Charging Elephant Blog

  Here I am in all my glory... this was captured last night at my one 8 days after surgery pic. I will take a picture every week and post it to this blog. My highest weight that I can remember was 455 and it was a real tipping point for me to see that just a little bit more and I was on my way to 500 lbs. That day was a sad day.. that happened to be on my birthday of 2019. I decided to sign up for an App called Noom, to help me with my mind and the mental game of loosing weight. Noom just was not a good fit. Too many tasks to do and to do them daily. I would see a clump of good days checked off and then a ton of days not checked off. And before I knew it, I was so behind that I just said.. screw it. That started a journey to finding a new course of correction and one that would in my mind yield better results. My wife works for Comcast and she has great benefits, one of them is weight loss surgery option for her or a spouse. So I said I will go and learn more about this and then ma...

Check out Wellness Wisdom podcast with Camille Kennard, I am spotlighted each month and the  podcast provides great value in all she does!!!! www.spreaker.com/user/ewnpodcastnetwork/charging-elephants Welcome to the month of February!!! What a month it has been!! I just wanted to post a quick update on things since the last post. Slowly things have been getting better more emotionally rather than physical. I have the opportunity to take a class from Wellness Wisdom with Camille and we just wrapped up our 6 week online class with several amazing people that really inspire me and it shows me how truly blessed we all are to have chances to meet and support people from all around the valley and the world in some cases. I have been guided and from what I feel led by a loving God that wants his best for his wayward and fun loving guy. There really is no straight line to success and there will be bumps and changes, and surprises along the way. Then you get to a summit and you a...

Check out my weight loss journey Podcast at: https://anchor.fm/the-charging-elephant It has been some time since my last post. The year end of things are always a rough go round for me and this year it was especially hard in so many ways. When you loose hope it always put you in a scarcity mindset and then it leads to despair. From November to the the 31st there is a slew of challenges I face. For the most part they are fun times, and the Christmas spirit helps as best as it can. I lost my mother 2 weeks before Thanksgiving of 2002 and it plays a long broken record of how I could have been there better for her that night she passed away. It forever changed my life completely. So with each year it get's easier and easier to bare this burden and it gives me the chance to think about my mom and wish her well and that we will me again someday. For this year we lost a 11 week old in miscarriage and hearing a heartbeat to not hearing a heartbeat only a week or so later crushed our ...

It all started October 1st or as we in the LDS culture say... Conference weekend. I decided to take life by the horns yet again and really commit to a 7 day cleanse right after I got royally cleansed from a colonoscopy about a week prior. Needless to say I am a was feeling pretty cleaned out by the 2 week of October. I purchased products from something I have been researching for some time now and finally got the funds to purchase the M3 pledge products, that include a vanilla all vegan protein shake, a chocolate fiber drink and some pills called Burn that help keep my metabolism up and help me burn calories through out the day and curb my munchies. I also purchased a product that is called Trim but as most of the people call it is Liquid Gold that helps absorb fat cells and helps with skin, joints and much more!!! During my 7 day kickstart I also took a 3 day product that is used to detox your body and cleanse your gut for good gut health support. It tasted like lime gatorade but ...

Hello! and to answer any questions... I am still alive!! Yeah me! First I want to thank you to all of you that have listened to my podcast and have been following me. I truly am grateful. These past 2 weeks have been a doozy. In fact it is actually like 3 weeks now. Any ways I want to share with you my past few weeks. Linda and I have two anniversary's one when we were married civilly and the other one is when we got sealed in the Denver Temple. This year our civil anniversary we had a really bad time and mostly because I lost my drivers license and instead of going to Wendover for a fun get away on a fun bus (No drinking, and mostly eating and the bus ride) So, since I messed it up we decided to go to Midway and have a night diner and get away in the Mtns. of Heber valley. We had a great time. The next day we went for a hike up Dog Lake with Bella, Linda and myself. It is a 2 mile hike round trip I believe maybe 1 mile... seemed like it was 2 miles. Anyways, I made it a good way...

