Garden 2012, a set on Flickr.
Weight Ticker
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
My 50th birthday is only a week away. The big question is did I lose the big 50? Nope. I didn't. I lost 21 at the highest point. Then I gained back ten. Then I lost 8. Then I gained back 3. I'm sure there's more along the way, but the way I was doing it was wrong, wrong, wrong. All wrong.
My friend suggested the book Made to Crave and that was the eye opener I needed. It's premise is that God made us to crave. He made us to crave Him. Unfortunately, I've tried to satisfy my need for comfort with food rather that God. So I turned back to Him and had a serious renewal of faith. I'm down from my original weight by 13 pounds and feel much better. I've been rowing and gardening and I feel soooo much better all the way around. This isn't about weight loss as much as it is about faithfulness.
Thank you to all who encouraged me. Most especially, thanks to Sharolyn for recommending the book and to both Sharolyn and Gail for being my sisters in Christ and helping me on my new journey.
I've started a new blog called The Faithful Garden www.thefaithfulgarden.blogspot.com where I'm posting about this new journey as I learn about faithfulness and gardening, too. It's my heart.
Here's to satisfying cravings the right way!
My friend suggested the book Made to Crave and that was the eye opener I needed. It's premise is that God made us to crave. He made us to crave Him. Unfortunately, I've tried to satisfy my need for comfort with food rather that God. So I turned back to Him and had a serious renewal of faith. I'm down from my original weight by 13 pounds and feel much better. I've been rowing and gardening and I feel soooo much better all the way around. This isn't about weight loss as much as it is about faithfulness.
Thank you to all who encouraged me. Most especially, thanks to Sharolyn for recommending the book and to both Sharolyn and Gail for being my sisters in Christ and helping me on my new journey.
I've started a new blog called The Faithful Garden www.thefaithfulgarden.blogspot.com where I'm posting about this new journey as I learn about faithfulness and gardening, too. It's my heart.
Here's to satisfying cravings the right way!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Row, Row, Row, etc.
We have an erg upstairs courtesy of our former rower, Rebecca. About three weeks ago, I decided to start rowing. Five minutes at about 25 strokes per minute was all I could do at first. Now I'm up to 2500 meters in 20 minutes at 23 strokes per minute. I'm sure that's quite pitiful in rower world, but this is Carol World so it's downright remarkable! I could have gone another five minutes tonight, I think, but I gave myself a wicked headache night before last from using neck muscles and back muscles I haven't used in years. I'll add another five on Thursday night, then another five on Saturday. I plan on rowing 30 minutes every other day rather than walking since my feet and legs hurt when I walk. Oh! I found out from my doctor that B12 deficiency can cause pain in your legs. That would explain so much about why I couldn't ever overcome the pain when I walked. Once my levels come back up, I should be able to walk pain free again. I'm praying for that.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
I'm Finally Back
I'm back where I began...190 miserable pounds. So here I go again.
My downfall began in mid-November with my sinus surgery. The surgery went great, but I was stuck home with nowhere to go for a week afterward. The girls were home for Thanksgiving, so we made treats, snacks, desserts, and of course - Thanksgiving Dinner! It was a lot of fun to get in the kitchen with Randy and the girls. Each was in charge of one or two dishes and we had far more food than we could eat. Leftovers followed. Then more leftovers. Then take-out because we couldn't stand to eat anymore leftovers. When the girls went back to their respective universities, I planned on getting back into my new, healthy routine. "Planned" being the key word. As Mike Tyson so eloquently phrased it, "Everybody's got plans until they get hit."
And boy did I get hit. Not literally. No bus ran me down. Nobody slugged me. But I sure got knocked on my backside. The B12 shots I'd been taking weekly for my deficiency hadn't yet kicked in. In fact, my numbers decreased over the course of the four months. My iron went up into the low normal range, but I just learned on Thursday that they have fallen again, so I'm anemic again. To say I have no energy is putting it lightly. I'm flat out fatigued on a daily basis. I go to school, teach as hard as I can go, then come home and go comatose. I lost interest in cooking and started hitting up the fast food restaurants for breakfast and dinner again. Not every night, but often enough. To top it all off, I was going for allergy shots on Tuesdays and Thursday and getting the B12 shots on Wednesdays. That meant I wasn't getting home from work/doctors until 5:30 each evening and I was having to take school work home each night since I couldn't stay late at work to get it done there.
In addition, I've added two more antibiotics and possibly steroids to my list of allergies. Since steroid allergies are rare and not well studied, I had to go two hours away to the University of Mississippi to their allergy clinic where I spent two hours - one being told there was no way to test for a steroid allergy and being told I'd have to take nasal steroid sprays the rest of my life, and the second being told by the senior doctor to disregard what the 1st doctor had said. Protocol for testing steroid allergies was developed this past year, so he's contacting the team of doctors who did the study and will have me come back for a day of allergy testing in the future. That's good news but I don't have another sick day to use so they'd best be ready to test me over my spring break in a month or they're just going to have to wait until the end of May when school gets out.
