Well looks like all that exercise has a downside.... I've developed several spots of staph infection (the resistant kind) on the backs of my legs way up high near the top where my bathing suit and underwear elastic goes on my legs and in some other nearby places. They are very painful and really, really horrible to look at. (good thing no one else can see them!) I went to the dr. today (I first noticed them on saturday) and he said it's because of all of my increased exercise. He said that the rubbing and friction of my bathing suit when I swim, my underwear when I walk and do the elyptical and the pressure/friction of the bicycle seat at the gym caused "hot spots" where my skin was sore and then bacteria got in them from all the sweating I do and possibly also from germs at the gym and germs in the pool. The fact that I spend 80% of my time in gym clothes or a bathing suit isn't good because those fabrics don't let enough air through and being overweight also contributes to the problem, of course.
Maybe I'll have to get an exercise video and do it naked at home so nothing is rubbing against anything!
So, now I'm on heavy duty does of antibiotic again and no swimming or any kind of exercise that puts pressure on those areas until they heal, probably a couple of weeks.
I'm pretty upset about it. I tried negotiating with the dr. to at least allow me to swim but he was pretty firm that if I didn't take care of these, then he have to put me in the hospital for IV antibiotics. Apparently these resistant staff infections can be pretty serious. It's possible that the ones on my legs were a result of spreading from the finger infection, but he doesn't know.
He said I can still take walks as long as I wear loose fitting clothes that don't rub or cause friction, but I'm bummed because walking burns the least amount of calories for me and is the least favorite. I don't mind a short walk a day with Midnight, but to burn the amount of calories I burn when I swim, I'd have to walk for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and I'm not able to do that, either physically or time wise. I guess I can still go to the gym, but no bike and he said to sit on a towel on the weight machines because of the germs.
Who would have thought that all the increased exercise would have such a negative consequence. Exercise is supposed to be good for you, not cause these kinds of problems! I'm quite frustrated (and very uncomfortable - it hurts to sit!)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Good things aplenty tonight!
I lost another 6 pounds this week, for a grand total of 38.8 pounds in about 6 1/2 weeks. I'm quite pleased. We all have to write our "stats" on the board like how many shakes we had each week, how many exercise calories burned, how many days in the box, etc. Tonight, since it was week 4 (but remember I did 1 1/2 weeks in the prior class), we had to put our 4 week weight loss. Mine was the second highest and was only 1 pound less than this one guy. That was nice to see!
People are starting to notice and mention it to me, so that's also nice. And here's a great thing - I noticed something tonight that was really positive reinforcement. Most of you would never notice that the seats at some movie theaters are larger than the seats at others. (Generally the newer theaters have larger seats and the ability to raise the arm rests.) Unfortunately I do notice these things because some of our local theaters are downright uncomfortable with the arm rests pressing into my legs. One of these theaters was the one I was going to this evening with a few fellow mom friends from school.
Well, guess what? My butt fits noticeably better into the seats at that theater, which last time was quite uncomfortable. A very nice surprise and made an already excellent movie (The Women) and fun night out with friends even better!
But it gets better yet. When I bought my ticket, the guy at the window said "$5.50." I said "huh? Isn't it $10?" and He said "well, yes, technically it is, but I accidentally pushed the button from the kids price so instead of voiding it, I figured I'd do something nice for you and charge you less." That was nice.
But it gets better yet. After the movie (which, did I mention, was EXCELLENT?), we went next door to Peets Coffee for a hot beverage. I asked the guy working which herbal tea he recommended and he told me his choice. He asked if I wanted it as a tea bag or loose tea, so I asked what he recommended and he told me and I said that would be great. When I tried to pay, he wouldn't take my money he just smiled and said "this one's on me." But when my friends bought their tea, he took their money! Must have been my lucky night. I hope he didn't think I was flirting with him. :)
Anyway, it's midnight and I just got home so I better see what needs attending to in the house. It was a great night out and I'm very pleased with my progress.
We've been enjoying the kids' break and getting some projects done around the house and relaxing.
People are starting to notice and mention it to me, so that's also nice. And here's a great thing - I noticed something tonight that was really positive reinforcement. Most of you would never notice that the seats at some movie theaters are larger than the seats at others. (Generally the newer theaters have larger seats and the ability to raise the arm rests.) Unfortunately I do notice these things because some of our local theaters are downright uncomfortable with the arm rests pressing into my legs. One of these theaters was the one I was going to this evening with a few fellow mom friends from school.
Well, guess what? My butt fits noticeably better into the seats at that theater, which last time was quite uncomfortable. A very nice surprise and made an already excellent movie (The Women) and fun night out with friends even better!
But it gets better yet. When I bought my ticket, the guy at the window said "$5.50." I said "huh? Isn't it $10?" and He said "well, yes, technically it is, but I accidentally pushed the button from the kids price so instead of voiding it, I figured I'd do something nice for you and charge you less." That was nice.
