I'll manage

I recently read an article by a woman who had undergone gastric bypass surgery and lost a significant amount of weight (well over 100 lbs) and was now a healthy weight. Of course now that I look for that article, I can't find it, and I'm too lazy to keep Googling because I'm trying to pay attention to "My 600lb life" on TV.

Anyway, she is now at a healthy weight and talks about how unhappy she is and how she didn't realize how unhappy she would be and how she was happy being overweight. Basically, losing weight didn't = happiness for her.

Wait... I found the article.
I can't relate.

I guess I've already mentioned that I've been a "normal" weight most of my life. I'm 40 now, and until I was 34 I was a healthy weight give or take a year or so in college. That weight came off quickly. (I think I weighed about 180 at one point in college). I'll admit, I have never been "skinny". But I could shop at normal stores for normal clothes and feel confident when I left the house. I have not felt confident in my looks or myself in two years. I have fallen asleep unhappy and frustrated with myself more often than I haven't. I don't feel good in my clothes. I don't look good in my clothes. I don't really even HAVE any nice clothes, except for a dress I bought for my aunt's funeral and a sweater I bought for her wake.

I have bags... BAGS and BAGS of clothes in the basement that I can't bear to get rid of because I love them, and I plan to wear them again. But I hate to think of all the money I've spent on clothes as I've gained weight.

I know what it's like to be a normal weight. I know what it's like to be overweight. And I know I'm not happy being overweight. While being a normal weight doesn't solve all of life's problems - in fact it won't remove the biggest stresses in my life - it will eliminate an additional huge stress in my life. We've all got enough stress in our lives, why not address ones you CAN do something about and try to minimize rather than pile on?

 So yeah. I'll manage. When I get to my goal weight and am in a "normal" range, I'll manage.

Chugging along

This morning I had an appointment with my endocrinologist. I see her every two months. My thyroid was removed on January 22nd, and we're still working to regulate levels.

My concern, which she validated, is that the weight isn't coming off as rapidly as I feel it should considering the work and dedication I'm putting into it. I'll have some fasting blood work done early next week which will also look at my A1C and fasting glucose levels. There's talk of putting me on Metformin if my fasting glucose levels are to high. I haven't heard good stories about Metformin, so I'm hoping that eating well these past few months and having lost a *little* bit of weight has helped. Regardless, my Synthroid will likely be increased which could help with my metabolism.

I took a 2.36 mile walk tonight in 48 minutes. I'm not sure what that averages out to in MPH because I don't do math. Unfortunately, even with my compression socks, shin splints kicked in when I started the uphill portion of my walk. Super frustrating. I ended up taking a 3 minute break after about 1.8 miles. I'd like to aim for a 3 mile walk on Saturday, weather and time permitting. Right now I'm not in it so much for the speed as I am for the distance and building endurance. I'd like to avoid the treadmill at the gym as much as possible, though I promised my daughter I'd take her there next week (she loves the kids room).

I'm talking with the Medifast people tomorrow about my contract and the program and am excited to get moving on it!

Chances

This isn't an official post, and I won't be using this blog to track my progress - but I will be talking about it on here in conjunction with my Tink '14 training. But today I was offered the opportunity to work with Medifast and their Take Shape for Life program in conjunction with Katie Talks About, my main blog.

I was offered the spot earlier today and am still waiting to finalize details, but I am super grateful for this opportunity. Once I learn more about it, I'll share more details on both blogs. I do know that the Take Shape for Life program offers a health counselor as part of the program, and the program consists of 5 small Medifast meals during the day plus one lean & green meal for dinner - meaning lean protein and 3 servings of non-starchy veggies.

I called this post "Chances" because I've lost track of which chance this is for me. At least my 3rd or 4th. Or 14th. I don't even know. But chances like this one don't fall in your lap every day. I like to think that the hard work I put into my blog - pretty much a part-time job that I work after Violet goes to bed at night & I finish my "real" job paperwork - has paid off.

I'm really excited to learn more about the Take Shape for Life program with Medifast. I really, truly, am as focused as I've been in years.

On a side note... no walking outdoors today. Sixteen degrees and snow. Yeah. It was 70 yesterday. I suppose I should have taken Violet and gone to the gym, but that would have involved leaving the house, and I was more than comfy in my Giambi shirt, yoga pants and flip flops. Tomorrow is a busy work day but I think I'll head to the gym with Violet after school.

Not so lazy Sunday

Well, after a month or so of really hitting it hard, I'm down 8 pounds. Give or take. In a way it's a little disappointing because I really have been SO good with NO binging (bingeing?) episodes in 34 days. I did eat more than I should have last weekend, but Saturday was my birthday party, Sunday was Easter and Monday was my birthday. I had planned on that. So I was ok being up a little bit - maybe not quite as much as I was at the end of the week. However, it's that time of the month so I don't think that helped at all.

Today... well, today I could have sat my ass on the sofa all day and watched baseball and putzed around on the computer. Instead, before I went to work for an hour at noon, I took a 2.5 mile walk. This time I had no shin splints. Earlier this week I walked just about 3 miles and had HORRENDOUS shin splints that had me almost crawling home. I wore compression socks today and I believe that made all the difference in the world. I have compression footies, but they don't help the shins. These are knee highs and totally did.

So, I did my 2.5 mile walk in 50 minutes. 50 minutes is 3.0 MPH. Why is this significant? Because I haven't been able to maintain a solid 3.0 MPH at the gym on a treadmill with no incline without shin splints or other issues. This is progress, people! 3.0 MPH is still a far cry from the 4.0 MPH I used to walk in my thin days, but it's a great start! To do it without pain is the most important thing!

When I came home from work, I certainly could have sat down and watched the A's game. Instead I turned it on in my bedroom and started to clean. My bedroom has been a MESS for quite some time because I am always so tired and even feel overwhelmed by how messy it is. I got in over 2000 steps today while cleaning my room. Some days I don't even get in 2000 steps!! I did 2 loads of laundry AND put most of it away. This is also big, because I have been known to let laundry sit in the dryer until I've retrieved everything out of there piece by piece as needed.

As I'm getting ready to head to bed, my Fitbit has 10,500+ steps for the day and 2500 calories burned. Thanks to my whiny 4 year old who NEEDS me to come upstairs eleventy times, I also have 16 flights of stairs done for the day.

Nothing lazy about this Sunday.