Back to work tomorrow

I'm finally going back to work. Of course, this is a week that I signed up for an extra shift too. Great. My wallet needs it, but I'm worried about how my body will handle it. I still get short of breath with too much activity, but I'll do the best that I can. I'm lucky to work with some great people that help others if needed. We have some fabulous team work in my unit.

I'm hoping that getting back to my normal schedule will help me get back on track with eating and exercise. There is an exercise challenge at work that starts tomorrow (today) so that should be motivational. I'm going to try to go to the gym every day that I'm off. My plan is to do 30-60 minutes of cardio and a cycle of the weight machines that I do. I need to get back to strength training. I had gotten out of the habit and was only doing cardio. I need to do both. I'm also thinking about walking a little when I get home from work in the mornings. I usually don't go straight to bed. Often I come home and check email, facebook, and all that other stuff so I could take a few minutes away from that and take a quick walk around my apartment complex. We'll see how it goes. I was up a couple pounds yesterday.. probably water retention, but I don't like it and need to get on top of it before it continues to go up. My jeans were snug and made me feel icky. I don't like icky.

I was reading a blog the other day and the lady was talking about vision boards and 101 in 1001. I'm thinking about doing both of those. I need some "feel good" inspiration in my life. I've fallen into a rut and need something to break it and keep me going. A vision board is where you take words or pictures from magazines or whatever and post them to a posterboard or cork board. These are things that you want in your life. I think it would be pretty cool to do. 101 in 1001 is a to do list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Things you want to accomplish. Places you want to go. Stuff like that. I'm a huge list maker, so that's right up my alley. I found a site to make lists online so I may use that, or maybe I'll just do it in a Word document. First I need to get some ideas. 101 things is a LOT!

Has anybody done either of these things? Any suggestions?

Will it ever end?

So.. I am STILL sick! I've missed most of the past 3 weeks of work. Much of my time has been sitting on the couch watching tv or messing around on the computer because I get really short of breath if I try to do too much. It really sucks. It's funny how when I can't exercise, I want to. I would give anything to have gone to the gym while I've been out. I've had plenty of time to do it, but the feeling that I might die kept me at home. lol

I went to the Dr. last week and got several meds.. an antibiotic, inhaler, cough syrup, and steroids. I took everything like I was supposed to, but still didn't feel much better so I went back this week. They started me on a second round of antibiotics (a different one) and told me to keep using the inhaler as needed. FINALLY today, I feel a little better. I hope this is going away and not just another false hope day. Over the past 2 weeks, I've had a couple days or hours where I felt better, but then I went back downhill again. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have the best friends in the world! Many of them have showed concern and checked up on me while I've been out of work. That absolutely means the world to me. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people.. at work and outside of work. I'm a lucky girl. =)

As far as eating goes, I've only been at 90-95% lately. It's getting way too easy to cheat and I need to get strict again. I haven't had full meal cheats, but bites of this and that and a few sugary desserts. Afterward I feel like crap and wonder why I keep doing it! *Idiot* I want my next A1c to be good! I want it to show me how well low carbing works. My fasting blood sugars have been good (except when I was on Prednisone because that raises it) so I am hopeful. Surely it HAS to be better than my last one. Eek! Starting now I'm back on track. No bites. No desserts unless they are LC. I'm not where I want to be and those things are not helping. I'm done.

I'm not sure how much exercise I can do without losing my breath and having a coughing fit, but I'm going to try to at least get outside and walk a little tomorrow. I'll keep my route short in case I need to come home, but I have to do something! I feel like a big ol blob for sitting on my ass for 3 weeks.

I've been reading a couple blogs lately. They are very motivating. This one.. Escape from obesity was so inspiring that I went back allllll the way to the beginning and read to present day. I highly recommend it. The other one.. Skinny Emmie I just started and I'm reading it backwards, but I'm hooked on it too. Take a look at them and let me know what you think.

