Weight Update

Well I forgot to weigh in last week, mostly due to getting sick and just completely forgetting about it (trust me not the ONLY thing I forgot while being sick)

I did remember to weigh in today, and it was remarkable, I weighed in at 305.8! A 5 pound loss in 2 weeks. Now mind you , I firmly believe that is 5 pound of mucus and snot that I shed, because I feel that is all that I've been doing (blowing my nose and such).

But hey, a loss is a loss and I'll take it. On top of that I am feeling more and more better as each day goes on. This makes me really happy.

I am depressed about missing FitBloggin' this year. However, if anything it only makes me more determined to get there next year. I just hope I can at least have my bloggie BFF's there (Kerri and Steve). I can't wait to read about everyone's recaps though!

Honestly though I think it's best for me to be home right now, I am recovering from being sick, FitBloggin' wouldn't be much fun sick, and I can accomplish a lot of stuff for the wedding. So at the very least, I am being productive!

With less than 5 months to the wedding, I am starting to feel more pressure and trying to get some tasks wrapped up. There has been a lot going on with the wedding, lots of stress, I am just hoping that things can subside as I feel like it's way too early on to be dealing with so much stress.

Perfect weather... if you are a duck!

Ugh... that's really all that can sum up the last few days for me.

I've been sick, with something... I typically get sick when the temperature does funny things, like drop 30 degrees in a day. Well this weather pattern that New England is in really sucks right now. Basically I am in the midst of a week long rain fest. Just icky and cold, I guess the weather matches how I am feeling!

The icky rain pattern is also making a terrible time to get out and do my C25K sessions, I finished week 3, and I was supposed to start week 4 on Tuesday, but I am feeling like poop and the rain didn't help. I don't want to get too far behind, though, so I am taking it as easy as I can and hopefully will get back on track.

I am managing to stay active, I got a walk in on Monday, I took yesterday off, and hopefully will be getting a walk in tonight. Not nearly as active as I'd like to be, but at least it's something.

I've also been failing on the tracking front, I haven't tracked in days, mind you, the first few days of being sick, I wasn't really in the greatest frame of mind, but I am over the sickness hump and need to get back in the tracking routine so I don't fall so far behind.

I also didn't weigh in last Friday, again I chock it up to being sick, but I did step on the scale and I am right on target, so I don't feel like I've gone too far off path, I've been eating mindfully and making smart choices. So long as you count coffee frappes as smart choices. But hey, they ARE smart choices when you need something cold to soothe your throat from all the coughing, right?

At least I can taste food again, I still cannot smell anything, but at least my taste is coming back.

I am going to track my food today, got to get back into those good habits, I do not want to derail all my efforts!

Hopefully I will start feeling better (like I said, I am already over the hump) and I can get back on track with my C25K training sessions, and hopefully there will be an end in sight with this rainy weather.

Although, I will take the rainy weather now, for sunny perfect weather when we go camping next weekend!

Weight Update and Bloggie Awards

So last Sunday I was 317.4, Monday I was 312.4. I weighed in on Friday at 310.8 A loss of 6.6 from last Sunday and 1.6 from Monday.

Needless to say, I am happy to see the scale going in the right direction. I've stuck to staying active, and I am still 100% for the month. Getting at least some activity in every day. I will be Strong for 23 in May! I've been tracking my food and activity using the my fitness pal app for my iPhone, I've been very pleased with this program, not only are the majority of the foods in there, but also I like that you can also track your activity/workouts and the calories burned are included in your totals. Almost like the "Activity Points" I'd earn using the Weight Watchers plan.

I've had a fun weekend. Ben and I went to the Drive In on Friday night and had a wonderful date night. Saturday, I went to my mom's house and caught up with her and then we had another couple come over Saturday night and we had a nice evening catching up with them, they are in the process of buying a house and fairly nervous about it. Today, Sunday, Mother's Day, I took my step mother and my dad out to a baseball game, we had a blast, and the rain held off until the last inning. We left early and headed out to dinner. All in all it was great to spend some time with them and have a good outing.

I also recently received a blog award from Whitney over at Getting Healthy. Thank you Whitney, you've always given me positive thoughts whenever I've needed it!

