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Summertime and the Conning is Easy!

Not really, cons are HARD when you shlep arcade games! LOL

We’re in the middle of our 6 weeks of cons. MomoCon is in the can and it was AWESOME!! The fan base is excellent, the staff of Momo is nice and responsive – we were treated very well. Even the dock of the GWCC was great! They let us drive the truck right onto the floor to our area and unload! It took 15 minutes! SAHWEET!! Even with $900 of expenses (truck and hotel), we made a little money.

Speaking of trucks, if you use rentals as much as we do, I highly recommend setting up a business account with Penske. We get a great rate on the rental, plus uber cheap mileage and we can pick up the truck the night before. Very handy!! We use 16′ trucks with liftgate currently, it’ll probably go up next year when we have more games. We had an issue with a truck last weekend – nails in tire – but they got us fixed up and back on the road in about an hour and credited us for lost time. The Penske truck yard is next to Nick’s work, so that helped. If you use trucks often, get a business account. It will save you hundreds!

I’ve finally broken the 185 barrier. My current weight is 184.2, but we all know that it’s probably 188 today, since that’s the way my weight goes. I’m happy that it’s moving again. Cutting back on the vino and starting harder exercise is probably helping.

Speaking of exercise, I’ve got a weight routine going. Sadly, I blew out my left knee with squats yesterday, so those will be skipped for a week or so, but hopefully I can still do extensions and curls despite my knees being little bitches. Here is what I currently do 3x/week:

Treadmill: 1 mile walk/jog warm up (or a full 30 min routine depending on my mood)
Free Weights:
60# leg extensions 3×12 (sets/reps) [this one needs to go up to 65-70#]
35# leg curls 3×12 [might go to 40# for this]
50# squats 3×12 [if my knees will tolerate them; we shall see]
8# bicep curls 3×12 [need to get 10# weights]
8# tricep rows 3×12 [need to work on form for these]
10# medicine ball core side to sides 25 sets

That’s it currently. I’ve got to go back on turmeric for my crunchy knees and see if I can convince them to allow me to do squats. ::fingers crossed:: Squats are really very good for what I need: leg strength. They work the whole upper leg as well as glutes and core. I’m going to dial back the weight to 30-40# and see if that helps, but I’m not feeling confident. Stupid knees. Stupid marching band. Ugh.

Other than conventions and exercise, not much going on around here. The usual insomnia problems, etc. I’m trying to keep Nick on an even keel by providing good food and a calm space for him.

We’ve got Southern Fried Gameroom Expo next weekend, then Heroes right after that. SFGE is an unpaid con, so we’re taking whatever we feel like. Heroes is our vacay con, no worky! We are taking promo material to put out, but that’s it. We plan to take it easy and drink our way through the weekend! We’ve got dinner plans with some folks we rarely get to see but other than that, NO PLANS and NO SCHEDULE. Aaaaaahhh!

Once we’re back from vacay, we’ve got commissions to do and more games to prep for DragonCon (Labour Day weekend).

We have tickets to Heroes and Villains con in November. There was a special 2 for 1, so I picked up a pair. We’ll see what this con is all about! [It sucked. BUT Barrowman made the whole thing worth it! -A]

So that’s our summer! If you’re at Heroes, HOLLAH! We’d love to hang out!

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New Workout Progress

Or: how I made myself crippled AGAIN. Oy! [UPDATE: This workout cured the soreness! So for me, it appears that doing a lighter workout when sore is the key to getting through it! Yay!]

So I started doing the Kathy Smith weight training (Ageless with Kathy Smith: Staying Strong) on Tuesday and did both the 15 min arms and 15 min legs after a mile or so on the treadmill. OOF. I’ve been doing the arms one for a while, so that was not too horrible, but the leg one kicked my ass. Ha! Leg kicked ass! As with most of Kathy’s stuff, the actual exercises seem pretty simple when you do them, then the next day you are DEAD. OMG. It was not as bad as The Tabernacle Incident™, but OW OW OW.

I rested for a couple of days and just walked on Thursday, which was fine. Today I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill (jogged a little and didn’t die!!) then I did a modified version of both the arms and legs workouts. Hopefully I did not do too much, but I’m sure I’ll be sore again. ARGH.

