Month: December 2016

Gout Sucks

As part of my weight gain, I’ve become acquainted with gout.  It’s an extremely painful inflammation of a joint (usually a big toe) due to uric acid build-up.

I seem to suffer from (usually) brief flare-ups that keep me off my feet as much as possible.  My doctor prescribed a medicine to take for the next flare-up, but I decided against filling it due to cost.  Much to my disappointment, I immediately had another flare-up.

I’m fighting this flare-up with a large dose of Naproxen (cheap!), lots of water, and less beer.  I also found that one of those vibrating massagers placed on my foot can help.  This might be the shortest flare-up yet.  It kept me awake for most of one night, but has been much better since.

Prevention is still best.  I’m taking a supplement that is supposed to keep uric acid levels lower.  I’m drinking more water.  I’ve cut back on beer, sugar, and a few other things that are known to cause gout flare-ups.  Also, I’ll be giving up alcohol for the month of January.  Losing 40 or more pounds would also be extremely helpful.

I am going out drinking tonight.  I’ll be safe, and try to stay hydrated.  I’m going to spend the next two nights celebrating the end of the messed-up year.

Eight Days Later…

I’m still not writing when I want.

I had an interesting week.  I worked from home on Monday and Tuesday.  Those would have been the best days temperature-wide to ride my bike to work, but I sat around in my robe instead.

Wednesday morning was cold, but rode my bike six miles to the bus stop and took TARC the rest of the way.  The afternoon commute was warmer and pleasant.  I took the long-ish way (16 miles) and enjoyed myself.

Thursday was brutally cold.  I drove my car.  Today was like Wednesday, but I woke late and drove again.

I want to be a cyclist again, but I have an issue with laziness.

Updates – I’m Alive!

Nine months without a post?  Did I die?  No.

I’ve been focused on the wrong things in life.  I’m tied up with food, beer, work, computers, gadgets, etc.  I’ve even been dreaming of motorcycles for Dog’s sake!

Bikes

I did buy a full-suspension mountain bike in October.  You can see it on the my bikes page.  It’s a blast.  I’m write more about that later.

I rarely ride to work anymore.  The new office is a bit further, and the route is not very bike friendly.  I’m also fatter and out of shape.

I still try to get out on weekend rides, usually with Tim.  The issue is that I’ve lost so much fitness that either I can’t keep up, or I can’t even finish the ride.  I’m working on it.

Dogs

I lost three dogs in three years.  Candy died in 2014.  Sandy died in 2015.  In late 2015, my mother-in-law fell and broke her hip.  We took in her dog, Stormy, and elderly boxer, while her owner healed.  My mother-in-law passed away in June.  Stormy became our dog.  Stormy passed away last month.

That’s okay, we still have Diamond and Baxter.  That’s enough dogs.

Medical Crap

I have a doctor appointment in the morning.  I’m probably going to get put on cholesterol medicine.  This is my fault for letting my weight, health, diet, and fitness go to shit.

This is part of the reason for posting again.  I started this blog mostly for myself – to keep me focused and on-target.  I’ve been anything but recently.

My crappy recent eating habits led to a pretty bad flare-up of gout.  That sucks, and it kept me from bike riding for a while.  It’s better now.  I’m working to prevent another flare-up.

Beer

I love beer.  I’ve given it up a few times.  I cut back.  I eventually drink too much of it.

I wasn’t much of a beer drinker for most of my life.  I’d very occasionally buy liquor and get drunk, but beer, meh, whatever.

Sometime after losing a bunch of weight (2009-ish?) I got hooked on good beer.  Local craft brews are my favorite.  When I went car-free in 2011, I no longer had to worry about driving home after drinking.  That became a problem.

From 2011 – 2013 was bad.  I got better for a while.  Then I got bad again.  I’ve since got a bit better.  End result: gained back 80 pounds of the 100 I lost.  Years of work was lost.

Don’t misunderstand, I almost never get drunk.  I can spread out five beers over six hours and not even get a buzz.  It’s not about that.  It’s the same as when I drink my mug of coffee early in the day.  It’s a habit.  It’s soothing.  I need a less harmful habit.

Relationships

I still find personal relationships very difficult.  My marriage is mostly good, but our bad habits feed off of one another.  I have very little to do with my adult daughters any more.  One of them is coming over for Christmas though.

I have a job that I mostly enjoy, which is a big switch from the previous eight-or-so years.  Yay!  Something that doesn’t suck!

What Next?

I need a solo bike adventure this weekend.  I can’t put it off.  It doesn’t have to anything epic, just a 50-mile jaunt would be nice.  We’ll see what the weather does.