Ok.. I'm gonna get back to reading blogs and hit the sack soon. Have a fabulous day! =)

Not down with the sickness

I have been sick for over a week. It's really getting old! It started with a sore throat and upset tummy. Then came head congestion. Then stuffy nose and cough. I think it's turned into bronchitis. Great. I tend to get that pretty easily. I have since I was a kid. Oh.. and this whole time, my voice has been gone. Ugh! I've done fairly well with my eating. The first few days, I didn't eat much because it hurt to swallow and my upset tummy didn't want it anyway. I have had a few carby things.. saltine crackers, a few pieces of Halloween candy, chili with beans (which technically I can have since I'm on maintenance, but it still feels like cheating. lol) I made a delicious chicken/veg soup and have had several bowls. With a couple of bowls, I've added a few crackers, but it's good without too. I'm hoping to make it to the Dr or CVS Minute Clinic tomorrow. I need an antibiotic and maybe an inhaler too. That's helped before. We'll see.

Here's what I did for the soup...

Put 3 chicken breasts in crock pot. Added chopped celery, broccoli (frozen), can of green beans. (Wanted to add cabbage but the pot was too small.) Added water, spices, and chicken bullion cubes that I had heated in the microwave to dissolve the cubes. Cooked on low all day.

Now.. the broccoli pretty much dissolved by the time it was done so I would suggest adding it later. lol The next day, I boiled some cabbage and broccoli until soft and added it to the soup from the crock pot. Very good! My daughter said "I have to be honest. This doesn't look good (the broth turned green) but it sure is tasty." That's good enough for me. =)

Carb Overload

Last week we had a goodbye party for someone at work. She is leaving to take another position and will be very missed. =( Anyway, everyone brought in food.. chicken pie, meatballs, fruit/veggie tray, cake, blueberry crisp, etc. I thought, well I've been good, I'll just have a little bit of what I want. That would've been fine except I wanted everything! All of my little bits of this and that turned into a full plate. I checked my blood sugar before eating. 131. After eating? 390! Holy crap! I felt awful. Took some insulin and get it down to 214 the last time I checked. Lesson learned. I didn't really have any cravings, but I did notice that I stayed hungrier for the next few days than I had been. I was surprised that my weight didn't go up from water retention, but I won't risk it again. I just can't do that to myself. I love the way LC makes me feel and I love myself too much to destroy my health anymore. A BITE of this or that now and then.. fine. But no more going overboard. So not worth it.

Size 8

I didn't realize it had been so long since I made a post. Oops. I am really trying to get better at doing this.

On Saturday, I weighed 131. Yay!! Each pound I lose is the lowest I've weighed in over 10 years probably. I'm one pound away from my goal of 130, although I wouldn't mind seeing 120's on the scale again. ;-)

One day last week I tried on my daughter's size 7 jeans just for fun. I wanted to see how far I had to go before I could fit into them. Joke was on me... They fit! Well.. they fit in the sense that I could get them on. There was pudge hanging over the top that should not be seen by human eyes, but the fact that I got them on was so exciting! So Friday, when my husband, my best friend, and I went out to dinner (bff and I got the salad bar and mini burgers sans bun) and went to Old Navy afterward, I wanted a new pair of jeans. I took a pair of 10's and a pair of 8's to the dressing room. The 10's fit (that's what I have been wearing) but were a little loose. The 8's fit, but had a little pudge, though not as bad as my daughter's 7's. I ended up getting the 8's because I didn't want to buy the 10's and shrink out of them. I can wear a shirt with the 8's that isn't form fitting and they look great! Plus it gives me the motivation to tone up my mid-section. The next day my bff and I went to the mall again. I bought some dress pants because I don't have any that fit. I got 2 pairs.. one in a 9 and one in a 7. I can not explain just how happy this makes me. One of my goals was to fit into 8's again and even though I still have some work to do, I did it! If I can tone up my middle, I may even get into 6's one day! I can't imagine what that would be like. I've never worn 6's! Even in high school when I thought I was fat (at 5'8'' and 125) I wore 8/9's. Amazing!

