Getting Healthy (Conclusion)

I could easily yammer on and on about my health journey, but I’ll show pity and wrap it up in this article. The first half, in March 2019, focused on my caloric intake. In this second half, I’ll focus on caloric output. And I’ll note the tools, tips, and tricks that worked for me.

Focus on Intake, Then Layer Output

The sad fact is that it’s extremely hard to burn excess calories. Even my longest and most intense workout can only burn 800 calories, which is easily eclipsed by a single fast-food burger. My focus had to be on intake foremost. This left exercise in the role of supporting cast member, providing a useful supplement.

Just as I did with eating, my exercise was a gradual ramping up in both duration and intensity. An incremental approach was key in making exercise a consistent habit. I also focused on exercises types that I particularly enjoy: walking, swimming, and aqua aerobics. Although “enjoy” might be a bit of an exaggeration, because even after a year of dedication there’s still a temptation to skip a session. On the other hand, when I haven’t exercised in a few days, there’s a mild craving to get back into the swing before I lost momentum. That’s a new and unique feeling that I didn’t have before I made activity a habit. It is still definitely easy to lose momentum, as I learned after having a couple of surgeries this year. Both were followed by mandatory weeks of recovery. Getting back into the routine takes effort and discipline, especially if I can’t go straight back to the previous routine (type, duration, or intensity). And instead must gradually work my way back to where I’d been.

The Importance of Audio

Plantronics BackBeat Fit Bluetooth Headphones

I’ve always been a music lover, and I already had a pre-established headphone addiction. So I didn’t waste the excuse to extend my investments and add exercise-enhancing equipment. I started by adding the Plantronics BackBeat Fit Bluetooth Headphones to my collection. These are made for exercise: they stay in place during vigorous activity, they are sweat and weather resistant, and they are an open-eared style (i.e., they allow outside sounds so you don’t experience that claustrophobic and isolated state of sealed earbuds). The benefit of an open design is both a desired feature but also a weakness. By its very nature, it cannot reproduce the rich and deep bass that a sealed connection can achieve. But since I was using them for podcasts, sermons, and audiobooks enhanced bass wasn’t a requirement. The other weakness of its open design is that it is specifically created to allow in sounds from the environment. This is a good thing, except when a loud environment (such as road traffic) drowns out your audio. Although I was very happy with the BackBeats, I was too often in noisy environments where they were overwhelmed. So I tend to only use them indoors, like doing house chores, for example.

Sennheiser GAME ONE PC Gaming Headset: Great sound but too big and hot for exercise.

As an alternative to the BackBeats I had on hand the Sennheiser GAME ONE PC Gaming Headset. Although it had the audio characteristics I needed, including the ability to produce excellent bass notes, it had its own drawbacks. As an over-the-ear design, it could compete with noisy environments. Yet it also had an open design to provide enough situational awareness. But they were intended for desktop use, and thus were a bit big and ugly for outdoors (and the over-the-ear style for exercise hadn’t yet reached fashionability). Also, they weren’t secure enough for vigorous activity—only walking. And their fabric lining, although comfortable, wasn’t suited for hot weather or sweat. In a move that further reduced their utility, I eventually replaced my old iPhone and the replacement lacked a headphone port. The Sennheisers has a very long cable, to which I would have to add Apple’s awkward lightning adapter.

I would choose a Bluetooth adapter over Apple’s dongle if I were to pick a wired option. Especially since I already had a small rechargeable Taotronics adapter on hand. And I had plenty of quality earbuds in my collection that were sturdy and light enough for exercise. And to combat isolation, I had the Awareness app, which captures and mixes in outside environment sounds, at a controlled level, into your audio.

Turn your favorite wired audio headphones or earbuds into Bluetooth with the Taotronics adapter in receiver mode. Or use it with a player in transmit mode.

“Awareness!” app for wired headphones (not Bluetooth, unfortunately).

Jabra Elite 65t Bluetooth headset and charging case: my most used headphones/earbuds.

But I decided to pursue an integrated solution instead. And the timing of my search coincided with an excellent offering. I ended up selecting the Jabra Elite 65t earbud headset. These had optional and controllable audio passthu for awareness when I needed it. They had decent bass response for music, and an equalizer app for times when I wanted to optimize them for narrative. They are extremely portable, have extended battery life, are visually subtle, are secure during exercise, and are resistant to sweat and rain. Consequently, these became my most used and favorite audio accessory, both for exercise and general use. I take them with me nearly everywhere. The only downside is that I experience ear fatigue sooner with in-ear versus over-ear designs. But because the Jabra’s are so comfortable, that point takes several hours to reach.

