Free at last! My arm is free at last!

The cast is off!! It is so liberating to have the use of my right hand back. It's not 100% yet but I know I'll get there. The wound wasn't exactly what I, or the doctor, was expecting. Actually, the doctor came in and said "Oh shit. What went wrong?" Not something you want to hear. I cried. For some reason the stitches rolled over and it looked like a skin wave on my wrist. It has since slightly flattened out and the scab has fallen off. It looks better. I'm doing physical therapy to help get the last 10% of use I seem to be missing. I can't wait to put my bra on like a normal person!!

The hospital is offering a health screening and if you partake you can save money off your insurance premiums. Of course I participated. It consists of a blood draw for lipid panel and thyroid. The lady poked me 4 times. Like they always say "Fourth times a charm". Wait, that doesn't sound right....Anyways, they also weigh you on the Tanita scale which is what I get weighed on at the clinic. I'm down 6 pounds from my begining weight!! Woot Woot!! It's slow but it's going.

Here are my measurements from 3 months ago:
Arm~16.5
Bust~53.5
Waist~51
Hip~54.25
Leg~26.5

Here are my measurements from today:
Arm~16.5
Bust~52.75
Waist~48
Hip~48
Leg~25.5

I must toot my own horn right now. TOOT!! TOOT!!!

For the last three weekends I have been going to pumpkin patches. On October 11th, Cassie, Brandon, Travis, Jackson, Howard, Landon and I went to Fashion Farm in Ligonier. We had a good time. Here are some pictures from that:

This last weekend, Christy, Taylor, Landon and I went to the Pumpkin Patch in Elkhart. That was really cool. Here's some pictures from that:

BooBoo

I'm back on the sidelines. I've been doing great. Working out. Eating right. I'm eating right but I have to take a break with working out. I had surgery on my right wrist last Friday. I had a Ganglino cyst that had intertwinned throughout my tendons and bones. They put me out completely. I love going under! I know I'm weird but I love it! I was talking to the nurse about something and then next thing I know I'm waking up looking at a complelty different person. And, she's telling me I can't have coffee with cream and sugar yet. I said I didn't ask for any and she told me I just had. Even under anesthetics I want my coffee! Just so you know, I never got any coffee.

I was under the impression that this surgery wasn't going to be anything big. 30 minutes and Dr. Mclain is in and out. Turns out it lasted an hour. No big deal. I also thought I was going to have a nice little splint. Effective yet not invasive. This is what I ended up with (look below). I'm trying to learn how to use my left hand. It's hard. In fact, it's hard to type this out. Forgive my mistakes.

I went to Kerchers this last Sunday for their Harvest Festival thing. I went with Howard, Christy, Taylor, Landon, and Angie. I had a blast! We went through the corn maze. Taylor and Angie led us down a dead end. Go figure ;-) Landon had a hard time picking out his pumpkin. He was more interested in playing in the dirt. Eh, he's 4. Angie got an awesome green pumpkin. So did Taylor. The hayride was a blast. The family enjoyed it.

Here are my future farmers!!!

It was a good weekend despite my burgered up arm. Only 1.5 weeks left in the cast!! Yay! I'll be measuring myself at the end of the week. I'll post it for you all to see. Gives you something to look forward to ;-)

4 Pounds!

Word up! I totally thought I had already blogged about my doctor visits but I didn't. I guess some of my brains melted away along with my 4 pounds. Yup, I lost 4 pounds! Yay!! That's a pound a week. A good way to lose. I haven't remeasured yet. I'm gonna do that when I'm half way through the program. I think that will be the end of October.

The doctors said I'm doing great. I met with both Dr. Hawkins and Lunch Lady. Not real sure of the purpose of meeting with Dr. Hawkins. We just chatted. Lunch Lady and I had a nice visit. I didn't keep up with my food log very good. It's really hard to get in the habit. I'm going to buy a little notebook and keep it in my purse. I think that may help. She gave me a workbook to work on. Hence the name "work"book. I'm finding it very interesting. It delves deep into your thinking. I don't share it with anyone so I'm supposed to be completly honest. That's hard. Even when you know no one will see what you say. I'm finding that I hide a lot from myself. You wouldn't think that's possible but it is. I make up excuses for myself and I don't even know it. I've been doing it for so long. Makes me wonder what else I've kept from myself.

I have my surgery consultation next Thursday. I have a ganglion cyst on the top of my right wrist. It sticks almost half an inch up. It's also called a Bible Bump because the old remedy for them is to smash them with a large book which happened to be the family Bible. Dad whacked me twice and nothing happened. Well, something did. I screamed. I cried. And I swore. But the bump was still there. Therefore, it's getting cut out. I'm ready for that. Stupid bump hurts. I wear a brace to cushion it so I don't vomit when it accidently hits something.

Did you hear the one about me falling in Hacienda? Ever since I've turned 29 life has been rough. I've hurt about everything on my body. Not good. I'm looking forward to 30.

Watch Out For Whiplash

Alright, I'm back at it. Slight delay with the working out portion. I got whiplash from tubing at Dr. Pennington's on Sunday the 16th. I know, it sounds lame. I'm telling ya', that man was bound and determined to knock Deana and I off that tube. I was more determined to not fall off. I won yet he got the last laugh. For those of you that don't know, whiplash is very painful. Very painful.
I have tried to keep up with my walking. I seem to do much better when I go to the clinic and walk there. I'm more focused on what I'm doing. I think it's because there isn't anything to steal my focus from walking. No animals or pretty flowers for me to veer off my path to go see. No sprinklers to run through or around, depending on my mood. While walking on the treadmill I either wear my earphones or I watch the tv they have. To hear the tv you need to wear the headphones they provide. I don't wear them. I watch silently. Yeah, that doesn't really make time go by faster but it can get interesting. I like to close my eyes and daydream while I'm walking. Sometimes I picture myself walking along the beach and sometimes I'm going through the woods. Sometimes I'm just walking along and I meet the man of my dreams along the path. Never happens in real life. That's why it's called daydreaming. There's some little tidbits about my walking.