But it gets better yet. After the movie (which, did I mention, was EXCELLENT?), we went next door to Peets Coffee for a hot beverage. I asked the guy working which herbal tea he recommended and he told me his choice. He asked if I wanted it as a tea bag or loose tea, so I asked what he recommended and he told me and I said that would be great. When I tried to pay, he wouldn't take my money he just smiled and said "this one's on me." But when my friends bought their tea, he took their money! Must have been my lucky night. I hope he didn't think I was flirting with him. :)
Anyway, it's midnight and I just got home so I better see what needs attending to in the house. It was a great night out and I'm very pleased with my progress.
We've been enjoying the kids' break and getting some projects done around the house and relaxing.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I hit 5000!
Very exciting news, folks. Our P.A. (physical activity, calories burned from exercise) goal for each week is 2000 P.A. calories. As I've mentioned, I've been closer to 4,000 because I've been exercising so much. (Some people in my class don't event meet that 2,000 goal, although one or two consistently do over 6,000 and one was a 9,000 last week.) This week I set a personal goal for myself to hit 5,000 and I did it! Woo hoo! I've been swimming an hour almost every day, which burns 900 calories, and yesterday I did an hour and a half. Add to that a day or two at the gym (instead of swimming) and some walks with Midnight (in addition to swimming) and I got to 5,000 fairly easily.
We'll see tomorrow how it affects my results at the scale!
I think I might make my goal 7,000 for this coming week. That would be 1,000 a day, which is do-able if I don't miss a day of swimming. We'll see - that might be a bit too optimistic.
We'll see tomorrow how it affects my results at the scale!
I think I might make my goal 7,000 for this coming week. That would be 1,000 a day, which is do-able if I don't miss a day of swimming. We'll see - that might be a bit too optimistic.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Weekend Recap
Harrison at his soccer game. It was a great game, with his team winning 2-1. Harrison had two great quarters as goalie, preventing all goals from the other side and sacrificing his body to do it. He took a pretty good hit in the head that stunned him for a minute, but he was ok. He also did great on offense for two quarters and scored one of the two goals.
Michela had a great soccer game yesterday too. This is her scoring a goal. She scored the winning goal and her team also won 2-1.Jacob had his usual saturday of dance, dance, dance, but he loves it. He went to the studio early to do some drop in classes (he's unlimited so he can go whenever he wants) and was there from 9-6. We all met him there for an hour lunch break from 1-2.
Friday night we just hung out at home and I went for a long swim. Last night Jacob and Michela and I went to a play to watch two of their good friends (but one was sick and wasn't in it afterall) and Harrison went to a youth group event.
Today all 3 kids had hebrew school and youth band and Jacob and Michela had a youth group event for their youth group. Marlon and I went to the gym together this morning. The kids and I played soccer in the park this afternoon and also threw tennis balls for Midnight so he could play too. Then we came home and played some board games.
Tonight Jacob and Michela went to dinner at my mom's and spent the night there with her. Harrison hung out with some friends at one of their houses. Marlon and I decided to go see a movie -- My Best Friend's Girl -- which was not that great but was a little bit funny.
That's about it. Low key and mellow weekend, but good family fun. I have a zillion things on my to-do list for this week, so let's see how productive I can be.
How was YOUR weekend?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Progress continues and other stuff
Just got back from weight loss class -- down 4.6 more for a total of 32.2. In 5.5 weeks, so that's pretty good! (although I do like those 6 and 7 pound weeks better!) Everything is going good with it. In fact, my health educator gave me the "go ahead" to start entrees. A couple of people in the class started them already. I'm going to wait one more week (mostly b/c I had already bought my shakes and didn't want to stand in line again) and then have one entree every day. Yippee! Lasagna, pasta and chili, here I come! (all in portion controlled low fat little packages, of course.)
Tomorrow is the last day of school before our fall break. We aren't going out of town because we travelled enough over the summer to last for awhile. We're just going to hang out, I will continue to exercise and to work (I've been trying to increase my working time) while the kids play, ride bikes and have playdates and we'll work in some swimming, beach time, museums, movies and the like. We're re-doing Jacob and Michela's bedrooms, so that's a good project, and we have some cleaning out to do of the garage, playroom, etc. A huge project is going to be to go through all of the various photographs that we just have in boxes and organize them. That will take HOURS. We need photographs for the Bar Mitzvah slide show, etc., and I want to get back into scrapbooking. So, don't be surprised if you get a whole envelope of pictures of your kids from the last several years!
I also want to make sure everyone does a lot of reading and some extra writing, Harrison is doing a science fair project for extra credit and some extra credit social studies projects and Jacob and Michela are taking a writing workshop with some of their friends. I may sign them all up for a 3 day cooking class as well and it's also the Jewish holidays.
Please send good thoughts to my sister and brother in law (Nicole and Darren) and their kids. They live in Houston and have been uprooted due to Hurricane Ike. Their house is fine and they are fine, but they have no power so they were at a hotel and are now at my inlaws, but it's been hard, Darren needs to get back to work, the kids want to get back to school since it had just started and they love it, and I think Nicole has had enough and really wants to get back into their normal routine.
