Other progress here includes a personal calorie list now on my phone to augment the alarms already set with desired calories/time of day. I think of this as the digital equivalent of mom-calling "Time to come in for [meal] now..." Family life was too toxic and chaotic for much of THAT, but I can do it for myself for retraining purposes with the phone alarms.

By using this approach I also do not have to track calories micro-managerially-- I tend to under-eat (skipping snacks and meals), not over-eat (we shrunk our stomachs already), and to eat the wrong foods (not enough fruit). So now that I am already in the habit of including the fruit, the real report to the doc is whether I am on plan or not, and that means playing the scale-numbers game balanced by clothing fit for muscle-development adjustments to scale data. And it's working, for ME, and the scale to me is just data-- not anxiety.

So I am now at the top weight I will ever be: THREE hundred FIFTY-three POUNDS.

I just got off the phone with the doc (ice storm preventing sched. office visit), and will have an order waiting for me at the hospital I prefer for the thyroid testing we agreed will be the basis for next week's face appointment.

===

A new area-- PT has taught me what the difference FEELS like between:
<> arthritis,
<> weak muscle,
<> over-worked muscle/tendon/ligament,
<> injured muscle/tendon/ligament,
<> tight muscle/tendon/ligament.

It has also taught me what to DO when I notice any of those.

Thus I now realize that there is some very-localized lumbar spinal osteoarthritis, which needs VERY strong muscles to carry this weight thru continued training/rehab. (Stronger than they are now before I add any more weight to the machines I am now working out with.)

I just booked a last aquatic PT appt next week, so I can revisit where I started, and feel how easy the early "impossible" exercises are now-- but more importantly, so that the Muscle Queen can show me what people USUALLY do to strengthen the area around that spinal issue on LAND-- which I can do in my club pool, where the water will continue to protect my back from fast-developing osteoarthritis in that spot.

~S~