Internet was out but here's where I'm currently at

I've lost 12 pounds so far. Which isn't too bad for 2 months. More than a pound a week.

Week 3 day 4

Week 2 results
Total Weight loss: 6.5 pounds
Sinus activity: clear
Insurance: Still Denied (bastereds)

I had to push back my acupuncture appointment 2 days so I could see a western doctor about my kidneys. (the insurance covered that) More than likely it's a deep muscle pull (because my piss was clean) in my back and that it'll be ok it a week or two. After acupuncture I find that I have to take a BM after 30 minutes, and I go at different times. Maybe it's my body adjusting or some toxins purging. Or maybe it's just the pressure on my abdomen during balloon animal time and something just dropping out of because of it. (think Playdoh but don't ask me to make a star)

Week 2 Day 1

End of week 1 results
Total Weight loss: 3.5 pounds
Sinus activity: slightly stuffy
Insurance: Denied

On Tuesdays appointment the doctor decided my blood pressure was too high at the time (140/84) and started poking my in the head and nose to help out with that. I have to say that I am at least pleased with a 3.5 pound weight loss after a week. Although because of the nature of water it could all be water weight or worst it could be muscle loss. I won't really know that for a couple of weeks. This week he was especially vicious when he was making balloon animals out of my stomach area and I was a bit sore the rest of the day.

Day 1 First Acupuncture

The doctors office was very much a doctors office in a western medicine context. The only real difference was a white noise machine and a light ambient music in the background. In fact before any acupuncture began the checkup was very much western. Pulse, weight, height, blood pressure. These were all taken and scrutinized. He was very much concerned with the coating on my tongue and the strength of my pulse. After the basic checkup he said that my Lung Qi (energy) was very strong but my spleen Qi was weak. In Chinese medicine the spleen and the stomach are interlinked and when you treat one you have to treat the other.

After taking my basics he sent me to another room and I stripped to my underwear and he toweled over my underwear area. He talked about the needles he was going to use and where he was going to poke me and I said ok he said if theres a sharp pain to tell him because it meens hit nicked a nerve or blood vessel and I said don't worry I'll let you know. And then he went at it. The needles I could feel them go in but it was very painless and I'm very squeamish around them normally (I had to look away as he was poking me).

After about 30 or so needles in various areas (most of them around my stomach and only 1 that kind of hurt and that was in my head. I said pain and so he reinserted it without discomfort) he grabbed a heat lamp and put it over my belly area and turned it. He then attached some electrodes to some of the needles on my abdominal area and on my leg and foot. We then plaid a game of how much juice was too much and at a point where my feet were being moved by themselves but without hurting we called it good he turned off the light and left.

This part was ok, the twitching foot thing was a bit disconcerting but I got in a 15 minute nap before the machine made a funny noise and the doc came back. He turned the machine off and pulled out the needles (this was also painless) and decided to put on some rubber gloves and message my stomach and legs. This was actually a lot more unpleasant than the needle part, he very much grabbed my intestines through my skin and made shapes with them inside me. After 5 minutes of this he decided to use what amounted to a hand operated floor buffer on me instead, that wasn't so bad especially on my legs (they were a bit tense). After that he put what essentially is small needles attached to skin colored adhesive bandages on acupuncture points on my ear. I asked him why not use ear staples. And he said because this is much less invasive and ear staples have to be put in every 6 weeks with a higher chance of infection and cartridge damage.

I paid (I'm going to have to fight with my insurance but I was pretty sure that I would have to anyways) scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday and left.

Acupuncture Day 0 Introduction

I have started this blog to catalog the effects of acupuncture and how it can relate to weight loss. I am currently 315 lbs at the start of this blog and I will utilize acupuncture and avoid any life style changes other than that, except for maybe changes that are compelled by such acupuncture. There are many thoughts on why acupuncture works. Some would say it's psychosomatic, others would venture that it stimulates dopamine and serotonin receptors and causes effects that way and the acupuncturists would say that it stimulates the Qi (energy) and resets the balance in the body. The real question for a skeptic is does it work and how does it feel? Currently I'm a follower of western medicine but it has failed to curb cravings. Saying you need to eat better is one thing but for those of us who have super cravings (mine is salt and fat) it's more difficult than people realize.

Also on a side project I will also have the doctor treat my allergies and migraines (they seem interrelated). And determine how well the acupuncture works on sinuses.

I will also blog on how my insurance (aetna) handles this.

Average calorie intake currently is 3000. I will make no active effort to change this and eat as I feel like. I avoid pop and sweets because they just don't do it for my cravings. But I like potato chips and meat. Give me a steak and a bag of Cool Ranch Dorritos and I am a happy camper.

Average exercise (usually walking or some kind of brisk activity but nothing high impact) per week is 30-40 minutes. I will not seek to change this either unless I feel compelled.

Height 6 ft 3in
Body fat %29

The acupuncture doctor I'm using has been doing acupuncture for 20 years and has a MD degree from Qingdao Medical College; Dongguk Royal University