Beware of the Human Garbage Disposal

As I watched my husband eat practically a whole bag of Doritos, 150 calories per serving..12 servings per bag, I wondered how in the hell am I supposed to encourage more healthy eating in my girls. The three of us want to eat better. Not necessarily diet per se, because my girls don't need to diet, but to make smarter food choices. They do really well as long as my husband and stepson aren't eating everything in sight. Sad part is, he lets his son eat just as much as he does because he's thin. He's an active kid, and right now, he's keeping all the junk food off. It always catches up in the end though. Been there, done that.

Weight Loss Update #2

Time for a weigh-in.

Last weight: 215

Current weight: 217

Gained/Loss: +2

If I could only break my soda addiction I may not be so swollen today. I can literally feel the tightness of skin due to the extra water retention. Now, if I've been having too much caffeine, this is the result. I even had to take my wedding ring off, because it was just too tight. My feet kind of tingle when I walk because of the swelling. I really got to break the caffeine habit! LOL

I also haven't exercised in a couple of weeks. Being sick and the allergies really had me down. I didn't even go to dance fitness class, because my youngest was sick. Heading out to do an errand now, but I think I just need to PUSH myself today to work out.

Weight Loss Update

I have been sick for about a week now. My allergies have become so bad that I was forced into not going to my Dance 4 Fitness class on Saturday. What sucked even worse is that I had to go and coach my daughter's baseball game, because both my husband (who had to work) and the other assistant coach (was out of town) couldn't be there. I hate getting stuck with the dads I'd rather NOT get stuck with. One who tries to tell me how to run my team, and another who doesn't know as much about baseball as I do. Can you believe that I know more??

Later that night, at a temp of 100.2, I began to get the chills. I shivered for 2 1/2 hours straight. No matter what I did, I just couldn't get warm. Now 100.2 is not a fever, but for a person who's average temp is between 97.3-97.5, it could be. The fever went up to 101.9 after the 2 1/2 hours, but I forced myself out of bed, put an extra pair of socks on, and headed downstairs to have watermelon with the kids. I guess it was the extra pair of socks that finally did it, because all of a sudden I began to warm up. I was now at the OPPOSITE extreme. I was getting hot. Uncomfortably hot.

On Sunday we went to watch single A, least I think it's single (could be double), baseball game. It was windy there, but not as windy as here at home. When my girls were trying out for next year's cheer squad Friday, there were a lot of girls suffering from the same fate as me...runny nose, watery, itchy eyes, and a constant need for tissues. One girl had even gotten a bloody nose on Thursday from allergies.

Anyways, that brings me to the subject of my weight loss progress. I literally was too weak to move. I was tired, rundown, dizzy, achy, you name it, I probably felt it. The asthma's been kicking up pretty well, too. So my exercise routine has been shot for the week. I'm not sure when I'll be o.k. to start again. Hopefully soon, because I need to get down to my mini-goal of 210. I'm going to be realistic and give myself 2 months to do so. Here's hoping I can get back on the treadmill soon.

P.S. I am still @ 215. I guess one of the positive things is that I never eat more than what's required to maintain ANY weight that I'm at.

Weigh In

I've been really slacking in the exercise department. I haven't done any since Saturday when I went to my Dance 4 Fitness class. I've been weighing in for a couple of weeks TRYING my damnedest to go from 216 to 215. There was no sense in posting the weigh in if it hadn't changed. But today is different.

I don't know exactly how I'm managing to go down in weight without exercising everyday, eating some things I shouldn't have, and being on corticosteroid inhaler. Today's weigh in is at 215 so I'm going to knock on wood, not complain, and try to do better. I still have my first goal of getting down to 210. I think I'm finally on my way. :)

Making Smart Fast Food Choices

As I mentioned in my last post I would have tips or things of interest in regards to diet. I know with as busy as our home lives are, we tend to do the fast food thing. We often don't make the right choices in regards to the food we eat when we are out. Being informed is key, and that's why I'm totally loving the nutrition sections you can find on all your favorite fast food sites (Taco Bell, Wendys, Arbys, McDonald's, etc.). Most of them have a 'customize' your selection. Here you can see all the nutritional information...don't want cheese? Just remove the cheese from your selection and the new totals appear.

Burger King has the 3-1-1 on food. Here you can find tips on carbs, fat, etc., to help you make the right choices when eating at there. McDonald's has meal selections. This could be a combination of an egg mcmuffin with orange juice for breakfast. It, too, has the low down on the carbs, fat, etc.

