I'm Back.

I'm back on after more than a year.  Nothing dramatic happened, I just wasn't ready I suppose.  I recently had another birthday and it kind of depressed me.  A while ago, I decided to make a rather modest commitment to myself that I thought would be worth writing down.  Here it is:

Until I am 30 I don't eat:

*Fast food

*Snack cakes like Little Debbie's or Hostess

*Potato Chips

*Packaged cookies.

This is a multi-year commitment.  It's not going to solve all my problems, but it will make a lot of day to day decisions much easier during this time.  Perhaps surprisingly, it hasn't been at all difficult to honor this commitment since I made it over two weeks ago.

Today I have made another commitment to add to the first.  Here it is:

Until I am 30 I only drink:

*Water

*Tea

(No artificial sweeteners.  Honey may be used to sweeten.  Fruits, such as lemon, may be used to flavor either drink).

I think that both of these goals will free up some space in my diet for good nutrition.  I'd like to get my body running optimally through proper nutrition and exercise.  I am making changes to avoid looking and feeling old before my time.  I'm 20-something and I'd like to really like to prolong this stage in my life as long as possible.

My health scares me.

Today I read an article which indicated that people with fatty livers are 2-3 times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes at the end of 5 years.  I have had elevated liver function in the past, which isn't necessarily a fatty liver, but with my weight problem and poor eating habits, that is most likely what it was.  It was resolved by diet and exercise last time I had abnormal results, but all the same, it scares me.  I've been out of breath a lot lately (or am just now noticing it).  In any case, I want to steer clear of diabetes and heart disease.  It does not look like a good time. 

I'm working on getting stronger.  A little bit ago I took Gus for a walk.  It was lovely outside.  I brought down my weights from upstairs and sometimes while I'm watching TV with my hubby I will just do a little bit of lifting.  I'm going to start writing down my exercise as I think of it, so that I have something concrete to show my doctor.

Exercise:
Took Gus for a walk: 29:56, 153

Dr. Appointment Yesterday.

So yesterday was the dreaded doctor's appointment.  I went to the doctor and had a half of a physical.  No pelvic exam yesterday, because I have to go the actual gynecologist so that they can double check me for PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome.  I have reread the information about this problem, and we will see what happens.  I felt better after talking to my doctor.  I have three appointments that spawned from yesterday's, and I'm committed to getting through these three doing what I'm supposed to be doing.  The first is just a fasting blood draw April 11, the second is my gynecologist appointment about a week after that, and finally, I will have another consultation with my primary care doctor June 1.  So for exactly three months I will be taking my pills, eating right, exercising, and trying to get in a healthier place for that appointment.  I am feeling "in it" at the moment.

I have a lot on my to do list for the next few days, so I should get at it.

Sick.

Hey!  I've been sick the last few days, so I'm here on the couch with my box of tissues.  They are Nice 'n Soft from Kroger.  I thought I would update how things have been going lately.  I feel at peace with food lately.  I have been generally eating things that are good for me.  My husband and I have been making healthy foods with good ingredients, and the things we make also taste really great.  It's been a pleasure to eat healthfully.  I haven't been even tempted to go anywhere to get lunch or dinner or anything like that.  As far as exercise goes, I left off on Saturday, but plan to pick up where I left off probably tomorrow or Friday depending on when I can breathe through my nose again.  I may even take the pooch for a stroll later today if I'm feeling alright.  Saturday I was feeling very strong and motivated throughout the workout.  I have been using my heart rate monitor at the gym, just as a tracking and motivational tool.  I also made sure to take the dog for a walk on Saturday, with the intention of not falling into the "there, i went to the gym, so now I can veg on the couch for the rest of the day" mentality.  I am in the process of getting my perscriptions filled, I started the process Saturday, and now it's Wednesday.  In fact- I am going to call right now.  *calls pharmacy* Okay, called and nothing.  The doctor's office still hasn't responded.  *calls doctor's office, then pharmacy* Take that back, just made another call, and they denied the refill because I need to be seen.  Ew.  I hate going to the doctor's office.  I don't want to.  They'll make me get a pap.  Ahh.  What to do, what to do?  Do I just suck it up and go in or do I wait it out. *calls doctor's office again*  I just called the nurse's line and hopefully I'll get it straightened out so that I can buy myself another 6 weeks at least before I have to face the music.  I really hate going to the doctor, in large part because every time I go we have to talk about my weight.  I end up feeling like a disappointment, which even now as I say that it sounds a little crazy that I would think that my doctor would take that personal of a view of my weight.  I wish I could just be totally anonymous and not have a personal face to face with a healthcare provider. 