Lastly, I LOVE my new laptop computer. It has so many neat programs and I've been spending time getting up to speed on how to use them, organizing files and so forth.
Tomorrow is the last day of school before our fall break. We aren't going out of town because we travelled enough over the summer to last for awhile. We're just going to hang out, I will continue to exercise and to work (I've been trying to increase my working time) while the kids play, ride bikes and have playdates and we'll work in some swimming, beach time, museums, movies and the like. We're re-doing Jacob and Michela's bedrooms, so that's a good project, and we have some cleaning out to do of the garage, playroom, etc. A huge project is going to be to go through all of the various photographs that we just have in boxes and organize them. That will take HOURS. We need photographs for the Bar Mitzvah slide show, etc., and I want to get back into scrapbooking. So, don't be surprised if you get a whole envelope of pictures of your kids from the last several years!
I also want to make sure everyone does a lot of reading and some extra writing, Harrison is doing a science fair project for extra credit and some extra credit social studies projects and Jacob and Michela are taking a writing workshop with some of their friends. I may sign them all up for a 3 day cooking class as well and it's also the Jewish holidays.
Please send good thoughts to my sister and brother in law (Nicole and Darren) and their kids. They live in Houston and have been uprooted due to Hurricane Ike. Their house is fine and they are fine, but they have no power so they were at a hotel and are now at my inlaws, but it's been hard, Darren needs to get back to work, the kids want to get back to school since it had just started and they love it, and I think Nicole has had enough and really wants to get back into their normal routine.
Lastly, I LOVE my new laptop computer. It has so many neat programs and I've been spending time getting up to speed on how to use them, organizing files and so forth.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Just checking in
I can't believe how quickly the time flies by...it's already Tuesday. I see from my sitemeter reports that many people check the blog every day. That's so exciting - I love that I've generated such interest. And I'm sorry that I haven't posted new posts as often as you check - I know when I check my friends' and families' blogs it's disappointed when it's the same post day after day. I'll try to be better! :)
One interesting thing that is new is that we tried out a new babysitter this weekend -- Harrison! He has been staying alone for awhile now and staying with Jacob and Michela during the day, but not at night. We decided that he's getting too old to have a babysitter -- the babysitters that we used to use when the kids were all little were in middle school, 7th and 8th grade. As they got older, we continued to use them, so they were highschoolers, but now they have busy social lives on weekends. So, what are we to do? Go back to middle schoolers? Let's see... a 7th or 8th grader? Well, um, yeah, that would be a DATE for Harrison. So, it's time for him to be the babysitter. We tried it out sat night when we went to a party at a neighbor's house not too far away and it went great. Jacob and Michela respected him and listened and in return he didn't boss them around. They all know what to do if there are emergencies. So we'll save some money too and the kids really enjoyed the privilege of staying home alone together.
I had a two nice compliments this week. One was at the gym on sunday morning. A guy who I used to see there all the time when I used to go two years ago was there and he noticed and remembered me. He said it was so great to see me back because he had wondered long ago where I had gone and if I was ok. He said that my smile lights up the room. Isn't that sweet?! Marlon better watch out! Just kidding - he's like 60 or something. But it definitely made my day. That and the fact that I could do my 10 minutes on the eyptical trainer without feeling like I'm dying. Oh, and I increased my mph on the treadmill! I'm definitely noticing that I'm in better shape. Then today, at the pool, after I finished my full hour of laps, this guy who was also there (relaxing by the pool, not swimming) said "wow, you're an incredible swimmer." Yeah, right. Incredible? Even Jacob and Michela beat me across the pool hands down. But I CAN sustain my swimming for an hour without problem, so I guess that's pretty good. And I do burn 900 calories when I swim an hour, so that's really good! The compliment was nice anyhow.
So, as you can see, the exercise is going well. The diet is too - I'm pretty used to it now and it's just routine. I'm hoping for another good week at the scale, but, if not, I know the week after will be good.
Aside from that, not much else is new. We had a great weekend of normal weekend activities -- soccer games, baseball games, dance classes, hebrew school, some playdates, etc. Harrison had fun at the school dance on friday night and Jacob and Michela and I and two of their friends (and one other mom) went to see the sing-a-long version of Mamma Mia, which was really fun!
I'll update again on Thursday after my weight loss class! Have a good couple of days and don't forget to comment and let me know what YOU'RE up to!
One interesting thing that is new is that we tried out a new babysitter this weekend -- Harrison! He has been staying alone for awhile now and staying with Jacob and Michela during the day, but not at night. We decided that he's getting too old to have a babysitter -- the babysitters that we used to use when the kids were all little were in middle school, 7th and 8th grade. As they got older, we continued to use them, so they were highschoolers, but now they have busy social lives on weekends. So, what are we to do? Go back to middle schoolers? Let's see... a 7th or 8th grader? Well, um, yeah, that would be a DATE for Harrison. So, it's time for him to be the babysitter. We tried it out sat night when we went to a party at a neighbor's house not too far away and it went great. Jacob and Michela respected him and listened and in return he didn't boss them around. They all know what to do if there are emergencies. So we'll save some money too and the kids really enjoyed the privilege of staying home alone together.