Now while all of this was going on, the first week of December, I started an IBS flare to end all flares. I had to stop eating whole grains, fruits, and many vegetables. I ate a lot of crackers, white bread, baked potatoes and chicken because that's all I could tolerate. If you've never experienced IBS/Chron's/IBD, etc, you won't understand how it affects every facet of your life. There's a terrible fear of leaving your home to go to work, shopping, etc. Since I tend toward panic attacks anyway, it wasn't a pleasant time. It finally subsided in January, just in time for me to get bronchitis and hit the doctor's office again. I spent weeks coughing and nebulizing and wondering if I'd catch a break at some point in time.
Knock on wood, that point in time seems to be now. Thank goodness. I've been easing back into whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The allergy shots have ceased until the steroid thing is resolved. The B12 shots have been changed to a nasal spray, so I'm now able to work an hour later each day and avoid bringing work home each night. My outlook has vastly improved and I've turned my eyes outward instead of inward, looking forward to the future rather than feeling trapped in the moment by my health issues. It's like a breath of fresh air to feel hopeful again.
I started rowing on an erg last week (I was only able to go 10 minutes at first, but I'm up to 20 now) and I have a healthy menu planned for this week. So here I go again...I'm starting at 190 and we'll see how much I can lose by June 11th. At this point, any long term loss will be a success in my eyes, but I'm still hoping to lose a grand total of 50 lbs. It really helps when friends and family are generous in their judgement. Thanks to those of you who checked in on me when I went missing and so sweetly told me you'd hang in there with me until I could get going again. I love you guys!
Oh! Here's a shout out to Randy. During all of this, he's been sweet and distracting, keeping me busy with this and that and refusing to let me slip into apathy or misery. I resist the push sometimes, but he's the guy who keeps me going and I'm so very thankful he's my guy.
My downfall began in mid-November with my sinus surgery. The surgery went great, but I was stuck home with nowhere to go for a week afterward. The girls were home for Thanksgiving, so we made treats, snacks, desserts, and of course - Thanksgiving Dinner! It was a lot of fun to get in the kitchen with Randy and the girls. Each was in charge of one or two dishes and we had far more food than we could eat. Leftovers followed. Then more leftovers. Then take-out because we couldn't stand to eat anymore leftovers. When the girls went back to their respective universities, I planned on getting back into my new, healthy routine. "Planned" being the key word. As Mike Tyson so eloquently phrased it, "Everybody's got plans until they get hit."
And boy did I get hit. Not literally. No bus ran me down. Nobody slugged me. But I sure got knocked on my backside. The B12 shots I'd been taking weekly for my deficiency hadn't yet kicked in. In fact, my numbers decreased over the course of the four months. My iron went up into the low normal range, but I just learned on Thursday that they have fallen again, so I'm anemic again. To say I have no energy is putting it lightly. I'm flat out fatigued on a daily basis. I go to school, teach as hard as I can go, then come home and go comatose. I lost interest in cooking and started hitting up the fast food restaurants for breakfast and dinner again. Not every night, but often enough. To top it all off, I was going for allergy shots on Tuesdays and Thursday and getting the B12 shots on Wednesdays. That meant I wasn't getting home from work/doctors until 5:30 each evening and I was having to take school work home each night since I couldn't stay late at work to get it done there.
In addition, I've added two more antibiotics and possibly steroids to my list of allergies. Since steroid allergies are rare and not well studied, I had to go two hours away to the University of Mississippi to their allergy clinic where I spent two hours - one being told there was no way to test for a steroid allergy and being told I'd have to take nasal steroid sprays the rest of my life, and the second being told by the senior doctor to disregard what the 1st doctor had said. Protocol for testing steroid allergies was developed this past year, so he's contacting the team of doctors who did the study and will have me come back for a day of allergy testing in the future. That's good news but I don't have another sick day to use so they'd best be ready to test me over my spring break in a month or they're just going to have to wait until the end of May when school gets out.
Now while all of this was going on, the first week of December, I started an IBS flare to end all flares. I had to stop eating whole grains, fruits, and many vegetables. I ate a lot of crackers, white bread, baked potatoes and chicken because that's all I could tolerate. If you've never experienced IBS/Chron's/IBD, etc, you won't understand how it affects every facet of your life. There's a terrible fear of leaving your home to go to work, shopping, etc. Since I tend toward panic attacks anyway, it wasn't a pleasant time. It finally subsided in January, just in time for me to get bronchitis and hit the doctor's office again. I spent weeks coughing and nebulizing and wondering if I'd catch a break at some point in time.