Three things that have helped in my improvements are as followed. UTA bus pass, walking stick, swimming work out days. I have to explain what my pain points have been to help you understand what the improvements have been and why I feel that these three items have helped me out. Lately it has been very hard to walk or bend my knees. With the added weight I gained back, my knees are noticing the load. My back is another critical issue and last couple of weeks it has felt like my body is just so weak and no energy. Doing normal chores like doing the dishes, going to the park, waking the dog is like walking with weights on my legs. I also have to wear compression socks and I only have one pair. So on days I am running behind, my legs are literally like jello. Last week we decided to go to swim every night regardless or at least as much as I can. We go for only an hour or so and I do my best to keep my legs busy, and also it helps keep them elevated. The hot pool is nice to. It does d...

Since I had MRSA, I wanted to make sure that I was healed up to go back swimming and luckily I was able to get in one swim session this week. I posted the same picture some time ago last year as we went every day almost and even in the bitter cold. Going through the challenges we have faced, a crazy schedule with my concert event, camping trips and the tragedy of last couple weeks and the hospital, swimming has been placed in the back. I did go this past Wednesday and I swam the laps over 20 times and I was there for over an hour just doing the lapse. My knees have been giving be some issues, so swimming is a heaven sent. I felt so much better and lighter and it always makes it better for me to fall asleep the night of swimming. I weighed myself at Linda's doctor appointment and I was up from 431 to 433 prior to my swimming. I have committed to do my best to track what I eat and do my best to eat clean. The only problem is I am still facing the depression of loosing the child and...

I recently changed the name of this blog from pickleshealth to charging elephant blog, and really nothing else changed but the name. I created a podcast that can be found on iTunes and on anchor.fm - I want to be open and real, and raw on my brutal journey to losing weight. This blog will be the foundation of the podcast and provide behind the scenes to speak to challenges, and the highs of eating a better lifestyle. At this time the plan was to start on June 1st and start eating and living a clean eating lifestyle, search for a life or health coach and a program that I can stay on the rest of my life. However the title to this might give you the sad reality that something went way bad. I had wanted to have this thing, this goal to work towards of loosing weight and the news of having a child was just what the doctor ordered. This would give me the "umph" I need and the WHY to my sail. I supposed doing it for pure health reasons was just not enough. Let me tell you that the...

Well as you can see we have a little one on week 7 here and today we heard it's heart beat for the first time. It was so epic!!! The long road to this monumental day has been one I will never forget, but just in case I have put it down in this blog (hopefully they have blogs in the future when this kid's 16) Linda and I have been going down a hopeless road for the past 14 years wondering if or when we might have a child in our own. Of course the road started way back when we got married and during all the crazy things we have been through we have stuck it out in the hardest of times. Ramen diners, endless phone jobs, wondering where rent will come from and what is going to happen if we can not make the car payment... type of fears. I recently came across a country song titled "We were legends" by Kelsea Ballerini and it is a song that hold certain meanings to us. https://youtu.be/nGa2-kOW810   ... Linda and I have been warriors through it all. It seems just li...

Thanks goodness for those days it is cold, grey and not green and blue. Wait, what... yeah that means you can find me at the pool working out indoors!!! (But seriously, can it be Spring already?) In my last post I stated that we were going to get a gym membership, and I can happily report that we have gone almost every night these past couple of weeks or so. You can see in the image that there is the lanes for those that want to do laps and Linda and I have been doing about 8 laps or so and then they have water aerobics with this fun lady and it has been great! I really have to watch my knees and joints so that I do not damage them more until I get to a healthier weight. So swimming is awesome!! The place we go is about 2 or 3 blocks away from our apartment and it comes with classes, gym, running laps, pool, and all the usual stuff. At the first I was getting so tired and bogged down after we went swimming that I would fall right to sleep. I have noticed that my back is not hurting...

