Week 16 of my weight loss challenge

The past two weeks have been extremely busy for me. Those following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/Jgrdaniel) know what's been going on in my life lately. I moved to a half-way house for the summer to do some youth ministry. It is a very exciting opportunity for me to serve God in this way, as youth ministry is my passion. But moving in to a new house is never easy. There is the almost endless packing and unpacking of things. And then it comes the getting accustomed to your new home. It's exciting, but rarely easy.

And then comes the internet. There is now internet where I'm living, but that wasn't the case for the first few days after I moved in. The main router of the house is located in my room. Plugging in my laptop, I accidentally disconnected the router. I reconnected it again and it suddenly stopped working! Apparently, that simple act blew out the adapter. But we now have a new adapter, and thankfully internet. But then, there is also another problem that delayed my posting of a new blog: I forgot (apparently conveniently) my scale at the old house!

I have to be honest. I've been overeating lately. Maybe it is the stress of moving in and out, or the getting accustomed to the new house and schedules, or even the new food here. Thankfully, I have not neglected my exercise. I've been walking around the new neighborhood, getting to know it better. For those familiar with San Francisco, I am now living in the Mission district. This is an interesting neighborhood, filled with contrast and life. It is an acquired taste, but I'm starting to like it.

I took this photos on one of my walks through the neighborhood. There is lots of interesting new housing developments right next to industrial zonings and decadent buildings. For some reason I find these contrasts fascinating.

So without a scale there is no weigh in right? Yes, sorry! But I will go today to the old house and pick up my scale. I will be leaving to a retreat with the Augustinians for the whole week. I'm already very excited about that. See you all next week!

Week 14 of my weight loss challenge.

Starting with this post, this will be the new home for my weight loss challenge. If you would like to see any previous posts, you can go to my previous blog: http://jgrdaniel-random.blogspot.com/ . Random thoughts will still remain active to,... well random stuffs. But I will not post my weight loss challenge there anymore.

Weeks 13 and 14 were difficult weeks for me. It all started with a discomfort on my right foot as I was exercising two weeks ago. Inspecting my foot, I saw a couple of blisters under one of my toes. Stupidly (and now I regret this) I didn't pay much attention to it. I expected it to heal overnight. But it didn't. Next day, I stubbornly decided to go for another walk. It started to hurt a lot more. By the end of that Friday afternoon walk, my blister had grown into a wound. This made my walking difficult for the next couple of days. The weekend passed, and the wound was only getting worse. I could barely walk on Monday, I knew there was a problem. I missed classes on Tuesday, going to the hospital instead. My wound had become infected, Cellulitis had developed. The Dr. prescribed some antibiotics. Rest was mandatory.

Needless to say, I was very frustrated. I had just gone under the 300 mark on week 12. I was very excited about my weight loss journey so far, and now this comes along?! Will I go over the 300 mark again? How much time till the wound heals? The fact that I'm diabetic only complicates matters. Reluctantly, I decided that the best I could do was rest, not eat much as before, and do the best to take care of my wound.

On a more positive note: I went to the Dr. last Thursday, as they had my results ready from my blood tests. The Dr. was very impressed by the results. Everything seems to be fine, except for my cholesterol which was little bit high. My average sugar level for the past 3 months was 120, which is not bad at all for a diabetic. This was done without any type of medication.It goes to show just how a little effort on your part can make a huge impact on your health.

My wound is finally almost healed. One blister is starting to develop however, and another wound has developed. I honestly don't where they came from! Perhaps they developed as I walked awkwardly, trying to protect my other wound. This is very aggravating! Just when my wound is starting to heal the other two come and take its place! But I'm taking good care of them now, making sure they don't get infected. Hopefully they would soon heal.

But enough of that, here is the result from week 14:

Week 12 weigh in: 299.

Week 14 weigh in: 296.

Total pounds lost: 20.

I honestly don't know how I lost weight without much exercising. I exercised on a stationary bike a couple of times, something that didn't hurt my feet, as the wounds are only under my toes. I have to confess, there were a few days that I overate. On others, I was conscious of my calorie intake. We'll see how I do for next week. I truly hope that my wounds would be healed by then. See you all next week!