Week 24: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Week 23 | Week 25
March 14-20, 2020

Yesterday ended in such an interesting way. School was shut down, we were put on alert. A bug has reared it’s ugly head and we call it Covid-19. No big deal, right? We got this. The scales were kind once again. I lost a pound. 308 pounds. Big progress! Can’t really celebrate though. See, we’ve been told to stay away from each other. We’ve been told to wash out hands and not touch our faces and a bunch of other things.

Apparently people were told to go buy all the toilet paper and bottled water. Is the world ending? Who knows. This is what I was thinking during this week. As of writing this on April 1, 2020, the world had not ended. All I know is that I have one goal. Lose this weight.

Everyone is going crazy. I’m just grinding.

Week 24 Summary

The Curse of Cauliflower
I don’t know what people see in the creepy albino cousin of broccoli, but I am honestly perplexed with this veggie. Try and try as I may, I find more issues with cauliflower than anything. All of its wonderful uses from faux mashed potatoes to low carb pizza crust – it has always been touted as some masterful substitute for a variety of unhealthy foods. Hell, when I was on my low carb kick I even picked up a recipe for using cauliflower to make a grilled cheese. The audacity.

People that use cauliflower for anything other than roasting with a bit of garlic, salt, and pepper speak as if they’ve discovered a 1:1 replacement. These people will tell you “It’s a great replacement!” or even “It’s better than the real deal!” These people, these people lie. No matter what fancy voodoo a person works to turn Cauliflower into something more appealing than what it actually is, they can’t evade the pervasive scent and taste of fart.

That being said, all is not to be considered a wash. Cauliflower is plain and simple. It requires nothing fancy. It does not need to be something else to be loved. If you can’t love it for what it is, you deserve to be let down when your caulicrust tastes like the fresh wind from a fat man’s backside.

It’s simple: Olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder. Roast the florets for about 40 minutes at 425. Get a nice burn on them. This works with frozen as well as fresh (though cutting fresh cauliflower can be a pain in the ass.) From here you can do whatever you want with the vegetable. It’s a decent supplement, but don’t expect it to be a five star experience. There is not a recipe or person on this planet that can take cauliflower from mediocrity to excellence, but not everyone has to be the Michael Jordan of the team when it comes to dinner. Cauliflower can be Scottie Pippen.

It happens.

No Exercise?
None.

The Gallery!

Sharing My Life Story: My First Year As a Teacher and as a Diabetic
So with the school year concluding, we do our typical Summer routine and I begin my first full year as a teacher. With my weight loss and my inability to fend off basic illness, I was also starting to sweat a lot. I would play video games and I would sweat profusely just sitting here. Sweat would pour from every crevice. In bed, I would sweat so much that the bedding would need changing every day. My pillow was funky. Every night I was soaking wet with sweat – blanket or no. I was sweating for no reason!

Then I was peeing a lot. Every couple of hours I was taking a long piss, and my urine was crystal clear. I thought crystal clear urine was good. Nope! Crystal clear urine means you’re dying, apparently (According to the Internet anyway). The second semester kicks in and I began experiencing tremendous stress and burnout. I was tired. All of my work was done between 5 AM and 11:00 AM and after lunch, I was so tired and out of it, all teaching was done from the hip. This was on top of managing that first year as a teacher. I was stressed out and near suicidal. I was in a dark place. I was now 330 lbs, but my weight was fluctuation wildly in a 20 pound margin.

I was still eating wildly and irresponsibly. I was still slamming sodas and eating dollar menu burgers as snacks. We were eating out every night. I would go to bed every night feeling like death, like I could literally up and die at any moment. I was constantly sick. I was constantly exhausted. Then, the stretch in Spring began and I was red lining. I was eating way more than I should have and I was still miserable. Food comforted me, but it was killing me.

Then I scared everyone at school…

To Be Continued…

The Six Week Check Up
The last time I did this I was two weeks behind. Good news! Nothing has changed. I am still two weeks behind. So actually, this check up is according to how everything is going on April 2, 2020. Let’s do this!

Feet: My feet are great right now. No signs of heel spurs and my ankles are not hurting either. I have not returned to the treadmill, but that is about to change, most likely today at some point.

Legs: While my legs are not hurting, they are feeling feeble. When I work them out, they really feel terrible and I have noticed that they are looking worse in regards to varicose veins and coloration. Wounds are not healing well. I feel like my legs are going to give me hell from here on out, but they still work and they’re pain free for the time being.

Waist/Hips: No pain in this area. Still too damn big.

Stomach/Intestinal/Digestive: At some point a couple of weeks ago, my regular pooping routine went off the rails and now I am dealing with a lot of constipation. Other than that, everything appears well.

Chest: While I feel alright, I have been dealing with a tremendous amount of anxiety and it causes a bit of pressure in my chest. I don’t know if that’s a sign that I am dying or what.

Arms: My left arm is a weak, uncoordinated bitch. My right arm is hurting off and on still and I cannot shoot a basketball or throw things. Any twitch movement hurts like hell. Laying on my right side is a risk because it forces me to move my arm in a way that triggers a lot of pain. I need to see a doctor about this.

Neck/Head: As of right now the neck is fine. I am dealing with some slight headaches, some jaw pain that is being triggered by some pretty intense pain in my ears. It’s that time of year.

Mental Check
I made it through that depression slump last time I checked in. Everything was popping off pretty good. Had some frustrations and such, but for the most part everything was going good. Then all hell broke loose and Covid19 came rolling through. This has been a source of a different, and tremendous kind of stress. Everything is weird now. Shopping is a chore, there are no things to do (Social distancing, self isolation, closure of parks and all things recreational…) so it’s a lot of being in the house. School is out because of it and I think we will not go back this year. Insanity.