And here are the rules with the Stylish Blogger Award:

1. Post a link back to the person who gave it to me....see the above link!

2. Give it to 5 blogs that I L.O.V.E. and stop by their blogs to let them know.

   1. Kerri @ Kat Does Diets
   2. Steve @ Blog Of Steve
   3. Mary @ A Merry Wife
   4. Brittney @ Life In A Holding Pattern
   5. Whitney @ Slimming Down for the Gown

3. Tell 7 things about yourself:

   1. I am getting married in 5 months (!!!!!!!!!)
   2. I am going to Hawaii for my honeymoon
   3. I love reality TV, not reality tv game shows, but reality tv
   4. I miss my brother like crazy, and can't wait to see him this summer
   5. I am looking forward to becoming a mom and starting a family of my own
   6. I have a degree in business administration, but I am an emergency dispatcher (love my job)
   7. I am really sad about not getting to go to FitBloggin' this year....

Strong for 23 in May

I am bringing it back, to help keep me motivated and keep me honest and on track. For those of you who are new or may not know, Strong for 23 was something that started over on Alan's blog, but basically, it's committing to work out or getting some activity at least 23 times in a month.

And so here is how I started out the month of May....

And I promise you I will finish Strong for 23.... I'm already 5/5 ;-)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Weighing In

I spent all of last week at my parent's house watching the house and the cat, I knew when I posted last week, that since I wasn't going to be in my routine, that I was nervous about my abilities to stay focused. I was basically eating out for every meal, and although I was still getting some long walks in I was nervous about the results.

Well yesterday, Sunday, I was finally back at my own apartment and I stepped on the scale. 317.4, I was mortified. I had no idea it was THAT bad. I re-weighed in another 2 times with the same results before going on about my day. That is a huge increase over the 311.8 I was last week.

I knew that I didn't track at all last week, and really how many times can I say it, tracking is key... I need to be able to hold myself accountable. I started using My Fitness Pal, I didn't care for the SparkPeople app, and so far, I like My Fitness Pal's app better. So for now, I'll be tracking using the My Fitness Pal program and see how that goes. If you are on there, come find me!

Getting ready for the day, I put on my work pants and they seemed to fit like they always do, I had no idea where this weight was on my body, since usually it goes to my stomach and thighs first. 

I got home from work last night and I completed my week 2 day 1 C25K session. I got home, and really was comfortable being there, but I forced myself to get out there and do it. It sucked at first, but I dug deep and by the end, I was so happy and proud of myself for doing it.

Yesterday, I also mailed in my registration for the Covered Bridge 5K in September in Henniker, NH. This is about an hour away from me, I've always loved Covered Bridges so I am hoping this will be fun. Also its about halfway between myself and another bloggie friend, Kayla and she is hopefully going to be joining me in running this race!

I may do some other races this year, but this one I thought would be cool. I wanted to register early, so I was committed and wouldn't back out of it. This is something that I can focus on.

Today, just for my own interest, I hopped on the scale this morning, and it read 312.4, I had lost 5 pounds in a day... which leads me to believe that it was mostly water weight I was carrying, probably also why my pants still fit normally. So I am still up overall, but not nearly as bad as originally thought. And hopefully now I can resume my regular Friday weigh in's from now on. 

My Digestive Health and TMI

Ryan from No More Bacon recently posted on Attune Food's blog about digestive health in your overall health. He posed the question to readers, when did you become aware of digestive health and any effects on your overall health. 


My response was: 

1. I was diagnosed as “Lactose Intolerant” in my early pre-teen years. It sucked… you see I love ice cream, but I learned early on that you have to give and take in this world, and you can’t always get what you want (cue song!)

   Later on, my doctor said that my intolerance was more of a sensitivity, and that I could have some lactose products, but to keep it to a minimum and in moderation.

   5 years ago, I had my gallbladder removed and my whole digestion system was thrown off kilter, it took nearly a year before I was finally able to get “regular” again.

   I’ve learned over the years that you’ve got to adapt and listen closely to what your body is trying to tell you, don’t always use medication to cover those symptoms, if your body can’t handle it, you’ve got to have to know it all to stop eating it.

   Thank you for this inspiration, I feel a blog post coming on!

   
   

   Being a kid, a kid who LOVED dairy, especially ice cream, being diagnosed as lactose intolerant, my gosh, was like a death sentence.  I thought that life was over. Then I got introduced to a medication that would allow me to enjoy some dairy products, I still couldn't drink milk, eat cheese and then wash it all down with ice cream, but I still could enjoy the occasional dairy product. 

   
   

   And this may be too much TMI, but if I did consume too much dairy, well then it was several quick trips to the bathroom, which I then would also treat with yet another medication. 

