Day 3- I've Always Liked Slides

What, not the image you had in mind for a slide? Hmmm...if I wouldn't bleed to death I might think that particular slide was a good idea....especially since I could use a little (ok A LOT) shaved off my butt!

Anyway...yesterday morning I got the house sort of straightened up and took my son to the pool. I basked in the bright sunshine for a little while, until perspiration actually dripped down my neck, and then got into the pool myself. I managed to swim about 7 laps. It's not an olympic sized pool by any stretch of the imagination but it was movement and it did feel good.

As for eating yesterday I started out with a fresh yogurt strawberry and banana smoothie. It was excellent and although I really wanted something else after that, I got dressed and we went to the pool instead. By the time we got home at 11:30 I was pretty starving though.

Lunch consisted of more chicken salad, this time on one of those Arnold Sandwich Thins. Those are pretty delicious if you haven't tried them. I also had a salad with lite Ranch dressing. I really need to go get my favorite dressing which is Ken's fat free Caesar dressing.

About an hour or so after that I was hungry again! Some days are like that for me. I just want to snack. So I opted for Smart Pop kettle corn. The whole darn thing is only 1 point for Weight Watchers so I chomped away.

Through the day I also managed to eat two 100 calorie pack snacks. I told you it was a snacky day for me. I also chewed a lot of gum yesterday! Note to self...stock up on Extra gum next time you're at Walmart.

By the time dinner time came I wasn't in the mood to cook so while my husband and son ate left overs and cereal respectively. I had another chicken salad sandwich and a salad.

In the evening my husband went to do a little service project for a lady in our church and I went with him. It took a little longer than we expected and it was HOT outside. Our 9 year old was with us and he was really good so on the way home we stopped at Braum's. It's an ice cream joint. They also have real food and a little grocery store. Kind of an odd combo but it works for here.

Anyway...Braum's is one of our favorite places. I mean, you can get a single scoop waffle cone for $1.25!!! So...that's where I slid. I indulged in a single scoop of German Chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. I have NO idea what the caloric intake was. I seriously need to get moved so I can unpack my scale and get back to WW for real!

I'm counting the pluses and the minuses for yesterday and moving forward today. So far it's 8:44 and I haven't had breakfast but I'm headed in that direction now. Probably another smoothie and maybe some oatmeal.

Day 2-Baby Steps

Those chubby little legs and feet are cute. Mine are chubby, not little and they're definitely not cute!

Baby steps are important. It's important to start somewhere, to start slow and hold someone's hand if you have to. Babies kind of have to get used to the idea of being upright and figuring out how their body balances before they can take off and walk let alone run.

I am thinking that I will update this blog everyday. We'll see how that goes. But here's the 411 about yesterday.

I bragged about eating a great breakfast which was awesome. I didn't feel hungry at all during the morning. I ate around 7. By 10:30 I was in the car with my daughter to run an errand which was about 30 minutes away.

On the way we had to go past QuikTrip...it's like a 7-11. My favorite drink there is Diet Pepsi with some vanilla flavoring added in. I got a 44 ounce drink! I don't know how many calories the vanilla flavoring has in it and frankly I didn't care. I was "rewarding" myself for doing so well up to that point. Fat people do that...reward themselves. Why? I don't know. Topic for another blog.

If you're going to get a fountain drink at a gas station it's not like you can't NOT get a snack. So...I tried to make a good decision and didn't do very well. I chose peanuts. I guess it could have been worse, I could have gotten the Twix I really wanted. The problem with the nuts was that I didn't buy the little tube of nuts. I bought a small bag for $1.99.

Along the drive I snacked away, all the while thinking I should stop eating the nuts. At one point I did put them in the glove box. But I swear they called my name out loud! I don't know what it is about nuts but I love the crunch, the salt, and the entire experience of eating nuts. So before we had gotten to our destination the whole bag was gone. I felt pretty sick about it but what was I going to do at that point. If I'd been someone else I might have stuck my finger down my throat but I hate to vomit so why would I???

So...we did our errand, walked the mall (that's a plus) but I sampled a pepperoni pretzel from Auntie Annies! Is there anything more delicious than an Auntie Annie's pretzel? I don't think so. I didn't buy one though. I was satisfied with the nibble I tried. More shopping. Then we left the mall.

By this time it was about 1:00 in the afternoon. I was hungry for some real food. I'd heard about Pei Wei and hadn't tried it so we went in. My daughter and I got the Sesame Chicken. It came with brown or white rice. I should have chosen brown but I got the white. My success there was that I didn't eat the entire meal. I packaged up more than half and brought it home to my husband.