Knock on wood, that point in time seems to be now. Thank goodness. I've been easing back into whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The allergy shots have ceased until the steroid thing is resolved. The B12 shots have been changed to a nasal spray, so I'm now able to work an hour later each day and avoid bringing work home each night. My outlook has vastly improved and I've turned my eyes outward instead of inward, looking forward to the future rather than feeling trapped in the moment by my health issues. It's like a breath of fresh air to feel hopeful again.
I started rowing on an erg last week (I was only able to go 10 minutes at first, but I'm up to 20 now) and I have a healthy menu planned for this week. So here I go again...I'm starting at 190 and we'll see how much I can lose by June 11th. At this point, any long term loss will be a success in my eyes, but I'm still hoping to lose a grand total of 50 lbs. It really helps when friends and family are generous in their judgement. Thanks to those of you who checked in on me when I went missing and so sweetly told me you'd hang in there with me until I could get going again. I love you guys!
Oh! Here's a shout out to Randy. During all of this, he's been sweet and distracting, keeping me busy with this and that and refusing to let me slip into apathy or misery. I resist the push sometimes, but he's the guy who keeps me going and I'm so very thankful he's my guy.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Weigh In and New Favs!
This is my new latest love...Laughing Cow! Tonight, I'm making Shrimp Alfredo with the Laughing Cow alfredo recipe and whole wheat pasta. This is the creamiest cheese and it's so versatile! I use it on eggs, on sandwiches, on crackers, on celery, and now on pasta. Yum! There are lots of recipes on their site that I can't wait to try. I'll post them as I make them and see which ones I like best! If you haven't tried their Chipotle flavor, hurry up and do so - yum!
On to my weigh in...173 lbs - and that's on a week's worth of steroids! I've had a lot of success during my 6 weeks on Weight Watchers. I'm averaging about 1.8 pounds per week, slightly more than my original goal, but I had weeks of no weight loss to make up for from this summer. It's great to fit in clothes I haven't worn in a year or so, and I'm looking forward to a big shopping trip when I reach my goal.
I got out and walked two miles yesterday and was thrilled to have no pain again, but today I'm limping due to pain in my left hip. Bummer. I didn't walk today, but I'll get out again once this is reasonable enough to walk with. I see the rheumatologist on Tuesday, so maybe she'll have some ideas to help me along.
Looking ahead, I'll be down and out with sinus surgery for a few days at the beginning of next month. On the bright side, I doubt I'll be overeating since it's really hard to swallow without being able to breathe through your nose. This is my fourth time. Let's just hope I make it out without double vision this time. I really like and trust my doctor and feel I'm in great hands!
My Christmas shopping is done, and I have Kindle books on my iPad ready to read, so let's bring on the cooler weather, please. This 95 degree stuff is for the birds! In fact, the hummingbirds are still flitting about like it's mid-summer. Geez. Migrate already! I'm ready for a fire in the fireplace and hot cocoa in my mug!
Happy Autumn!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Another Sunday, Another Walk
Okay, so walking once a week isn't likely to get me into great physical shape, but it's a start. This past week was crazy, and I'm battling major fatigue in the late afternoons so I didn't go out. This week, however, I get another B12 injection and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll give me that extra energy boost I need to get out there more than once. Keep those fingers crossed for me, please!
I'm not on my official weigh in day, but the scale was looking pretty at 174 pounds today. That's 10 pounds in five weeks, 16 since I started the blog, and 20 since the beginninng of May. If I start walking, I hope I'll keep losing. I'm really committed to getting down to a healthy weight so my choloesterol and blood pressure will drop, drop, drop! I posted a new picture on the sidebar to show my progress. I can surely see a difference from the first picture to the most recent. :o)
The next two weeks will be a challenge meal wise. Randy leaves for his annual West Virginia hunting trip with the Horn Hunters and then leaves for New Orleans for business the day after he gets back. He'll be gone a full two weeks. That means I'll be coming home to an empty house at dinnertime and no one to cook for but me. I tend to want to go through a fast food place rather than take the time and make the mess to make a meal, even if it's small. To combat this, I froze several meals in small containers that I can quickly defrost and eat with the promise that if I do that, I'll treat myself to sushi nights at the end of both weeks. I'll post about my progress. It's realy going to require some serious self discipline.
On to food finds...Rebecca gave me an early Christmas present of two signed cookbooks from Holly Clegg. She cooks easy, flavorful, nutritious food. We picked the Blackberry Chicken to try and it was delicious! I looked for it online so I could post a picture of it, but I couldn't find it. I did however find this and it's very, very close. The only differences were two teaspoons of oil rather than two tablespoons, and add in 1/2 cup of seedless blackberry jam and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar rather than the cornstarch and lemon juice. Oh, and dust the chicken with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of thyme. Check out the youtube link below to watch her make it her Easy Chicken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oPywEfqPwE
You can also check out her cookbooks at her website or on facebook. http://www.hollyclegg.com/
This is one of the books she got me since I love seafood and Southern cooking. I can't wait to try some of out when Randy gets back from hunting! It even has venison recipes in it for this hunting wife!