Of course, the one exercise where the Jabra’s were unsuitable was swimming. For several years I’d been using the now-discontinued BlueAnt Pump Bluetooth headset. They’re waterproof and have coverage that reaches to the far side of a pool (if the transmitting unit is sitting on a chair or table). But like all Bluetooth devices, they lose signal if they go below the waterline. That’s not a problem for aqua aerobics and several swimming styles. But it fails for swimming laps like the backstroke. So I gave an old favorite a retry. H2Oaudio makes waterproof, wired headphones paired with sealed and waterproof phone cases. I’d worn out an older model with an iPod a few years earlier. But I moved to the BlueAnt Pump after H2Oaudio had stopped offering this solution. Only just recently had H2Oaudio made a comeback and supported the new iPHone models (the massive XS Max in my case). They also offered a waterproof waist belt to pair with the new case.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the success and utility of the previous version. The case fit the phone in the most minimal and technical sense, and Apple’s lightning-to-audiojack adapter has to be crammed into the case. That design flaw led to frequent disconnects, which could only be remedied by extracting the phone from the case, which in turn meant removing the belt and audio adapter, and then unlocking the phone (so it would recognize the adapter and also resume playback) before reassembling all the components. Needless to say, that many steps is not conducive to swimming laps. Also the headphones used an extremely thin cable that frequently shorted out when moving vigorously.

H2Oaudio waterproof case, belt, and earbuds. Requires adapter for current iPhone models.

Consequently, I abandoned the H2Oaudio combo and went back to the BlueAnt Pump. I had to keep my exercises compatible with Bluetooth’s limitations (or forgo audio during certains stroke style). I’m now on my second pair of BlueAnt Pumps after wearing out the battery of the first pair. Because I swim laps in an Olympic style pool, I’m careful to place my water bag (with the iPhone) toward the middle of the pool so it has coverage over the entire lane. And I place it high enough to circumvent the surrounding concrete of the pool walls. And luckily I have the buoyancy or build that allows me to keep my ears above water during many stroke styles.

BlueAnt Pump Waterproof Bluetooth Headset

Useful Weight Loss and Health Improvement Equipment

I disagree with the old adage “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Instead, my version of this axiom ends with “…. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll buy a fishing rod, fishing lures, a tacklebox, and a boat!” I confess, that when it comes to projects, hobbies and similar endeavors, the temptation to accessorize is frequently powerful. And too often the temptation is victorious. My health journey included equipment that only had a temporary benefit (e.g., during physical therapy). But a few are still in regular use, and I’ll share those.

The first tool in controlling caloric intake was the app MyFitness Pal (MFP). It’s calorie targets were too generous and I had to be more aggressive to actually use weight. I then tried using an online calculator that appeared to be more accurate and also documented the science behind the algorithms. But the final authority was the bathroom scales. The most accurate scales I found were the EatSmart Precision CalPal Digital Bathroom Scales. I gradually kept lowering the calorie target until I began losing weight. And I would again lower the calorie target after every ten-pound loss, or when I’d hit a plateau.

Inseparable from the calorie target was measuring the calories consumed. Estimating calories in a serving worked poorly for me (e.g., a fist is the approximate volume of one cup). Estimation only worked when it was limited to only unavoidable occurrences. Only after logging accurate entries did weight loss really happen. To make those measurements accurate, I used the Escali Primo P115C Precision Kitchen Food Scale. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would instead buy the KD-8000 kitchen scales by MyWeight instead. It’s readout display is both presented at an angle and back-lit. This is superior to the Escali’s display, which can be hidden and overshadowed by a dinner plate or large bowl that is being tared.

Scales gave an accurate measure, but that also had to paired to an accurate calorie value. Therefore, I scanned the barcodes on the food packages, when available, using the MFP app. There are some crazy extremes created by fellow MFP users, so scanning the barcode ensures that the calories are official and accurate. When the barcodes aren’t available, I used an official and realistic equivalent. In the MFP app I set the unit of measure to 1g or 1oz whenever it was an option. Then I just entered the measure shown on the scales.

The Garmin app has lots of useful metrics and graphs

The last tool in my health arsenal was the Garmin Vivosport activity tracker. I chose this smart watch over the Apple Watch for several reasons: First, it’s battery lasts for days versus hours. Which means I can use it to monitor my sleep instead of having to recharge it every night. Second, it’s display is always on (which Apple only just recently offered with their Series 5). Third, it’s affordable, at less than a third of the cheapest Apple Watch. If Apple ever matches Garmin on these features, I might consider the premium since the Apple Watch’s accuracy is really good. Also the Apple watch uses capacitive touch (not just physical touch). When swimming, the Garmin interpreted each re-entry into the water as a tap, usually aborting the monitoring of the workout. To prevent such data loss, I bought a wristband extension and wear the Vivosport on my ankle for swimming and aqua aerobics.

The final piece of “equipment” was some new clothes, as both a reward and an incentive. Once I’d lost several sizes, I needed to replace a large portion of my wardrobe. Some of the better looking pieces were aspirational, that is, just a tad tight so I’d be motivated to keep losing weight. I also donated all my old (big) clothes so I didn’t have an option to regress.

In Summary

Below are the key factors that I attribute to enduring weight loss and health improvement:

Nearly every activity was done GRADUALLY. And I established one activity before adding another.
Gradually decreased calories
Gradually increased exercise (both duration and intensity)
Be truthful with yourself (don’t exaggerate calorie burn or under report calorie intake)
Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound)
Tracked progress against goals
Engaged in activities that I enjoyed
Abandoned delusions of a shortcut or quick fix and applied myself to consistency and tenacity