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How I Understood My Weight

 

For many years, my weight fluctuated within a relatively narrow range of 235 to 240 pounds. I always knew I was much heavier than my 'married' weight of around 200 pounds, but you adapt and forget over time, then look at older photos of yourself and try to forget those as well. 

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Periods of effort would move it down; time and routine would bring it back. I noticed the changes, but I did not treat them as anything other than a success or a failure.

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​Excess weight, to me, was why my clothes were too tight —  not liking how I looked in the mirror.  Having a compulsion to suck in my belly when photos were taken. Vanity drove my weight loss motivations, without concern about how it was affecting my underlying health.

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​When the scale moved in the desired direction, my attention moved elsewhere.

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Repeated Diet Attempts

 

​This does not mean I didn’t attempt to lose weight in a structured way.  Over several decades, I tried multiple well-documented diets. Some were highly restrictive, others more moderate. Most produced short-term results. None, however, produced any lasting change. ​

 

What they shared was not a lack of effort. I was motivated, even compliant for periods of time, and often successful in reaching the narrow goal of losing weight. What they lacked was continuity. Once the immediate goal was achieved, or once the process became inconvenient, the structure dissolved and the weight returned. 

 

I didn't forget I had tried and failed before. I just treated each new diet as its own separate event without considering what this pattern of behavior actually meant.  

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My Eating Habits

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Long before N=1, I learned how to cook for myself and the family and largely moved away from packaged convenience foods at home. Meals were prepared from scratch, and our diet included a wide range of meats, vegetables, and carbohydrates.

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Food decisions, however, were driven by taste and enjoyment rather than health outcomes. Eating well meant eating what we enjoyed, not eating with a specific physiological goal in mind. Dining out decisions had few constraints, and snacking comprised an unhealthy number of ‘bags with barcodes’ that collected in our pantry.

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In retrospect, our diet could be described as whole-food adjacent rather than intentionally health-oriented. It felt responsible without being deliberate and with a few too many compromises.

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Pain Management and Alcohol

 

For several years prior to N=1, pain management and alcohol use were part of my overall health environment.

 

Beginning in early 2015, I was prescribed Norco for chronic neck pain related to disc degeneration and nerve compression. The condition progressed to the point that nerve function in my left arm was significantly impaired, and in September 2015 I underwent a cervical fusion from C3 through C7. My use of Norco continued until January 2018, when I discontinued it.

 

In February 2018, I underwent a liver ultrasound to determine if long-term use of Norco, which contains Acetaminophen, had any effect. The results did not identify any notable abnormalities, and there was no indication at the time that liver health was a concern.

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During the years I was taking Norco, I avoided any consumption of alcohol. The warnings about combining opiates and alcohol were clear, and I was disciplined about not drinking during that period. After stopping Norco, however, I resumed alcohol use, primarily wine and beer, which at the time was generally considered acceptable at moderate levels.

 

Over the following years, one or two glasses of wine became part of my daily routine, particularly while cooking in the evenings. By early 2024, my intake had gradually increased to a bottle of wine per day. I rarely became noticeably intoxicated, but the consistent metabolic effect was fatigue. Alcohol also contributed to increased caloric intake, aligning with my rising body weight during that period.

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​Exercise and Motivation

 

​I began regular resistance training years before N=1 and largely maintained it. The commitment was significant, both financially and in time, and it reflected a real concern about aging and mobility.

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My motivation was simple: I had watched family members lose physical independence, and I wanted to delay that outcome as long as possible. Strength training became a matter of necessity, a form of insurance against immobility.

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What it was not was a comprehensive health approach. Exercise stood separate from everything else, mostly disconnected from nutrition, metabolic health, or medical data. I was doing something important but not something connected into the bigger picture.

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​​​What I Missed

 

Before N=1, I did not routinely review or evaluate my lab results. Tests were ordered, results were posted, and unless something was flagged as urgent, they were largely forgotten.  ​There was no view across the data, no awareness of trends, and no attempt to connect how I felt, how I ate, how I trained, and what my blood work might be indicating. Health information existed in pieces rather than as a complete perspective.

