Cindy W.

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Boy oh boy I just don't know how to put into words the emotion I feel after coming back from this vacation . It was the first real get away we have had since "05" and wow ! how different this trip was from the ones in the past ! Things just kept happening and we couldn't get away from home the last few years and it was long overdue . I look at the pictures and I think how different I look and feel . Yes , my skin is saggy I look old and to tell you the truth don't look all that great but you know what.... none of that matters to me anymore ! I am me , I am 51 years old and the happiest about the way I look and feel at this time of my life , I think , more than I ever have been . I know without this lapband my life would be so much different . I would probably still be on blood pressure medication and overweight if I hadn't had this surgery and my energy level would be low . I have walked those trails many times in the past but this time was truly different because I wasn't carrying around a lot of extra weight and I felt so good ! All my life I have always felt I have never measured up , never pretty, smart or thin enough It seems I have come full circle and finally realize what the important things in life are . When you have your health back and people that love you,  you truly have everything . I am still not at goal weight yet and probably won't be for awhile but I am enjoying where I am at .

Got this out of a magazine and I really enjoyed it . What is so great about it is you can modify it to how much you can do .. by adjusting your speed . I jog on the power pace at 4.5 and next time I am going to do it with 3 lb. weights .

60 Minute Workout :

Warm up/cool down 2 to 3 minutes (tm 3 mph}

Brisk pace : 3.5 or can still talk, but with pauses

Push pace : {4 mph} Some huffing and puffing

Power pace / Uphill pace : {4.2 to 4.5} No talking possible also can be done with an incline at 3% at 3.5

Start : Warm Up

3:00 Brisk pace

5:00 Push pace

20:00 Brisk

22:00 Uphill / Power Pace

28:00 Brisk

32:00 Uphill/ Power pace

38:00 Brisk

42:00 Push

57:00 Cool down

60:00 Finish

Well I've always said when a body part started hurting it was time to rethink things , and that day has come . My feet have been giving me problems lately with all the running I was doing so now I need to change up my routine . I found a workout plan in a magazine I did this morning and I think it is going to do just fine . Plus when I get back from vacation I am going to hire a trainer at the gym . The lady that owns the gym is a body builder that does competion and she works with people to set them up with a weight training / cardio program { every six weeks a different program } to suit their individual needs .  I have been spending no less than three hours at the gym  which , when nothing was hurting was wonderful but now because of my feet its not .  Hopefully she can set me up with exercises that can give me the benefits I want but in less time . It will still be three times { on weights } and of course cardio 6 days a week just less of it . One problem I have , and this happened to me on the e bike , I can't get my heart rate up . My resting pulse is between 47 and 52 and I have to go at a break neck speed and I just can"t do that . I did the e bke yesterday on the fat burner setting and I was suppose to get my pulse up to 110 . I was peddling over 100 mph and I only got my pulse up a couple of times . I only did it for 15 minutes and never did get the resistance to kick in . That is why I do manual settings on almost everything . Anyway I have been told as long as I double my pulse not to worry about reaching the recomended heart rate . I can do level 8 on the elliptical and keep it over 65 rpms for an hour but don't know what my heartrate is as the machine does not monitor it . I have just never worried about the heart rate. For the simple reason I have to work impossibily hard to keep it where is it suppose to be . I believe , your body and mind should be in sync that, is what I like about running. When you don't hurt it is the best feeling . I started running for three reasons . 1) to prove to myself I could do it . Years ago ,  on our honeymoon we went to the Bahamas and scuba dived . I was not a diver { my husband is } and he was insistant that I was going to dive . I don't like it . So he put me on a training course and tried to whip me into shape . Mind you , I was only 25 years old then .He had me doing the monkey bars at the local park , running laps , situps , even clocking how long I could hold my breath . He drilled me for weeks . I did go diving and I'm not afraid of it but I just didn't enjoy it . Back then I weighed 155 lbs. and still had to wear ten lbs. on my weight belt . We have snorkeled at Hunama Bay in Hawaii and that was way more fun . Back then I could not run , I just couldn't . So to make me feel better he told me I didn't have the legs or body to run , and that was good enough for me I never tried to run again until about four years ago when I had lost weight and was hitting the gym . 2) I had knee prblems , believe it or not , not from running . The first Dr. I went to came in slapped the exrays on the table and said your leg is crooked..... my right leg is very crooked but that was not causing the pain , he hemmed ha around and couldn't give me a straight answer on what kind of surgery he was going to do . First he said he could do it laproscopially { then rubbed his chin... they must teach them that in med school... why do Drs. do that when they are measuring their words ???? My Moms cancer Dr. did the same thing } then he said he might have to open it up , meaning my recovery would have been a lot longer . So I changed Drs. and he did it  laposcopially and it healed rather quickly . He also said exercise didn't cause my pain . Nothing I can do about my crooked leg... If I have my picture taken and my legs show I always try to stand with my right leg bent or slightly in front of the left leg so it doesn't look so noticable .... but I can run... even though I don't have the body type . 3) When I go to the gym I notice people , their workouts and what they look like . The ones that are running , doing the stairclimber  and  elliptical  are the ones that have the lean slim bodies ... not the ones walking at a snails pace reading a book . Anyway I'm still going to try to run after my feet feel better and I hope when I do get to my goal weight { 20 more lbs.} it will make a big difference on how my feet feel . 

