UNEVENTFUL VISIT WITH MY DOCTOR

My visit with Dr. Tenhundfeld today was anti-climactic.  I had previously surprised him back on February 20th when my weight had already dropped more than 50 pounds.   Today when I stepped on his doctors' scale, with clothes on, my weight registered 217.2 lbs.  This is in contrast to my first weigh-in back on December 24th, 2014 when the scale yelled back at me 313 lbs.  I have lost about 95 pounds since December 24th.   

My vitals were checked today:
blood pressure      132/76
resting heart rate  65 bpm  (On Feb 20 this was 67.  Five months ago, Dec 24, 2014 it was 75)
Exercise, not essential to weight loss, IS UNAMBIGUOUSLY GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.
temperature           98.3°F 

I asked the doctor about my resting heart rate.  He described it as the heart rate of someone who is athletic.  I confess, that this made me feel very good.  He didn't say this was the heart rate of an Olympic athlete - just someone who is 'athletic.' No one was thinking of using the word, athletic, to describe me last year as my weight soared over 300 lbs.

I let the doctor know that I have discontinued my 1000 calorie per day program and now I will be trying to lose weight, but more more slowly with a caloric intake approaching 1800 per day.   On one hand this seems like quite a high number to me - but I must remember that last year I was consuming 2000 calories sometimes before 8AM in the morning!  There is no question that I have made some lifestyle changes that have stuck.

I am going to allow myself snacks between meals.  I think I will try to limit a snack to a couple of apples - although I need to investigate what kind of higher protein items I can snack on as well.

I asked the doctor if there were any other dietary supplements that I should consider and he didn't think anything was required.  He did suggest that I add a daily 'baby aspirin' (81 milligrams) to my program each day.  This small amount of aspirin is prescribed as a defense against heart attack.  Apparently a normal dose of aspirin that one takes for headaches and other pains would be much too high a dosage for everyday consumption as it could have other deleterious effects.

As it has been nearly 10 years since my initial colonoscopy, a second colonoscopy was suggested as I am now approaching 60 years old (I am still 57)

My next follow-up exam has been scheduled for an additional six months in the future, November 2.
And that's pretty much it.  This visit was quite short, as there were no particular issues to discuss.

MONDAY MENU

breakfast    skipped breakfast in order to be in a 'fasting state' for blood work that was ordered.
lunch          spinach salad w/hearts of palm, beets, mushrooms, artichokes, tomato
                   Chicken Tortilla Soup, Cracovia Cucumber Salad
                    Trader Joe's Premium Salmon Burger, 56 almonds                                         682 calories
dinner        spinach salad w/hearts of palm, beets, mushrooms, artichokes, tomato
                   Trader Joe's Turkey Burger, Zucchini Pancake, creamy Portobello Soup      
                   56 almonds                                                                                                        819 calories

MONDAY CALORIE CONSUMPTION 1501 CALORIES

calories burned
630PM  elliptical 32 minutes 484 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES 1017 CALORIES

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM SOUP

My continuing search for new foods that I have never had continued this evening.   Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup looked like a bowl of mud when served.   However, it tasted fine and is extremely low calorie.  One cup of this soup is only 70 calories.  I had a bowl (two cups) which added only 140 calories.