I had a two nice compliments this week. One was at the gym on sunday morning. A guy who I used to see there all the time when I used to go two years ago was there and he noticed and remembered me. He said it was so great to see me back because he had wondered long ago where I had gone and if I was ok. He said that my smile lights up the room. Isn't that sweet?! Marlon better watch out! Just kidding - he's like 60 or something. But it definitely made my day. That and the fact that I could do my 10 minutes on the eyptical trainer without feeling like I'm dying. Oh, and I increased my mph on the treadmill! I'm definitely noticing that I'm in better shape. Then today, at the pool, after I finished my full hour of laps, this guy who was also there (relaxing by the pool, not swimming) said "wow, you're an incredible swimmer." Yeah, right. Incredible? Even Jacob and Michela beat me across the pool hands down. But I CAN sustain my swimming for an hour without problem, so I guess that's pretty good. And I do burn 900 calories when I swim an hour, so that's really good! The compliment was nice anyhow.
So, as you can see, the exercise is going well. The diet is too - I'm pretty used to it now and it's just routine. I'm hoping for another good week at the scale, but, if not, I know the week after will be good.
Aside from that, not much else is new. We had a great weekend of normal weekend activities -- soccer games, baseball games, dance classes, hebrew school, some playdates, etc. Harrison had fun at the school dance on friday night and Jacob and Michela and I and two of their friends (and one other mom) went to see the sing-a-long version of Mamma Mia, which was really fun!
I'll update again on Thursday after my weight loss class! Have a good couple of days and don't forget to comment and let me know what YOU'RE up to!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Much better week at the scale!
I didn't have to take a sledehammer to the scale at my weight loss meeting tonight. I swear if I had another week of no weight loss, I would have! But I lost 6.8 pounds, so I'm much happier. And that's real fat pounds lost because my ankles and feet are STILL swollen. So I'm still retaining water. So the good news is that another week I should lose a lot again because at some point all this water retention will go away. The bad news is that, well, I'm still retaining water, which is annoying.
I saw my own Dr. yesterday for a follow up to my finger infection (which is still red) and he said not to worry about it (the water retention OR the finger!) He thinks it's my body's way of adjusting to either the diet itself or the huge reduction of calories. Eventually it should go away. The dr. at the weight loss place seemed to agree.
In the meantime, I'm trying to drink even more water (I'm drowning over here), keep my feet up and swim a lot.
Anyway, it's a total of 28 point something in 5 weeks, so an average of 5.5 or so pounds a week. I'll take it! :)
Not much else new. I wrote about all the new stuff on Tuesday. marlon is still gone but comes home tomorrow night. We're all well and good.
I saw my own Dr. yesterday for a follow up to my finger infection (which is still red) and he said not to worry about it (the water retention OR the finger!) He thinks it's my body's way of adjusting to either the diet itself or the huge reduction of calories. Eventually it should go away. The dr. at the weight loss place seemed to agree.
In the meantime, I'm trying to drink even more water (I'm drowning over here), keep my feet up and swim a lot.
Anyway, it's a total of 28 point something in 5 weeks, so an average of 5.5 or so pounds a week. I'll take it! :)
Not much else new. I wrote about all the new stuff on Tuesday. marlon is still gone but comes home tomorrow night. We're all well and good.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Living Up to Our Name
We're back in the full swing of activities, so we're living up to our name the BUSY Boarnet's. It's been hectic around here with dance starting back up (Jacob dances mondays, tuesdays, one hour on wed, thursdays and saturdays. Michela just on mondays, tuesdays and thursdays), hebrew school starting (sundays for all three kids, wednesdays for Jacob and Michela, Tuesdays for Harrison), soccer (practice mondays for Michela, mondays and wednesdays for Harrison, then games for both on saturdays), youth band (for all three sunday after hebrew school), etc. It's hard to keep it all straight, much less get to it all!
Harrison was going to play fall baseball, as he usually does to keep his skills up, but he's decided to take a break from baseball and try water polo instead. It's a smart move in my opinion. Although he plays rec soccer and basketball in addition to baseball, water polo is an excellent sport for high school and he may decide he likes it. Plus, fall baseball games are on sundays and it just makes our sundays so hectic with hebrew school and youth band and many of the games conflict with hebrew school anyway. This way they can go to hebrew school and youth band from 10:30 to 1:30, then we can have family time in the afternoon to do things like go to the beach, go to a museum, etc. It's much better. Esp since our saturdays are crazy with two soccer games and all of Jacob's dance.
