No chance to weigh-in this morning. Doing better this week than last week. Hoping it actually shows up on the scale. I did increase my GLP-1 dose a little bit.

Awesome job on March. I like this concept of counting the days to goal based on your calorie deficit.

I use to have a software that would count the days for me. It was really nice because if you were entering incorrect calories, it would adjust accordingly.

Since Thursday, April 10, I have gained 3.5 pounds. There was some travel in there so I am hopeful at least some of it is a little bloating. My calorie count has been a mix of being on track or way over. My appetite is out of control even with increasing the GLP-1 dose. I think the appetite increase is related to the iron infusions I have been getting. I do feel a bit better from the iron infusions.

My blood sugar is normal. My blood pressure is still high. The side effects for all of the medications, save for a quarter dose of one of them, have been intolerable. I would really like to get my BP down.

For me, it is really important to keep my focus on what I am eating. If I try to "intuitively" eat, I am always over on calories. I also need to wear my belt as much as possible. I feel like this is going to be another rough week of battling my appetite. It was really bad last night. With the gain, getting into the Overweight category instead of the Obese category seems so far away.

I am losing this battle and that's why I didn't post last week. Even with the higher dose of GLP-1, I am gaining weight. I am up either 2.5 or 4.5 pounds for the month of April. It is especially bad considering in the middle of the month, I was down a pound and a half for the month. I feel like all I got from going up a little on my medication was more side effects. At -47 pounds today (up 5.5 pounds since the beginning of April)

Hoping things are turned around. Down 3 pounds (to -50 lbs total) since last week. Still up 2.5 pounds since the beginning of April. I had my last iron infusion this week for my low iron. I've had some improvement from the infusions but not the dramatic improvement I was dreaming of.

Blood sugar looks fine. My A1c has not changed at all from using Ozempic and it is still the pre-diabetic range. I think my A1c reads higher than it should for some yet to be identified reason. The average blood sugar value the A1c represents is much higher than the readings I get. I have taken readings multiple times a day and even after eating something high in sugar. There is no way it can average out to how high the A1c is.

Blood pressure is so variable I don't know what to think. Some times it is only a little elevated. Other times, it is really high. I've tried several blood pressure meds and they basically leave me bed ridden. I get so tired when I take them. I've recently stopped the one I had been managing to take 1/4 of the dose. I think it was what was causing my issues with skating. Since stopping it, I've been able to skate 4 laps. This is up from 0 laps. Doc doesn't think it was the issue but that doesn't change the fact there is a difference in my ability to skate after stopping it. Ultimately, this makes me think my BP issues are outside of the traditional reasons for high blood pressure. Not sure how to fix it though. This week I am going to monitor my salt intake. Typically, I am below the recommended daily allowance for a healthy person. However, my sodium intake is above what is recommended by the American Heart Association for someone with high blood pressure.

Back again because I am tenacious like that. I monitored my salt intake and calories for two days. Each were too high so I was demotivated. Even without counting calories, I managed to lose a pound this week for a total current weight loss of -51 pounds. Down for the month but still up from the beginning of April so I am losing recycled weight. It is not new weight loss.

I have successfully increased my GLP-1 dose to 0.75 mg/week from 0.5 mg/week. It seems like it is helping again and I hope it continues to do so. Blood pressure looked good for me this morning at 140/82 and fasting blood sugar was normal at 94.

Skating continues to improve and I've stopped wearing a helmet when I skate. I've been wearing a helmet since January due to the balance issues. The balance issues resolved when I stopped taking a diuretic for my blood pressure. The other thing that resolved was my asthma issues. They had increased around the same time my balance issues appeared. Worsening asthma is a known side effect of the diuretic I was taking. Seems like I am ridiculously sensitive to it in ways that are hard to detect. Not uncommon for me or my family (blood relatives); we have many paradoxical reactions to medications (e.g., hives from antihistamines, hyperactivity from central nervous system depressants).

I've done the last of my iron infusions and the result wasn't as great as I hoped. Definitely getting more things done so I must have more energy. However, I feel as fatigued as ever and wish I could get it to resolve. Also, when I had the first iron infusion, I started sleeping better. I felt like I actually slept and had some degree of refreshment. Whereas typically, I feel like I just waited until morning and did not get any rest. Unfortunately, I am back to the latter and I don't understand why. In addition, I am having my daylight savings time adjustment relapse. After daylight savings time, I seem to be slowly adjusting for about six weeks. Then I have a relapse where if feels like daylight savings time just happened. The extra grogginess and difficulty getting out of bed return. Usually by mid-June I am adjusted. Being an oddball is such a pain.

