Injury - update August - Sept 2015

Me with youngest DGD who had her 18th BD in July

So I got a bit too exuberant in walking. Went with DGD to see youngest DGD and oldest DGD at the store where they work (so for one thing, could give youngest DGD - she was 18 this Birthday - her card and gift. They got DH a scooter but couldn't easily find another one for me so I walked in the store.  That night, I woke up at 11 PM to cook veggies and moved my left leg a bit to the side, felt a "pop" and horrible pain.  DS said it was a muscle strain but it might have been a ligament issue also as I've had a similar injury before - had a mini stroke in 2008 (I'm almost 71 now!) and it took some nerves or whatever out of the left leg - right after the stroke, I was off my feet too.  Anyway, after this injury couldn't walk at all and had to use a scooter around the house.  I believe I've said I'd fought depression because went from being a princess (DH spoiled me) to being a Cinderella (after DH's 3rd stroke when I became caregiver).  Well, what I learned from this injury is there are worse things than being a caregiver, like being a caregiver confined to a scooter.  Doing everything I ordinarily did, became difficult.  And that lasted several weeks. Injury happened Sept 6 and I'm just getting back on my feet now - beginning of October but still wearing my soft brace. (Maybe I should have been wearing it all along?)  Have been a bit depressed (my e-bike is down for the count - the shop lost their mechanic and I need a new front wheel - the bearings are gone on the front wheel on the bike now).  But in the last week I've been able to ride further on my pedal bicycle and that was a thrill. Yesterday DH lent me his e-bike and I rode to an errand and enjoyed it!  And am doing my cooking and cleaning on my feet.

  Most of all, I've learned to be grateful for what I have instead of mourning what I no longer have and ironically, have in the last week or so, been happier than I'd been since Feb 2014 when DH had the third stroke.  It's been good for DH also - since I couldn't wait on him as much with the injury, he's been walking better (because doing more of it).  I think God hit us both with a brick and sometimes those bricks hurt but we end up better for it.

My weight has been staying around 160.  That seems to be where my body likes to be. I got a bravo from our WW leader this AM for "getting" maintenance.  I'm 20 lbs below my doctor set goal so that gives  me some breathing room.  That's it for the update - for now (August was a hard month because we had a power outage for 5.5 hours and also I had two molars break off - crowned teeth, they required surgical extractions.  So not fun!)   Onward and upward! :)

Sue - has she regained?

So you are probably wondering (if anyone reads this?) whether since my last post here was in late 2010, if I have regained (like I did after every other attempt at weight loss I've tried).

And the answer is no.  I have actually stayed around 157 lbs (a loss of 110 lbs) since March 2010.

I do track every day.  I also exercise daily - not for weight loss - that never took weight off me but for health!  Slowly getting a new wardrobe.  (someone should nominate me for TLC's "What Not to Wear" (*LOL*).

I love being this size.  If you have followed my journey, you know that I initially began this to get rid of GERD which has been nicely in remission since 2008, Feb, my first day OP (that's Weight Watcher talk for "On Program") but I have to say, having all this weight off has reduced my joint pain drastically!!!  I can move around a lot better.  I fit in every chair I've tried to sit in.  No more do I worry in going out whether my butt will fit.  The down side is I lost some friends along with the weight although I have never really mentioned it.  They were all waiting for me to regain (as a few told me!) and annoyed some family members.  But I do enjoy being where I'm at.

Frankly, if I knew that being this weight (which, I've been only very briefly in 1973) would feel so nice, I might have done this much sooner.  It's so work keeping it off but I find it's really true that "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" and that the Weight Watchers program really works!  Photo was me fooling with my iPhone - I'm in my biking outfit - taken in May 2012!

size huh?

Just a quickie update! Today I got a lovely outfit from my son and DIL but the pants were in size 8. I have never in my life worn a single digit size before. With trepidation I tried them on and ..... (drum roll please...) they fit perfectly!!!! I saved one of labels which was marked size 8 (like people save their first dollar for their businesses etc!) And I took a photo of it (attached photo). Way cool!!!

update - 2010 is almost over

Well, unbelievable as it is, I have actually stayed at 27 lbs below goal now, since March and celebrated my year's anniversary of lifetime membership in Weight Watchers in Oct (and this Saturday is my monthly weigh-in).

I still haven't gotten new clothing and really need to do that - I did get a couple of new pairs of shorts and pants from Sports Authority which is a bit less annoying to shop at than the clothing stores. I've decided I need to ask my DIL to help me with shopping because being a computer software developer and such, I'm definitely the type who would wear my "army boots to work because you never know what you will encounter in the computer room." (from the joke, THE REAL PROGRAMMER). Luckily my DIL who is an artist herself, is not only talented at putting together clothing but also seems to be able to find the best bargains.

