I driving to the station I noticed that when I went around a corner that the ute (pick-up) kind of shook its tail funny. After I parked I noticed that one of the rear tyres was virtually flat. So today it's off to get it repaired and buy two new tyres (my spare is bald and the other rear tyre is virtually bald).

Mrs Hamster still has her cold but fortunately (touch wood) Hamster seems to be immune.

[Ege Bamyasi]

Congratulations to that weight freeing itself up on you! I need some of that magic to rub off on me now.

Sorry to hear about those bad tires. I'm sure they're not any cheaper over there in Oz than they are here in the States for a large vehicle like that. I'm sure there are places around that sell decent used ones, though, if you choose to do that.

I hope your wife gets to feeling better soon, and I hope you continue to remain symptom free.

[Hamster]

Hi Kirk

Thanks for the tip regarding the tyres - I ended up buying two new ones and had the puncture repaired. The original spare was bald, one of the rear tyres as almost bald and the other was pretty good. Guess which one got the puncture - yup right first time, the good one. Now I have 4 good tyres and a fairly good spare. Makes me feel a lot happier as I do a few long trips each year in it and tyres are important,

The ute (pickup) is a Toyota Hilux so it's not a particularly large vehicle. Oh did you know that HiLux is an abbreviation for "High Luxury" - I really like the ute for its sheer practicality but high luxury it isn't.

Mrs Hamster seems to be improving, basically a bad cold plus a headache. Thanks for your good wishes.

[Tina]

Congratulations on your recent weight loss! A dietitian friend once told me that weight loss sometimes comes in spurts, like an unexpected package arriving in the mail. I hope you have many more deliveries on the way! Good luck continuing to kick the dairy habit; that can be challenging but you can absolutely do it and I'm rooting for you

[Kare_mahal]

I really want to try rowing and your earlier post mentioning it has reminded my how much! Great job on keeping up with your exercise, glad to hear your wife is improving.

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader

Yesterday was taken-up doing minor chores. I took the day off work mainly to keep an eye on Mrs Hamster. She seems to be improving but still complaining of a headache. I told her to “get tough and stop whining like a big baby” well that didn’t seem to help and I suspect that Hamster is now in deepest trouble, oh boy am I going to pay for that one.

It’s good to know that I have 4 good tyres on the road and a good spare. I drive along the Houghton Highway each day, it’s really a bridge around 2 miles long over the mouth of the Pine River and as you can see from the picture there just isn’t anywhere on it to stop and change a tyre.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... ngPeak.JPG

Really it’s a very good example of how not to design a bridge. Any breakdowns cause much chaos. The good thing is that a new bridge is being built and will be finished next year.

I didn’t do any exercise yesterday, but I did my tax return which is similar to a lengthy and strenuous session of gymnastics. Today I intend getting back to my routine.

This weekend we’re planning a weekend in the country. The food we’re taking will mean that it’s McDougall compliant. The problem of course will be with the alcohol, but I guess that after loosing 75 pounds a couple of glasses of champagne won’t do a whole lot of harm.

I’m really pleased to see that the idea of a virtual walk is taking off. Walking is an excellent form of exercise with many benefits.

[Hamster]

Gentle Reader

Yesterday was pretty much a normal day. I did my 4 km lunchtime walk but in the evening I was feeling tired with aching joints and a nagging headache so I gave the gym session a miss. Today I feel sort of ok but not 100%. Whatever the bug is it's giving my immune system something to work on - GO THE IMMUNE SYSTEM GO! The good thing is that the immune system seems to be ahead and gaining.

Mrs Hamster's immune system has also had a good work-out but also seems to be winning. I'm not sure what it is, not actually a cold and more like a mild influenza. So I suspect that it's a dose of the dreaded swine flu - there is a lot of it about. The early articles in the press about it made it sound like something akin to the black-death when in reality it is just a mild flu - unpleasant but for the majority of people just another seasonal bug.

The progress being made by everybody here is seriously impressive.