Now here is some more other stuff . I like to read prayers . When I come across a prayer I like I save it . Here is one of my favorites :

Here I go.... in my lifetime this will be the third { in another 5 lbs. or so } time I have lost a 100 lbs. or more . My weight loss history has been like a bad relationship you can't get away from ...until ...now . I bought the cutest size ten capri pants yesterday that fit really good on the hips .... and I don't understand this.... they look big to me..... that sounds so ungratful after being in a size 2-3 X and I can't figure out why I feel this way ! I am fast approaching the point where I have failed and I am scared.... of gaining and scared of not getting any smaller . If I get to an 8 will that look big will I not be satisfied ? I just have mixed emotions right now . I'm happy and scared . I weighed 171 lbs. today but I know I won't be happy staying there I want to be 135 lbs. I just have to keep the mind set I have my "tool" this time is different... I have help... and IT is going to work ! Third times a charm right ? I feel better already . ~ Cy

For me since Jan. this journey has been determined by mini goals I have set for myself . My last one was set in April after my last Dr. visit . I weighed 212 lbs. and wanted to be 176 lbs. by my next visit which was today . Happily I can say I made it ! On my scales at home I weighed 176 lbs. without clothes and the office scales said 178 lbs. that is close enough for me !!! That is 34 lbs. I have lost since April . I feel blessed that after all I've been through this last  year things are finally looking up . There is always hope its just finding what works and making your mind up to do it .

I've got to add my BMI is now 29.6 ... moderately overweight  ... was 42.7 I think this is a lightbulb moment !

Somtimes paradise sometimes not . 26 yrs either way . Today, we have been married 26 yrs .Boy has time flown . Twenty six yrs. ago on this day I was 24 { almost 25 and he was 30 } and never even gave this annisverary a thought and if you would have told me my weight would get over 200 lbs.   let alone 269 lbs. - 280 lbs. was my all time high in 2002  { at that time my highest weight was 184 lbs. } I would have laughed in your face .... I was never going to let that happen  But my weight did and I am thinking about this annisverary and thinking back . To be truthful , I'm not  so upset the way things turned out !  some things have turned out the way we planned , others didn't  but we stuck it out and we are close . I'm getting this weight thing under control and hes dreaming about retirement....lol.... someday both are going to happen . Patience is the key word here . I'm just wondering if hes going to bring me flowers... I know he will get a card but flowers { I love getting flowers ! } are iffy . Since my washing machine decided to go out this morning  { Bummer ! } I already know what our anniversary present will be unless he can fix it and he will if he can...funny ... we've had that thing almost as long as we've been married so I guess it is time . I just want to hurry up and get one I can't stand not to have anything in the house that does not work .Anyway getting back to the weight thing I upped my exercise and have vowed to go to the gym 4 or 5 days a week instead of 3 . Somethings got to get these lbs. a movin . here is what I did today :

TM - ran at 5.4 for 30 minutes, power walked at 4.0 for 15 minutes , Walked at 3.0 with an incline of  2 for 15 minutes

Weights - over an hrs. worth  - eight arm machine ,  three sets of 12- 15 reps

six leg machines , three sets of 20 or more reps

ab machine 150 reps

Elliptical - 35 minute at level 4  .... end of workout

I plan to go tomorrow and on Thurday and ride the bike for 30 minutes and the elliptical for 30 and tm  for 20  . Wedneday and Friday will be a repeat of Mondays exercise .

BTW....HE DID BRING ME A DOZEN RED ROSES !!!!!  MY FAVORITE  !

 ~ Cy

Just got to say the scales said { after coming from the gym } 190.5 !!!!! That is the lowest I have been in three years !!!  but that is another story.... didn't stay that low for long back then  . Actually the past 15 years there have been very very few times I have been under 250 lbs. So am I happy... Yeah Baby !!!! I might make my July goal after all .

                                      ~ Cy

Well , at the risk of being to boring ... like I'm not already.... lol . I try not to post my update  until its time for my Drs appt. but I just couldn't wait . I am now at 196.5 lbs . by my scales... and they could be off but I know I am less than what I was this time of year... last year . I have been trying on clothes that I bought { a year ago } and this outfit stood out... { recent pic update } mainly because I bought it before we found out my Mom was terminal { she had started her chemo } but before she started going on her downhill slide . It was one of our last { there were very few }shopping trips together and she never saw me wear it because it was to snug at the time . I know this sounds hokey and sad... and I am  but at the same time I feel renewed . I can do this it is working and this horrible past year is NOT getting the best of me . I guess I'm feeling all this because my sister is living in our Mothers house.. my childhood home ...which we are in no hurry to sell . She had the phone disconnected { because she uses her cell mainly } and I agreed she didn't need it... but its just the thought I'll never call that number again it kind of hit me hard . Anyway, that is probably TMI and I will get over it and feel better but I feel I need to get it out this way than to reach for food because I want to be 176 lbs. by July !

My wow moment came in the form of the realization that I have gotten the 20 lbs. off I gained after my Mothers death last Oct . I am crying happy tears right now . Since my Dr. appt. last week I have hardly had any appetite but I am eating but not a lot . At first I thought there is noway I could have lost six more lbs. since I was in their office last week so when we went to my sister-in-laws yesteday I weighted on her scales.... and low and behold I weighted even less than I did on ours ! but her's were wrong . Last week I weighed 212 lbs. and today I weigh 206 lbs. To verify that , I got into my closet and tried on a skirt and blouse that was unwearable a couple of weeks ago { But I was able to wear it last summer } and it fits perfectly now . I'm thinking I might be in onederland sooner than I thought . With Mothers day coming up it is going to be rough.... another first without her . I know though she would be so proud of me and I have finally come to terms with things and I really do feel happiness again . ~ C