Still working!!!!

Starting weight: 70 lbs to lose
Weight lost this week: 4 lbs
Total weight lost: 11 lbs

Woo Hoo! Well - things are continuing to go well for me in the weight-loss arena. I've added some new ammo to the weight-loss arsenal and started taking some natural supplements and shakes to help with the weight-loss. The cool thing is that the shakes & snacks are protein-based and I can eat them along with my low-carb lifestyle prescribed by my Dr. YES!!! Also I have more energy, etc. At the right side of this blog, under resources, is a website that you can look at if you want more info. The products are by Herbalife. I've talked to my Chiropractor about the products and he thinks they're awesome, too. So 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks - not too shabby!

I had to get an injection last week for my back (SI block) and it helped a little bit... however, I still have to get another one next week. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I also need to get signed up to do some physical therapy in the pool for my back, and hopefully from there be able to get back into the gym, etc. I'm tired of being restricted from exercise.

Well - the baby is crying so I think I will need to sign off for now.

7 down, 63-ish to go...

Starting weight: 70 lbs to lose
Weight lost this past week: 2 lbs
Total weight lost to date: 7 lbs

Well, I had my appointment with Dr. Foley yesterday morning. He was pleased with my weight-loss progress... he said a good rate is 1 lb a week, and for 4 weeks, 7lbs ain't half bad. :) Of course, I was hoping for more, but I only have myself to blame for not eating as well as I should have. However, it is also encouraging when your doctor is telling you you're doing a good job. I see him again in 2 months for another progress check.

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday after my appointment... I had to go and get an SI block done. Basically, it's a steroid/cortisone injection in my lower back. I had to have an IV and get sedated, since this was not an easy injection to get. Basically, they made me happy (but still awake) then numbed up the area with lidocaine. Then they used contrast dye under an x-ray machine to make sure they were injecting the right area... the joint where my pelvic bone meets my spine. I'm so glad I was sedated. I have a nice bruise from the procedure and am a bit sore and the injection site. They told me that within about 2 days is when the steroids peak, and then my back should be feeling really good for a while. I can't wait! I will also be starting some physical therapy in the pool to learn exercies to help strengthen my back. I'll start that next week.

Another change because of this procedure is that I've decided to wean Ian from nursing. I was informed that I couldn't nurse for 5-7 days after the injection. Since he's on solids and takes a bottle well, I figured this was a good time for it. I'm a bit sad, since I wanted to nurse him for a whole year, but it will free me up for other things to help in my weight-loss.

I'll be "weighing in" on Monday to let you know my progress!

Goal-setting

Well, good news! I've lost that extra pound that I gained back last week. Now to lose a few more before I go to see Dr. Foley next week...

I've heard that setting short-term goals help you to achieve the long-term goal. Of course my long-term goal is to lose 70 - 75 lbs. That is pretty intimidating to me... it seems like it will never happen. So, I've decided to focus on short-term goals instead. Here are my current ones:

Goal #1: journal my food daily
Goal #2: lost 20 lbs by the end of October
Goal #3: wear my wedding ring again
Goa l#4: go down 1 pants size

#3 is the most important one to me. I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring comfortably since I took it off about 2 months before Ian was born. I hate not wearing it.

I will continue to keep you posted about my progress!

OK, fine! I'll update my blog.

Starting weight: 70 lbs to lose
Weight lost last week: +1 lbs
Total weight lost: 4 lbs

So I've been avoiding blogging because my 2nd week didn't go so well. I fell off the bandwagon, so to speak. Didn't eat as well as I should have and as a result I gained back 1 pound. Not so good on Monday or Tuesday of this week, either. However, starting tomorrow, I'm back on and will be more strict than ever! I just realized that I have my 1st follow-up appointment with Dr. Foley next week. I need to make a little bit more progress before seeing him!

On the plus side, all of my bloodwork came back. The only number that wasn't in the "good" range was my "good" cholesterol. It needed to be a bit higher. Otherwise, my triglycerides were good, "bad" cholesterol was good, thyroid normal, etc. That was very encouraging.

