Month: February 2013

Tomorrow starts my official “chart”, but I have enjoyed these last few days of preparing for my success in the next 26 weeks. I have established a schedule for myself for now, and for when I return to my three, completely random but enjoyable, part-time jobs. I am reading my book and beginning to understand the importance of daily exercise and how it not only makes us feel great both mentally and physically, but how it can also allow us to age gracefully, and prevent illness as we age. Exercise is a responsibility we owe ourselves. What I am understanding, is in my quest to live a healthier life now, so I can be healthier at the age of 70 and 80 and beyond, I have to make exercise a part of that, six days a week. Facts is facts, people. This is making me really eager to get to […]

I spent most of Tuesday morning blogging about whether I spend too much time thinking about food. After I posted my questionable blog, I went to try the treadmill for the second time since surgery. My goal was 10 minutes, since the first time, my surgery shoulder started throbbing at 15 minutes. Well, I happily and slowly made it to 25 minutes before any throbbing began and I was able to get in a mile. When I got on the treadmill, I immediately turned on the TV and changed the channel to the Food Network. While watching Giada prepare pasta, my mouth began to water and I started planning dinner in my head. Okay, fine. Reality. I really do spend a lot of time thinking about food. We had pasta for dinner. 🙂 Since being home for 2 1/2 weeks and not working, and not running errands and not cooking, […]

That’s what I’m calling it. Roberta, my new coach, suggested that I come up with an important name for my chart, and since I am feeling very confident about my new strategy, that’s the title I came up with! This is a goal I have wanted to achieve my whole life. 2013 hasn’t started off so great, so why not take control over what I can and force something positive into this calendar year?? It will for certain go down as one year I will never forget! The left hand side starts with my current weight at the top, and the bottom left is the date, starting with this Friday, March 1st. The diagonal line that you see is the line I plan to chart my weight along twice a week, and ends at the bottom right at 150 lbs on August 30th. I have 26 weeks to get to […]

I have been following another blogger, Roberta, for several months now. She read’s my blog regularly as well. Click HERE to read Roberta’s blog. Roberta recently reached her goal weight of 150 lbs. She went from 224 lbs to her goal weight of 150 lbs in about 11 months by counting calories and regularly exercising. She averaged a weekly loss of 1.8 pounds through most of her journey. Towards the end, things slowed down a bit, as that tends to happen the closer you get to goal, but she never quit, and Roberta is now training for a triathlon in August. She looks and feels amazing! She recently blogged about needing a new project, besides her own current personal transformation into an athlete. I feel stuck and decided I needed a push. I asked her if she would be interested in “coaching” me to my goal? Maybe “I” could be […]

Okay, walking on snow. The dogs, that is. They each only weigh about 10 pounds, so they both seem to tip toe around the backyard pretty well, before suddenly “falling” through. I was entertained. The wind picked up here! Look at Tucker’s ears! I got on the treadmill for the first time, and after 0.5 mile, I got dizzy. 🙁Baby steps, I suppose. Breakfast Nacho’s?Waffle Fries topped with Bacon Pieces, Egg Whites, Cheese and Ketchup!I thought my little creation for “The Morning After” was delicious!8 PPV Coffee with skim milk1 PPV Snack (not pictured)Pb&j on a Sandwich thin4 PPVMilk2 PPV LunchMahi Mahi Burger from Trader Joe’s (surprisingly delicious and juicy!)3 PPV Fruit0 PPV Banana, Pear (not back in the picture habit, yet)0 PPV Dinner(Pictured are the leftovers….oooops) Mexican Casserole from a neighbor, made with Ground Turkey. Super Yummy! 12 PPV? The food I ate and it’s PPV Breakfast = 9Snack […]

I went 5 full days and nights without pain meds, and was feeling quite successful, until 3:00 am Friday. Thursday was not one of my best days. Starting to feel a little anxious and a little restless, and just having a hard time getting comfortable, awake or asleep! So at 3:00 am I had TWO pain pills and drifted off to Never Never Land until 9:00 am. It felt great to finally get some solid sleep, but the pain prior to the meds was awful. Mike says my shoulder is probably going through some healing and I am feeling it……and I may have “Overdone” the last couple of days. True. I had decided that two-weeks post-op, I would start walking and taking pictures of my food again. I weighed one day last week at home and about fell apart! But it must have been water weight or something, because this […]

With each day that comes along, I try to do something new with only the use of my left hand. I must say, I have surprised myself. It was a great feeling of independence just to figure out how to take my brace/sling off without any help. A mirror is a must for this one. Then I decided I had to be able to shower and dry off without assistance. The only thing I can’t wash at all is my left arm, so for a few seconds I get the water as hot as I can stand it and stick my left arm under the shower head. I’m certain it kills all the germs. 🙂 Drying off at all is a challenge, and my front side is a bit of a balancing act while my right arm dangles at my side, and left arm does all the work, and my […]

Un styled hair, no make up, but clean and dressed! Well, although I have only left the house one time, I feel like I have kept fairly busy and I see progress already! The little, simple things take much longer, and due to the sleepless nights, I do get tired easily. I was feeling pretty victorious about taking no prescription pain pills all day on Friday, until the effects of my first physical therapy exercises set in. Egads! I guess the ice packs and Advil just didn’t quite do it. Thursday was a super restless night in the guest room bed that I have been sleeping in. Yes, I sacrificed my bed to the dogs for the fear that Tucker would want to cuddle on top of my head or shoulder, which he tends to do. After six nights in the guest bedroom, I started to get really uncomfortable, and […]

1. Pee, all by myself. (I was worried about this one.)2. Brush my teeth. (Although they don’t feel AS clean)3. Get dressed. (From the waist down.)4. Shower. (Only 95% of the way. I can’t raise my right arm to wash my right armpit, and I can’t seem to figure out a way to wash my left armpit with my left hand. I’m just not very flexible that way.)5. Wash my left hands fingers. (I just can’t figure out how to wash my whole hand!)6. Crack AND cook eggs! (Without any shell! Impressed?)7. Make coffee. (I guess I’ve just never tried.)8. Apply mascara. (I only poked my eyeball twice!)9. Sort, wash and dry a load of clothes. (No folding though. I guess I could, but it would take forever, and it just seemed easier for Mike to do that.)10. Pet the dogs. (But I’d really like to hug them with both […]

My morning began with (absolutely NO sleep!) a Super sweet card and these………yip, there’s 12. I always count, just to be sure. 🙂 This truly traditional guy really loves me. What can I say? We then went on a date to the Dr. office for my first post-op! To really make the date special, I put on a bra! WHOO WHOO! (Actually, Mike had to put it on for me. Did I say “Happy Valentines Day!”? Stitches out, got the okay to have an adult beverage (as long as I’m done with the pain pills), got the okay to treadmill (as long as I promise to hold on and take it easy), and instructions for at home physical therapy (Four exercises) for the next three weeks. Then the REAL physical therapy will start. Eeeekkkkk. Mike brought me home from our romantic trip to the Dr. and I called a friend […]