A push in the right direction

I just spent part of the afternoon with Tim Gibney of Woodstock, Ontario. Tim, who has been dubbed The Resilience Doctor, volunteered to be a life coach for me back in May 2015 when I embarked on a weight-loss journey. When he heard that I had put on about 10 pounds during the Christmas holidays, he thought he would stop by my house to help me get back on track.

In our afternoon session, Tim asked me several questions, leading up to why I want to lose weight. After going through some exercises with Tim, I replied I want to remain healthy to confront injustice and help those who are less fortunate. I do that, I believe, through the several hats I wear through Woodstock, Ontario’s Operation Sharing and the Oxford Self Help Network. I write for publications of both of these organizations (both of which help the impoverished and people with mental health issues) and by keeping healthy – mentally, emotionally and physically – I can do a better job of helping the less fortunate. Keeping healthy – through exercise, near-vegan eating, not drinking alcohol, taking medications, etc. – helps keep my bipolar disorder at bay. I would not be in a position to be of much help to anyone in a manic or depressive episode.

My post-Christmas weight was about 348 pounds, which is still down from an all-time high of about 400. However, I want to get down to 250 pounds or lower and I’ve given myself until mid-November 2016 to do that. Tim reminded me of why I want to achieve that weight-loss target – but when I told him he had given me a push in the right direction, he replied that it was I who had actually given that push. He’s right… it came from my own words. Regardless of where the push came from, I’m celebrating a renewed weight loss effort.

 

Health/weigh-in update of Dec. 17, 2015

Christmas has come early, in the form of added pounds following holiday gatherings. At my biweekly weigh-in at Ontario’s Woodstock Hospital today, I came in at 336.6 pounds, up 3.4 pounds from two weeks prior. I’ve been at a few gatherings and the cheer and food have been great on one hand, but not so much on the other.

I told my medication clinic nurse (who gives me a shot of bipolar disorder medication during my hospital visits) that I was pretty sure I knew how I had gained the weight this time around, which seemed to satisfy her. She seemed confident – as am I – that I will begin losing weight again come the New Year. I also told her that I had gone ‘near’ vegan – close to an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, consuming some cheese and eggs – and she inferred that this was likely a good idea also.

As for my blood pressure, it came in at 118 over 78, which surprised me (I thought it would be higher this time around, not lower). We’ll see if I can maintain this the next time I go in for a medication shot.

For all those struggling to keep their weight down during the holidays, I suggest that you don’t get too upset if you see a modest Christmas weight gain. And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone to boot.

Cutting myself some slack

With Christmas approaching, and with it the holiday foods aplenty at various gatherings, I found it increasingly difficult to determine which foods contained milk or eggs. For a guy trying to eat in the vegan lifestyle, I’m sure I made a few mistakes.

Truth be told, I probably went off the vegan path here and there before the gatherings started. For example, many supermarket products’ labels say “may contain milk or eggs” and it was tough to tell which ones were suitable for vegan consumption. So I’ve decided to go near-vegan… somewhere in between vegan and ovo-lacto-vegetarian. This way, I allow myself the occasional cheese, yogurt or eggs… I believe, for me, this is a more sustainable way of eating in the long run.

Also, I’ve decided to allow myself a few alcoholic drinks during the holiday season. This was a decision I made myself, without any pressure from family and friends. I’ve also chosen the dates for my next dry spell: I plan on abstaining from alcohol from Jan. 2, 2016 until St. Patrick’s Day in March. I believe this, for me, is a more sustainable way of cutting back on alcohol in the long run.

 

 

Discharged

For the second time in my life I’ve been discharged.

The first was just over a quarter-century ago, when I was honorably discharged from the Royal Canadian Artillery 11th Field Regiment in Guelph, Ontario – I quit being a reservist to take on a career in journalism. The second time came today, when I was discharged as a client of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Oxford County, Ontario branch. Each discharge came quietly but each marked a milestone in my life.

My time with the CMHA’s Oxford branch started with the worst bipolar disorder experience in my life. I was a wreck, to put it bluntly, those 11 years ago. But time, medications, backing from family and friends, effort and help from my CMHA worker – along with other supports – have helped immeasurably. In recent times, I was in what was called recovery mode with the CMHA, a relatively healthy state leading up to the discharge.

In today’s meeting with my CMHA worker, I noted I had been eating in the vegan way, have been exercising and have abstained from alcohol for months, all contributing to a loss of 45 pounds since the beginning of the year – things she applauded. Indeed, I have gone from receiving help to giving it, as a peer support volunteer with the CMHA and as the co-ordinator of the Extended Family Project program of Operation Sharing in Oxford County. Operation Sharing helps an estimated 2,500 people in poverty each month in a variety of ways.

It’s been a long journey and I’m thankful for the support I’ve been given. Now it’s time to pay it back.

The biggest challenge (so far)

Christmas is a month away. And the coming holiday season presents the biggest challenge to my resolve (in a number of areas) thus far.

In the recent past I’ve blogged about my taking on a vegan lifestyle, giving up alcohol and giving up slot machines. All of these represent an evolution of sorts for me… taking on a vegan style of eating (and giving up meat, dairy and eggs) was something of a progression for me, rather than just an overnight thing. The same with alcohol and slots… I’ve tried giving them up before on several occasions. But with my bipolar disorder and, so I’ve read, having the addictive personality that can go with it, I’ve failed at giving them up completely in the past. I’m doing well with them so far this time – my last drink was Aug. 27 while it’s been about a month since I gave up the slots.