If I wasn't nursing Ian, Dr. Foley would recommend that I take phentermine to "kick start" my eating new eating habits. I was on it once before, and hated it. I would probably not take it again anyway. It is an appetite suppressant and it makes me VERY irritable (more than my usual sunny self.)  :-P

I need to keep reminding myself why I am doing this. Of course, I need to get healthy. I need to avoid getting diabetes so that I can avoid all of the side effects of having it. But there is so much more than that. I need to feel good physically, feel healthy. I need to be healthy and "there" for my kids... for as long as possible. I need to be happy and healthy for my husband. I need to take care of the one body that God has given me! I need to stop being so selfish, stop giving in to my taste buds and their cravings, and take care of me so that I can take care of my family!

I still have not had the chance to exercise like I need to. My back is still bothering me as much as ever.  The decompression therapy is on hold until I can get a cortizone shot in my back. I've spent the last 2 weeks going through all of the insurance red tape to get a referral to a pain specialist, etc. I FINALLY have an appointment for a consultation next week on the 22nd. Hopefully, this will all soon be just a bad memory. I really wish I hadn't ever slipped down those stairs in the middle of the night. I need prayer for patience and for healing!

I am going to post 2 current pictures of me... and risk humiliating (or humbling?) myself to show you just where I'm starting from.

Very unflattering picture of me neck down (playing with Ian). This is my starting point.

This is about as good of a current picture of me that you'll find. (Great one of Ian, though!)

To end for tonight, here's some "food" for thought: if you want to be healthy, look at what healthy people do and do it. You're not going to get healthy by keeping your unhealthy habits.

God Bless and good night!

Day 8 - beginning of week 2

Starting weight: 70 lbs to lose
Weight lost last week: 5 lbs
Weight lost to date: 5 lbs
Weight left to lose: 65 lbs

Sorry I didn't get to blogging after day 3. Been busy around here! We have spent the weekend potty-training Dain. This means hyper-vigilance! We also had a play date, grocery shopping, etc...

My eating has steadily improved. For the rest of the week, I was averaging around 130-140g protein a day, and around 85g of carbs a day. Yesterday I fell off the bandwagon a bit when I was feeling nauseated and ate some carbs to help settle my stomach. What's amazing to me is the immediate results that I get JUST from changing my eating habits!

One thing that I have found is that I need to eat pretty much first thing in the morning. If I don't, I will pay for it later, like yesterday. If I get too hungry, I start feeling nauseated and then I don't feel like eating anything. Of course the way to cure it is to eat something, but protein-type foods don't help when I feel yucky.

For the first week, I have been taking only half of the dosage of the metformin, to kind of "ease" into it. This is at the Dr's recommendation. It still wreaked havoc a bit with my digestive system, but this week might be a bit worse. Starting today, I'll be taking my entire dose (one pill with breakfast, and one with dinner). I'm hoping that I've adapted enough that the increase won't affect me too much.

I'm now officially 5 pounds closer to being (as my aunt put it) once "hot mama!"

Day 3 - blood draw and reflections...

Total Protein: 156 g (yay!)
Total Carbs: 133 g (getting better...)

I have always had a lot of problems with blood draws, even in my "hot chick" days. I have tiny veins, which like to roll and hide right after the "vampire" finds them. I have to be super hydrated just for them to be found at all. So this morning I drank over 60 oz of water between 8:30 am and 11:30 am, which was when I went in for my blood draw. Even then the first nurse to try to find a vein couldn't, so she had to call in the nurse that is the "vein whisperer." She found a vein, stuck me and missed, and then had to find the vein again with the needle. Thankfully she did find it! I have had times when I have had to get stuck in each arm, then in the hand in order for blood to be drawn (shudder). I used to have such an aversion to needles that I would have to lie down for a blood draw. Thankfully, having babies cured me of that! :)

I'm still having major carb cravings, sweet and salty. Solved the salty this morning by eating some peanuts, and the sweet by eating some sugar-free pudding. Still feeling a bit light-headed at times, along with a few headaches. I know they will get better, so I'm sticking it out! I have found that my protein shakes in the morning REALLY help me get started and keep me on track for eating more protein throughout the day. I get my shakes from Lifetime Wellness, which were developed by Dr. Foley. My morning shakes (if I don't add anything) have 48g of protein and only 4g of carbs.