Marlon is out of town this whole week (Monday to friday) which always makes things tougher because I don't have anyone to help get the kids everywhere they need to be. For example, Jacob and Michela had dance monday and then had to come with me to Harrison's soccer game, so they had to do their homework and eat at the soccer field. It works, but it's better when there's two of us here so they could have stayed home. I can't even fathom how my divorced friends handle it. But the ones I'm thinking of only have one child, so at least they don't have to juggle multiple activities.
I've been enjoying the new Beverly Hills 90210. That was my all time favorite show back then. I watched the 2 hr season premiere that I taped this afternoon while I sorted laundry and then watched tonight's episode live. So far I don't think the show is as good as the original, but it's entertaining enough to watch.
There are so many things on my "to do" list that I'm feeling very overwhelmed. You know I get that way sometimes. I'm so far behind on work, household stuff, Bar Mitzvah planning, etc. But at least Jacob and Michela's bday party is planned and taken care of.
I'm heading up a new Middle School Task Force committee at school to design and implement ways to enhance the extra curricular and social aspects of our middle school. We are a small middle school (being K-8) which has definite advantages but some disadvantages. The committee members have a TON of energy, enthusiasm and ideas and I'm looking forward to working with them.
The diet is going well. I haven't gone out of the box at all, even when I picked up burgers and fries for the kids at In and Out and had to drive with them sitting next to me on the front seat while I took them home! I've been around food and preparing food more than most people on the program so I'm proud of how I can just "tune it out." It just goes to show that when I'm eating again, I don't have to eat everything in sight. :) I'm still retaining some water in my ankles, though, so I'm worried about what the scale will say in two days. My dr. said fluid retention from salt takes awhile (like a couple of weeks) to go away and be patient. I'm drowning in all the water I'm drinking, I'm swimming a ton and I'm putting my feet up like they suggested. Short of hanging upside down (which I may actually try tomorrow!) there isn't much else I can do. If I have a week where I don't lose anything again, I swear I'll take a sledgehammer to that stupid scale!
Ok, well, gotta go now. More on Thursday after my group!
Harrison was going to play fall baseball, as he usually does to keep his skills up, but he's decided to take a break from baseball and try water polo instead. It's a smart move in my opinion. Although he plays rec soccer and basketball in addition to baseball, water polo is an excellent sport for high school and he may decide he likes it. Plus, fall baseball games are on sundays and it just makes our sundays so hectic with hebrew school and youth band and many of the games conflict with hebrew school anyway. This way they can go to hebrew school and youth band from 10:30 to 1:30, then we can have family time in the afternoon to do things like go to the beach, go to a museum, etc. It's much better. Esp since our saturdays are crazy with two soccer games and all of Jacob's dance.
Marlon is out of town this whole week (Monday to friday) which always makes things tougher because I don't have anyone to help get the kids everywhere they need to be. For example, Jacob and Michela had dance monday and then had to come with me to Harrison's soccer game, so they had to do their homework and eat at the soccer field. It works, but it's better when there's two of us here so they could have stayed home. I can't even fathom how my divorced friends handle it. But the ones I'm thinking of only have one child, so at least they don't have to juggle multiple activities.
I've been enjoying the new Beverly Hills 90210. That was my all time favorite show back then. I watched the 2 hr season premiere that I taped this afternoon while I sorted laundry and then watched tonight's episode live. So far I don't think the show is as good as the original, but it's entertaining enough to watch.
There are so many things on my "to do" list that I'm feeling very overwhelmed. You know I get that way sometimes. I'm so far behind on work, household stuff, Bar Mitzvah planning, etc. But at least Jacob and Michela's bday party is planned and taken care of.
I'm heading up a new Middle School Task Force committee at school to design and implement ways to enhance the extra curricular and social aspects of our middle school. We are a small middle school (being K-8) which has definite advantages but some disadvantages. The committee members have a TON of energy, enthusiasm and ideas and I'm looking forward to working with them.
The diet is going well. I haven't gone out of the box at all, even when I picked up burgers and fries for the kids at In and Out and had to drive with them sitting next to me on the front seat while I took them home! I've been around food and preparing food more than most people on the program so I'm proud of how I can just "tune it out." It just goes to show that when I'm eating again, I don't have to eat everything in sight. :) I'm still retaining some water in my ankles, though, so I'm worried about what the scale will say in two days. My dr. said fluid retention from salt takes awhile (like a couple of weeks) to go away and be patient. I'm drowning in all the water I'm drinking, I'm swimming a ton and I'm putting my feet up like they suggested. Short of hanging upside down (which I may actually try tomorrow!) there isn't much else I can do. If I have a week where I don't lose anything again, I swear I'll take a sledgehammer to that stupid scale!
Ok, well, gotta go now. More on Thursday after my group!
