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Since I'm treating this more as a diary than an outward facing 'social media empire,' it's probably necessary that I take a moment to capture the past few weeks.
There's an old Wait but Why that captures the tendency of the interwebs to spotlight only the good parts and some of the unintended consequences. The summary is the real world sucks, but our tendency to selectively spotlight only the cool and only the awesome can result in a distorted view of both the (virtual) person and also yourself (i.e., why am I hurting so much when everyone else makes it look easy?).
So, in the spirit of transparency, here's the blunt reality:
- I failed the new workout plan and am off the bike.
- It wasn't by choice.
- I'm putting weight back on. Which sucks.
The long version:
There is a story, and it's got a couple twists and turns, so bear with me.
Earlier this summer I went for my annual physical. I had a laundry list of complaints, concerns, and things I'd been meaning to ask. I usually bring a post-it with these items for accountability. The doc sees the note and says "ok, what's next on your list?" He's cool with it and I think maybe appreciates my preparation. We covered a lot of ground.
The results of the physical were a bunch of referrals. As in, a LOT. I've been a busy guy coordinating all the after action. Turns out, I:
- Have moderate to severe hearing loss in my left ear
- Have low T, resulting in a T pellet in my left butt cheek
- Do have an option for a generic/compounded version of Ozempic (more on that in a bit)
- Have a crusty bump on the back of my head that I should get looked at
- Was overdue for a colonoscopy
- I have a hernia, and not at my bellybutton.
That's a lot to unpack. Not all of this is a surprise, and most of it has nothing to do with this blog or fitness. But there were some unintended consequences and interactions I didn't expect.
I've done the T pellet before, but went off of it because a) it sucks (hurts for a few weeks), b) is expensive and not covered by insurance, and c) it caused me to pack on weight. Truthfully I couldn't tell much difference on/off (other than the weight), but after a chat I sighed and agreed to go back on.
I continued to bike with the hernia but found that it just aggravated it. So I'm off the bike and failed the training plan after week 3. My surgical consult is after Labor Day.
I had to wait for the compounded Ozempic to get shipped, and then it's a slow ramp up in dosages. I was back on it for 3 weeks and had just seen a dip in the scale and was surprised that I needed to come back off of it for the colonoscopy prep (Ozempic slows your digestive track, not a good thing when you need to clean yourself out). So I came back off of it for ~3 weeks and started over. Six weeks wasted.
Meanwhile the T-pellet kicked in and I found my weight spiraling up.
Impact:
Let's break all this down. I'll back up the tape and then fast forward again.
My actual goal for biking is stress relief and ultimately weight loss. I returned home from DC last June after being gone a year and down about 10 pounds. During my time in DC I was a) under less stress and b) was far more active in general, and c) had a flexible schedule that let me Zwift quite a bit. I was also on Ozempic for weight loss, and in April 2023, my last T pellet ran out. With that and a couple of other minor edits to my day, and I dropped 10-15 pounds in April to June. I looked and felt pretty good.
I returned here, stayed off the bike for a long break, became less active, and in November took on a significant amount of stress at work. I opted to focus first on my SLEEP (insomnia is a thing) and exchanged more time in bed for pushing myself to get up and work out. During the fall and winter, weekends became about working on the property and not structured workouts, which is (ahem) how I think I got the hernia.
In parallel, insurance stopped covering my off label Ozempic use and I came off that in early 2024. My weight crept up.
Then I started through the last 5-6 weeks of adding the T-pellet, starting/stopping Ozempic substitute, etc. Ballpark weights, from memory:
June 2023: 224
June 2024: 240
July 2024: 252
Aug 2024: 258 and change
Weight this morning was 253.4. Back on the Ozempic substitute and shifting my eating towards 'whole foods' and more protein and I've seen a dip in the right direction.
Now What?
It's not much, but I'll take it. The milestone I can't see past is the hernia. I'm ready to stop feeling the nagging hurt, and I want to get back on the bike, but I don't know how long after my (presumed) surgery it will be before I can tolerate the bike seat. In the interim, I'll see if I can slide my weight back down with a little attention, and have pondered alternative cardio like jogging. It's almost that time of year where I can tolerate being outside.
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