   
   

   A few years later, my body was apparently over it's Lactose Intolerant stage, and I could once again freely consume lactose without medications. This wasn't by some diagnosis, more trial and error, I would forget to take my pills, but then have no after effects, etc. 

   
   

   While in college, I had what is now known as a gallbladder attack, at the time they thought it was food poisoning.  I had another attack after I graduated from college, I was home, and drove myself to the ER. It was there that they performed a ultrasound of my gallbladder and saw that I had stones there. After meeting with some more doctors, I elected to have my gallbladder removed. And let me tell you anytime you have abdomen surgery, you feel that every part of your body is connected to your abdomen/abdominal muscles.  Laughing hurt!

   
   

   After I had my gallbladder removed, my doctor told me that it would be trial and error as to what I could eat and I'd have to see. Some people had no effects, and could continue eating as they normally would. Others, found that their diets would be restrictive.  For the next year, I couldn't travel far from a restroom, especially after eating.  Again my doctors would recommend a medication to help with the frequent bathroom visits. 

   
   

   It took about a year for the bile to regulate in my digestive system. You see, instead of having a gallbladder than can store the excess bile that is created, bile is just free flowing in my digestive system. So when I eat fatty meat or a fatty meal, there usually isn't enough bile to help break down the food.  And my system ends up dumping a lot of it before it's all been properly digested. 

   
   

   Since that time, I've learned that I simply cannot eat any breakfast meat... this includes BACON, I feel for you Ryan! And that I really have to limit fried foods. Also I've realized that I cannot eat large meals first thing in the morning, that I can typically tolerate a light to moderate breakfast, but nothing really heavy.  If I want to eat french toast, I typically have to have a piece of fruit or something small about an hour before. 

   
   

   Trust me, I've taken a lot of crap from the guys that I work with (firefighters) about being picky. It's not that I am picky, but I'd rather not be stuck in the bathroom when a call comes in!  The guys will sometimes cook eggs or homefries in the bacon grease, and I've realized that I cannot eat food cooked that way. It's really been a trial and error, and VERY frustrating at times. 

   
   

   During this time, I realized that I didn't really want to be on any medication that was in regards to my digestive health, if my body says I shouldn't be eating it, well then, I need to not be eating it. Not taking pills that mask my problems so I can eat certain foods. I think I would be better off not eating breakfast meats, fried food, etc, in excess. It's not good for my digestive or my overall health ;-) 

   
   

Progress & Attune Foods

Well after last week, I guess that was the a$$ kicking I needed. Not only did I restart the C25K program, I also went to the gym, and yesterday my workout consisted of helping out on the farm (including off loading hay bales). I also tracked my food for the majority of the week (I think I missed 2 days).

And my efforts paid off, as I am happy to report that the my scale read 311.8 this morning, still not under the 310 mark, but way better than where I was last week. Now I just have to keep this momentum going.

Let's face it tracking my food is helping. I need to suck it up and do the work. I am the only one to blame for where I am at today, and I am the only one who can change it.

I think part of my problem, is that I work, a lot. And almost always never say no to overtime. Let's face it, in this economy, I should be happy I have a job, but also have a job that still has overtime available. But I think it may be doing more harm than good, and I haven't been taking care of myself as well as I could have been. This past week, I not only didn't work any overtime, but I also made use of my time off to make sure I got some activity in.

That being said, this upcoming week won't be the same case, as I took 2 extra shifts this week. I am also going to be out of my element, as I am staying at my parents house while they are on vacation. These are just obstacles, and I will overcome them, I am still going to track my food, and get any activity in when I can.

I realize now that I need to be able to take time for myself, not only does it recharge my batteries, but allows me to better take care of myself.

In other news, Kerri tweeted at me the other day that Attune Foods is hosting a giveaway, and a big one at that. The giveaway is a ticket to FitBloggin' but also $500 for travel or hotel. This would be huge for me! Right now, I am not able to go, with my wedding less than 6 months away there just isn't enough money in the budget for me to go.

It's great that Attune Foods is so supportive of our weight loss blog community, in addition to this awesome giveaway they are also sponsoring several other aspects of the FitBloggin' conference. I've never tried any of their products, but given their supportive nature of something dear to me, it's worth a try. I took a peek at their website and they offer many Gluten Free breakfast items. Not going to lie, the mint chocolate bar sounds delicious!

I am hoping that Attune picks me to go to FitBloggin' I'd love the opportunity to learn more about healthy living and building a better blog. Also the chance to meet several individuals who I've become dear friends with would also be a huge super bonus!