Anyway, be that as it may, this is the first time I have stayed at an ideal weight this long in my adult life (and probably before that).

I still journal daily and watch my portions. Weight Watchers is not a diet but a lifestyle. And feel lucky that I've been able to keep the weight off, so far. (still exercising also, of course).

Stay tuned! :)

life on the other side of the mountain

I had my first weigh-in for lifetime membership two weeks ago (first week in November) and weighed in at 5 lbs below goal. My leader smiled and said this often happens when the pressure is off for achieving lifetime membership.

Now, the harder job seems to be getting used to "things".

I have lost 90 lbs from my all time high but am down 60 lbs from the weight I've been most of the last 35 years!

The last time I was at THIS weight was in 1974.

And I find there are several issues to deal with. My new size has made some things nicer and I generally like the look way better but...

First, I find that I have not much which fits me in my collection of clothing which I have amassed over the last 20 years. And what does fit is very loose on me. This was brought to my attention the other day when my doctor teased me about my baggy spandex bicycle pants. The problem is that I've been basically between 2 or 3 sizes most of my adult life and so wearing stretch clothing covered a lot of evils. Now I am faced with buying a whole new wardrobe and truly speaking, I haven't a clue just how to do this! My doctor suggested buying on line which sounds viable but then it's sight unseen type of thing.

I sure miss "UNITS" - this was a store of "one size fits all" and I loved it. Getting a new wardrobe of "Units" would be easy... you just pick the color and go for it.

To make things much more confusing, what was a size 16 when I was last this size, seems to be now, a size 10/12! But then, the sizes are very inconsistant and can vary from garment to garment. Women's clothing shopping seems more of a nightmare than it was years ago. I remember sewing most of my own clothing because of extreme frustration with clothing shopping but although I have a sewing machine, it's been "buried" in stuff for years and I cannot find room to put it where I could use it even if I un-buried it.

Frankly the idea of replacing my wardrobe, frightens the heck out of me.

Second problem - I seem to be fighting "ghosts" which I fought in the 1970's which are a bit harder to fight now because they are very buried in my subconscious. "Protective layer of fat"? Maybe there is some truth to that one. It's almost as if I've lost my bearings a bit (the disability from my stroke doesn't help things).

You know, I have loose skin all over my body. Not just my middle (which isn't so bad since I do ab exercises and yoga and have exercised daily for the last 15 years) but places you wouldn't expect it like my lower arms - it just hangs there. (MY upper arms are definitely "bye bye" arms but we won't go there). :) I have loose skin on my thighs - just all over. But this is the least of my problems although adds to this strange new feeling I get in my own skin. I understand that plastic surgery can help there some but it's very expensive, not all that safe (under anesthesia for many hours doesn't seem a good idea for looks) and from the befores and afters I've seen on TV, doesn't necessarily look that much better than dealing with the loose skin, especially in my case where it isn't super obnoxious.

Bottom line, I have to admit to myself that I have a sort of new body - I haven't gotten rid of the arthritis (old age type) nor the damage from a mini stroke I had last year but it's new for me and I guess it will take time to get used to it. I certainly do NOT want to get fat again especially as the last time I gained a bunch of weight (after the 3rd attempt at Weight Watchers in 2003-2004), I appeared to be not leveling out even though was not eating that much... I wasn't journaling daily but journaled some and averaged from 2000 - 2200 calories a day with no fast food, junk food, soda etc. and was rapidly approaching the weight of 300 lbs!

Would it be easier if my "new body" were 20 years old and size 0? Probably not as I realize a change, even one for the better, is still a change and something to get used to.

But it will take time. I just have to be patient and endure... this too will pass..

lots of news to report

My husband and I are both attending classes now (Weight Watchers). I was doing the WW on line but find it's really nice to attend the classes and I kind of look forward to my class on Saturday.

And since I've been going to classes (4 weeks) I've lost THREE pounds and am 2.2 lbs from my WW goal and lifetime membership! yeee hooo

My hubby's sugar levels are way down after being close to 300 on the highest dose of diabetes oral medication he can take! (he's been on program for 4 weeks and lost 13 lbs!)

He's a happy camper because the doctor was close to putting him on insulin. We both are breathing a sigh of relief on this one.

My weigh in this last week was 182.2 lbs! The doctor was impressed that I've lost 10 lbs since I last saw her!

Some NSV's

An NSV is a non scale victory. (The scale has been kind to me also - I am at 190 this week!)

• got into a shirt I used to wear to play square dances --- 30 years ago!!! I never thought I would get into it again!


• Sat down easily into a couple of small chairs with arms and I had room to spare!