I have noticed, as I've gotten heavier, certain physical issues I never had before. I recently developed some minor carpal tunnel, which I know can be cured just by losing weight. I also have some mild acid reflux, which I'm convinced is also because of my weight. The one that's been bothering me the most, however, is that I have 2 herniated discs in my lower back. These were a result of an accident, but I believe that my extra weight is part of the reason that it's taking so long for them to heal. The chiropractor told me that even just 10 extra pounds can put a lot of added pressure on the lower spine, so imagine what 70 extra pounds can do? The extra weight isn't the only reason I haven't healed very quickly... I also have a lot of swelling that just isn't going away, even with decompression therapy. So, tomorrow I go to my GP to get a referral for a cortisone shot. Hopefully that will help enough with the swelling so that my back can have a chance to heal.

I have been feeling convicted lately about being overweight, which is one of the things that prompted my visit to Dr. Foley (in addition to my mom and hubby). Our bodies are our temples, and I've been doing a poor job keeping my temple beautiful for my Savior. It's the only one I have, and I need to take better care of it! Also, being overweight affects how I feel about myself as a whole. As a result, I feel unattractive and my relationship with my husband has suffered a bit as a result. I believe that this is also a sin on my part! I am commanded to love my husband and this should include making myself attractive to him as well! Of course God continually convicts me in all kinds of ways in all areas of my life, but this one has really been "up there" lately. So - I believe that in taking care of my body, I will also be obeying Him.

Day 2 - ugh! (updated)

Update: Today's total carbs: 138g
Update: Today's total protein: 96g

I didn't do as well as I should have yesterday. I have a killer headache today along with some light-headedness. I am trying much harder today to eat like I need to. So far, not too bad. :)
To cheer myself up, I thought I'd post some pictures. Hope you enjoy them! These are in no particular order...

2005 - all dressed up for a work gala.

Summer 1998, age 19. "Hot chick" days! :)

January 2003 - trip to Mexico with Jeremy.

2004 - trip to Chicago

2009 Trip to Aruba. :)

Day 2 - history continued...

Starting weight: 70 lb overweight
Weight lost so far: haven't checked the scales

Sorry to have left things hanging yesterday... I had 2 boys clamoring for my attention! I have also had a couple of (very sweet) friends ask me why I say "former" hot chick. Probably because I know how I looked and felt when I was "hot" and am aspiring to feel that healthy again. I hope to look that way again, too, with the added grace of knowing that I am a decade or so older and have borne 2 children. :)

When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, Dr. Foley put me on Glucophage (metformin), which is used to treat diabetes. Basically, the Glucophage tells my body that it needs to accept the insulin that the pancreas is producing and that it doesn't need so many carbs. It helps to control the carb cravings. Dr. Foley also gave me a "diet" - er, lifestyle change in my eating habits. Max 50 g of carbs a day (approx a small potato) and about 150 or more g of protein a day. Boy, when the majority of your diet is made up of carbs, this is a difficult change! I crashed pretty hard. The soda/carb withdrawals gave me some bad headaches. I also had the not so fun side effects of diarrhea and nausea for the first 3 weeks. (This has happened every time I had to "start over".) Within the first 2 months, I had lost 10-15 pounds. It was working great! And then... I got pregnant. In the course of about 6 months, I lost 2 babies and gained back the weight I had lost. (I think I put the treatment for PCOS on hold for a while with the losses.) PCOS, by the way, can be a factor for why some women miscarry. We weren't really able to determine why I miscarried both of those babies.
After recovering from those losses, I started over again with the Glucophage, eating habits, etc, around March of 2006.  I got back down about 20 pounds or so and then got pregnant again. Thankfully, this one stuck and I stayed on the Glucophage until I was 12 weeks along. Unfortunately, during my entire pregnancy, I had a major aversion to meat, which was my main source of protein. I gained 35 lbs with the pregnancy. Dain was born March 12, 2007. After having Dain, I was about 60 lbs overweight. The pediatrician recommended that I didn't take the Glucophage while nursing, so I maintained that weight for a year, until I weaned Dain in April 2008.
When I started back up on the treatment, I lost all of my baby weight by the end of June! Then I hit a plateau at 30 pounds overweight and kind of stayed there. In mid - 2008, I got pregnant again and lost the baby at 8 or 9 weeks along. We found out that it was a partial molar pregnancy.  I had to get my hormone levels tested once a month for 6 months, and was not allowed to even think about getting pregnant again. During this time, I pretty much stayed at the same weight. In 2009, I decided to start working really hard to try and lose some more weight. I worked with a personal trainer and started to get my eating back on track, along with still taking the Glucophage. In June, I got pregnant again, and once again, God let me keep this one! I went off of Glucophage at 8 weeks this time, at the recommendation of my OB. I had some pretty nasty first trimester nausea, and gave myself permission to eat what I needed so that I could "survive." I didn't gain as much weight at first, but by the end of the pregnancy had gained as much weight as I did with Dain. Ian was born March 11, 2010 and I was once again 55 - 60 pounds overweight.
This time, something was different. I'm not sure what it was, but I did not maintain that weight. I started out nursing, etc. assuming that I could not take the Glucophage. I pretty much ate what I wanted (bad idea). I gained about 10 more pounds, and now I am officially 70-75 pounds heavier than what my ideal (healthy) weight should be. It took some prompting from my mom and hubby, who are both concerned about my health, to go see Dr. Foley again. I saw him this past Wednesday, and he put me back on the metformin and the "diet." He also assured me that there is no reason I can't nurse Ian and take the metformin at the same time. And so, here I am! Starting this journey once again.

