Thursday, September 1, 2011

Where did summer go?!

Once again, it's been almost three months since I posted last, and I have no idea where summer went!

The weather has been beautiful; sunny and dry since probably May. And we have definitely enjoyed relaxing a bit since the wedding. Seems like we had a little stress there in the begining of our 'wedded bliss', but we're past that and all is well.

I went straight from 'wedding mode' to 'baby mode' and I think that threw us into a spiral! I was almost panicked about getting old and was convinced that we didn't really have time to wait before trying to get pregnant.

The Saga continues! Here's what happened next, and what I'll likely report back on from time to time...

I knew I had some 'pre-existing issues' that may or may not require surgery before trying to conceive. So, I decided to go to the specialist my OBGYN referred me to, just to get more information and know what's really going on. Of course, this freaked Pete out big time. In the 5 years that he's been with his company, he's NEVER met the deductible on his health insurance. In two months, I met it all by myself! And thank God for Flex Spending!

Ok, so moving on, I went to the specialist and she confirmed that she did think I would need surgery before I can carry a baby. Of course, I had to go back a second time for more costly tests, to confirm that (which I really think was just another way to get more $$$ out of us). Here's the kicker... Because of all the crazies out here and the 'lawsuit mania', risk is a very important discussion for medical providers. And since I'm overweight, they won't do my surgery until I've lost a whopping 58 pounds in total!

Yes, I know I've gained some serious pounds. Stress, poor eating decisions and basic laziness will do that to ya. And I know I need to lose, so that's not a huge surprise. But to have to lose nearly 60 pounds just in order to have something as pleasant as surgery (the fact that it's outpatient surgery is beside the point here!), is kind of a kick in the groin, if ya know what I mean. And a HUGE goal. I've done my share of losing and gaining but never this much.

So, immediately after leaving the doctor's office on June 16, I started researching gyms, and started writing down everything I ate. And I do mean EVERYTHING. It was an eyeopener, but it also helped me see that calorie-wise, I wasn't in that bad of shape. I don't eat alot. I was just eating less than ideal foods, high in sodium, etc., blah, blah, blah. I was able to turn things around pretty quickly. In the week between my first and second doctor's appointments, I lost 8 pounds. That seemed kind of crazy, but it's true. Of course, then it started leveling off and it's taken lots of work, but I'm down 20 pounds as of last Tuesday morning.

I joined a gym that has locations near my house in San Jose, as well as near my hotel in Brea, so I should be covered when I travel for work. And I've managed to work out about 6 days a week. I also still track my calories pretty closely.

So, it seems I'm on the right track. But I get discouraged from time to time because I've still got a long way to go. 40 more pounds, to be exact! I was hoping to meet my goal by the end of the year, but I think that's a bit audacious with the holidays and all. I will press on and keep doing what I'm doing. It's a little intimidating though and I feel as though there's a black cloud hanging over me.

As you may guess, I get A-LOT of advice. Everyone around me is suddenly a doctor, nutritionist and personal trainer all in one! Lucky me, right? So, I've got one friend telling me that going Vegan is the only way to go. I don't agree and like meat way too much to enteratin that. Another friend gave me some really high impact aerobic workouts to do and doesn't think I'm going to succeed unless I do that everyday. Thanks to trying that, I twisted my already screwed up ankle and was actually out of commission for a few days. And an actual trainer at my gym always tells me not to focus on the pounds, think about how my clothes fit and how I look, not so much the numbers. Easy for her to say! My doctor put this goal on me and EVERYTHING I'm doing is based on the total goal of pounds lost. How can I not focus on the numbers?

Everytime I hit a plateau, I switch up my workout. Workout longer, lift heavier weights, challenge myself and make a constant goal of eating right. Bottom line is, it's hard. Really, really hard. And I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times now. Not usually for more than a day, but still. I'm travling twice a month, which forces me to try and find healthy options eating out. Not too bad here in Crazy-Healthy-California. But expensive. I want potato chips today. Lays Salt and Vinegar, to be exact. I L-O-V-E pizza. And that's a big No-No.

I'm ok with this being hard. Good things come to those who work hard. But I tend to be the most impatient with myself. 20 pounds is good. It's been 2 1/2 months. But I wanted to lose 10 pounds a month, so I feel like I'm behind. Always my own worst critic.

So, more than likely, this is what I'm going to be posting on, for a while. I'm adding my weight loss ticker so everyone can keep track of me (like you guys have the time or inclination to keep track of me!)

Other than my personal progress, Pete and I have been doing well. We enjoy having our cookouts with friends, we found a few places to fish and Pete's going to dust off the RC airplane and hopefully start flying it again. Life is good.

Thanks for reading!
Easily Distracted

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