I know that I had been ordering a Toasted Classic Italian Sub from Arby's with everything that came on it. The calorie of that baby was more than half of my caloric intake for the day! When I checked to see the values after I had started ordering it without the ham, garlic mayo, and italian dressing, it cut the calories down by over 200! Just taking out the mayo cut twenty, yes TWENTY grams of fat out of the meal, and 183 calories!

Sometimes I can't help but order things with everything on it, but, here's where another tip comes in, you have to burn 3500 calories just to lose 1 pound of fat. I have to ask myself is something worth it to have to work twice as hard to get it off? Most times it's no. I know you're thinking 'It should be all the time', but I don't think people necessarily have to deprive themselves. Treat yourselves once in awhile...the key is MODERATION.

Exercise Sucks, But Somebody's Got To Do It

Crap, don't I wish I weighed what this scale says. LOL

I finally got the treadmill sorted and was able to start back on it after about a two month hiatus. I wanted to do a mile in 20 minutes or less. I didn't quite do a mile, and I stayed on over 20 minutes. It's amazing how much you can go backwards when you haven't done your routine in awhile. I had worked myself to doing the mile in 20 minutes and sometimes even under that before I had my fall.

I am determined to keep up with it this time though. Here's my exercise plan. 4x a week-cardio 3x- a week weight training and/or pilates. I'm going to try this for one week to see if there's a difference or there is something that I might need to change up. It's all about find that right combination that is for you.

From now on, I'm going to record my exercise log on my side bar. I do have a food journal, which I'm ashamed to say, I have totally neglected that last 3 or 4 weeks. It's time to start back up. This does help in seeing what you're eating, what you can cut out, and adjust accordingly.

I'll have some tips (or I should say things that I've discovered) later. By the way, I did the 'unofficial' weigh in yesterday and I was 216.8. I was 217.4 for a LONG time. It's not a big difference, but every little bit is another step closer to my goal. My first being: Getting down to 210.

Another Lab Report

This is an actual graph of my last five TSH values. One neat thing that Kaiser has on their website if you are a member.

Just got the results of my current TSH lab. I'm now at a value of .2 with the normal ranges being .2-5.5. Of course I will be told that I am in the 'normal' range and nothing should be done with my medication. I think that they would be right in regards to the medication. It's probably more of the way I've been taking them.

In theory, you should take your thyroid meds the same way at the same time everyday. In reality, my brain fog kind of hinders my ability to 'remember' to take these meds, so I'm taking at different times and sometimes close together. I'm going to try and make more of an effort to take them at the same time everyday even if it means hearing an alarm go off on my phone 3x a day.

What I do know is that, if I'm in the higher range values and in the lower range values, I don't feel well. There were days when I was in the higher range where I felt almost comatose. I would want to just close my eyes while driving, and that's not good. The lower range seems to bring on the symptoms of hyperthyroidism (when there's too much thyroid production-overactive). Hence, the reason I'm losing LOTS of hair right now. But then again, on the higher end I lose hair as well.

It is totally possible to have hypothyroid and be hyperthyroid as well. Another lovely symptom on the hyper end is being hungry all the time. Now you know that I'm struggling like crazy to lose weight, and I'm sure this can't be helping. I will say that I've been decent in my eating habits for the most part. But, being on the hyper end has been making crave a lot of junk. Did I succumb to some of those cravings? Unfortunately, yes. I know now why I'm having those cravings, so I know that I need to be at around 1.0 to feel my best. Anything over or under, my body just wants to give me a hard time.

Here's an interesting fact, those who don't have any thyroid problems usually have a TSH level of 1.3. There are many who have over that, but because it's considered normal, they're not giving the extensive testing. Millions have thyroid disease and never know it. Some, like myself for the first four years or so of my disease, get dismissed, un/misdiagnosed. If you feel the symptoms of thyroid disease then MAKE your doctor give you the right tests. If he/she's not willing to do it, then it's time for another doctor.

I'm grateful that I finally was able to get Cytomel. I had to ask for it, but it's made all the difference in the world. My very first TSH test after arriving in California was 3.9 then it went to 4.5, 4.2. Luckily, I had changed doctors in the Kaiser system who actually would change my meds to help me feel better and stabilize. I did eventually see an Endocrinologist who I had to ask the Cytomel for. Like I said, I'm going to try taking my meds different so they're not lumped so close together, and I'm not getting too much thyroid hormone. In these eight plus years I still have not had my TSH levels stable out. All trial and error I suppose. I know my body better than anyone else.

