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| Week 24 Photo - 179 Pounds: 45 pounds lost to date |
It seems to be getting more and more common for me to hit flat spells that last about one and a half weeks, which are followed by 2 pound weight losses over a couple of days. I don't get it, but inevitably, just as I am getting very frustrated with the flatness of the progress line on my chart, I drop a couple of pounds and get right back on my trend line. It helped a lot this time to be on my 30 day plan. Even though my weight was pretty constant for the first 8 days of the plan, I was tracking my exercise and food very closely. I knew I wasn't failing, I just wasn't losing weight. This has happened enough times now that I know I just need to wait it out. I didn't even start complaining about it until Friday, and by Saturday morning I was starting to see the results of my consistent efforts.
It feels great to be in the 170s!! About 5 years ago I had worked really hard to get to 178 pounds and ended up having to have an emergency hysterectomy. What landed me in the hospital was an ovarian torsion, which is a condition that occurs when your ovary twists on itself and the fallopian tubes cut off the blood supply coming out of the ovary. The kicker is blood still goes in, but it doesn't come out. You get the picture. The ovary ends up acting like a balloon as it fills up with blood. I have been through many painful things in my life; Cesarean section, vaginal child birth, 3rd degree burns, and throat and nasal surgery, to name the ones that come to mind immediately. Nothing put me on the ground like the pain of that ovarian torsion. I was vomiting from the pain, couldn't stand up, had cold sweats. Yeah, it was bad.
We could have removed just the ovary, which would have been a simpler surgery, but I had bad fibroids on my uterus (yes guys - being a woman comes with all kinds of wonderful perks) that were causing me all kinds of problems on a monthly basis. My OB/GYN recommended taking the uterus while she was in there anyway. She promised me that I would not miss it one bit. Well, she was right about that. But I did have an ovary removed and I did have a significant abdominal surgery, and all of that did de-rail me, in spite of every effort I made not to let that happen. Over the next several years I gained about 50 pounds. The surgery and its recovery got me out of my exercise routine and I did not get that back. I am sure the hormone change caused by losing an ovary messed with my body's equilibrium. The things I used to do that always worked didn't work anymore. I had to work harder and eat less than ever before to just maintain my weight, much less lose weight. I kind of gave up on it...I just felt like I was getting old and kind of developed a f___ -it attitude.
Then I read Younger Next Year. And I was approaching 50 years old. And I knew, deep down inside, I really did want to live to be 100 years old. And I wanted to have fun getting there. Nothing tickles me more than seeing myself as a spry little old lady exploring the Long Trail with my children, grand children and great grandchildren. I am so looking forward to the adventures that are out there, 20, 30, and 40 years down the road. The fun half of my life is left. I plan on enjoying every minute of it.
So I said to myself, "Enough with the bad-attitude, already." On February 27, 2012, I made my chart, made a commitment to myself, and started this journey. In the last 24 weeks I have lost 45 pounds. I have exercised, hard, 6 days a week, every week. My cardio days now consist of running, bike riding, and endurance machines at the gym. I lift weights three days a week. I count every calorie and average less than 1500 calories a day.
My goal is to reach and maintain a weight of 150 pounds. I feel like that is a healthy weight for a 5'6" tall woman. I can maintain that weight for the rest of my life. My goal is to exercise every day for the rest of my life. My goal is to be fit, active, healthy, and engaged in life until the day I die. I don't want a slow decline into pain, incontinence, dependency, and boredom. I want to live life large and go out with a bang!! I can make that happen, but that means working at it today, tomorrow, and every day after that.
This blog is about my journey getting there. Everyone who reads my posts, whether you comment on the blog are not, help me stay accountable to my plan. My husband, my sister, Ruth, and my trainer, Jeremy (who I see once a week to help me with my weight lifting routines), are my A Team that help me stay focused every single day. I am not doing this alone. I've got help from all of the people in my life and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that!!!!
Look at you!
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