Wednesday Weigh-In 20260408

I resumed the 300mg dose of bupropion, which I had reduced to 150mg on February 19 to see if doing so would reduce my sugar cravings and overeating. It didn't.

As well, I stopped the 10mg dose of rosuvastatin earlier this week in order to allow for relief of muscle problems. I did this because I have muscle pain, exercise fatigue and weakness. I had these symptoms many years ago, but they went away when I stopped whatever statin I was on at the time on the advice of an ND (Naturopathic Doctor). Meanwhile, I plan to try Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) because one known side effect of statins is that they deplete this fat-soluble vitamin-like cofactor. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12554813/

Waist = 45.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Dream: Leftover Pizza Toss

WL¹ shows up at my home unannounced, a surprise visit.  He walks toward the backyard.  I ask out of politeness if he'd like a tour of the house, dreading a yes answer.  He declines and says that he's just here to get rid of the pizza they had at work.

He flings the pizza toward the far end of the backyard.  It's a small, whole pizza, and it flies like a Frisbee.  But wind from the West gets under it, so it tilts and then circles around.  It's acting almost like a boomerang, but it loses momentum, falls to the ground and breaks into a couple of pieces.

I suddenly realize it would've been neat to get a video.  I wish I'd known he would do that so I could video record it and maybe have him toss it into the pond.

I pick up the pieces and walk toward the pond.  I have the cellphone in my left hand and the pizza pieces in my right.  It's hard for me to start the video, so I throw it first and then start the recording.  However, te pieces fall to the ground before the recording starts.

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WL is the recruiter my employer retained several years ago and who died a couple of years ago.  He once commented on a photo of my wife (admiring my wife's legs) while visiting my office one day, prompting me to reposition the photo and angle it away from the entrance. He'd bring in birthday cake every month and pizza occasionally.  I was always polite to him and thanked him several times for his effort, yet I preferred to avoid him.

In this dream, I'm no longer employed at the company.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260404

I've been trying three things in order to increase fitness and reduce weight.

1. Earlier bedtime. During my period of decline, I'd been reading and working on the computer late at night, which is when I'm motivated to consume sweets or crunchy snacks. Since I can't eat while I'm asleep, I can easily reduce my intake by going to bed at 9:30pm instead of 12:30am, for example. This is easier to do during Daylight Saving Time than during Standard Time because the day ends one hour earlier compared to sunset.
2. More activity. I'm more committed to exercising. I do push-ups and crunches indoors, and I force myself to walk more because I park far away from the stores I shop at.
3. Mindset / Intensified effort. This is similar to increased activity, but it takes place while carrying out ordinary tasks. My method is based on a study I read about in a book by Ellen Langer in which two cohorts of hotel maids were monitored for fitness. Only one cohort was told that the job was exercise and would improve their fitness. Compared to the control group "...the informed group ... showed a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index."¹ But in my case, I know "the trick," I know what's going on, so I actually do treat my activity as exercise by moving faster and adding intensity to my muscle contractions.

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¹https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17425538/

Waist = 45.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Ordering Out

My wife is so weird in some ways.

For example, she ordered Chinese food, and I’ve just picked it up.  Normally, when food arrives, the bag is ripped open, and people descend upon it.  Then they start to scarf their meals like a pack of hungry wild dogs.

Not my wife.  She continues doing whatever she was doing before the food arrived.  It’s a lot like how a cat will feign disinterest in dinner and then sneak in later to gulp down the food.

I can’t abide this behavior.  So I’ve decided to leave her alone and write this blog post about it.  Let’s see how long it takes for her to start her meal. 

Is this difference in behavior a male/female thing?  Is it because she’s from New England and I’m from New York, where we open a box of pizza, take a piece, fold it in half, and rip out a huge bite while walking away, causing painful burns on the roof of our mouths in the process?

I came home with the food at least 15 minutes ago.  She asked just now, “Do you want to eat with me in the living room?”  “Okay, sure.”   Then she walked in the opposite direction of the kitchen.

Now she’s back in my office with a fistful of papers that need to be filed.  She’s talking about hiring a new helper.

[tick, tick, tick…] Now, finally, I hear her in the kitchen, more than twenty minutes after I’ve set the Chinese food onto the table.  But still there’s no indication that food is on her mind.

It’s as if the food is a visit to the dentist, or a tax return to be filed.  Why is she avoiding it?

I’m shaking my head in total confusion.

[much time passes]

She finally sits down.  Then she abruptly gets up, “I forgot a plate for the cat.”

She sits down again.  Then, once again, she abruptly gets up, “I forgot my drink.”

She sits.  She fidgets a bit, then uses the remote to switch channels.  Commercial.  Switch.  Commercial.  Switch.  Commercial.  All this time she’s still not eating.

Finally she started to eat more than 30 minutes after I came home with the food.

Dream: School Worksheet

I’m standing in a classroom with my math teacher/professor.  He asks me, “Shouldn’t you be studying for the mid term?”  I say, “No, I’m done.  I’m ready.”  He leaves the room.

A student volunteer errand boy enters.  I’m still standing in the same location. I’m deeply engrossed in reading something.  The boy starts saying that he has a paper to give to the professor.  I shush the boy.  I hold out my hand, still looking at my reading.  Then I look at the paper, and the boy says that it’s an old graded [quiz / homework / worksheet] that needs to be returned to the student.  I read SK’s son’s name written at the top in child-like penmanship. “Indeed it’s old,” I think to myself.  SK’s son graduated 10 years ago, and this isn’t even high school-level work!  Then I realize that name isn’t SK’s son’s name, it’s S himself.  SK is about my age, a sexagenarian(1)!  “I’ll take care of it,” I say, and the boy leaves.

I leave the classroom and walk toward the main office.  There are a few students in the hallways.  As I approach a staircase, one student is in front of me.  He’s walking a bit slowly, and he’s got a buddy nearby.  That buddy is on another staircase, and he’s showing off how he can slide down a few steps at a time.  Now I’m on the stairs stuck behind this slow student.  My impatience is building.  “I can do better than that,” I say, referring to the buddy, and I slide down the entire set of stairs, which is about twelve steps.  And I feel relieved to be moving at a decent pace again.

(1) A sexagenarian is a person between the ages of 60 to 69 years old. https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/Age-by-Decade

Dream: Urinal Cakes

I'm visiting my former workplace.  I've entered the building via an entrance other than the main entrance, and I encounter a few former coworkers.  As I hang out with them, I realize that I should check in at the front desk, and I tell the guys that.  One of them, JJ, looks me straight in the eye and says, "I'll go with you.  HR wants me to replace the urinal cake in the men's room."

JJ and the gang walk in the general direction that I go in, but their path is meandering.  In going up flights of stairs they switch between stairwells, for example.  So I dawdle a bit as I watch and wait for them to catch up.

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Commentary:

JJ is a talented process engineer.  The main idea with this is that the woman in Human Resources (HR) has given him a "lowly" task befitting a janitor.  JJ is not happy with it.  This representation of HR calling the shots mirrors my opinion that HR in large companies, acting as the company "bouncer," is getting out-of-control.  Or, they don't really know what engineers do or are capable of.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260317

Just back-filling old weigh-in data.

Waist = 37.5"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.