Biking Update - October 18, 2008

Well, this was my WORST week for biking since we started in June. I spent no time at all on the real bike, and only a few hours on the exercise bike in the attic. But I did learn a valuable lesson. Apparently, constant worry can be just as effective an exercise/weight loss regimen as doing biking and the Wii Fit every day. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that we started dog-sitting our mother's dog Biscuit on last Saturday. She had been having issues with her bowel movements earlier in the week, but our mother was unable to take her to a vet. We got her on Saturday and she was in bad shape - no energy, no appetite, no BMs at all. We took her to a nearby veterinary hospital Sunday right after church when it became clear she was NOT getting any better with time. We spent most of the day at the vet on Sunday, then were back Monday and Tuesday as well. Biscuit has been diagnosed with "significant" heart disease and also gastro-intestinal disease. Basically, her heart is pulling in more blood than it is pumping out, leading to a backup of fluid elsewhere in the body. The "elsewhere" in this case is her intestines, so they are developing all kinds of problems. As of Sunday, we were not sure she was going to survive. The doctor immediately put her on both heart medications and antibiotics (which we have to shove down her throat, because she won't eat even the chewables on her own). Saturday thru Tuesday morning were very tense days. Neither of us slept much, and we spent most of the day watching to make sure she was still breathing while in her bed. Tuesday was the day things started to turn around, as she had a major bowel movement and began eating again. We have been taking care of her since then, as well - I have arranged to work from home this week so that she has someone with her all day - and the progress has been good. She is now eating well, pooping regularly, and has her personality back. She is still very sick - we go back Monday to start talking about addressing the next stage of the illnesses - but she is much better and probably safe for the moment. Phew.

But with all of the watching and worry, there was no time to bike away from the dog (bringing her with us was not a realistic option) and every night when I was free of responsibility to go and bike, I was already exhausted from worry. So, I have been exercising maybe every other day. But it turns out that this does work for weight loss, as well. I guess the lack of appetite on my part may have also helped. I crossed the threshold this week and have now lost over 50 pounds! I only have another 4 lbs to go as of today until I have reached my goal weight of 230. If that works, I will probably keep trying to lose so that when the holidays hit I have some "cushion" to gain a little weight and still be below 230. Then I'll take some time and figure out whether I want to maintain (as per Mrs. B's comment last week) or try to lose more. It is a good decision to have to make. Oh, and the karate studio interview got pushed back a week by the events of this week. So, assuming Biscuit is still recovering next week, I should have more to report on that front.