I don’t know how bodybuilders put up with being sore all the time. ARE they sore all the time?? I just know that I MUST get my strength back. And I’ve still got at least 20# more to lose, dammit. I’m stalled at around 190 and it’s really pissing me off. I think that I’m going to have to work to lose any more weight. Since I started off relatively light compared to most people who get VSG, I think my overall loss is going to be less. Which means I’ll have to work for the last 20#. One of the youtubers I follow had the same problem. UGH. I still won’t diet per se, but I’m hoping that upping the calorie burn will do the trick.

So that’s what’s going on in my world. Lots of OW OW OW. :)

OW OW OW

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Update on Exercise After VSG

I learned a valuable lesson this weekend about exercise after VSG (or any big weight loss). While I’ve been thinking that I’m doing great since I walk/jog 2 miles and can do Kathy Smith, this, apparently is not actually true.

We went to a show at The Tabernacle (Atlanta), which is an old church with multiple levels. ALL STAIRS. We were in the top level, natch, so much stair climbing ensued.

Going up the five or six flights of stairs to our seats, I noticed that my leg muscles were complaining, but I wasn’t winded or anything, so I just ignored it. Then I had to go to the bathroom, which is three floors down from our seats. Again, I noticed that my legs were complaining about going down the stairs, but what could I do? I had to pee!

THEN I had to go back UP the stairs to my seat. This is when the fun really started! My legs started actually failing – as in: no worky. I’m sure everyone thought I was drunk (I had been drinking, but was not drunk), but it was complete muscle failure. Luckily I did not fall or have to sit, but it was close. I pretty much pulled myself up with the railing. On the way out of the venue, Nick had to help me down the stairs, with LOTS of rest stops. (It never occurred to me to ask if there was an elevator. Derp. I just checked: NO. ADA is floor ONLY.)

I know it seems silly that I wouldn’t recognise muscle failure when it happened, but I don’t work out like that (until muscle failure), so I was truly puzzled by it. Once I got home, I realised what happened and started working on a new exercise plan.

Sunday and Monday I could barely walk. I really shredded what little muscle I have in my legs! I was creeping around here like a 90 year old! I did some research to refresh my memory on which exercises are best for building leg muscle (squats, lunges, extensions on the weight bench) and I will integrate them into my workouts. We’ve got an elliptical that bores me to tears (because I can’t read while doing it; something I’m going to try to fix), a weight bench and stairs, so I’ve got the tools to fix this issue. I will reclaim my body and get my muscles BACK!!

So, weight loss people: make sure to have strength training in your workouts! No wonder my legs are so slim: no muscle!!

I’m also adding back in a protein bar every day to bump back up my protein. You MUST have enough protein in your diet to support adding muscle and I know for a fact I can’t eat enough meat for that.

Just a little PSA (warning!!) to my fellow VSGers! Strength training is KEY!

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IBD Diet Similar to my VSG Diet

A friend posted about this Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) diet and as I read the study, I recognised the diet immediately: it was very similar to the VSG diet I created for myself! I was surprised, but after thinking about it, it makes sense. You want to present food in the way that it will be best absorbed and with as many nutrients as possible. MY goals for post VSG surgery!

This is the study: An anti-inflammatory diet as treatment for inflammatory bowel disease: a case series report.

Here is part of the foods chart from the study. It is strikingly similar to my plan (click to embiggen, go to study to see the whole chart):

As you know, you start off with purees then progressively go towards “whole” foods that have not been ground, canned or otherwise altered. I went from purees to canned things like tuna and chicken, then to ground meats then to solid meats. I was on “regular” foods by around 2 months. I wrote all about that in my early posts.

I just thought I’d make a post about this to strengthen my assertion that you do not have to eat yogurt and canned meat for 3 months after VSG, as the Mexican nutritionist would suggest. I did give the info to her, in the hopes she might rethink her approach to VSG patient nutrition, but she probably won’t.

