My Weight Loss Journey, The Beginning

The Beginning

I weighed 6lbs-2ozs when I was born. I was a picky eater, thin, and active as a young child. But for some reason, family and friends equated fat babies as healthy babies.

To make me "healthier," my immediate family rearranged the seating at the dining table to put me next to someone who intimidated me into eating. Their plan worked! After several times of sitting at the table until hours after the meal because I didn't want to eat something, I finally got the message and ate everythying. After a while, I not only ate everything -- I liked everything -- except beets and pickled pigs' feet. Oh, and Limburger cheese. These were favorites of my grandfather, and he tried to get me to eat these. But no matter how big or mean he tried to be, he couldn't get me to eat those.

My German grandmother was one of those who equated fat with healthy, so she had lots of goodies for us to eat. We helped her bake cookies, pies, and cakes. Of course, we helped her eat them as well. I can't tell you how many times we sat in front of the TV watching Bugs Bunny eating powder sugar or brown sugar with a spoon. So, needless to say, it wasn't long before I jumped from too thin to too fat. The summer I turned 8, I stepped over that line.

Then, before I knew it, I was being called "Fatty" by everyone. Talk about confusing!

The struggle started.

My Eyes, Part 5

I went to the place to have laser (or very intense) photos taken of my eyes. What's interesting is that whatever is wrong with one eye seems to be happening to the other as well. Everyone is commenting that my lids are heavy. Maybe I'll get an eye lift out of this deal ;O).

Now I wait . . . This journey started Jan. 6, and I feel we're very close to a solution. I'm so excited. Dr. Fisher is going on vacation for 3 weeks after next week, so I won't be able to see him until Aug. 2. I'll be patient . . .

My Eyes, Part 4

I saw the fourth Ophthalmologist Friday, and by George, I think we're getting somewhere. He said my corneas are pointed in the middle instead of being flat. They took many photos, eye exams, and dilated them yet again.

This is the first time someone actually listened to me. Dr Fisher read my chart, asked questions, and listened to my answers. He let me think and made me feel like he really cares. The other guys liked to shine very bright lights into my eyes and then ask questions. It's hard to think sometimes anyway, and it's nearly impossible with a bright light shining in your eyes.

The next thing I have to do is make an appointment to be fitted with hard contacts. The contacts will hopefully flatten the points. He said I'll be fitted, but he doesn't guarantee I'll get the contacts.

I don't know when this condition happened. I'm thinking about a year and half ago. About the time I had my first knee replacement. I'm so glad it wasn't caused by a stroke like the first Ophthalmologist said. Or maybe it was.

The good news is that I don't have any symptoms of a stroke. My brain looks good, no masses, nothing remarkable. My heart is in good shape, my arteries are good, my carotid arteries are good (not perfect), but "consistent with someone my age." That's a scary thought: someone my age. I sometimes feel very old. Actually, I'll see how old I feel Tuesday when I'm going through my stress test. When I was 50, I had a chemical stress test done because my knees were so bad that I didn't think I could handle the treadmill. It was 2 minutes of extreme weirdness. So strange. While I was on the table hooked up to the IV, an 80-year-old lady was on the treadmill -- what's wrong with that picture?

Now, I'm 8 years older, and I'm going to do the treadmill! I'm so excited! We've been walking 1-1/2 to 2 miles 2 times a week, stopping only because it's soooo dang hot! I think I can do as long as they want me on the treadmill. At least, I'm up to the challenge!

Life is awesome!

Life is Awesome!

Life is just so freakin' awesome sometimes. I've been reading and studying personal development information since 1988. A friend of mine (I consider him my mentor) introduced me to this information, and a whole world opened up. It never occurred to me that it was up to me to be happy. I always thought happiness came from the world around me. I can't tell you how my life changed.

I read Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen among others, and numerous email newsletters over the years. But as Bob Proctor says, I've been setting goals and planning my future, but my thoughts have remained negative. I don't know why, but that's the way it's been. After 7 years of studying, listening, and reading, life got in the way, and I forgot a lot of the important things.

Then 3 or 4 years ago, a friend introduced me to "The Secret." We watched it as we put together our treasure maps (or vision boards) for the year. I'd hear what they said and say "that's so true," and, again, someone would say something that I'd learned years before, and I'd say "that's right!" Then it dawned on me that I'd put all those thoughts away for at least 10 years! I just got mired in the muck of daily life and forgot to dream and plan and set goals. I mean really set goals.

It took a couple of years before I got together with my mentor and started the learning all over. Jim Rohn says sometimes you don't move forward until you learn the lesson. Gosh, I hope I've learned the lesson. I think I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things.

I've set some crazy goals for this year -- to weigh 135 by Christmas 2010. I'm thinking this will take lots of work. And if I put my mind to it, I can at least get close. I have a walking partner who wants to accomplish some amazing things this year as well. I'm going to Weight Watchers to work on the eating plan. We walked a 5K on June 5. Another friend, Leslie Hoy, got a group together to work on cognitive behavior therapy for weight loss. It was a help. I have some tools to use when I struggle. Unfortunately, most of my bad habits are so ingrained that I don't realize I'm screwing up until after the fact. I'm so unconscious most of the time. Hopefully, with time, things will change for the better.

Another goal I had was to take a reposition cruise from Galveston to Spain next year. I've been planning on it since last year. But, finances aren't working out too well, so I may have to put it off until the next year and go to Great Britain instead. My walking partner may go with me. I'd love to combine the cruise with a train ride around Europe touching all the countries at least for a day excursion or a drive through. I'm thinking a month -- can our friendship handle that? I'm working on goal setting, and I have to have faith that if I really set these goals and fall in love with them like Bob Proctor says, the universe will help me attain these goals. I'll find myself doing the things that need to be done to achieve these goals.