I realized that it has been since September that I have kept up with this blog. From Sept. until now it really has been a fast paced, life changing and very challenging blur. We hit some health issues, some time schedule issues and travel issues. Having one car has made our crazy lives even crazier. I suppose the last thing that I remember around that time is I got sick a lot with MRSA and was dealing with Comcast and trying not to get fired with the little bit I could be there. I remember they sent me home with the fear of God when they found out what MRSA is. I got to go back to work for a little while but the points were adding up fast and trying to work out with HR and filing crazy reports to keep it alive was getting more and more challenging. I do not want to go to much in detail over these long few months, however I really want to touch base on some highlights and lows for you the reader. I left Comcast and was given the option to work part time as contractor for Vutilit...

This will be a quick catch up for all you that follow this blog and sorry for the delay. I was able to hike a huge mountain, and then to saying goodbye at Comcast. I am on a new journey of working on many projects. Some days I wonder if I am doing too much. I currently work as a contracted freelance designer for a Tech Start up and they have stretched my abilities tons and have helped build my confidence that I still have the chops to design in today's tech world climate, doing key presentation graphics and brand management helping the sales team reach out to potential clients, investors on million dollar deals. As for my health and where things stand. We are not following a strict guideline of food regimented. We are on a new discovery path that basically involves more exercise less carbs, and better grocery items and snack ideas. I am maintaining at around 377 and I walk most every day and swim at our pool almost 5 days a week. With one car and my crazy freelance business, ho...

Last entry was on July 2nd and there has been so much that July has brought and so much that has taken away. It has been filled with the joy of watching fireworks, getting out into nature and overcoming hardships both physical, emotional and spiritual. I get word back from Linda that there are some or a lot of you that read this and I am deeply thankful. My sincerest hope is that you find something that can help you in your life as you read about mine. Linda lost her sweet Wanna Mae and as you might or might no know, Linda is my Linda Mae as they share the same purposeful middle name. I would say that a few weeks or so went by and one of my co-workers passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. It was one of the hardest work weeks of my call center career. I sat by him for nearly 7 months or so. He was a fun, caring person. His dedication to Comcast was very impressive. Even in a company that is all dress down he still came dressed nice. Derrick Hall it was a pleasure to have known you. ...

You know that time when you look in the mirror and say to yourself - "Let's do this!" that is what Linda and are doing. We might not say it in the mirror and on rare occasions say it out loud, but we are pushing ourselves for greatness daily. It is a battle, it is a real struggle. We are human, we have weaknesses and yes we eat chocolate when we get overwhelmed. It is the bigger picture, it is something thanks to Darren Hardy has educated me on and I thank him for his book and the chance to have met him. He wrote a book called "The Compound Effect" and in this book it is all about the long term and all the tiny small steps that lead us to greatness. Everybody wants to have the quick fix and instant fame. We took on a 12 week program and in this program we learned a lot. We have adapted new recipe's and a new lifestyle. The program is over, although we still do have some appointments we need to finish with the Doctor and it has been a great journey...

BOOM! Did you miss it? Before you know it you are middle aged and wondering what in the world did you to yourself. Habits are these things we do without even knowing. We eat this, we do that and then with out a warning, BOOM the habits add up and bang, your over weight and out of shape. What I am saying to all that read this, is as you might or might not know that good habit plus education can have a profound meaning in our lives. I grew up in a lower middle class family and the all American way of life of eating. Pot roast and mashed potatoes Sundays. Taco Tuesdays, Spaghetti Wednesdays and so on. Pies and deserts were after each meal and crazy to think I had seconds on all of these dishes. I got taught early on that these foods were o.k. and that milk flowed from the never ending magical cow. I started this health journey just a few months ago and spent the last 40 years on cruise control blindly. In these few months I have learned what I like, what I can handle and what I ...

