The last 10 pounds only took 5 months.

09.23.2013

Back in February I started my path to gastric surgery at 437 pounds (according to my scale). The bariatric surgeon wanted me to lose 25-30 pounds over the next 6 months. After gaining another 4 pounds after I heard that, I started dieting in earnest and dropped to 427 after a little more than a week. 2 weeks later I was down to 417, but like any diet, that rate wouldn't last.

Between March and September, my weight has fluctuated between 409 and 423. There are times I wouldn't classify what I was eating as being "on a diet", but my target of 407 was always eluding me.

This month I reached the end of my insurance mandated 6 months of primary care physician visits focused on my weight. The paperwork was turned in to the insurance company and bariatric surgery was approved. I went to the bariatric surgeon's office and got weighed and was told I had lost 21 pounds (which would put me at 416 on my scale). Not 25-30 pounds, but not a weight loss I was chastised for. We set my surgery date for the 30th, and the nurse told me to try not to gain any weight by then.

One of the important pre-surgery items is a 2-week mostly liquid diet they recommend. Breakfast and lunch are replace by protein shakes, and dinner is 6 oz of meat with some low-carb vegetables. This should not only allow for more weight loss (this is actually the weight loss diet recommended at the beginning of the 6-month insurance watching period) but to prep your stomach for surgery - the emptier the stomach is, the better. Last week I started the above diet. Over the weekend my scales bottomed out at 406, so I've reached my pre-surgery target weight!

Tuesday I go back to the bariatric surgeon to find out (I hope) what time on the 30th my surgery is, along with whatever happens at his last-visit-before-surgery appointment.

Although I've been pretty quiet here about my upcoming surgery, I feel a sudden purge of info coming.

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Downloads

09.12.2013

View Downloads in a larger map

When I made Zombie Mall, I thought a few people might download the game, with fewer still actually going through the process of printing out all of the components and playing a game. While I have no idea how many people have gone through that last effort, I do know that 35 have gone through the trouble of downloading at least 1 of the files for the game from the website.

Even more boggling is that half of those downloads are to countries outside of the US. I know those are thanks to links on BoardGameGeek, but how well does what I write translate to Swedish, German, or French?

Boggling!

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Gumption.

09.07.2013

This is one of those Saturdays where I don't have anywhere to be or anything needing to get done (save for some laundry - but that only takes minutes of effort every hour) and I have 0% motivation/inspiration for any of the side projects I've got going on right now.

I've got gaming minis to paint (hundreds, if you get to looking in my closet full of game stuff). Don't wanna.

I've got a web-app I've been working on for one of the games that I'm about halfway finished with. Brain don't wanna write code.

The zombie game needs another expansion to add in character attribute stats to add a layer of difficulty/fun. Brain don't wanna make up stats.

The next game needs all kind of stuff, as I've only got the 3rd iteration of a rough outline of what it is. "Making up stuff" doesn't seem to be happening today.

The main thing I don't want to do is sit in front of the computer and surf the web all day, just out of principle. There are a couple of little mindless projects around the house I could do, but right now my mobility is a little limited as I twisted my knee doing who-knows-what Thursday which caused it to swell and stiffen. A trip to the chiropopper yesterday helped, but I'm still walking gingerly so far.

I could watch some movies. I could read. I wonder what my brain thinks about those options? We'll see.

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0.31 orders/day

08.21.2013

I use Amazon for most of my online purchases. For anything not food or pantry related, I normally go to Amazon. The above caught my eye today, which is that I've made 56 orders over the past 6 months. That just sounds like a lot of orders.

I have a nice little spreadsheet of my Amazon purchases that I've kept up with since 2006 (or at least kept up with purchases going back that far, since that's when I first Amazoned). I've divided my Amazon purchases into major categories over the years, and so far this how 2013 has been divided:

• DVDs: 30%
• Comics: 13%
• Games (Boardgames, supplies, video games): 9%
• Computer (Software, anything with a USB cable): 15%
• Books: 6%
• Other: 27%

That "Other" is a catch-all for what doesn't fit into the norm. This year it's included protein shake mix, car trunk organizer, electric air compressor... how else would I categorize these things?

I'm fairly consistent in my Amazon purchases, too. Compare the above percentages to 2012:

• DVDs: 31%
• Comics: 10%
• Games: 10%
• Computer: 18%
• Books: 4%
• Other: 27%

I don't want to know how many orders in all I've actually made. Honest.

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Summertime Cold

08.18.2013

It's been 6 months since I've really been sick, so I guess I was about due to catch something. I'm not sure I actually "caught" anything, as I think this is just a weather-pressure-front induced cold. Thursday night I had 3 really good sneezes followed by the nasal flood gates opening. Friday and Saturday were the standard nose running alternating with being stopped up and unable to breathe, while today has been more of a hacking-up-a-lung type of day.

I'm really hoping I'm back to normal in a day or two. Sudafed is really knocking me out this time around, and I swear I'm taking hour long naps every 3-4 hours.

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