Friday, September 5, 2008
P.S. Addendum to Last Post
Thanks for all the great comments and the emails you sent after the last post. I love the support and feedback. Keep the comments coming! :)
Several of you expressed curiousity, via email, about the "loudmouth" in my class who was going to eat his heart out all weekend. People wondered if he came back. Yes, he was back. Yes, he proudly told us that he ate all weekend. He started the shakes on the Tues after Labor Day, so just a couple of days ago. He had less of an attitude last night, so that's good, but he still asks a ton of questions and makes some pretty strange comments. I actually feel kind of sorry for the guy in a way -- he waited til his wife (who is also on the program) left the room to go to the bathroom (so obviously something he's hiding from her) and then asked our health educator how to handle the withdrawal from alcohol symptoms. I guess he was wondering if anyone else had that problem. He shared that he was used to having 4-5 drinks a day and it's been hard the last two days not to have that and could he cut out the alcohol gradually. Sounds like he needs a different program in addition to this one!
Several of you expressed curiousity, via email, about the "loudmouth" in my class who was going to eat his heart out all weekend. People wondered if he came back. Yes, he was back. Yes, he proudly told us that he ate all weekend. He started the shakes on the Tues after Labor Day, so just a couple of days ago. He had less of an attitude last night, so that's good, but he still asks a ton of questions and makes some pretty strange comments. I actually feel kind of sorry for the guy in a way -- he waited til his wife (who is also on the program) left the room to go to the bathroom (so obviously something he's hiding from her) and then asked our health educator how to handle the withdrawal from alcohol symptoms. I guess he was wondering if anyone else had that problem. He shared that he was used to having 4-5 drinks a day and it's been hard the last two days not to have that and could he cut out the alcohol gradually. Sounds like he needs a different program in addition to this one!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Good and the Bad
There's good stuff that happened today and then there's not-so-good. To start off on a positive note, Happy 10th Birthday to Jacob and Michela! It's hard to believe that 10 years ago today they were born and we became a family of five. They are sweet, funny, sensitive, smart, insightful, talented, loving and amazing kids and we are so lucky to have them in our lives. They give us joy and laughter every day.
They had a pretty good bday, considering it was a school day. I took them a special lunch at lunch time, then I brought choc chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for them to hand out to their class at the end of the day. Then tonight we went to Ruby's for dinner.
They are having an amazing party on Oct. 10th. It's a "TEN's" party. They are turning 10. The party is on the 10th day of the 10th month. It ends at 10 p.m. Everyone will get 10 small items in their goodie bags. They are doing 10 different activities. Their dinner will be 10 food items. There will be 10 toppings on the ice cream bar. A guy who brings these huge screens and sets up Wii game systems, other games, Dance, Dance Revolution, Kareoke, etc. will be coming with all of his stuff and the kids will have a blast!(We're sort of trying him out as a vendor for the cocktail party at the Bar Mitzvah).
The other good thing is that I'm typing this blog entry on my new, fully loaded Dell Inspiron laptop computer. The computer consultant was here all day tues and today getting it set up and getting me going. It's an amazing machine and can do everything! And I mean everything. I have more cool software than I ever thought of. I have so many wonderful programs on it, but now I need to figure out how to work them all. Patti bought it for me to use to do my work for her and I'm looking forward to putting it to great use for that as well as putting it to good personal use.
Ok, now the bad news. Not really bad, but disappointing. and very annoying. I didn't lose ANYTHING this week. I stayed exactly the same. My ankles are very swollen, which indicates I'm retaining water. I can see and feel it. So I knew I wasn't going to lose as much, but I thought I'd at least lose a pound or two! They said I probably have 3-6 pounds of fluid - mostly due to the increase in sodium intake (the bullions they told me to take), the high humidity and the fact that it's hot. They said I'll probably just lose more next week and that the water retention would correct itself. I'm trying not to be discouraged because what's important is the average weight loss and one isolated week doesn't matter, but when you don't eat anything and don't cheat, you expect to get good results! It was a good week from all other respects, though -- emotionally, staying in the box, doing a lot of exercise, etc.
That's all for now. Let me know what you've been up to!
They had a pretty good bday, considering it was a school day. I took them a special lunch at lunch time, then I brought choc chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for them to hand out to their class at the end of the day. Then tonight we went to Ruby's for dinner.
They are having an amazing party on Oct. 10th. It's a "TEN's" party. They are turning 10. The party is on the 10th day of the 10th month. It ends at 10 p.m. Everyone will get 10 small items in their goodie bags. They are doing 10 different activities. Their dinner will be 10 food items. There will be 10 toppings on the ice cream bar. A guy who brings these huge screens and sets up Wii game systems, other games, Dance, Dance Revolution, Kareoke, etc. will be coming with all of his stuff and the kids will have a blast!(We're sort of trying him out as a vendor for the cocktail party at the Bar Mitzvah).
The other good thing is that I'm typing this blog entry on my new, fully loaded Dell Inspiron laptop computer. The computer consultant was here all day tues and today getting it set up and getting me going. It's an amazing machine and can do everything! And I mean everything. I have more cool software than I ever thought of. I have so many wonderful programs on it, but now I need to figure out how to work them all. Patti bought it for me to use to do my work for her and I'm looking forward to putting it to great use for that as well as putting it to good personal use.