Enjoy!
I'm not on my official weigh in day, but the scale was looking pretty at 174 pounds today. That's 10 pounds in five weeks, 16 since I started the blog, and 20 since the beginninng of May. If I start walking, I hope I'll keep losing. I'm really committed to getting down to a healthy weight so my choloesterol and blood pressure will drop, drop, drop! I posted a new picture on the sidebar to show my progress. I can surely see a difference from the first picture to the most recent. :o)
The next two weeks will be a challenge meal wise. Randy leaves for his annual West Virginia hunting trip with the Horn Hunters and then leaves for New Orleans for business the day after he gets back. He'll be gone a full two weeks. That means I'll be coming home to an empty house at dinnertime and no one to cook for but me. I tend to want to go through a fast food place rather than take the time and make the mess to make a meal, even if it's small. To combat this, I froze several meals in small containers that I can quickly defrost and eat with the promise that if I do that, I'll treat myself to sushi nights at the end of both weeks. I'll post about my progress. It's realy going to require some serious self discipline.
On to food finds...Rebecca gave me an early Christmas present of two signed cookbooks from Holly Clegg. She cooks easy, flavorful, nutritious food. We picked the Blackberry Chicken to try and it was delicious! I looked for it online so I could post a picture of it, but I couldn't find it. I did however find this and it's very, very close. The only differences were two teaspoons of oil rather than two tablespoons, and add in 1/2 cup of seedless blackberry jam and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar rather than the cornstarch and lemon juice. Oh, and dust the chicken with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of thyme. Check out the youtube link below to watch her make it her Easy Chicken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oPywEfqPwE
You can also check out her cookbooks at her website or on facebook. http://www.hollyclegg.com/
This is one of the books she got me since I love seafood and Southern cooking. I can't wait to try some of out when Randy gets back from hunting! It even has venison recipes in it for this hunting wife!
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
I Walked and Didn't Die!
Woot! Woot! I managed a two mile walk (slow and steady) and didn't die of pain, thirst, or fatigue before it was over! 50 degrees makes for a great walk, plus I walked with my mp3 player, and I walked at my own pace since Randy is a runner now. I feel empowered.
Let's add to that succes with the fact that I've dropped a pants and shirt size. I bought 3 new pair of pants today for the cooler weather and was thrilled to find that the larger size slid right off of me. Oh yeah! What wonderful motivation to continue Weight Watchers and, hopefully, walking.
In addition, I'm moving toward better preplanning for eating out. Last night, Randy and I went to dinner at Outback and then on to a movie. I looked up the WW Points Plus for the wood fired steaks and found that a 6oz. Outback Special was my best choice with a side salad w/o croutons with tangy tomato dressing. I had one slice of bread w/o butter to go with it. Oh, and we enjoyed their Ahi tuna appetizer, too. I ate 3 oz. of the steak, all of the salad, and about 1/3 of the tuna and was totally satisfied by both the food and my decision to not stuff myself. I can't eat as much as I used to, for one thing, but I'd planned ahead and had a goal. Awesome! Randy did the same and was so satisfied, he couldn't eat popcorn at the movie. We both had water and that was all.
I'm really looking forward to having my cholesterol (triglycerides) and blood pressure checked in two more months. I want to see those numbers go down!
Let's add to that succes with the fact that I've dropped a pants and shirt size. I bought 3 new pair of pants today for the cooler weather and was thrilled to find that the larger size slid right off of me. Oh yeah! What wonderful motivation to continue Weight Watchers and, hopefully, walking.
In addition, I'm moving toward better preplanning for eating out. Last night, Randy and I went to dinner at Outback and then on to a movie. I looked up the WW Points Plus for the wood fired steaks and found that a 6oz. Outback Special was my best choice with a side salad w/o croutons with tangy tomato dressing. I had one slice of bread w/o butter to go with it. Oh, and we enjoyed their Ahi tuna appetizer, too. I ate 3 oz. of the steak, all of the salad, and about 1/3 of the tuna and was totally satisfied by both the food and my decision to not stuff myself. I can't eat as much as I used to, for one thing, but I'd planned ahead and had a goal. Awesome! Randy did the same and was so satisfied, he couldn't eat popcorn at the movie. We both had water and that was all.
I'm really looking forward to having my cholesterol (triglycerides) and blood pressure checked in two more months. I want to see those numbers go down!
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