But the Christmas holidays… well, that’s another matter. Abundant non-vegan food and alcoholic drinks will be in heavy supply. And friends who visit and are used to going with me to the slots… well, you get the idea. However, it’s my intention to keep going on all fronts, be they vegan, non-drinking or non-gambling. I’ve enlisted family and friends as supports, which will help. And by blogging about this I’m accountable to the readers out there as well. Wish me luck.

Health/weigh-in update of Nov. 19, 2015

It seems laying off the cashews and other nuts (at least to excess) worked this time around. With my weigh-in today I came in at 335.3 pounds, roughly two-and-a-half pounds lighter than my previous biweekly weigh-in at Woodstock Hospital in Ontario.

My regular medication clinic nurse was away, so I weighed in (and got my shot of bipolar medication) with the help of the other nurse on duty. She asked me how I had been doing since I last saw her, and she seemed pleased that I have adopted a vegan lifestyle. She was equally pleased that I haven’t had an alcoholic drink since Aug. 27.

My blood pressure came in a bit high (around 130 over 90) but the nurse didn’t seem overly concerned. Since this nurse uses different equipment than my regular nurse to check blood pressure, I’ll see what my next health check (with my regular nurse) brings.

It’s been six months since I began losing weight in earnest, and back in May I checked in at 370 pounds (which was already down from my all-time high of 400 pounds). I remain on target to go down to 250 pounds (or lower) by November 2016.

Welcome home, vegans

My wife and I just returned from Vegfest in London, Ontario (which we took in with a couple of friends today) and it was nice to attend a place of such vegan-friendly atmosphere. All of us are vegans or some variety of vegetarian and were in agreement it was a great day.

There were rows upon rows of vendors (with plenty of freebies, although they were trying to peddle some expensive wares) and several presentations ranging from cooking demonstrations to vegan-type movies (Cowspiracy, a documentary I had seen previously that deals with the environmental impact of animal farming, was a film shown at Vegfest).

Along with all kinds of cooking ideas for my wife, we went home with lots of information about veganism – and one of the tips we picked up was to favour eating at home (it can be tough to eat out while dining the vegan way). So, the group of us visited a local grocery store before coming up with a vegan/vegetarian supper at the home of one of our friends.

The whole thing was refreshing, as I had taken some heat previously from some other friends regarding my going vegan. Vegfest was like a homecoming for the vegan crowd.

Health/weigh-in update of Nov. 6, 2015

It would seem that a vegan diet is not a guarantee of losing weight all the time. In my weigh-in at Woodstock Hospital in Ontario yesterday I was up about half a pound, coming in at 337.7 pounds – but considering that is coming down from an all-time high of about 400 pounds, that is still not all bad.

I believe I know what caused the weight gain this time around. Late night snacking on peanuts and cashews did the trick, I’m pretty sure. Those nuts are within a vegan diet but I consumed too much of them in the past couple of weeks – I’ll have to watch my consumption in the future.

I did have some good news at this weigh-in. I told my medication nurse (who administers one of the meds I take for bipolar disorder) that the pain I had been feeling in my left hip when I walked for a period of time had vanished. She was very pleased and suggested my vegan way has resulted in less inflammation in my body, causing the pain to cease. I also believe the overall weight loss I have experienced has taken some of the load off my hip, contributing to the end of the pain.

Overall, not a bad checkup at the hospital (oh, and my blood pressure came in at 120 over 78). I’ll see what the next weigh-in two weeks from now brings.

Taking heat for being vegan… again

By Eric Schmiedl

The other night, my wife and I had some friends over for a social evening. Almost right from the outset, one of my friends bugged me about being vegan (and it’s a lifestyle subject I don’t bring up unless somebody else does).

This wasn’t the first time I’ve taken flak for my vegan lifestyle and it likely won’t be the last. However, this heat – in retrospect – was odd coming from this friend of mine. You see, this fellow smokes, drinks generally every day and even admits that he doesn’t always eat right. Oh, I forgot to mention he has diabetes (an illness I hope to avoid through my healthy lifestyle, which includes exercise, not smoking, not drinking and eating in a quite healthy way).

I have bipolar disorder but, in my view, it’s my friend who has the crazy lifestyle. Bug me about being vegan all you want… it’s not going to stop me from living my life the way I see fit.

An obsession?

By Eric Schmiedl

This one goes out to my friend Paul A.

Paul has voiced the opinion that my focus of recent blogs on my veganism and weight loss amounts to an “obsession.” True, the focus has been on those things, but I prefer to think of it as determination instead of an obsession. Being public with these blogs and these topics keeps me accountable to my readers and helps keep me on track.

As for today’s biweekly weigh-in/health clinic at Woodstock Hospital in Ontario, I weighed in at 336.9 pounds, down 2.2 pounds from the last weigh-in (and down from an all-time high of about 400 pounds). My blood pressure checked in at 114 over 71, and I got my regular shot of fluanxol (one of my bipolar disorder medications).

So, Paul, label it an obsession if you wish. I prefer determination on my quest to get down to 250 pounds (or lower).