2nd Doctor's visit & Diet, Day 7

After an uneventful night at work, I had my 2nd doctor's visit today. The regular doctor (an Osteopath) was out of the office taking recertification tests & her stand-in was apparently from another part of town. And he misjudged traffic, arriving over 30 minutes late. Oops.

I arrived early this morning & noticed something odd. The office staff was seated in the lobby & they were having some sort of meeting. I could not hear details thru the closed doors as I waited outside, but it started to sound like some sort of pep rally. The only thing I heard clearly was the very last thing- whoever was leading said "What are we gonna do today?" and everyone shouted "Kick ass!"

Now, a positive attitude is great, but this sounded like the way they pump up salesmen before they go into the field to make cold calls. And that could be a little disconcerting. After all, this place is supposed to be about health care, not sales & marketing, quotas, etc. I certainly hope that's not the way they are doing business. But maybe I'm being paranoid.

I should note that I weighed myself on the scale at home before leaving for their office so that I could compare the 2 readings. Home read 293.5. Much to my surprise the doctor's scale read 294.4, meaning that me home scale only reads light by about a pound, and I lost over 11 pounds this first week. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

Now, they use a scale/body fat monitor that uses the electric pads under your feet to send a low voltage charge thru you to estimate body fat. Everything I have read from all reputable sources says that this method is inherently inconsistent, as it can vary with body temp, hydration levels, etc. The tech who did my measurement today told me that last week was 52.3%, but I am 99.9% certain it was over 56%. I was looking at the meter when the first tech wrote it down. This week, it read 57.8%. Not encouraging if you just look at the number, but since I am fairly certain that these machines are only a ballpark estimate, I'm not even concerned.

My blood pressure was spot on today- 110/70. I know that my pressure varies quite a bit throughout any given day, so last week's high reading wasn't that big of a deal, and I'm not celebrating this week's normal reading. Once I see normal readings week after week, I'll call that progress.

The doctor went over my blood work as well. Liver & thyroid functions are excellent. My total cholesterol is 184, which is in the acceptable range. Triglycerides were 111, which he said was excellent. HDL was 44, and he said that ought to be more like 48-50. LDL was 120, which he said needs to come down, but he did not specify the normal range. The HDL/LDL ratio was 2.7, which he also said ought to be around 2.2. He was confident that the diet would take care of the HDL & LDL within a few months.

Oh, he also mentioned that I was a little dehydrated the previous week when the bloodwork was done. This could explain the body fat reading low. It also explains why they had a hard time getting an EKG done. They used 3 sets of contact pads, 2 sets of leads & 2 machines before getting something usable. Maybe my magnetic personality was interfering with its readings. ;-)

I ended up having a boatload of errands to run after the office visit, so I now have no time to do my first cardio. But I will have plenty of time tomorrow, which is when I am supposed to start anyhow. I'm actually looking forward to it, after seeing the progress in my weight thus far. It's rather motivating.

Today, 3/2/09:

Weight: 294.4 (Doctor's scale)
Body Fat: 57.8
BP: 110/80

All supplements taken as directed

1 gallon+ water consumed (1.5 quarts with Crystal Light drink mix)

Meal 1- 7 oz chicken breast (7 servings), 1 cup mushrooms (measured before cooking) (1 serving)
Meal 2- 2 cups raw cucumber (2 servings)
Meal 3- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 servings)
Meal 4- 1 whole grapefruit (2 servings)
Meal 5- 7 oz chicken breast (7 servings), 1 cup mushrooms (measured before cooking) (1 serving)

Total: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. On the nose.