It's been awhile since I've been on here...so to my "buddies" who share my surgery date...sorry! I'm still alive! lol It's been a crazy month for my family. A month ago, my step-mother passed away kind of unexpectedly. She had been battling lung cancer, and was doing pretty well so we thought. Then she had one last round of chemo and it depleted her immune system, she got pneumonia and a horrible infection and had nothing to fight it with. So, it was a shock to say the least, especially after everything she had been through and fought off the past several months. She and my dad made a perfect pair, and he really is lost without her. So, among dealing with my own grief, I've been looking after him almost nightly. Finally getting to a point where I don't have to be there with him every evening now. He's doing a little better, a day at a time. So that on top of nursing school and my own family obligations has left me exhausted and with little time to spare. I'm still losing weight...haven't hit the 100 lb mark yet, but hope to get there soon. I am in a size 16 regular, not women's, and happy to be there! Hope to get to a 14 this summer. My eating habits have been TERRIBLE to say the least. By that I mean, I'm not getting the nutrition I need every day. Some days I forget my vitamins, and for a few days I really felt it. So I've been really adamant about keeping up with my supplements. Feeling my energy return for sure! And also, I've started back on protein shakes again twice a day. Gotta get myself back together here! I'm pretty sure that's why my weight loss has slowed down...my body isn't getting what it needs and so it's holding onto what it has. And my HAIR!!! It's thinning so much. I really can feel it and see it. Other's don't notice it, but I sure do! I have lost a LOT of hair. It really bothers me. I spoke with someone at the last support group meeting I went to and was assured that it will start to regrow very soon. Boy I hope so! So I am really making a full effort to get back to paying better attention to my nutrition and give my body what it needs. Not easy, but doable for sure. Oh, and my belly STILL makes obnoxious noises after I eat! I am super careful about what I eat at school because sometimes it's so loud other's can hear it too! (The girl next to me thought I was hungry one day and offered me a granola bar!! lmao!!!) Does anyone elses belly sound like there's a battle going on in there?!?! It's insane! And embarassing to say the least! But I just deal with it like everything else! lol Try and find the humor, that's all we can do!
Kids are almost out of school...10 more days! And in a few more weeks, I'll be out for the summer myself...can't wait! I look around my yard and see LOTS of projects to do this year...things I couldn't do last year because I was so heavy and miserable. I look at pics of me last summer and WOW! What a difference! No regrets at all. This surgery was by far the best thing I ever did for myself. For the first time since I was a teenager, I am looking forward to summer again. Hope everyone else is doing well! Now that the dust is settling, I'll be checking in more often again. Happy Memorial Day!

I've always admired runners. Whether they run for speed or distance, I've always thought that was awesome to be able to do that. I was never much of a runner, even back in my younger days I just didn't seem to have the stamina. As I got older and started putting on weight, I especially didn't have the stamina. I would walk for exercise, and really improve over time, but then quit, and get discouraged. Fast forward to 305 lbs...I kinda figured at that point, it was never gonna happen.
I've been hitting the gym regularly and frequently all winter long. Along with weights, I've also built myself up to 40 mins on either the treadmill or the elliptical at a pretty good pace, watching my heart rate to keep it in the target range. (I read a book not too long ago about fitness that said "You have to slow down to get faster." Meaning, monitor your heart rate even if you have to slow down to an almost uncomfortable pace.)
Yesterday, the weather was beautiful here, so I decided to do my weight training at the gym, then take my son for a brisk walk on the awesome trails we have in our area. We did this last year, but I was very heavy and not able to really walk for far, and definitely NOT at a brisk pace! But we made the effort anyhow. Yesterday, I noticed a HUGE difference! I walked faster, my posture was better, my feet and ankles didn't hurt and I could breathe! It felt amazing! We had the best time. With the weather turning nicer (I hope) we plan to do this a few times a week. I'm bored with the treadmill and elliptical and doing that part of my exercise outside feels really good. We were in good company too...bike riders, families out for walks, and of course, runners. I secretly wished in my mind that I was running. I decided to go home and do some research on how to begin running, without tearing up my knees, ankles and feet. I have a bad ankle and foot, so I have to be really careful with what I do. (It comes from working a really hard job with a ruptured tendon at one time and caused me excruciating pain, and took a long time to heal, but it never healed normally.)
I found a site called "Couch to 5K" and it's for beginners who want to start running, and it's designed to get you running 3 miles in 2 months. But it gives you a good way to start so you don't beat up your body and get discouraged and quit, which is where so many people fail. It sounds like a great plan, and I really think I'm going to give it a try this week. It really sounds "do-able" for me. And if it's not, then I can always work on walking a little more and try again in a few weeks. But I really DO think this is for me. We'll see how it goes.
I've been "stuck" at 233 for 2 weeks now. I'm hoping if I do this, it will get me out of this stall. I've experienced about 3 stalls since my surgery in November, and it's frustrating to say the least! I'm really trying to get out of the 200's here! My clothes are going down in size, and that tells me SOMETHING is happening, it's just not happening with the scale! With me being in school now and the stress that is coming with that, I'm sure it's not helping. But after a long day of classes I'll admit it feels great to get up and move rather than go home and collapse on the couch, which some nights it's very tempting to do! Old habits die hard...time to get new ones!