Exercising more to prepare for a trip with a lot of walking. We will be walking at least 6 miles each day of the trip and my walking is bad due to my leg issues. Will work hard again this week with the goal of getting on a better track with regards to calorie intake.

Thought I was doing okay but gained 2 pounds this week. Total weight loss stands at -49 pounds. Will keep working on it. Need to try a new blood pressure medicine. Each one takes me down (i.e., only leaves me enough energy to work) for 2-5 weeks. It is hard to only work and sleep. Life is so much more than that and I have a lot of fun plans in the next 2 months. Docs are saying it is the only choice to get BP down and I have to choose medicine no matter how limiting or awful it makes me feel. Continually looking for a better solution.

Holding steady at a total loss of -49 pounds. The increased dose of Ozempic has stopped the recent weight gain so that is a relief. I may have to increase the dose more to restart the weight loss. I have a doctor's appointment this week and will talk with him about it.

Blood pressure is still awful. Quite ridiculous, as I am walking 6 times a day and walked a total of 26 miles last week! My BP has me worried since I am unable to tolerate the medicines commonly used to bring it down. This tells me there is more going on with me than the average patient. But what? Clearly, it is complex since I and my doctor have no answers.

The good news is I am able to ice skate again. Since I don't know when I will lose it again, I feel like I have to go ever chance I get. Last week, I went skating 5 days. Still doing limited laps though as I am afraid I will get the wobbles again. After a trip I have coming up, I will be able to do more. The trip is a big deal so I don't want to risk getting hurt.

Holding steady at -49 pounds. I will take it as a win because my appetite is still hard to control. Completely forgot to talk with the doc about increasing the Ozempic dose. I did get the okay to try taking it 3x per week instead of 2. Typically, it is suppose to only be 1 injection per week. In my case the injections 2x per week seemed to help.

Blood pressure is still too high especially at the doctor's office (white coat syndrome). I did bring my home BP monitor to the doctor's office. My monitor reads high on the systolic (top number) as compared not only to the medical assistant's reading but also to their electronic BP monitor. The diastolic number reads the same.

Later this month, I will try yet another BP medicine. I need to wait since I have some big activities between now and then. All of the BP medicines I have tried so far exhaust me to the point where all I can do is work. No skating, no exercise, no shopping, no housework, no time with the pets; it is awful! There is no reason to think this next med will be any different. It is nearly identical to one I've already tried.

Along those lines, I was more tired last week and didn't get as much done as planned. I spent a lot of time on the property tax protest form. We have found it is worth it. Typically, the assessor will meet us in the middle which saves us a couple of hundred dollars on taxes each year.

Totally forgot to weigh in yesterday. Seems like a good thing because, oof-tah, I am up 3 pounds when I weighed in this morning. Glad it is not an "official" weight so no adjustment to my sidebar needed. It is really disappointing though because I had been improving. Typical pattern for me, I rein things in and the result on the scale looks worse!

Missed posting last week because I was out of town. I ate a ridiculous amount of food and the wrong types of food on my trip. So when I returned home, I was thrilled to be at the same weight as when I left! Also walked at least 6 miles each day though in 90 degree weather. Official weigh-in day was today and I was up one pound to -48 pounds total loss. Looking likely that I will stay the same weight for this month. I will take it but wish I could get more ducks in a row.

Trying to go up on Ozempic didn't really go well. At first I just tried increasing it a little bit with my 2x per week injections. I didn't feel well and I was still hungry. Then I tried splitting it into 3x per week (doc okayed it). It went better but I didn't feel well overall. I am backing down to 2x week at the lower dose. Ultimately though, I really need to plan my meals and food better.

Additionally, I've done something that seems like it all but guarantees I will gain weight. I've started donating my largest size clothing.

Well, WOW! Thought I had a 1.5 pound loss this week but it is actually a 2.5 pound loss. Fabulous! Total weight loss is now -50.5. Can't say I deserve it but I tried my best this week. I tracked 8 days of calories. 4 days were good and 4 days were bad calorie wise. I used the total calories to find a multiplier to help me understand how much I can eat to lose weight.

My understanding was your weight in pounds times 10 equals how many calories you burned during the day if you were in bed all day. Basically, your basal metabolic rate. Add 1 before multiplying if you were sedentary, 2 if you were active, or 3 if you were very active. It had been a long time since I looked at this formula so I tried to look it up again. I was unable to find it but found one that said to multiply your weight by 15 for how many calories burned in a day if your were sedentary. Seems high to me. Anyway, I've decided my custom multiplier to lose 2.5 pounds a week is 12.5. I'll try to keep tracking to see if that works.