Ok, now the bad news. Not really bad, but disappointing. and very annoying. I didn't lose ANYTHING this week. I stayed exactly the same. My ankles are very swollen, which indicates I'm retaining water. I can see and feel it. So I knew I wasn't going to lose as much, but I thought I'd at least lose a pound or two! They said I probably have 3-6 pounds of fluid - mostly due to the increase in sodium intake (the bullions they told me to take), the high humidity and the fact that it's hot. They said I'll probably just lose more next week and that the water retention would correct itself. I'm trying not to be discouraged because what's important is the average weight loss and one isolated week doesn't matter, but when you don't eat anything and don't cheat, you expect to get good results! It was a good week from all other respects, though -- emotionally, staying in the box, doing a lot of exercise, etc.
That's all for now. Let me know what you've been up to!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Weekend Recap - Fun times!
It's late so I should be going to sleep, but I thought I'd do a quick update now because I'm working all day tomorrow (our computer consultant is coming to get me going on my new laptop!) and I know I won't have time to post.
We had a mellow but great long weekend. I was pleased with myself that I got through quite a few difficult food challenges without going out of the box!
Friday night we had a dinner reception at synagogue before services, with foods from "Around the World" with several area caterers presenting their specialities. We (Marlon and I and the kids) were in charge of the juice bar, which involved buying a million different kinds of juices, setting up the bar, and being the bartenders during the hour long food reception. It was fun (we did it last year too and I enjoyed creating different "mocktails" with the juices) and it kept me from being too upset about not eating, although the room smelled so good. I did torture myself a little bit (I have no idea why!) because I walked around to see what everyone was serving and it all looked so good. That was hard! So I quickly scurried back to the safety of the bar, where I could sip my 5 calorie glass of Minute Maid Limeade and not think about the food I was missing. The musical service with the special "Friday Night Live" band was incredible and it was a great evening.
Saturday Harrison and I had a good two hour session at the gym, and, aside from that, we just hung around at home much of the day. The kids all have big science tests this week, so I quizzed them and we just did stuff at home. In the afternoon we went to the pool and met up with some friends there and had an impromptu pizza dinner at the pool (another food challenge, but I just had my shake and ignored the pizza.) The two boys of one family (Harrison's good friend Chasen and his brother Colt) ended up spending the night at our house, which was fun for the kids.
Sunday morning Jacob and Michela each had hour long instrument lessons with our youth band director at temple, then we went to the temple family picnic at the park. Tons of food around, so again, another food challenge, but I just talked to people and ignored the table of goodies. It is certainly teaching me that I can have fun at these various kinds of events without eating everything! When I'm off of this diet, I'll be thrilled just to be able to munch on the vegetables and fruits - forget about the chips and dips! The kids played all the games and activities, Marlon and I talked, and even Midnight had a great time because everyone wanted to pet him. He's such a good dog that we can take him to things like that and he's not wild or difficult. he just hangs out by our feet.
After re-grouping at home, doing some more studying, etc., we decided to go to Laguna Beach around 4 p.m. Marlon watched the kids in the water (they did their boogie boards and played in the waves, etc.) and Midnight and I took an hour walk on the walkway. It was so great. It was really, really nice to have a change of scenery for my walking and what better place than the beach. And there were tons of people with dogs there, of course, so Midnight enjoyed quite a few "meet and greet" sniffs! By the time we were done walking, everyone was hungry, so we ate a picnic dinner on blankets on the grass. (I love Laguna Beach because it has a grassy area where we set up our stuff so everything doesn't get all sandy.) I had packed my chicken soup in a thermos and it stayed warm and was quite tasty. The rest of the family had a tuna salad and a pasta salad that I made, plus cheese and crackers, yogurts, fruit, etc. After we were done eating, it was after 6, so Midnight was allowed to go down to the water (between Memorial Day and Labor Day dogs are allowed on the beach after 6. Now that it's after Labor Day, they can be there anytime.) He LOVED the water, which was great because last time we tried going down to the water he didn't want anything to do with it and was freaked out. This time he kept splashing around and jumping the waves. It was so cute and he had so much fun and of course the kids had fun jumping around with him. The only negative is that the car is such a mess from all the sand everyone trekked into it!
We stayed up way too late after the kids went to bed working on the list for the Bar Mitzvah. It was agonizing because we had to cut people that we really wanted to invite. You all know me - I love to throw a good party and want to include *everyone.* But, unfortunately, space, budget constraints and a large amount of extended family make it impossible to include everyone we'd like and Marlon took to the list with a red pen like a slasher with an ax! (I know he had to keep me in check :) We stayed up til 1 a.m. going over it together, negotiating and discussing, and then I was up until at least 3 because I couldn't fall asleep because I was still thinking about it!
Then, amusingly, we both had strange dreams about the Bar Mitzvah and the guests. Marlon's was the best - he dreamed that a couple of our close friends were the waiters at the party!
