Ending my second week with my new get-healthy plan. Lots more successes this week, but a few issues have developed too.

First off, I ended the week at the 308.8 pound mark as of Friday morning – I didn’t weigh myself during the weekend because we were at the lake and I chose not to take my scale. During the long lake week at the end of July, I will plan to take the scale with me. But, I have already lost 16 pounds!

Next, my knee pain has been pretty impactful this week. It hasn’t stopped me from exercising, but it has certainly slowed me down and made it less enjoyable. I did go and get the knee x-ray this week so that will hopefully help identify the source of the pain. Though, my doctor’s initial diagnosis is that it is just the added stress from exercise and it will get better as weight loss continues.

My biggest concern this week has been my blood pressure. My smart blood pressure cuff arrived so I have been monitoring where I sit. The results haven’t been good. In fact, some of the measurements (bottom number) have been nearing the “Call 911” level when I search online. So, I am pretty sure that blood pressure medication is in my near future.

On the topic of gadgets, I bought a Fitbit this week too. So, now I can really measure exercise, heart rate, sleep and such. One of the first things I discovered is that my heart health is in the “Poor” range in the app. That doesn’t make me feel good. Plus, resting heart rate is a new measurement in my repertoire for tracking. The big gain here is that I can monitor resting and active calories burned and really get a feel for whether I am burning more than I am consuming.

From a diet and exercise perspective, I was under my target calories every day and managed alcohol consumption. I exercised pretty much every day and really stepped in up during the weekend. I did a 3 mile walk at around 16 minutes per mile.

I also sat down with my boss and explained the health journey I am going through. I talked to her about reducing my hours and controlling stress. She was overall supportive about everything and talked about the good opportunity it presented for my team to elevate themselves as I work fewer hours.