• Made a "fat joke" about me which fell flat and one person said 'you're not fat!'


• Lots of folks have been noticing the weight loss


• Can do a yoga move that I haven't been able to do for years!

Life is good!

Here's a before/after photo. The "before" was taken in 2007 - the after was taken a week or so ago.

Still losing...

Was officially 192 at the doctor's. With normal blood pressure! :) Sorry I haven't updated this in a while but I'm still on my program. I also had the stomach flu a couple of weeks ago (it's going around).

Hope all is going well for you'all...

Have been 198 all week!!!

Wow does it EVER feel good to be in ONE-DER-LAND!

I never thought I'd make it. I just FEEL good about it all! :)

ONE-DER-LAND

So a couple of times in the past two weeks, I actually hit the magical land of ONE-DER-LAND i.e. under 200 lbs! I took a photo of the scale the first time it happened (which turned out to be no easy task because the darn thing kept timing out before I could get my camera ready so I had to weigh 3 times to get the picture! *LOL*)

However, my official weigh-in this week was 201.5 so my body is playing games with me. I like the feeling of "one der land" and hope I get down to the point where I never see 200 lbs.

I measured and found that I have lost 8 inches in my butt and 7 inches in my waist (well not being a young thing, my waistline went the way of the nickle beer).

Nothing fits me, not even my undie panties and I don't have a clue what size I am. I haven't been this small forever... (at least 25 or more years). I now weigh 8 lbs more than I did when I had our son in 1969 (of course, I thought I was horribly fat then because I started in the pregnancy at 149 or 150 lbs... my low weight is 198.5.

In looking at some summer photos, I realize that last summer I weighed like in the low 240's or high 230's so this summer might be fun as far as skimpier clothing etc. Right now, it's warm clothing cover up time... :(

August

Somehow I managed to trim off 6 lbs since I last wrote this blog... not sure how. But I'm weighing 220 now and that's only 13 more than my lowest weight after Weight Watchers. I never really thought I'd get to this point and glad to be here.

Also I started B12 sublingual tabs and have noticed a definite improvement in muscle pain and fatigue etc. I take one a day. I've known I've had a B12 deficiency for a long time but push came to shove when I started to experience the symptoms of neuropathy... time to stop fooling around I said so here I am. I've only been on it for a week but I'm expecting an improvement of my gum problems. I hope.

Anyway, 6 lbs is the most I've lost in a month. And if I lose 6 lbs this month ... but won't hope for that. I'll be happy for 3 lbs.

1400 calories is the magic number. At that amount, I get NO gerd and wow is it a relief. Acid reflux symptoms get so old. I've had GERD all my life but of course, it, like everything else, gets worse with age.

first post - introduction

This blog will be about my on going battle with my weight. Briefly, in Jan 2007 I weighed 267 (after regaining 60 lbs from my low weight while in Weight Watchers). I cut 200 calories off my daily intake and lost slowly. In July I started a walking program i.e. added it to my already existent workout program which has been going on for 14 years. I have worked out daily since Aug 1, 1994. But in the last few years, I have succumbed to the easier workouts. Workout machines inside, a delightful HPV called a "trikke" and more. And I was losing my ability to walk for any distance. You see I am 63 years old and am suffering sarcopenia or the muscle wasting of the aged and unlike men, I have no nice testosterone floating around in my blood so basically if I don't move all my muscles twice a week and throw a couple of walks in there, I hurt a lot. I started walking several times a week last July (2007) and by November could walk some kind of distance (at least comfortably in the food store etc) and didn't hurt so much as I did for the first few months of my walking program. Raising the level of fitness at my age is very very hard.

In February 2008, I ended up lowering my daily intake to 1600 calories. And in March, I started doing aerobics tapes twice a week. Now THOSE are hard. I sweat like a pig, I have to pay close attention and they are just hard. But my back pain has already reduced greatly since I've been doing these.

So now I have gotten a low weight of 229 but of course, today on the last day when I weighed it was 230. I would love to get down to 207 or so - that's a nice weight for me although being in "one-der-land" would even be better.

Why I started a blog is so I could write about my frustration with this. It's SO slow. Like in June 2008, IF I really weigh 229 then I've lost only 2 lbs. Yet I know the slow way is the healthiest way and the best chance of keeping it off (IF I continue to journal my food every day and of course, keep up the most intense workouts).

I guess I started this NOW because I'm in the plateau from heck and maybe that IS The time I should be writing.

One more thing about me. I do not eat fast food or junk food. I am on a low fat diet (the old Susan Powter program - nothing below 20 percent fat) which is also supposed to be good for my arteries and heart. I have been low fat since 1996 or so and have not had fast food since then either.

If anyone is reading this, thanks for reading and more later! :)