Today Jacob had a private dance lesson, then we went to the JCC for their Labor Day pool party, which was fun. They had a bar-b-que and lots of water games and activities. (Another food challenge because it smelled so good, but I got through it.) I was even able to sneak upstairs to the gym for a workout, not as long of one as usual, but something.
Tonight we had dinner at home, studied a bit more for the science tests, did some reading, watched a little tv and then the kids went to bed. Marlon and I watched "It Happened in Vegas" (cute movie) and he's already in bed and I had better get up there too!
I hope you had a great weekend too. Tell me about it!
We had a mellow but great long weekend. I was pleased with myself that I got through quite a few difficult food challenges without going out of the box!
Friday night we had a dinner reception at synagogue before services, with foods from "Around the World" with several area caterers presenting their specialities. We (Marlon and I and the kids) were in charge of the juice bar, which involved buying a million different kinds of juices, setting up the bar, and being the bartenders during the hour long food reception. It was fun (we did it last year too and I enjoyed creating different "mocktails" with the juices) and it kept me from being too upset about not eating, although the room smelled so good. I did torture myself a little bit (I have no idea why!) because I walked around to see what everyone was serving and it all looked so good. That was hard! So I quickly scurried back to the safety of the bar, where I could sip my 5 calorie glass of Minute Maid Limeade and not think about the food I was missing. The musical service with the special "Friday Night Live" band was incredible and it was a great evening.
Saturday Harrison and I had a good two hour session at the gym, and, aside from that, we just hung around at home much of the day. The kids all have big science tests this week, so I quizzed them and we just did stuff at home. In the afternoon we went to the pool and met up with some friends there and had an impromptu pizza dinner at the pool (another food challenge, but I just had my shake and ignored the pizza.) The two boys of one family (Harrison's good friend Chasen and his brother Colt) ended up spending the night at our house, which was fun for the kids.
Sunday morning Jacob and Michela each had hour long instrument lessons with our youth band director at temple, then we went to the temple family picnic at the park. Tons of food around, so again, another food challenge, but I just talked to people and ignored the table of goodies. It is certainly teaching me that I can have fun at these various kinds of events without eating everything! When I'm off of this diet, I'll be thrilled just to be able to munch on the vegetables and fruits - forget about the chips and dips! The kids played all the games and activities, Marlon and I talked, and even Midnight had a great time because everyone wanted to pet him. He's such a good dog that we can take him to things like that and he's not wild or difficult. he just hangs out by our feet.
After re-grouping at home, doing some more studying, etc., we decided to go to Laguna Beach around 4 p.m. Marlon watched the kids in the water (they did their boogie boards and played in the waves, etc.) and Midnight and I took an hour walk on the walkway. It was so great. It was really, really nice to have a change of scenery for my walking and what better place than the beach. And there were tons of people with dogs there, of course, so Midnight enjoyed quite a few "meet and greet" sniffs! By the time we were done walking, everyone was hungry, so we ate a picnic dinner on blankets on the grass. (I love Laguna Beach because it has a grassy area where we set up our stuff so everything doesn't get all sandy.) I had packed my chicken soup in a thermos and it stayed warm and was quite tasty. The rest of the family had a tuna salad and a pasta salad that I made, plus cheese and crackers, yogurts, fruit, etc. After we were done eating, it was after 6, so Midnight was allowed to go down to the water (between Memorial Day and Labor Day dogs are allowed on the beach after 6. Now that it's after Labor Day, they can be there anytime.) He LOVED the water, which was great because last time we tried going down to the water he didn't want anything to do with it and was freaked out. This time he kept splashing around and jumping the waves. It was so cute and he had so much fun and of course the kids had fun jumping around with him. The only negative is that the car is such a mess from all the sand everyone trekked into it!
We stayed up way too late after the kids went to bed working on the list for the Bar Mitzvah. It was agonizing because we had to cut people that we really wanted to invite. You all know me - I love to throw a good party and want to include *everyone.* But, unfortunately, space, budget constraints and a large amount of extended family make it impossible to include everyone we'd like and Marlon took to the list with a red pen like a slasher with an ax! (I know he had to keep me in check :) We stayed up til 1 a.m. going over it together, negotiating and discussing, and then I was up until at least 3 because I couldn't fall asleep because I was still thinking about it!
Then, amusingly, we both had strange dreams about the Bar Mitzvah and the guests. Marlon's was the best - he dreamed that a couple of our close friends were the waiters at the party!
Today Jacob had a private dance lesson, then we went to the JCC for their Labor Day pool party, which was fun. They had a bar-b-que and lots of water games and activities. (Another food challenge because it smelled so good, but I got through it.) I was even able to sneak upstairs to the gym for a workout, not as long of one as usual, but something.
Tonight we had dinner at home, studied a bit more for the science tests, did some reading, watched a little tv and then the kids went to bed. Marlon and I watched "It Happened in Vegas" (cute movie) and he's already in bed and I had better get up there too!
I hope you had a great weekend too. Tell me about it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)