Category: Real Life

Weight Loss Update

How are things going? Since April 15th I’ve lost just over 30lbs. I’m below 220 for the first time in a few years. I haven’t noticed any change with my MS symptoms yet, but I’m sure my body is happy to have a little less weight to cart around. I’ve been doing a mixture of keto and just eating regular food with moderate portions because up here in the North it can be difficult to stick to a set ‘diet’. I’m staying away from processed food and sugars as much as I can, but also not restricting myself so much that I don’t have anything to eat. I picked up some spices and I’m using them on everything. I love chili and lime, as it turns out.

In another 19lbs I’ll have obtained my first goal, 50lbs down. I decided if I can manage that, I’ll pick up an apple watch as a reward for doing well, and start incorporating exercise into the equation. That’s another thing that’s harder to do up here, I can’t go for walks around town due to the packs of wild dogs, and if I step outside right now I’ll either melt (what is with the crazy warm temperature this year?!) or I’ll eat a LOT of bugs. I’ll figure something out, even if it’s just doing some VR beatsaber in the comfort of my home. I don’t feel proud of myself yet. I do see my clothes fitting better though, and that’s always nice.

Onward!

Not a Fan

I don’t particularly enjoy summer. Whether it’s because of the giant bug swarms we currently have, the heat, or some other reason, it’s my least favourite time of the year. I’m ready for the snow to come back.

Art? I Do That..

Once upon a time (we’re talking high school) I used to take art in school – and I loved it. I thought I was OK at it, and I practiced a lot. I actually put together a portfolio and applied to Ottawa University for a Bachelor of Arts – and got in. Unfortunately funding was a huge issue, I didn’t qualify for anything and my parents wouldn’t help, so.. that fell through. I’ve never been to university. The relationship I was in was a bit toxic (though I didn’t realize that at the time) and I put away my art, and stopped doing it all together. I wasn’t encouraged, so I didn’t bother.

I’m a firm believer that it’s never too late. It’s never too late to pick up a new hobby, to refresh an old one, to be learning, expanding, to be involved in whatever your heart desires. It takes time, patience, practice, and nothing is instant – but I believe goals we set for ourselves are obtainable. You have to work at it.

I recently started getting back to my art, slowly. Mostly digital because that’s what is easiest for me with my MS. Sometimes holding a pencil hurts, putting pressure of pencil on paper hurts. I want to get better, I want to do better and I want to improve. I’ve started a 365 project, and this year I’ve already done 34 works of art. That’s 34 more pieces than I did last year, when I did zero. I’m proud. They’re not award winning pieces, but they’ve been fun, and I’ve been learning – which is most important to me. Seeing where I am now and where I’ll be at 5 years from now is something I’m very much interested in – even at the age of 40.

It’s never too late.

An Elaborate Discord Scam

I was recently the target of an elaborate discord scam – and they almost had me convinced that they were the victims, not the ones doing the scam, but a few things didn’t add up.

How it went down: I got a random message from someone who had 1 server in common with me. They said that someone was impersonating me, and had scammed them out of some Counter Strike GO skins. I said it was a bad idea to give strangers their info, and wished them well. They continued on and insisted that they had more to show me, producing screen shots with someone impersonating my discord, and asking if my steam account was ‘me’ to which of course I said sure it was (because it was).

Eventually I continued on with my ‘Don’t give your info to strangers’ discussion, and they said “well I reported your steam account and now it’s going to get banned!” – and a light bulb flicked on and I realized that they were actually the ones doing the scamming. I told them that was cool and said have a good day. They insisted I be concerned about my account getting banned, I said “you’re cute, I’m not worried.” and then they vanished and stopped talking to me.

I never did get that ban they were talking about, but I did find tons of posts, articles, and comments from people going through the same issue.

Don’t fall for it. As much as I hate blocking every form of interaction out there, sometimes it’s warranted.

Weight Loss Update

I’m trying to refrain from posting every day about how the weight loss stuff is going, but I do think that it’s important to talk about. NOT talking about it only encourages me to hide things, and that never works out. I’m trying to be accountable and honest with myself, as well as everyone else.

April 15th I decided it was time to take my health into my hands as much as I could. I want to give my body a better chance to deal with my MS, and that’s really hard when you’re not healthy and you’re carrying around a bunch of extra weight. I decided to start with keto, and as of that date, I’ve lost 26 pounds. Yes, some of that is water weight, but a lot of it is actual fat, too, and I’m pretty happy. There were a few days where it seemed like I had gained back 3-4 pounds in a single day – but I know that can’t be the case.

I’m honest with myself about what I’m eating. I weigh everything, and measure it out. Even if I don’t stay keto (twice I had cheat days because life was just too rough and I couldn’t manage it) I do stay within my calorie count. I know it would be better to continue to eat keto and eat outside of my calorie count on those days, but I just couldn’t handle everything that was going on. Sometimes, life is too much.

Anyway, the point is that I knew I hadn’t eaten an extra 3lbs worth of food, so something else was the cause – like hormones, bloating, PMS. There are a ton of reasons your weight fluctuates throughout a given time frame. Now I’m back on track, back to losing, and I’m really hoping I can obtain my goal of getting below 200lbs before Christmas. It would be a huge win for me, and one I really need. That’s still 24lbs away, so like I said, a long way to go.

I feel confident this time around that I can do it.