Rehabilitation

 "My idea of exercise is a good brisk sit."

                                -Phyllis Diller

Today I went to Valley Medical Center cardiac rehab for my initial screening. It is completely different than what I experienced at NW Hospital. I've nothing against NW, but the level of intervention here is extraordinary, and I would assume, will produce better results. OTOH, don't go to the Valley ER with a heart attack. .  .

There were many screenings today--all to establish standards to rely on when adjudging metrics. Pre-exercise and post-exercise blood sugar, hand grip, body composition, exercise baseline, starting and ending blood pressure. Maybe others. It's more likely than not that I forgot something.  The blood sugar was in normal range--bizarre. The exercise baseline places me in the highest functioning group, according to the hospital's scale. That is the best news. OTOH, I weighed--with clothes on, 149 lbs., which tracks with the water retention I am having an issue with right now--but 5 lbs. more than two days ago can't be explained away by the 1/2 watermelon I consumed last night, or can it? It was a very small watermelon, so it's not as crazy as it may sound. That, plus too much salt and diet soda has me bloating. 

I'm going to write this here, but I am embarrassed about it and, truth be told, shocked. I am not mostly fat. The numbers, despite the ratio, makes me feel as if I am mostly fat. I weigh 149 lbs. Of that 53 lbs. of my body is fat. Fat. 31.4% of my body. Try and imagine you ordered a steak--not prime rib--and when you get your plate, 1/3 of the steak is fat. It's disgusting. It also confirms the story my doctor down in Riverside said to me almost 15 years ago, when I was effusive over then being in the 140s. I can give you an ultrasound, and you will see you are still full of fat. Sadly, I am sure she is correct. However, as was confirmed to me today, Monjouro has exacerbated the muscle loss. Finally, with regard to weight, BMI is shown to be complete bullshit. At 149, I have a BMI within normal range,
while my body holds more fat than a McDonald's deep fryer.

If I were to compare my body to an animal that would reflect what my arms look like, I admit a T. Rex wouldn't be far off. I have always had puny arms, but its far worse now than ever before. After using measuring machines I haven't seen or used before, I must say that both my store of body fat and the weakness in my upper body--both were made worse (if not completely caused by) through the use of a GLP-1. Again, I use it to keep my blood sugar in check and it's doing a fabulous job of it, so I am stuck with it for now.  

2009.

The weakness I experience when walking Willow is quite real, not imagined, not psychosomatic. Every day , while at the park, she pulls me, and each time she pulls me (proximity to squirrels or bunnies are generally the cause), I fear she will make me fall, or worse, break away. I use my weight to great effect to prevent that but look forward to weight training to make me stronger.

Today's visit was, as I mentioned, to set baseline. The great news is that with a metabolic rate of 11, I exceed the measure allowing me to push the hardest in training. As I like to keep in mind about such things, that is about as much a ringing endorsement for my health status as the power of claiming you were the best engineer that worked on the 737--not exactly a high bar. Nor would it really be one that a person should brag about Still, its good news. 

I am taking next week off for the death of my cousin Jack--really more like an uncle given he was my mom's cousin--which I think makes him a second cousin according to the google. He was the best person our family created from that generation--he is already missed.