Anyway, I hope that this study’s findings and their method of getting the most nutrition into the body in the easiest way for the stomach and digestive tract is helpful to VSG patients who just want to eat something besides yogurt smoothies. Fruit and yogurt is not nutritionally dense enough, IMO. You need vitamins along with that protein to heal. Fruit is not vitamin dense, it’s just sugar, and canned meat is just fat. So if you’re doing VSG and don’t agree with the diet you’re given, look over this IBD plan and my recipes and make your own diet that suits your tastes. You’ll be happier and I promise it will not ruin your VSG healing – despite the drama you’ll hear from your nutritionist and team for going “off plan”. It’s my opinion that you’ll heal up faster when you are eating vitamin dense foods and lots of protein. I was on to regular foods at about 8 weeks, a few weeks faster than their plan and I feel that this is because I was eating a better diet, which got me healed up faster. As always, your mileage may vary. :)

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Taxes and Obamacare

So, last year, our expensive accountant had no idea how much we were fined for not doing Obamacare. We got about the same tax refund as the previous year, so we couldn’t tell, either. THIS year, I am doing a lot more research into the fines for Obamacare and the plans we are offered as well. And AGAIN, I see that Obamacare is ridiculous and 100% useless for anything. You might as well BURN the money.

Here is the Subsidy/Fine calculator:

Obamacare Subsidy/Fine calculator
Obamacare Subsidy/Fine calculator

As you can see, the fine indicated would be around $1500, or 2.5% of our income. OR it could be the flat rate fine of $695×2 = $1390, as the calculator below indicates. Who the fuck knows?

Flat rate $695x2
Flat rate $695×2


And here are the illustrious plans offered us:
Shitty Obamacare plans
Shitty Obamacare plans


Wow, only $7k deductible? WHAT A DEAL! LOL Or a measly $13,300 for the other. LOL The rates in bold are the “discounted” rates that reflect our “generous” subsidy of $235.55/mo. LOL What a fucking JOKE.

Keep in mind, that this year, with ALL my shit: surgery, travel, blood tests, one Dr follow up and meds, I have spent about $5400. If you add our AFLAC accident insurance**, which is about $165/qtr ($660/yr, less $60 wellness refund), that still brings us to only $6000 for this year. Even if you add in the biggest fine ($1500), it’s $7500yr, which is technically more than these shitty insurance plans, but keep in mind that you have to add the deductible, so the cheapest plan comes to $6590/yr PLUS $7000, which comes to $13,590 per year before you get ONE PENNY OF COVERAGE. So how in the blue fuck is Obamacare “affordable”? HOW?

Since the surgery was a one time deal, then without that $5000 my typical spending for healthcare is around $400/yr for both of us. That does not include dental ($400 for both, once/yr or around $700 for 2x/yr) or my eye dr ($130 1x year-ish). So my typical spending is what? Around a grand? I’ll take a grand out of pocket over paying out $6590/yr for literally nothing. Obamacare does not cover dental or eye anyway, so all the suckers that pay for it STILL have to pay for that. SUCKERS.

I still see people complaining about their shitty insurance and how it covers nothing, yet they run themselves into bankruptcy to continue paying Obamacare. WHY?? WHY WHY WHY? I just don’t get it. Unless you have a chronic illness that requires shit tons of non generic meds, then I see no reason to pay out thousands of dollars for “insurance” with a $7k DEDUCTIBLE and $14,300 cap! Which means it ain’t gonna pay, yo! I think Americans are fucking insane. Insane to put up with the ass fucking of insurance companies and insane to elect a fucking asshole who is going to make EVERYTHING privatized. You think healthcare sucks now? HA!! Just wait! All you fuckers on Medicaid/Medicare? Get your lube ready, cuz you’re taking it up the ass, my friends. UP. THE. ASS. The Obamacare subsidies will go away and everyone will end up with heinously pricey insurance with heinous deductibles and minuscule spending caps. You just think it’s bad now…

I will continue to hold onto my cash. If an accident occurs, we’ve got AFLAC. We are healthy and do not take Rx drugs. We’ve got credit and savings if we need it. I think that is a far more intelligent way to manage your money than hand it over to private insurance companies who give you LITERALLY NOTHING in return.

But, y’all keep on handing your money over to those private companies. I’ll be over here counting mine.

**Speaking of AFLAC, that shit rocks. You can’t get hospitalization unless it’s through your employer, which is a shame. I think if AFLAC would offer a stand alone hospitalization plan like the accident plan, they’d own the market. The accident plan has generous pay outs for various things like ER visits, etc. We figure if anything serious happens to us, it’ll be on the road or Nick cutting his dick off with a power tool. Either way, AFLAC’s got our back. We’ve had this plan for a decade. :)