This morning I had flaxcakes and cottage cheese for breakfast. Yum! I'm not sure what I'll have for the rest of the day, but you can bet it'll be low carb and delicious! =)

I also wanted to add that I went to the Dr last week to get some prescriptions refilled. He was very impressed with my weight loss and choice to do low carb because of my diabetes. I got my new medications and they drew blood. My A1c came back high.. at 8.5 but some of the last few months I was totally off the wagon and not taking my insulin either. I've been strict since Sept 6th (except for 1 meal) so I'm going to get another A1c done in late November or early December and see what a difference it makes. My fasting blood sugars for the past week have been in the 80's and 90's so I'm very anxious and excited to see what it will be.

Beach weekend

Over the weekend I attended a wedding at the beach. A bunch of us stayed in some condos and had a great time! Some of these friends I have known for many years and some just for a little while, but I couldn't have asked for more fun. The wedding and reception were beautiful. The beach (one of my very favorite places) was amazing and the laughter never stopped. I am so glad I was able to make it.

I had planned on buying food and taking it to stay on track the whole time, but I didn't know for sure that I could go until the night before we left, so I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. I did buy some snacks, but that was about it. When we got there, everyone kind of put together a list of food to get and someone went to the store. I ended up eating foods I shouldn't have, but I didn't overeat so I'm ok with that. I didn't gain any weight either. Wooo hooo!! Now, I'm back to only low carb.. eating bacon and eggs now. I consider that a small success since last time I totally fell off the wagon.

Exercise needed

I've been back on the low carb wagon for 2 1/2 weeks. I've lost the few pounds that I had gained while off the wagon, but no additional pounds. I've been doing better about drinking my water.. although some days are more successful than others. I think the key to losing the extra flab and toning up is going to be exercise. I'm trying to get back into the routine of it, but it's so hard.

Great.

I actually enjoy going to the gym. The difficult part is GETTING there. My brain says Go! but my body is soooo comfortable on the couch. Or I'm hungry. Or there's a show on tv I want to watch... I need to stop making excuses and just do it! There are times where I think I would like to do my Slim in 6 dvd because I know I'm not going to make it to the gym, but there just isn't enough room in my living room to do it. I've tried and I'm right against the tv. That doesn't make for a good workout. Sigh. But I'm vowing to start getting some exercise in. Even if it's just walking outside for 30 minutes. Something is better than nothing. I'm not gonna tone up while sitting on the couch reading low carb blogs and message boards or watching tv. I walk a LOT at work so that does help, but it's not "true" exercise in my eyes. So I'm going to get on the ball and hope I don't fall off. =)

My attempt at blogging.. again

I've tried this before, but never seemed to stick with it. Blogging, I mean. Well Mildred.. here we go again!

First, let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a 36 year old mother of 2 girls, aged 17 and 11. "Bug" is 17 and "Monkey" is 11. They are fascinating creatures. I'm in constant awe of how proud, and yet confused, I am of them on a daily basis. I'm married to a wonderful guy who has always been there for me, no matter what. He's truly amazing and today (well, maybe yesterday by the time this posts) we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. I'm very grateful for everything he has done for me. I am an RN. Graduated last year. Some days it's very rewarding, other days I feel like a glamorized waitress (not that there's anything wrong with that.) Overall though, I'm glad to be doing something that I enjoy. My best friend is also an RN. In fact, we met in nursing school. We are stuck like glue. Two peas in a crazy pod, we say. She's also low carbing and we keep each other going. She's a very big part of my life and I don't know what I'd do without her.

I began my Atkins journey waaaay back in 2003.. you know, when it was everywhere. I just had a few pounds I wanted to lose and was intrigued by the thought. I was working as a waitress then, and a coworker came to work talking about it one day. She pointed to a rack of ribs and said "I could eat that whole thing if I wanted." Well.. bam! I went to buy the book. *Always buy the book!* I realized that she had no clue what she was talking about because I'm quite sure that bbq sauce was loaded with sugar! But none-the-less, I was hooked. I wanted to lose about 20 pounds. I quickly lost 10 and although I didn't reach my goal (which looking back was probably too low) I maintained and loved the WOE for about 4 months. Then we had some money problems and as backwards as it is.. crap food is cheaper than real food. So I reluctantly fell off the wagon and gained back what I had lost and more. Since then I've been off and on the wagon countless times. As a diabetic, I know this is the way I need to eat, but I could never stick with it.

