The journey to a healthier me

What a wonderful day.  I went out for a wonderful lunch with my husband and 2 of 4 kids.  (Oldest was refereeing lacrosse and 2nd son was at his moms house.).  Nice and relaxing, except I ate to much.

One of my traditional gifts is my husband takes the kids out miniature golfing, and I get to spend the day puttering around in the garden.  What a glorious day I had for my special gift.  Planted in the vegetable garden.  Weeded and planted and tilled in the flower beds.  I even found a couple of edible grapefruit in cold storage when I was heading the icky stuff to the compost.  (organic, its the only way to fly).

I’m done now.  Dirty, smelly, sunburned, sore, happy, content, and at peace.  What a great day.

Wishing you Moms all the best,

VT Mom.

Imagine my horror… I was getting ready for bed, and was yanking the sheets straight when my hand slipped and flew backward….and BOTH my wedding ring and engagement ring went flying off my hand and disappeared into the (scary) cluttered area under my dresser.  I found the wedding band quickly, but the engagement ring wasn’t to be found.  I tore the area apart (literally) and finally found it.   I was so upset that I shared this horrific moment with my darling husband.  His response?  I was expecting commiseration or at the very least, a little sympathy.  But NOOO!!!  His response was to laugh and say "Wow, thats wonderful..congratulations!"  I was stunned.  "You’re happy that I nearly lost my wedding rings????"  "No" he replied, "But this is the first tangible evidence that your really losing weight!!!"  (Once again proving that men are from Mars and women are from Venus).

Seriously tho, now that the weather is warmer, I’m getting more active, working in the garden, walking more.  Eating better (more fresh fruits and veggies), and last but far from least feeling more positive about my self image.  Its all good.

Thanks for the listed.  VT Mom.

I haven’t gotten much exercise lately.  After having been laid out by the surgery, I’m back at work.  I finished my first full week back this past Friday.  Talk about wiped out!!!  Just standing for all those hours, filling scripts, walking around the pharmacy… and I’m ready to hit the hay.  Having several small meals through out the day helps me with hypoglycemia and energy lows.  It apparently also seems to be working as a diet.  I wish I was losing weight a little faster, but given the lack of exercise I have no complaints.  Best wishes to all.

Leah.

LOL, at least when you’re trying to get moving.  Mookie was going bird crazy here in the house, so Abby (my youngest) and I took him for a walk.  First the regular walk, then another block, then another, then we were still feeling good, so we kept on going.  The air was cool and crisp, the birds were singing their fool heads off, and I actually walked long enough to break a sweat.  NICE.

I met a woman today that has kept the 90 odd pounds she lost off for more than 16 years.  She gave me some tips for exercising at such a high weight, starting slowly and building up.  Between talking to her, the fresh air, and the exercise I’m feeling pretty good about myself.  (my walking seems to be helping, check out my weight chart!)
Nice to have people to share with.  Leah.

It amazes me how much a tiny little organ like a gall-bladder can cause so much trouble.  Spoke with the MD.  I was given another week on full restrictions.  I still walk the dog, but thats about it.  I was starting to water walk, but I’m not allowed to even take baths so the pool is out.  What a bummer.  If you have to become a physical train wreck, at least it should be significant enough to SHOW.

So, I spoke with my husband, and he’s going to find me the DVD’s for the workout ball (the one you can sit on, do exercises on/with), and his bosu balance trainer.  Both are low impact.  We also have a treadmill, so I can use that when the weather is bad (’course its hell to keep the dog on the damned thing with me.)

Where theres a will theres a way!!!

It’s been less than a week since the operation.  I’m starting to feel better every day.  I have the stamina of a 1 week old kitten, but at least I have some stamina.  I’m thankful every day that I am healing quickly.  VT Dad and the kids have been gone since Friday, visiting family in DC.  I wasn’t able to go, so I stayed home with my oldest.  I’ve been sleeping lots, and today is the first day that I haven’t needed pain medication.  I’m feeling pleased with my exercise level.  I took Mookie (The wonder-dog) out for a walk this morning (I was so tired I ended up taking a 2 hour nap), and I repeated the walk this evening.  Heck, that’s more exercise than I got most days BEFORE the surgery!  No nap for after the 2nd walk.

Diet still isn’t much to speak of.  I get really really thirsty, but have very little appetite. One of these days I’ll have to weigh myself.  I did that when I first got out of the hospital and the shock of the gain has yet to wear off.

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ keep them dogs a rollin’ rawhide!!!

Since walkin’ is about the best I can do, thats what I’m, doing.  They kept me overnight so we could get pain management in place.  Then, Home I went.  Lots of sleeping, but its in my own bed.  I have plenty of medication but I haven’t been requiring much to stay somewhat comfortable.  I wonder how much a gall bladder weighs?  (Mine had enough stones to qualify as a miraka ) I guessed on the spelling of that, sorry. Right now I’m drinking lots and lots and lots of fluids.  Later, I’ll have to figure out how to pick-up with exercise.  All suggestions are welcome.  Should be much easier now that it won’t be hurting so badly to move.

Well, I see a little bit of a setback on the exercise horizon.  I went to see the surgeon on Thursday last week.  Monday is "clean-out" day, Tuesday is colonoscopy day, and Wednesday (assuming all looks ok on Tuesday) is surgery day.  They’ll remove my gall bladder with its monster stone (1.4cm) and the monsters babies, and biopsy my liver all at the same time.  Lets keep fingers crossed for the laser surgery to be possible, other wise its the old-fashioned   "gut the fish" style. Thanks to Roxy and Curt, I appreciate your support!
Once all this is done and the pain decreases, I’ve healed some and my liver (hopefully) returns to a normal size I plan on exercising with gusto.  One my books suggests that my best trainer can be my dog.  I think I may start with that, then hit my master plan.
I have a workout plan in mind which will give me 3 days of cardio of some sort, and 2 days of weights.  Time to take my won advice and go to the gym where support and inspiration are before my eyes.  (Beyond my husband,  VT Dad’s amazing progress and his wonderful new lean form).

Ok, so I was a little bit sobby before.  But, by way of redemption, I did manage to get out today and get a bit of exercise.  I went out with my husband and daughter to the gym, and walked laps with some gizmo’s I can only describe as a 4 winged butterfly with a handle that provided resistance in the water.  I ended up getting a nice abb workout (yes, under all that fat there are actually some viable muscle fibers) as well as working my upper arms and upper and lower back.  All low impact.  I treated myself to a soak in the hot-tub afterwards.  It was all nice.  The cramping stopped while I was in the really hot water, but started up again as soon as I got out.  I guess I’ll just have to force myself to take more hot bubbly sauna’s!  Poor me!

What a complete and total bummer.  I’ve been having abdominal pain for the past few weeks, along with some other problems I will pass on describing.  Suffice to say, that I finally couldn’t ignore my situation, so I went to the MD.  She sent me for an ultrasound and they found that I have (huge) gallstones, an enlarged gall-bladder, and an enlarged liver.  Plus, I have very early stage (nonalcoholic) liver disease (thank heaven my liver function tests are all normal), which is a surprise because I have NO risk factors besides being fat.  So, this Thursday I’m seeing a surgeon about having my gall-bladder removed.   I’m also looking into the lap-band procedure.  Theres no way I can let this liver thing progress.

To be honest, I’m scared.  I’ve always been over weight, but I’ve also always been healthy.  Great blood pressure, low LDL and good numbers for HDL.  I’m not a diabetic, I don’t drink or smoke (anymore), and I don’t do drugs.  So, Why???