Zero Sum Game

Well, I weighed in this morning at the nurse's office and I have lost the 4.5 pounds that I gained over spring break. It took me two weeks, but I'm back down to 290 and still following my eating habits and exercise routine. It's funny, because I'm not suffering at all. I even had ice cream two or three times last week after dinner. Hudsonville Creamery's Grand Traverse Bay Cherry Fudge is teh awesome! It's amaretto-flavored ice cream with pieces of cherry and fudge swirls in it. But I digress.

Another pleasant side effect of the exercise and subsequent weight loss is a drop in blood pressure. While I was in the nurse's office already, weighing in, I decided to have her check it. Lower than normal. I had her check it again. Lower still. I called my doctor, but as usual he didn't want to see me. Instead he gave me a new prescription for half the dose of my blood pressure medication. After three days on half the usual dosage, I had the nurse check it again this morning. Still low! The great thing about that is that the lower dosage has a generic version, so my insurance co-pay went from $35 per month to $10 per month. Between that difference and my not needing my asthma medication anymore (cardiovascular workouts make you breathe more efficiently--who knew?) I'm saving $60 per month on medications that I used to take. A year of that will pay off my bicycle, which is how I got here in the first place.