Fast forward to February 24, 2010... I was ready and motivated. I had put on some weight while in school and although I had lost 15 pounds when I started working (and wasn't sitting on my butt studying all the time,) I wanted to lose some more and feel better. So I started. Again. I was at 153 and set my goal to 135. My goal date was June 3rd.. the day my best friend and I were leaving for the beach. I knew I wouldn't have a supermodel body, but it would be better than what it was. I started eating strictly and exercising at least 3 times a week. I hit goal on May 24.. exactly 3 months since I started. I was elated! We went to the beach and had a blast. We got tattoos (which cost us money that we had planned on spending on food and entertainment, but hey, ya only live once!) So with less money to spend, we had to be careful about where we ate. We brought LC foods for breakfast and lunch, but planned on eating dinner out on the town. We didn't plan on eating hot dogs and fries and ice cream though. Oops. So when we got home, we tried to get back into the LC/exercise routine again. I did it half-assed for a while before I totally got off track. I only gained 2-3 pounds back, but I felt like CRAP! So we decided to start over and kick some LC butt! September 6th (Labor Day of course.. what?!) we started again and have been doing well since. It was only a few days before the bloated feeling was gone and I was down those 3 pounds I had gained. I haven't lost any more yet, but I'm ok with that. Ideally I'd like to lose about 4 more to hit 130, but more importantly, I want to tone up. I'm going to really focus on exercising to lose the flubber that is around my middle and thighs. I hope this blog will help keep me accountable. Eek! Come along with me, won't you?!

Just over a week

It's been just over a week since I restarted Atkins. My BG this morning was 96! I've lost a few pounds and some inches, but I'm not recording it until Friday or Saturday morning. I haven't decided yet. I started on a Friday so I'm thinking that would be 2 weeks, but really I wouldn't have COMPLETED 2 weeks until I get through Friday. Hmm.

Anyway, I feel great. I've exercised some.. only 4 days though so I need to work on that. I get more than enough water in. Most days I drink about a gallon. I'm reading Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution again. Actually, I never finished it the first time. I'm starting over anyway since it's been so long.

Back.. yet again!

So I haven't had much luck with staying on LC long term. I LOVE the way I feel when I'm on it, but many times we just can't afford "real" food. That's a shame isn't it?! Real food costs more than processed crap! Ridiculous. Anyway.. I'm back on as of March 9th. My fasting BG this morning was 117 without insulin yesterday! Yay!!

Although my family is very supportive and they like most of the foods I fix, I find motivation and support in several LC bulletin boards and sites. I like to read success stories and help people just starting out. I think it's important to find some sort of inspiration to stay strong and determined to reach your goals. I also think it helps to journal.. not only your feelings, but your foods and exercise. What I've done in the past is use fitday.com. I enter my foods in and it calculates my carbs, calories, fats, and proteins. (For anyone wanting to try this.. make sure you go to "goals" and have it calculate fiber so you can subtract it from your total carbs.) I also enter in my water amounts and any exercise I did. Then I will sometimes transfer my numbers to a paper journal along with exercise and water. I find it easier to look back through if it's on paper. I can also write any notes (challenges, successes, feelings etc.) on that page.

So I started out Friday weighing 155. That is crazy. When I first started Atkins in 2003, I was at 145. If only I had stayed with it.. what I would look/feel like now!! I have weighed since then and nothing has changed, but I know I'm retaining water and TOM just started so I'm not too concerned. I KNOW this WOE works so I will just have to be patient. Like I've heard before... I didn't put this weight on overnight and it won't come off overnight. I look at this as a lifelong change. My BG is normal without insulin so that is a major success for me right now! I need to start exercising again. I haven't done it yet, but I will. I'm going to try to make it to the gym tonight. My daughter has a Dr. appt. in an hour so after that I'm going to try to go. She was recently diagnosed as diabetic also. We apparently have a special kind of type 2 diabetes known as MODY (maturity onset diabetes of the young.) She's only 13.

Until next time...