It has been a few weeks since I last wrote and shared the progress on our health journey. Also regarding my leg status, I now wear compression socks and they are a beast to put on daily. Plus washing them every night has been so much fun.. not. Good news though, my swelling has gone down and the redness is getting better, in the new blog I might even show a updated picture. My goal to lose 100 lbs has been very eye opening experience in so many facets. It is now almost the mid way point to the 100 down and that is the good news, I am actually losing weight. I have wrestled with just getting off 2 lbs in a month, and mostly if anything I keep gaining. It is hard to believe that a year ago I was pushing 450 and little by little and lots of sacrifice the results are starting to show. My goal is set to lose at least the 50 and then some for my 41st birthday on May 17th, and today I learned that I have officially lost 46 lbs. So only 4 more to go!!! But this is where it gets tricky. I...

Hello Folks! It's back at it again to the health portion of this blog. I took a bit of a detour with my leg and our trip to San Francisco, Portland and back to good old SLC. UPDATE: I was not diagnosed with DVT which is really bad and people suffer with clots. I however have deep varicose veins that we can not see, like the spider veins and such. So basically I was wrapped with this medical tape and such and then pantyhose to help reduce the soreness, redness and swelling. I will be wearing compression socks from now on to keep my legs healthy and live a good life. I am a bit worried about the socks though. The above picture is of my leg and the cat is Nala in the which she loves getting petted with my foot for some odd reason. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! RYAN'S  weight is officially 388 and has lost 44 lbs since this journey started. Today I lost another 9 lbs. as well!! Linda lost 7 lbs recently and all together 20 lbs down! !! GO LINDA!!! Team Pilkington "Pickl...

Hello to all that are following my journey and I want to apologize for my late post. I have been somewhat busy as of late. So after my stay in the hospital I was put on antibiotics and was told to hold off on our supplements and to start again when I am off of them. In the meantime Linda and I decided to take a Anniversary road trip. We dropped off Bella our dog with my sweet sister Laura and then headed to the west coast!! Linda and I had a blast and made new friends along the way since 2 out of the nights we spent them at AirBNB which for those that don't know, is where people put up rooms for nightly rentals and we book them through a mobile AP. We had a blast and went from Salt Lake to Reno through Sacramento unto San Francisco on our Anniversary day March 30th. We stayed downtown and took the trolley cars and fisherman's wharf and had some amazing clam chowder. Then we headed up to Portland and over to Idaho and back home to pick up Bella and...

So, we were just minding our own business and getting ready to go on to round 2 of a 3 day detox in our 12 week program. We had purchased the lemons, gearing up for the prep days and moving forward. Then out of nowhere... BAM!! I wound up in admitted in the hospital... I had just celebrated my small goal of being under 400 lbs. and it was amazing!! It all started with me ripping off my big toe nail, but not the reason why I was admitted into the hospital. To make a long story short let's just say that it was a series of unfortunate events. Friday night Linda and I saw the new Beauty and the Beast. Right after the movie I got the chills really bad and later that night I checked on my temperature, it was 100 degrees and held steady all night. I had to do a 10 hour shift on Saturday and headed to work feeling like crap. I stayed about 3 hours and then decided to go home in a lot of back pain and no energy. As I laid on our coach and after taking a nap, my fever was back and we d...

I want to take this time and thank all of our co workers at Comcast for being so supportive!!! Once and awhile they will go around with a "TREAT CART" filled with every snack treat under the sun. From candy bars to chips and so on. The other day we noticed some healthier options on this cart. IT was great to know they have our backs! So... the slump.. I am not to sure if it was a bad week or my body just wants to hold on to all this fluff. I can say I had a goal to lose 30 lbs by Birthday. I am confident that I can lose at least 2 more pounds until May 17th. So I did not lose anything at all. This week going into week four I am hitting the treadmill at work more and walking Bella at any chance I can. I just have to get under 400 lbs. I actually can't even believe that I weigh that much. It saddens me to think of wasted years. I have to thank a few more people out there too. LINDA PILKINGTON!!! She is walking bella around 2 miles most days and is as committed to this...