Day 1 - starting over

Starting weight: 70 lbs overweight. (No, not too willing at this point to admit how heavy I actually am...)
Weight loss: 0 (this is the first day, after all!)

Yes, I was once a "hot chick." I didn't even know it until I was one no longer. There is a good reason for it. My goal is to once again be a "hot chick." Or rather, a "hot mom" since my priorities in life have changed. :)

Today is the first day of my PCOS "lifestyle." I have started taking metformin and am working on reducing my carb intake to 50 grams a day, along with at least 150 grams a day of protein. Thankfully the Dr. told me that he doesn't expect me to get down to 50 g right away. This involves keeping a food diary, which I have found out is the key to the weight loss!
Having done this before, here's what I know I can expect in the next 2-3 weeks:
Headaches - carb withdrawal AND soda withdrawal
Digestive issues - carbs + metformin = a lot of time in the bathroom
Blood work - to find out my LDL & HCL, triglycerides, thyroid, etc levels
General crankiness as I adjust

Here's a bit of my history:
I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), or insulin resistance, in 2005.  Basically, I have an over-active pancreas, which means I have too much insulin in my system. My body thinks that because of all of this insulin, I need to ingest mass amounts of carbs. This triggers even more insulin, thus upping my carb craving, etc. Of course my body doesn't really need all of these carbs! What's happening is that my body processes carbs into fat, instead of into energy. The flip side is that what my body really needs is protein, which is my energy source.
Of course... I haven't always had a problem with my weight and with being insulin resistant. Growing up, I was a competitive swimmer. What this meant was that, at least during swim season, I was training 3+ hours a day. I could eat whatever I wanted and this never affected my weight. In fact, before big swim meets, we would have huge carb dinners for energy. As a result, I became addicted to carbs. I was also judgemental about people who were overweight, making the assumption that they were lazy.
I always told myself there was no way I'd ever "let myself go" as I saw many adults do. I figured I would always be in shape. This illusion lasted until I graduated from college (within 5 lbs of my ideal weight) in 2001 and got a job in a CPA firm where the break room was stocked with junk food. I gained approximately 20 pounds in the first year after I graduated from college. I think that I managed to keep more off because I was going to the gym in an effort to stay "in shape" for my wedding in May of 2002. After getting married, I gained about another 15-20 pounds and stayed within 5 lbs of that for a few years. So, at that point, I was 35-40 lbs overweight. My mom, who has struggled with her weight as long as I can remember, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. When that happened, she called me, very concerned, and asked me to go see a doctor since I was going down the same path that she had, except much earlier in life.
So - I went to see Dr. Foley, who specializes in helping women who have PCOS. After blood work and hearing my history, I was diagnosed with PCOS.

I have run out of time. :) Parental duties are calling.... I will continue my history tomorrow!