Health on Planet Hawleywood

Don't Start Now

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

If you know you’re going to suffer in the future, don’t start now

The sequel nobody asked for: The 'C' Word Part II

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A recurrence of my bladder cancer

Your Checkmate

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Life is like chess

Goodbye (again) old friends

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

…and I would walk 500 more…

I am a digital hoarder

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes backups just create additional problems

The gift that nobody wants.

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Two friends that I hung out with last week texted me in the last few days to tell me that they’ve tested positive for COVID.

I’ve taken two antigen tests since then and so far I’m in the clear. But I am working from home this week and avoiding crowds just to be safe.

I can’t help thinking how much of this might have been avoided if it wasn’t for people’s carelessness when it all started.

5 Years Later

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a strange 5 years.

I started this journey at 335 pounds in August 2018.

I got as low as 210 pounds by December 2019

I then entered my “2nd Fat” and managed to get back up to 289 pounds in September 2022.

These days I hover between 225 and 230 pounds.

Low-carb, avoiding processed foods, walking and intermittent fasting. Sometimes all of those things and sometimes just one or two. Like any other addict… one day at a time.

Goodbye, old friends

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I would walk 500 miles…

The 'C' Word

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

My (first) diagnosis with bladder cancer

The Century Mark

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

That’s 100 pounds!

Non-alcoholic Stress Relief

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I have had exactly one drink in the last three months since starting my liver-healthy diet.

I had an especially bad day yesterday. Not really bad in the grand scheme of things, but bad in my own head. Too many unplanned things happened in too quick succession which left me feeling under attack and over-whelmed. A few hours later things looked much better and I was able to process everything.

The number starts with a '2'!

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve made it below 300 pounds!

Yesterday I weighed in at 295 pounds. I am officially lighter than my driver’s license (which was a big fat lie for the last 8 years, anyway)

Carrie lost 5 pounds and Ashley lost another pound last week. The three of us have not had bread, sugar or pop for almost a month. We spend our evenings talking about non-scale victories like fitting into old clothes or no longer having the after-dinner bloat. We’re saving money by not buying high-carb, high-sugar snacks at the movies (or anywhere else).

Fat, Sick and Dying

Sat, 07 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

“I’ve decided to lose weight.”

I’ve dreaded making one of these posts because if I don’t follow through, it’s just a documented example of my failure.

My liver enzymes came back really high this past month and I had to have an ultrasound to find out I’ve got nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

It’s early in the disease, as stages go, but as Carrie has said - it’s the first hard evidence we have to make some changes. Up until now it was easy to cheat or go back to old eating habits because while I was fat, I was sort of healthy. I mean, I had no heart problems or blood pressure problems. But this diagnosis means that the last few years of joint pain and poor sleep and no activity is not just a sign of getting old. I’m wearing out.

Walking

Fri, 25 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Today is the 10th day of walking, and I’m wondering if I’m going to die in my chair.

This is the end of my second week of walking everyday. I set a reminder on my calendar to walk at 4pm on weekdays. I walk around the pond behind the building across the street. The whole walk is about .35mi. It takes about 10 minutes (or two songs on my phone). By the time I get back to my desk I feel a little bit like I’m dying. Just a little. My hips hurt, my thighs ache and I’m winded.

It's no wonder I'm fat

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Headache Day #1,378

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Ok, so I’m about eight hours into one of my all-day-headaches. I get a headache of some sort almost every day, and usually a couple Excedrin in the morning gets me right for the rest of the day.

This is not one of those days.

I think I dreamed myself into this headache because I woke up with it. Or rather, this headache woke me up. I remember having some kind of complex dream about work. I’m trying to integrate a database and some existing documents to generate documents on-the-fly for one of the departments and with the deadline fast-approaching, I’m stuck on where to begin. Nevertheless, it’s enough to give me a headache when I’m awake, let alone in a dream.