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Several examples stand out, especially in hindsight:

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• I received a coronary calcium score that I assumed was acceptable and subsequently forgot I had it done

• I underwent imaging that identified early fatty liver changes without altering my diet or lifestyle in response

• I received repeated lipid panels without tracking their movement over time or understanding their broader significance

• I was prescribed lipid-lowering medications without following their effects systematically or revisiting the approach with my physician

 

During this same period, I was regularly taking a broad and evolving regimen of dietary supplements. This was not new. My mother had long been interested in supplementation, and I carried that thinking into my own life. The regimen reflected a general desire to support health and do something proactive. This approach had been meaningful to my mother, who lived into her nineties.

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While I was attentive to the advertised health benefits I could add in pill form, I avoided seeking more objective information that would require more meaningful changes in behavior.  Supplementation became something I could control daily, but it had nothing to do with the health risks that were quietly evolving.

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Another factor I didn’t examine closely at the time was my assumption about what I can only describe as inherited resilience. Both of my parents lived well into their nineties, and among my siblings there was a quiet sense that longevity ran in the family. That belief made it easier to downplay risk and harder to feel urgency.

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What my parents shared, however, was not just longevity, but a lifestyle — whole foods, minimal alcohol, regular activity, and stable body weight throughout their lives. At the time, I did not separate those variables. Longevity felt like something that could be assumed rather than something that had to be actively earned.

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​None of this compelled me to change course. My physicians were not disengaged. Their concerns were expressed. Guidance was offered. What I failed to do was actively take that advice and translate it into a sense of personal urgency.

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Transition to Data Context

The sections above describe the conditions that existed before I started capturing and evaluating test data. The material that follows changes from a narrative approach to the documented medical data I’ve collected.

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Detailed laboratory results, test histories, and longitudinal observations are presented separately and without interpretation here. I provide the data not to explain outcomes, but to simply establish the information that was available to me prior to September 7, 2024.

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Data Context (Pre–N=1)

The following is the record of laboratory tests, measurements, and clinical observations that existed prior to September 7, 2024. The interpretation, trend analysis, and discussion of its importance is addressed in later chapters where this analysis is performed.

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Readers who are uninterested in raw data may skip this section without losing narrative continuity.

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Purpose of This Section

This data section is provided to achieve the following:

• Share the blood test data and other relevant testing results that existed before my N=1 journey began

• Provide that data chronologically without interpretation

• Assure transparency for those who wish to review the source data

 

Scope of Included Data

This data section includes:

• Standard blood chemistry and lipid panels from January 2010 to September 7, 2024

• Metabolic and liver-related biomarkers are included.  CBC and some metabolic panel results are omitted where trends show consistent normal levels over time

• Body weight data obtained from history captured using the Withings iPhone application

 

The data section excludes:

• Data analysis and interpretation

• Testing for health matters that are not needed to establish a pre-N=1 baseline.  These topics will be provided in future Blog posts, such as infectious and antibody assessments, male hormone tests and thrombocytopenia assessments.

• Any test results after September 6, 2024

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Pre–N=1 Labs and Test Records​

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Blood Tests: January 12, 2010 to April 16, 2024 (PDF)

​The linked PDF and Excel files comprises the following:

• Relevant data from blood tests obtained during this period are compiled into a single PDF file.  Each blood test is provided in its own column.  Rows contain all data for a given biomarker.

• Notes provided at the bottom of the table show details such as the start date of medications, liver and calcium score testing, and other testing to be referenced in another chapter or blog

• The gap between the 1/12/2010 test and 4/8/2015 is correct.  I have no other relevant test data between these two dates.

 

Liver Scan Test Results (PDF)

The linked redacted PDF file comprises the following tests:

• Liver Ultrasound – February 2, 2018

• Liver Ultrasound – August 17, 2020

 

CT Calcium Score (PDF)

The linked redacted PDF file comprises one CT scan, performed on July 8, 2019.

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