My diet has sucked ass. Yes, I said it, sucked ass. I'm not doing very good. I do try. I went grocery shopping and purchased all new food. I threw away the crap I had at home that was not good for me to eat. I really don't like having to pay attention. I don't enjoy having to see how many carbs are in the meal before I can eat it. I want to eat healthy. I really want to lose weight. Why can't I bring myself to enjoy the carb counting part? Why do I have to fight with myself? Why can't I just see where I'm coming from? Sometimes I think it would just be easier if I simply quit eating. There wouldn't be anything to count. I wouldn't have to pay attention. However, I'd get hungry. I'm not a fan of being hungry. It actually scares me. I've never been deprived of food but I'm scared of not having any. I got some issues. I have an appointment with Lunch Lady on Thursday. I'll ask her how I can handle it better.

I also have an appointment with Dr. Hawkins on Thursday. Wonder what he'll have to say to me. Not sure really what we're gonna cover. I couldn't take the medication he wanted me to. I haven't finished the book he wanted me to read. I will get weighed and find out all my new percentages. Maybe I'll get a new pair of sunglasses! It's doubtful but keep your fingers crossed!

My Goals

My goals

In this little book I have about eating right it says to set goals and reward yourself (with things other than food). This here is my list of goals and the ways I would like to reward myself. Let me know your thoughts on other ideas for rewards. How would you reward yourself? I've already been told I should use sex. I'm not ruling that out as an option, just so you know ;-)

GOAL REWARD
Lose total of 3 pounds (don't want to start off to big) Buy a new pair of sunglasses
Lose total of 8 pounds Buy a new pair of shoes
Lose total of 12 pounds Get a pedicure
Lose total of 15 pounds Buy a new outfit

That's as far as I'm gonna plan out right now. I have a total goal of 100 pounds lost. Yeah, not even going to think that big right now. I'll get scared and run away otherwise.

I did not do good this week. I only did a full workout on Monday. I didn't follow any diet rules. I thought "It's my birthday week. I'm not gonna care" Well, now I do feel rather bad. I'm back on the wagon. I never reallllllly fell off. I tried to jump off the wagon but my foot got stuck and I spent the last week hanging from the wagon bumping my head on all the jagged rocks. I pulled myself in with my massive arm muscles and I'm ready to ride again. BTW-I don't have massive arm muscles. I made that part up.

Seriously? Where's the rest of the food?

WARNING!! I am in the process of changing my eating habits. It's not going to be pretty. Please bear with me.


I met with my dietitian Thursday. She's a very nice lady, alas, I do not remember her name. Let's call her lunch lady. I had fun with her. We laughed. I cried. It was emotional. I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I love it. I didn't get this figure from shunning away from good food. Lunch lady decided to put me on an insulin resistance diet. I have a family history of diabetes and we're trying to be proactive.

The plus side is that no foods are totally out of my life. Of course most are better for me than others. The hardest part is going to be portion control. What is with this world? I am so accustomed to large portion sizes. Have you ever seen the right way? There's barely any food there. I asked lunch lady if she was hiding the rest behind her pyramid. She just laughed at me. I need to get me a set of rubber food like she has and carry it around so I can compare sizes. I am allotted 2-3 servings (which is 15 grams a serving) of carbs per lunch and dinner. 2-3 servings of meat/cheese and 1 serving of fat. I also have a breakfast and snack in there.


They took my weight again at this appointment. I gained 1.5 pounds. Not good. However, I lost 4% body fat and gained 2% muscle. They said that's good. I'm gonna believe them.

Work outs are going great. I'm actually enjoying that part. I got my Gazelle thingy set up in my living room for those days I don't feel like walking. It's a nice change up.


It's gonna be hell these next few weeks. I hope beyond hope that I start to see results. It will make it so much easier!

You won't believe it. Or, maybe you will

Good morning!

I have my dietitian appointment Thursday afternoon. I'm telling ya', keeping a food diary is not fun. You go to eat something and then it's like 'I have to write this down. Is it worth it?' I was not supposed to change my food habits at all for the first 3 weeks but I found myself tweaking it along the way. I'm super excited about meeting the diet lady. Again, no clue what her name is. Actually I'm not even sure it's a her but we're just going to assume. I'll let you know. I am scared for one thing after I start the diet portion. I don't want people watching everything I eat. I don't want to be judged for having a cookie. Of course I want everyone to help me stay on track but I don't want ridicule for what I eat.

I doubled up my work out yesterday. I wasn't really feeling anything after I did a full work out. I was tired but not sore. I want to feel it. I want to suffer ;-) Ok, that may be extreme but you get my point. I talked to Jeff yesterday after I did my 30 minute warm-up on the treadmill. He agreed that I could step it up. I am now doing 2 sets of 10 reps on each machine. I'll do that for a week and then see if I can increase my weights. My legs are sore but my arms aren't. I wish I could feel something in them. Then I'd know that it was working.

Shelly helped me measure my body this morning. I'm not seeing a change in weight but maybe there's a change in my diameter. Maybe not but it's worth a try. Are you ready for this? I'm not. But I'm gonna tell you anyways. Most of you have seen me in a swimsuit so this won't be that much of a shock for you. For the others, please pick your chin up off the floor ;-)

Arms ~ 16.5
Bust ~ 53.5
Waist ~ 51
Hips ~ 54.25
Leg ~ 26.5