2005 - Fat Photo

Here's the photo that got me started. I finally said "NO, this is NOT ME! I do NOT want to live like this anymore." I was at least 230lbs, probably more, but that was the highest I saw on the scale and I think I gained more after that. I started by walking almost every day. Then I started eating healthier foods. I started my health blog in May of 2007 and weighed 209 at that point. Got down to 176 summer of 2009, back up to 199 in 2011, but am back down to 173 now. Hubby lost a lot, too!
THEN

NOW

And for something fun, here's a video from 2010 of my cat Nico helping me with my Ultimate Abs ball workout. :-)

Wednesday Weigh-in - 173.0

Weight is up a bit, but that's OK. I was not eating well, and I am doing BETTER at that and that's what's important. Focusing on the health of my body more than the number on the scale right now.

On Sunday I got up and my right hip was REALLY sore. I went through a horrible time in 2010 when I hurt my hip. I even did physical therapy for several months but it still hurt almost all the time. So I was having flashbacks and thinking the worst. But thankfully, I had a chiropractor appt AND a 90 minute massage scheduled for Monday. I LOVE my chiro, he is just amazing. He would do a few things, then have me check it, it was still hurting, so he adjusted some more. A couple of times I felt like he was using my leg as a wishbone! Putting constant pressure on a couple of points was not pleasant at the time, but it felt so much better when I walked out of there. Then the massage! She did some great deep tissue on the hip, too. When I got up yesterday, I barely felt a twinge and I couldn't help but marvel at the difference between this time and back in 2010. So, again, I'm really, really, REALLY thankful for the best chiropractor EVER!

Last night I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike and no pain in the hip. Yay! About to do the bike again for my exercise today. Will do my yoga stretching, too. The DVD I've been doing has the same stretch for the hip that I did in physical therapy.

Heart Healthy Weekend Feb 15-17

I'm going to commit to participate in the Heart Healthy Weekend hosted by Lori at Finding Radiance. It will be in Feb, so Sea World will be open on weekends. I commit to doing a walk and getting in at least 10,000 steps at Sea World, with maybe a break to play with my dolphins! Anyone want to join me?

Cardiologist visit

I've been mulling over what the cardiologist said yesterday. I left annoyed, as I fully expected. Got the usual "There's no evidence supplements do anything good" lecture. I told him I trust my naturopath and chiropractor more than I do any MDs or specialists and that the cardiologist in CO pissed me off. Didn't seem to phase him any.

He suspects it's my thyroid. In the military health system computer he found a blood test from 2011 that showed my thyroid levels as a little off. Of course none of the current blood tests my doctor did were in that system since she's a civilian doctor. He wants me to stop taking Thyrostim for 3 months and redo the blood work he ordered yesterday. He thinks that is aggravating my tacchycardia, I think he's full of it. He also mentioned that the Topamax might have made it worse, and that I totally believe. That's why my primary doc wrote me a lower dose to wean off that one.

The weird thing was when I was checking in, my bp was 140/90!!! I said WHAT??? The gal said, "That's unusual for you?" Uh, yeah, it's been 90s/60's a few days this past week! So they redid it on the other arm and it was 120/80. Smack dab normal. Weird. I wore my gun sweater and got a few compliments on it. :-)

Anyway, every day this week I did get my 30 minutes of exercise, so I'm glad of that!

Breast cysts aspirated

Successful aspirations today. 20cc of fluid out of cyst in right breast, 16cc out of one in left. Yeah, I grow them big! Ugh. The doctor was asking if I realized that doing this didn't mean they wouldn't come back. Yeah, get that. Been dealing with them for years. I don't do this just for the fun of it, doc. I only go in and ask for the aspiration when they are so big that they really bug me and are painful. These have stuck around for months and would get really sore right before my period. The funny thing was, my hubby who was supposed to be there for moral support was at the military hospital across town. (Shaking head.)

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a cardiologist. Sigh. Not looking forward to it. I didn't have a very good experience with the one I saw in Colorado. I just hope I can get my records sent from CO and not have to redo all the testing that was done there.

My weight was up a little this week, but since I'm eating better as the doctor ordered, I guess I'm not going to worry about it. And since I had a second period in 3 weeks, that affected my weight, I'm sure. I was glad I got my 30min on the bike done before I went to my appointment today. I was pretty sore by the time I got home and ended up taking a nap.