I Actually WANT To Be A Big Loser

One of my favorite guilty pleasures to watch on t.v., considering I don't really like to watch a lot of t.v., is The Biggest Loser. For the first time in 5 Seasons, two females (Ali and Kelly) are in the finals, and the two guys that were 'below the yellow line' are up for elimination. I knew that if it was left up to the women, they would have kept Mark and gotten rid of Roger. Roger is someone they've been wanting to get rid of for awhile because he's just an arse. Everyone on the show was surprised, to say the least, when it was announced that the viewers would vote which of the two men would go to the finals. I put my vote in, and I hope the viewers do the right thing by voting for mark.

As I was browsing the website after voting, I noticed that there was a widget. It tracks your weight loss. So down below, on the bottom of my blog, is the widget. Check it out. It's kind of cool, and it's free.

I don't know whether I'm brave or stupid, maybe both lol, to post the embarrassing number that is my weight. But how can I expect to talk about weight loss with doing so?

Dance Class

Dance 4 Fitness class was fun. There were only 4 people for today's class, 2 were uber thin and another lady and myself weren't (I'm the heaviest :( lol). I managed to keep up with today's workout and only wheezed a bit after. I'm sure each class is going to get more intense which is good, but we'll see if I can keep up. Seems the older and bigger I get, the less coordinated I've become.

Calling for an appointment with my doctor tomorrow and see if I can't get in on Monday. I want to just be checked out to make sure that my getting winded after intense exercise and going up steep inclines (like in Yosemite) isn't more than just my asthma.

I'm going to post my first weigh-in next Saturday. Unfortunately, I'm still 217.4 lbs. You would think I could at least lose 5 oz to get to the 216 mark, but NO! LOL

Tried to adjust the treadmill belt yesterday, but it's still slipping. I read the instructions on how to 'oil' it, but I'm confused. : / I'll have to let Stinky do it, because I think it actually requires more work than just oiling it. LOL

Finally got back to my belly dance workout this morning. The show "Shimmy" comes on at 10:00 a.m. here, and it's on Fit TV. Tuesdays usually have a few of the episodes on so I might do two sessions on those days. You can see a short video here.

I signed up my girls for hip hop dance with a teacher's aide who happened to be the school's cheer coach, too. She is trying to start her business here in our small town. She was a cheerleader with Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and the Golden State Warriors. She's also offering an adult hip hop aerobics class either as pay-per-class or $30 for the month (it's $10 per class). I decided to sign up for one class to see if I can handle it. Only problem now is having to get up early on Saturday to make the 8 a.m. start time!

My Diet Plan...(or an attempt anyways) LOL

Here's the current photo of me taken during a trip to Yosemite just about a week ago. Can you see the swelling? Another lovely symptom of thyroid disease LOL

O.K., here goes a photo of me now and one of my goal. I had lost about 40 or 50 lbs before when I was 28. I had gained all this weight by being lazy and having a diet of many, many sodas, and chocolate (this went on about 3 or 4 years). I didn't watch what I ate. I never had to before, but after having my first child, that's when my metabolism decided to start playing tricks on me. LOL
Here's my goal photo. This is when I first lost weight. I weighed about 120 here. I'm going to be realistic and try to go for 130 (which is a good weight for a person my height with my frame).

Anyways, I'm not 28 anymore (nearing 42 now), and I acquired an under-active thyroid. So, like I said before, it's not easy for me to lose weight, and it was HELL when the pounds packed on in only a span of 3 or 4 months. Not only that, I gained about 40 more pounds in the last 2 1/2 years of the 3 years since I moved to California. I think I can attribute it to not being active, not working (I'm a SAHM), and even though I still don't eat a lot, I can still gain weight. Everything is an uphill battle.

I decided that eating 1600 calories is still too much for me to effectively lose weight. With no thyroid function at all, which controls metabolism by the way, it would be hard to burn that off. It takes burning 3500 calories to lose ONE pound. I'm not completely sedentary, but I'm not very active either. I bought this book called The Supermarket Diet. I am doing a variation of this diet with other things to try and see if I can lose more than 1/2 pound a week. Right now I'm not losing any. But, I've maintained what I've lost so far.

This is how the plan works: First, you do two weeks at 1200 calories. It gives you a shopping list, menus, and recipes. They way I'm going to variate on this is through the menu. The second week you up to 1500/1600 (can't remember exactly) for a few more weeks. Last, is the maintenance plan. To be honest, the second phase will probably what I need to do for maintenance.

Can I do 1200 calories? Probably. Though I tried before and got so light-headed, but I'm determined. If anyone else has some other tips, I'd love to hear them.