I just finished and sent my e-mails to professors asking for recommendations for grad schools.  YAY!  That was a big deal for me.  I gotta get my life started.  I've been sitting on my hands too long.  I have goals and I need to see them through.  HERE I GO!

Still at a stand still.

It has now been a week and a half of no weight loss.  I'm not freaking out.  I'm happy to be rather calm about it.  I'm still working out, I'm headed to the gym right after I let my puppy in from outside.  I am going to pick up my thyroid perscription afterwards.  I have a suspision that once I am back on it for a while that my body will start to let a little weight go.  In the meantime, I won't be gaining anything and I can build up some muscle and endurance so that when I do start losing, it will be a little quicker than it otherwise would have been.

The last few days have been a little tough with the eating part of things.  I feel like my efforts are at a wash with the bad habits I've been indulging.  I think just about every day I've been eating my fruits and vegetables (yay!), but each day I'm doing something that makes me not feel so good, like chips and salsa or soda (diet though it may be).  My husband and I have been cooking very healthful (and delicious) things lately which means I haven't had to worry about eating out as much.  So on eating my fruits and vegetables, I'm doing great.  Not eating between meals and drinking exclusively water, I'm not doing so hot.  Right now I do have the motivation to keep trying, which is everything.

The workouts have been good lately.  I've been making sure to use multiple machines, I did 10 minutes on the elliptical yesterday!  My cardio is going good, I've been doing 40-50 minutes.  One thing I still need to work on is getting back into a weight routine.

I've also been working on getting my application finished so I can start school in May.  I am a little stressed about that.  Maybe more than a little.

Well, my puppy is in, and off to work (out) I go.

Step it up.

Today I decided to weigh in to see if anything was happening, and unfortunately I'm in a very similar place to what I've been all along.  It's been almost a week since I started working out and eating better, but I've had no more than maybe about half a pound of weight loss.  Since I'm still very committed to making this a lifestyle change rather than a crash (and burn) diet, I am reluctant to make any drastic changes to what I've been doing with food, but I'm willing to really step it up at the gym.  I think I'm going to commit to doing some elliptical everyday, and try to keep myself from doing just treadmill workouts, since they tend to be some of the least efficient machines for burning calories (unless you can jog, and I'm not there yet).  When I am using the treadmill I will also start using some of the features like interval training.  Finally, I need to begin some weight training.  That will take a little time because I'll have to figure out what weights I need to be using for all the different machines.  I'll probably use a trainer to help me figure out how to get a weight routine going.

Today feels like a win.

Today I woke up, whirred my smoothie, went to the gym, ate lunch, veggies included, and now I am writing about it.  Tonight I am making a 'nice dinner' for my husband and we are going to have a mini date night in.  What is going to be the 'nice dinner'?  I don't know yet.  I'm thinking about maybe making a steak for the two of us with some nice green beans and maybe a potato.  Entertainment for the evening?  Don't have a clue.  I'm going to try to figure something out.  I just know that I have to get looking pretty, get dinner on the table, and figure out what to do with him in a relatively short period of time.  Wish me luck.

Today my workout was pretty good, I did some stretching before and after with about 50 minutes of cardio in between.  I have eaten my fruit smoothie for breakfast (3+ servings of fruit in there), a leftover hamburger for lunch, with baby carrots, and I've had 3 glasses of water so far.  As far as feelings go, I'm feeling pretty positive today, but haven't been thinking about things too terribly much.  I'm happy with what I've done today so far, and I feel like I will be able to get a lot done this afternoon and this evening.

I almost forgot a very important thing, I have fought the urge to weigh today and won!  It was a struggle I overcame.  Also, I overcame the struggle not to drink juice straight up.  I have successfully limited myself to water all of today :)