Fact or Fiction

I've been watching a lot of television since I got Netflix streaming. I find that the documentary offerings are really pretty interesting. A few days ago, I watched a documentary about plastic surgery, and listened to the wife of a surgeon comment on her "miracle wrap" providing the same effects as liposuction, for a short time.

I had to google to find out what she was talking about - and found it! The wrap is simple: Hemorrhoid Cream, plastic wrap, and warm towels for 1-hour on the spots you want to immediately slim down. Surely this is a quick and temporary fix, but I wonder how much of a change it'll make if it's done daily along with the current routine Allison and I are undertaking.

Now, the main ingredient in Hemorrhoid cream is Pramoxine HCI, it's what stops the itch. The next is Phenylephrine. The warnings for these two are pretty sturn ... but I wonder if it applies if used topically on areas other than the rectum? Phenylephrine is a base to some methamphetimines, and can cause hypertension when ingested, but again, when applied topically, do the water-based compounds provide the same risk of restlessness and insomnia?

I am going to give it a try! After all, I've used Hemorrhoid cream on my lower eyes and don't remember having any negative side effects. So - let's give it a try. One full week - starting June 28th. I'll rub down with cream and wrap up in cellophane before walking with Allison and see what happens, if anything!

Day Two: June 26, 2012

Sleep caught up with me a little, and I slept in. Allison and I started our walk at 9 this morning, and headed in the opposite direction. It was cool when we started, but warmed up quickly, as we walked mostly in the sun this time.

6.5 miles later, we were both spent. I knew that I needed to nap earlier to get caught up on sleep. So I went directly to bed and slept for several hours, until getting up to cook dinner for my partner and me, and sitting down to do some work.

I think I am fully caught up from the days past, but unfortunately, I find myself up at 1:00am after only 3-hours of sleep. So the sleep saga might continue ...

I thought that I would weigh myself today, technically day 3, as it's 5:31 on Day Three. No walk yet. I didn't expect to see any change, if anything a fluctuation upward. So it was a nice surprise to see 255.2 on the digital face.

Allison and I plan on cross training with bikes. Mine is currently at our local bike shop getting repaired. We have two main routes that are easy to follow and nicely trailed, but I think that I might convince her to take a third route, a little more urban, walking the sidewalks and of the main streets of our city.

Day One: June 25, 2012

I didn't sleep well the night before, so I was up and ready to go for our walk at 7, long before my walking buddy Allison. We left the house at about 7:45, and headed off. We were slower than we hoped, completing a little more than 5 miles in an hour and a half, but it was a great start, and it really did me in. 

I was napping by 4:30, and what I had intended to be an hour, turned into 5, and messed up my sleep even more. I've always walked, so this wasn't a terrible chore - tomorrow we'll take a different route, a little longer.

For Starters

After turning 30 in May, I realized that my youth is fleeting and it's high time that I do something about the extra 40 pounds I was carrying around; instead of thinking, "I'll start next week", or "This Monday - so I'll binge today!" It was always so easy to lose the weight, that I took advantage, and never really grasped the depth of how much I had really gained. 

When I graduated high school, I was a svelte 189 pounds, and at 6'1 I looked and felt great. College brought on weight, and a few moves and family dynamics brought me up to 265 by December of 2003, a mere 3 years later. I went on diet after diet, doing things I'm not proud of to lose all of the weight, which I managed to keep off until I met my partner in 2005. 

Over the next few years, I gained and lost the same 30 pounds, until I didn't lose it ... and instead, gained 20 more. Topping the scale at my heaviest ever in February of 2012, a whopping 274 pounds, I quit my job to get away from bad influences and a desk. My plan was a good one, but I didn't stick to it. So when I still weighed 267 pounds in May, I decided to make a change. 

My best friend Allison, a teacher, began her summer vacation on June 26th. With her help of staying motivated and accountable, we plan on walking no fewer than 5-miles, 4 times per week. I didn't weigh myself at the start of this, but I did weigh 257.6 pounds on June 20th.

The goal is simple, and should be attainable without a lot of struggle. A total of 20 pounds lost by July 28th, a wedding I'm attending where I'll be around a large group of people that I haven't seen in well over a year - when I was even heavier than I am today.

Can I do it? We shall see!