I know that Suze Ormon would say "DENIED" to my request for $5200 for the month-long tour of Europe. Maybe I won't tell her. In the meantime, my friend and I will be checking out travel agencies to see how much it will really cost! I'm getting excited again!

I lost a pound today at Weight Watchers. Good considering I missed last week, and I'm wearing heavier clothes than I've been wearing. I decided it's time to summer it up color wise. I have a pair of mocha colored pants and 3 blouses of the same style that go with these pants. This way I won't look so much like I'm wearing a "uniform" because I wear the same thing each week. It's the only way to know if I'm actually losing or gaining. A very interesting thing popped up today when I added my new weight to the Excel log I'm keeping. I have such a pattern. I lose for 5 weeks, then I gain, lose 5 weeks, gain, lose 5 weeks, gain. It's amazing. I've done it since I started December 22. So, now that I see that, I'm going to have to be more vigilant on the 5th week.

BetterMe Coaching Tool

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Weight Watchers & 5K

I joined Weight Watchers Dec. 22, 2009, because I was 110 lbs overweight and it's time to take care of my health. I joined before Christmas to save myself from having to lose more than 110 lbs! And it worked! I was one of the few people who didn't complain about how much I ate at the Christmas meals, and it felt really good.

I've lost 20 lbs so far. Considering it's already June, that's not really good, but at least it's a loss!

Weight Watchers started a Walk-!t Challenge to walk a 5K on June 6. They had a plan where you can work up to the 5K with a plan that starts you off for 10 minutes, and before you know it, you're walking 3 miles! I started walking by myself, but it wasn't fun at all. I finally enlisted a fellow WW friend to walk with me. We started out walking 2 times a week, about a mile each time. Soon we walked 2 miles, then we mapped out a 3-mile route and walked it the Saturday of Memorial Weekend.

We walked 2 miles the Tuesday before the Challenge, 3 miles that Thursday, and the 5K Saturday! There were 6 of us, and we had fun. It took us less than an hour! I'm pretty proud of myself.

I plan to continue walking, and maybe one day, I'll walk 10K! My friend and I plan to continue the 5K route. Unfortunately, I injured my foot, so I didn't walk tonight, but I will Thursday for sure and maybe Friday too!

Memorial Weekend Babysitting

Have you noticed how many grandparents babysat this Memorial Weekend? It seems everyone I know had their grandchildren for the weekend.

I had a blast Memorial Weekend. I went to my daughter's house Saturday night so I could see their nighttime routine because I was going to babysit their 28-month old, my grandson, all by myself. They have a 2-story house, and I hate stairs, but that wasn't a problem for us over the weekend. While my daughter and son-in-law packed for several days in Cancun, I got Roc ready for bed. He took a bath in the kitchen sink, which is our tradition, and I prepared him for bed.

Sunday morning, I got up at 5:30, made coffee, got dressed, and was on the computer when I finally decided it was time to wake the rest of the family. Their alarm didn't go off, so we got off to a rocky start.

They made it to the airport in time, and Roc and I went to church. I was determined to be there for my birthday blessing. Roc, being a typical 2-1/2 year old, couldn't sit still in church, but he wasn't ready to go to the nursery either. I tried my best to stay but decided in the end to leave early, so I didn't get the blessing.

We had a good day. It was a combination of playing and watching movies. I managed to take a short nap. I hope Roc was asleep when I was. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I made about 8 bowls of oatmeal that weekend. He couldn't get enough! At 7:00 both Sunday and Monday evenings, we went for a walk. He ran, pushed his bicycle, scooted on his bicycle, and generally wore himself out. That was the plan! After the walk, he took a bath and was ready for bed. Usually, that was the first time we went back upstairs.

Monday, I got up at 6:00, turned on the coffee pot, dressed and went back to bed so when Roc woke up, I'd be ready to take care of him and not have to get dressed. Another good plan. After breakfast, he wanted to go to the backyard. He played around a while, then he climbed in the battery-operated truck and drove it around. He's not good at turning, so I had to chase him down and help him steer away from the swing set, tree, and other things that got in his way. Then we headed to the grocery store.

I cannot believe how long his arms are! I kept the shopping cart in the middle of the isle to keep him from grabbing things. He behaved, but he was grabby ;O). He actually fell asleep on the way back home. Once we got back in the house, he fell asleep and slept for 3 hours. I managed to read, journal, and nap. Ahh, life was good!

Tuesday morning came too soon. I enjoyed my time with Roc. I can't wait to babysit him for a weekend again. I hope real soon!

My Eyes, Part 3

I don't know that I've been doing anything so important that I couldn't continue to write this blog. Let's start by saying that so far, we've found nothing that could be causing the diplopia (double vision). The brain scan was good. I have no hemoraghing, no mass, nothing that seems out of place.

So, I went for an echocardiogram. The echo showed something that concerned my cardiologist, so I went to the Methodist Hospital for a TEE, transesophageal echocardiogram, which showed nothing but some plaque forming. So far, so good. I went back to the lab for a sonogram of my carotid arteries. Nothing remarkable there either. There was some plaque, but nothing to be concerned about.

We are assuming I had a stroke. If so, it was so mild that there was really no side effects except a little memory problems and one night when my blood pressure spiked. Other than that, no symptoms, no aftereffects.

And that's a good thing. EXCEPT I still have double vision. I had a designer do a photo of a flower that shows what I see so I can show it to the doctor tomorrow for yet another appointment. This will be the third Ophthalmolgist to help me figure out what is going on. I'm guessing if he can't figure out what's going on, a neurologist is the next step.