So all in all I didn't think I did too badly on the lunch. I really need to log this food into Weight Watchers but my scale is packed and I'm not doing that until I get moved next week. Anyway...I didn't have any snacks during the afternoon but by dinner I was pretty hungry.

I made chicken salad for dinner. I added some pineapple, grapes, craisens, celery and some cashew nuts along with the shredded chicken and miracle whip lite. I ate it on a whole grain bun and had a salad with lite ranch dressing.

After dinner, my son and I went for a walk. I walked and he rode his bike. I walked as fast as I could and we walked for a solid 45 minutes. I was drenched by the time I got back.

It felt good to walk, iPod in my ears with the music blaring. Note to self...upload some better music. Colbie Caillet is ok but not really as inspiring as Beyonce's Bootylicious!

As I walked, a cool breeze blew and as I listened to the music I felt envigorated. By the time I got home my knees were in somewhat of a rebellion as I continue to struggle with some joint inflammation but I'm determined to keep going. Maybe tonight I'll go back to the pool for a little while.

So far this morning I've had a strawberry banana smoothie for breakfast. We're getting ready to go to the pool before it feels like the surface of the sun out there. Hopefully I can get some laps in.

That's baby steps so far.

A New Day

I hesitate to even blog about what is going to be yet another attempt to lose weight. I wish I could say that this time I know for sure I won't fail. I am not even sure that right at this moment I have the resolve NOT to go to the pantry and find something to eat in the next 30 seconds, let alone stay on a diet for any length of time.

Here's what I do know....I have to do something. At this point any little something is better than what I've been doing...which is eating whatever I want. Thanks to giving in to those urges I've managed to put on all the weight I'd lost when I was sick-30 lbs. That's a lot of weight. I mean seriously...it's a toddler!

I would like to blame it all on the Prednisone. I'm sure that hasn't helped. And I'm sure that it also hasn't helped that my joints have been so miserable that just going up the stairs was an effort. It was much easier to walk to the pantry or the refrigerator! But it's not all the drugs or my joints. It's really my brain. It's giving in to impulses and not even trying to resist them.

So...with all that said, I've started a New Day....again. And here's the thing...every day is a new day and every day I can essentially start again. There will be mistakes made but I need to just keep moving forward. I have to account for the little successes.

Yesterday's success was going to the grocery store and using my Weight Watchers points calculator AND not buying any junk food. I really really wanted to...but I didn't and I had to give myself a little pat on the back.

Last night and the night before we went for a walk. Moving is essential. I need to do that too. I might not have walked a mile but at least I got out. I also swam laps last night at the pool. Not anything significant but again...I moved.

Today's success so far, I ate a good breakfast. It wasn't cookies or chips or a bagel with cream cheese.

Happy New Day.

Leave us Alone President Obama!

This morning as I ate my breakfast (Special K with half a banana and 2 packets of Splenda) I sat at the computer to check out happenings on Facebook. One of my friends, who happens to be very thin, posted a link to an article about how President Obama wants to "demand obesity ratings for all Americans." Here is the article on Fox news in it's entirety....
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Feds to Monitor Obesity as White House Promotes Obama Cook to Senior Position

Published July 17, 2010

FoxNews.com

Saturday: First lady Michelle Obama speaks about childhood obesity to the National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington. (AP)

As the Obama administration sets its sights on overweight Americans, demanding obesity ratings for all citizens by 2014, the White House has promoted the Obamas' personal cook to a senior advisory position.

Sam Kass, the 20-something Chicago chef, is now the White House "Food Initiative Coordinator," Kass' title reportedly was upgraded last month from food initiative coordinator to senior policy adviser for health food initiatives. His duties have not changed.

The change comes as the Health and Human Services announced this week that under the stimulus law, health care providers must establish "meaningful use" of electronic health records to qualify for federal subsidies or risk seeing their Medicare and Medicaid payments slashed. The electronic health records must include Americans' body mass index, or BMI, height and weight.

Critics say the BMI is unreliable and the ratings will lead to more government intrusion.

Supporters say the ratings will serve as motivation for weight loss.

"The fact we're now tracking BMIs', I think knowledge is power for us," nutrition expert Mitzi Dulan told Fox News."There are a lot of people that don't know their BMI and it's denial.

Dulan noted that a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that $147 billion is spent annually on obesity-related costs, or 10 percent of medical costs.
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Ok...here's the deal. If you're obese you know it and you're not in denial. You just don't want to do anything about it because if you did you would!