A new week

OK, off to a good start. Did the Ultimate Abs ball, my short weight lifting routine, 30min on mini tramp and 20 min on bike. My blood pressure was up in the normal range this morning. Yay! Wonder if that means I can cancel my app't with the cardiologist? :-)

We're leaving on a cruise on the 27th, so I have plenty of incentive to keep up the activity. I've been checking out the availability of everything on board and if nothing else, plan to use the "jogging track" for walks. Looking forward to getting away for 7 days in the Caribbean! We're going with two of my hubby's friends and their girlfriends.

My body gave me a bit of a surprise on Saturday morning with another period just 19 days after the last one started. O_O Not fun, but if it means I WON'T have one during the cruise, that would be nice! If my body decides to just go ahead and have another one that week, I might have to shoot it! :-P Isn't it supposed to get further apart when menopause approaches?????? Blech. But that did kind of explain the shooting pains in my breasts that were a little off on the timing.

Got new glasses on Saturday. Hooray for being able to see! :-)

My Gym

OK, committing to exercising every day, so I figured I would post pics of my gym. I'm better doing it at home. And I have a large master bedroom, so that is where it's set up.

This used to be where the treadmill was, but we finally killed it. Waiting for the funds to get a new one. (The door goes outside to the deck in the back of the house.)

Mini-tramps are really a nice thing to have around. It's great while watching a movie or TV, just bouncing in place or a jog in place kind of thing. It doesn't take much at all to get my heart rate up. It had workout bands attached, but they weren't exactly made for a woman almost 6 ft tall. They didn't last long. :-P The blue Ultimate Abs ball is actually a really great abs workout. It's by Danskin and I found it at Walmart. The tube is what I lay on to stretch out my back and keep from getting the dowager hump (recommended by my chiro). You put it along your spine, then put your arms in the goalpost position, like you are signaling a touchdown and let them fall back. If you are young and flexible, your arms will probably touch the ground. Mine are almost getting there! :-) Purple weights are 5lbs each. I also have a regular shaper ball in the bathroom I sit on at the vanity to put my makeup on, will also use it in workouts.

During the summer, this is my gym. That is my pool boy. ;-) Also known as the hubby.

Quest for answers goes on - Wt 169.2 and SPARKS

Had another doctor visit on Monday morning. I'm going to start tapering down the med which I call my stupid pills - the one that makes me forget words, gives me perception difficulties and shakiness that was to prevent migraines.

Still not doing well at eating. Not even eating two good meals a day. :-/ I don't know why. Just don't get hungry, nothing sounds good and I have no appetite. I try to have a handful of salty nuts to try to get my blood pressure up.

There was one weird high result on my blood work my doctor said she didn't understand, so she took a little more blood to try to figure it out. She still wants to work on getting my adrenals pumped up. I'm out of several of my supplements, so that is not helping, I'm sure. And I've got some huge cysts in the boobs that are quite painful. Got an order for an ultrasound and have that scheduled for next Wed with an immediate appt afterward for needle aspiration afterward. Fun times. It's actually been an issue since the biopsy in July. :-P

Editing this post to add another note on a SPARK to fuel the fire of blogger support and community. I've missed what I had before and found a link through my friend Hanlie's blog. I'm reading the blogs of others who are posting about what sparked them to get started and will be reaching out to encourage and support them as well. I started my health blog in May 2007 and found the Online Weight Loss community so important for a long time. I joined Facebook in 2009 and kind of lost my blogging mojo after that. There are too many people who see my stuff on FB, so I'm not as open there about my body issues! :-) Struggling with some health things (long story!), so it's back to blogging for me. Short story - started this year 20lbs heavier so I have lost weight this year, but lately it's not been in a good way. The past year has been one mired in depression, recurring migraines and general crappy health. But I have a new doctor whom I LOVE and we're working on it with getting me OFF meds and focusing on natural stuff. That's my kind of doctor!

This topic reminds me of a song on the TranSiberian Orchestra CD Night Castle. :-) SPARKS! It's a good song.

Happy New Year!

Another New Year, and another birthday celebration for my daughter at the Magic Time Machine! I was going for the glamorous Hollywood look from Gilda. Those of you who are film noir fans will recognize the name, I would hope. My heathen family members did not. Sigh. I've lost a lot of weight since I made this dress for the 2007 gala of my husband's former company. I altered it once, needs to be taken in again really.

My daughter once again donned her self-designed costume of GLaDOS from the videogame of PORTAL. Light years apart. But we had fun as always. :-)