I was on the higher dose (0.75/wk) of Ozempic this week and seemed to have tolerated it better. My fasting blood sugar is great at 82 (not/never diabetic). My blood pressure seems better 147/87. Per the comparison with the doctor's monitor the top number reads high so it really should be something like 132/87. I also got a reading of 139/82 earlier this week which would be nearly normal.

In summary, my lowest recorded weight (unofficial) was -54 on April 4, 2025 and (official) was -53.5 April 6, 2025. After that, a regain cycle started and I have been struggling ever since (gained 6.5 pounds in there). So, the weight lost this week is still recycled weight. There is a very exciting milestone waiting at -58 pounds. Once I get passsed that, I will no longer be classified as OBESE. I will be in the overweight category at home at least. On public scales I weigh 8-15 pounds higher since it is after meals and fully clothed with shoes.

I have not faded into the night; I was on travel again. On the trip, I did my best and was rewarded with a half pound lost. This was right in line with my multiplier. My official weight for this week is even better, -53 pounds total loss. This is a 2.5 pound loss across two weeks. If I lose one more pound officially (i.e., shows on the scale on a Sunday), then I am in new weight loss territory.

There is a hiccup in my plan. I am unhappy with the higher dose of Ozempic. I am still having more gastric side effects. However, even more concerning, my vision has become blurrier since increasing the dose. To back up a little, my vision also became blurrier after first starting Ozempic. My doctor and optometrist both say it is unrelated. Ultimately, I cannot ignore this second eyesight shift. Someone I know who works in the medical field experienced the same thing and said some new research is coming out regarding the impact on vision. What I can find says the blurriness is not uncommon and is temporary. In my case, it doesn't seem temporary.

Heaven help me, I'd like to stop the Ozempic for a month. The goal would be to become re-sensitized to it and to see if my vision calms down. After that, I am hoping to start back up on a smaller dose. At one point I saw an article on it being beneficial to cycle the medication but I haven't been able to find the article again. I have a doctor's appointment this week and will talk to him about it.

Good news regarding my blood pressure. After my trip, I had a BP reading that was basically normal. It was 139/78 but my monitor reads 15-20 mHg high on the top number. My BP has drifted up a bit since being home. I can't be on vacation forever though. Need to figure out how to keep it lower while at home with the every day stressors.

Had a great week calorie wise but it did not translate to the scale. Up a half a pound, Sitting at -52.5 for a total loss. I've scaled back on the Ozempic with my doctor's approval. Hoping my blurry vision clears up and a lower dose is effective again when I re-start it. Definitely feeling hungrier.

Clearly, I do not feel confident in my loss as I have not updated my side bar or signature to show passing the -50 pound mark.

Disengaged enough that I totally forgot to get end/start of month weights. I did weigh and record on July 29 so I will use that. Not doing great this week and am up 2 pounds from last Sunday. It was a very mediocre week, not great but not bad. Definitely underserving of a two pound weight gain. Although maybe I am deserving of it. I ate exceptionally poorly one night for dinner but still stayed within the calorie allotment. Also, I did not exercise very much this week. This puts me at up 2 and half pounds since stopping Ozempic. on July 23 (11 days ago).

On the bright side, I had a fairly good BP reading during the week, 139/77. My BP monitor reads the systolic number high by 15-20 mmHg. Therefore, the corrected reading would be 124/77. Need to get it to be consistent though. This morning the reading was 144/86. Blood sugar is fine and is normal. I did an A1c test recently and it is still in the pre-diabetic range. Interestingly, Ozempic had no impact on my A1c. Personally, I believe my A1c reads high and does not accurately represent my blood sugar levels.

Rather discouraged since April so I had not been filling in my monthly loss summary since the end of March. I started gaining in April and it was just tough to look at. Took the time to update the summary this morning and got a bit of good news. My August start weight is the same as my lowest monthly weight (-52.5) this year at the end of March. So based on the monthly tracking, any weight I lose in August is new weight lost. Based on the monthly tallies, at the end of July, I have lost 9 and half pounds this year. Would love to end this plateau this month

I stopped Ozempic in part because my vision became blurrier when I increased the dose. My vision does seem to be improving a little. I also saw a vision decrease when I started Ozempic but never directly attributed it to Ozempic. I will be checking to see if that improves too.