Tag: CKD Challenge

Posted on

My Scale’s Six-Pound Adventure: Managing Weight and Running

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

Yesterday, my wife and I walked around our neighborhood. When we returned, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I had somehow gained about five pounds. In the summer, I have difficulty maintaining my weight because I have too many food restrictions to keep up with my activity level. So, that was unexpected.

My weight fluctuates regularly, so I don’t normally worry about small daily changes. Five pounds, however, was enough to push me above my target range and earn my attention.

Since we generally don’t overeat, sudden increases like this make me think more carefully about what I’ve eaten, particularly how much sodium I’ve consumed. My wife also gained nearly two pounds, so maybe dinner was working overtime.

With my blood pressure and kidney concerns, I’m careful about salty foods even though I take blood pressure medication. Fortunately, short-term changes on the scale can happen for many reasons, so I decided to see what happened next rather than declare a five-pound emergency.

Today was my scheduled 10K. After finishing the run, I stepped onto the scale again. Six pounds had disappeared. Apparently, my scale prefers dramatic storytelling.

That put me right back at the bottom of my target weight range—which means I went from wondering why I weighed too much to wondering how to maintain enough weight in less than a day.

Fortunately, pizza is on today’s schedule. That should move me a little closer to my target range, though I have another run tomorrow, so the scale may have another plot twist in store.

At this point, maintaining my weight sometimes feels less like hitting a target and more like trying to convince a bouncing ball to stay still. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

The scale certainly seems determined to keep things interesting.

Back
Posted on

Mowing With CKD: Half Done and Fully Determined

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

Lawn mowing sounds simple, right? Fire up the mower, walk in straight lines, and admire the results. For most people, maybe! But when you’re living with chronic kidney disease, mowing the lawn is less of a weekend chore and more of a strategic endurance event, complete with nutrition planning, weight monitoring, and the kind of careful snack selection that would make a nutritionist both proud and slightly nervous.

Here’s the thing: I get tired faster than your average healthy adult. That’s just the reality of CKD, and I’ve made my peace with it. So rather than throw up my hands and let the grass grow into a lion-worthy savannah, I’ve spent years training to build up muscle mass and endurance. And it works! I feel noticeably stronger than I used to. The catch? More muscle means more nutrition needed, and when you’re adding physical activity like mowing on top of an already-restricted diet, the math gets tricky.

Last summer was a real lesson in the delicate art of weight management. With my protein intake limited by my kidney condition, recovering from physical exertion is genuinely hard. I can drop five pounds in a single week if I’m not careful, which is exactly the kind of dramatic number that makes my doctor raise an eyebrow and pick up the phone. So during the warmer months, I snack strategically throughout the day.

And I do mean strategically. It turns out the snack aisle is full of landmines when you have CKD. Bananas? Potassium. Cantaloupe? Also potassium. Those bright, cheerful, colorful vegetables? Phosphate. Even ice cream, the one food that feels universally harmless, came with a gentle but firm talking-to from my doctor when it started affecting my liver function. So I rotate. I experiment. And I’ve settled into a habit of making small pastry bites each week. They’re my secret weapon: portable, reliable, and doctor-approved-adjacent.

This past mowing session, I grabbed my water and pastry bites and headed out to tackle the first mow of the week. The weather cooperated beautifully, not too hot, not too cold, just that sweet spring window before the humidity rolls in and turns yard work into a sauna experience. Two hours later, I had finished roughly half the yard. My reward? A weight check showed I’d gained 2.6 pounds over yesterday, nudging me a little closer to my target range. Not quite there yet, but progress is progress.

Next up: strawberries. I’m thinking a smoothie, strawberries, juice, yogurt, all blended into something cold and celebratory. Half a lawn, a small weight gain, and a smoothie on the horizon. Some days, that’s what winning looks like.

Until next time,

— Your friendly neighborhood lawn warrior (half done, fully determined)

Back