My doctor and I already know that I'm overweight and that I should lose weight. My health insurance company has NEVER sent me literature on programs they offer to us over eaters to lose weight....and why is that? Probably because they don't do anything to help overweight people gain better health. It's all up to you. If you're anorexic they have stinking programs in patient and out patient for you. They don't just tell you to go eat a freaking sandwich!!!!

If you go to your doctor to talk about your weight, the likelihood is that your insurance company won't even cover the visit because they don't cover weight loss as a medical benefit. This happened to me once when I went to the doctor for a routine visit and because I mentioned that I wanted to lose weight, and because the doctor wrote in the code for that, they denied the claim for my entire visit...so they in essence told me not to talk to my doctor about being fat!

Now if I had high blood pressure, or if I had diabetes or needed a knee replacement because of my weight then that would be a different story. They do NOTHING for preventive care for the obese patient!

Want to have gastric bypass surgery? Go talk to any weight loss surgeon and find out how they have to finagle the system to code the thing right so that it looks like if you don't have the surgery you're going to drop dead within seconds of the denial to have the surgery!!!! Want weight loss medications? Be prepared to shell out $60-$100 for a prescription...who wants to do that when you can eat out at Burger King about 15 times for that amount of money!!!! I'm just kidding! Relax.

You get my point. I think President Obama should just worry about himself. When he quits smoking he can worry about the health of other Americans. Do we "demand lung health ratings" from smokers? Don't people who smoke have issues that cost money!??!!! Give me a BREAK! Maybe we should "demand stupidity ratings" for all those in government or for that matter the general population...but that's a topic for a whole other blog!

Is this a Weight Loss Blog or what?

Theoretically this is what the process of weight loss looks like:


Up until December 2009, I was doing alright with the "weight loss thing" and then I got sick and everything ended up in the toilet. (Hmmm...maybe not a good analogy! I crack myself up)

Today as I was on my facebook account I noticed that a good friend of mine had posted a photograph of herself 13 pounds lighter in a new pair of jeans. She actually credited my blog with helping her. I would like to think it's because I'm an inspiring person but it could just be that she doesn't want to be as pathetic as I am weight wise. I just know that since I haven't really blogged about my success....because there has been none...that she must be inspired to lose weight so that she doesn't end up looking like me!

Well my friend, C.M., I think you may have inspired me. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and thought..."I have GOT to do something!" So, I think I'm back on the bandwagon. There are no "treats" in the house and I have to go grocery shopping today so it's the perfect time to start anew.

Here's to new beginnings. I'm still not in any frame of mind to post my actual weight. I'm not brave enough but maybe someday I'll tell.

National Geographic

Erma Bombeck said, "I never leaf through a copy of National Geographic without realizing how lucky we are to live in a society where it is traditional to wear clothes."

I totally understand her thinking! There is nothing that makes a fat person more self conscious than being naked. And let's be honest, tan fat does look better than pale fat!

I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon. ~Ellen DeGeneres

Just that quote from Ellen made me want a cinnamon roll! I'll just look at a picture and be satisfied for now.

It's been quite a while since I've blogged on this weight loss blog and that's because I haven't really been focused on losing weight. I've been focused on staying alive and pain free. I've gotten the "alive" part down and am working on the "pain free" part. I thought it might be a good idea to start back with some sort of exercise. So today I went to an exercise group that the girls at church are doing.

Now...let me be clear...I was the oldest person there. I'm 46, the other 4 girls are younger than 28. They've all borne children but they don't have near the mileage on their bodies as I have on mine.

Today was body sculpting. I have too much to sculpt! My stomach looks like this...only worse! I would NOT put a photo up of my real stomach. I might get inquiries by the FCC or whoever monitors content on the internet...do they even do that? I doubt it. Anyway...

Now that I look at this chick's stomach fat I'm wishing mine looked as good!

This is what the instructor's stomach looks like after birthing 3 children! I even told her that her stomach was concave. She does not have an ounce of fat on her! She rode her bike 10 miles up and down hills for fun yesterday! Who does that? She's healthy and I say...good for her!

Again, not her real stomach but I would venture to say it's pretty darn close!

I don't know how long this exercise regimen will last but I have to do something. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and we'll see what he says about what would be best for my joints. I've never considered myself an unhealthy person. I never had one symptom from being overweight, no joint problems, no diabetes, no lung problems etc. When I've worked out in the past I never felt pain at all during a workout. Since my drug allergy and near death experience I have most of those thing. Today was VERY different. I have to remember that my body has been through hell and its going to take some time to recover.

Its not my goal to have a flat stomach. I don't even really care about that. Again, I'd be happy to shop in "normal" size clothing shops and have more of a choice than the "Omar the Tent Maker" section of the store!

We'll see what Friday brings...it's yoga day.