Doctor's appointment

I went back this week to the doctor for my check up and she was quite impressed. I'm down 25 lbs. from the last time I was there. She couldn't believe how clear my breathing was considering how bad my pneumonia had been and my resting heart rate went from 105 to 72. Now that is just awesome. They did the blood work again to see how much it had changed but I haven't heard from them yet. I will let you know when I do.
I lost 2.8 pounds this week and saw a number that I know I haven't seen in awhile. I can get 30 minutes on the elliptical with out as much trouble now so next week I may start moving up the resistance. Going to the doctor really encouraged me. Especially the resting heart rate, my heart rate has always been extremely high so to hear that it is actually normal was just great. I have never really exercised or attempted to be in shape and I had no idea what I was missing. It feels so great, who knew?

Short but sweet....I promise

I know, my blogs are getting too long. So short but sweet it is. I lost 1 lb. this week and got 30 minutes on the elliptical yesterday and today. It's time to make my appointment to get my bloodwork rechecked so that should be the real test of how I'm doing.

Not perfect but one week

First of all let me say that I did excellent this week and I lost 1 ½ lbs. In just a few more pounds I will be to numbers that I haven't seen in quite a few years. I also bought an elliptical machine which is truly kicking my butt.
I've had a few people ask me exactly what I'm doing so I decide to take a few notes this week and give them to you guys. I've already written about how I don't like diets but I must say I have found one that seems pretty good for me. While doing all of my research on high triglycerides I kept reading about the South Beach Diet so I decided to check it out. It fits with everything I've read about high triglycerides and how to lower them, although this is not one of its big claims. It even has the initial 2 week period of eating no sugar so that your body gets out of that way of thinking. I have to say it is nice to have guidelines to go by but I do not follow it to an exact T. I follow it pretty closely but there are things that I eat that aren't "approved" and I still keep track of my calories and fat. There is a great site called fitday.com that will help you keep track, I just leave it minimized all day and add stuff when I eat. I've also done a lot of research on how many calories I should be eating and this part really surprised me. If you starve yourself and don't eat enough calories your body will hold on to every fat cell it can find because it goes into starvation mode and does what it has to in order to make sure it will have the energy it needs. Guess which fat cells it holds onto the hardest ladies? That's right the ones in your stomach!! You just have to make the calories good calories with no more than 30% coming from fat (this is why I love fitday.com). I have been aiming for 1400 calories a day but really from all that I've read I could eat 1600, I just find it hard to get in that many healthy calories. I am also drinking the water that I should which I have never in my life done, most days that and 1% milk are all I have to drink. I try to drink 64 oz. a day, I don't always get there but I try.
Exercising is still something that I don't really understand a lot about but I figure if I keep working on it I will get it someday. There are so many conflicting ideas about what is good and what is bad that it is really hard to know what to do. For now I figure as long as I'm moving it has to be better than what I was doing. I'm trying to gradually build up and include more and more things. I stretch before and after every time I exercise.
Saturday-Food: 1422 calories (32% from fat)
Exercise: None
Sunday-Food: 1414 calories (29% from fat)
Exercise: 2 mile walk
Monday-Food: 1350 calories (31% from fat)
Exercise: 3 mile walk, Abs exercises
Tuesday-Food: 1407 calories (31% from fat)
Exercise: 2 mile walk, Abs exercises
Wednesday-Food: 1505 calories (23% from fat)
Exercise: 3 mile walk
Thursday-Food: 1471 calories (35% from fat)
Exercise: 20 minutes on elliptical
Friday-Food: 1385 calories (32% from fat)
Exercise: 10 minutes on elliptical, 1 mile walk, Abs exercises
Some of these days really surprised me. I figured Wednesdays and Sundays would be horrible because we always eat out. I have been making some very wise choices apparently. I had a grilled chicken club sandwich at McDonalds on Wednesday and a Chicken Chalupa from Taco Bell on Sunday (did you know most of the restaurants have online nutrition information). These days actually turned out to be the lower % of fat, go figure. Thursday was great considering it was Audrey's Bday and I had a piece of DQ Ice Cream cake. So like I've said Not Perfect but hey it's better than not trying at all.

My Sweet Valentine

We have been married for 15 years now (as of Nov.21st) and I must say Mike is not a great present buyer. Usually I just get myself something and occasionally he will tell me what he wants to get me and I pick it out. I had already told him what I wanted for Valentines Day so when he said "I want to tell you what I want to get you for Valentines Day and you help me pick it out" I was all prepared to get defensive. I reminded him of what I wanted and he said that's okay we are on the same page. He explained to me what he wanted to get and I was flattered that he had come up with that much on his own. He had really put some thought into it. So we picked it out and got it Sunday but can't pick it up until today. I am so pleased and amazed that it's no big deal that I didn't get it on that day. So want to know the rest? Okay. All I wanted was a wedding band; I have bent mine up pretty badly and can't really wear it anymore. He said that he had really been trying to figure out exactly what to get me and he had an idea but he wasn't sure if they really made them. He wanted to get me a ring to represent our past, present and future. He said it had to have 3 diamonds, one for each thing. I personally had no idea that they made such a thing but everywhere we went they had sections for this (don't laugh I'm not a jewelry person, it's not something I look at all the time, I had no idea). Then we finally found the perfect one, exactly what he explained. 3 diamonds and it even has "Past, Present and Future" engraved on the inside of the band with diamonds in between. I love this ring and like I said I'm not a jewelry person. More than that though I love this man!!! Things aren't always perfect and like I said he isn't great at buying presents and he doesn't do surprises but I know that he truly loves me. The fact that he put so much thought into this really impressed me and touched my heart.

Here I go again

So I'm late checking in with you guys but everything around here has been hectic and I thought it a bit more important to get my exercise in than my computer time. It was a long week; Drew was home sick all week but is feeling better now. So now for my week in fitness; I didn't lose a single pound again!! Most of the week I was up a little and I know why but I won't go into that here. It was the same problem I was having last time and I'm trying to figure out how to solve it. It is really driving me crazy. I know I'm down some so I will just wait for it to show up on the scale. The most important part is feeling better anyway and I'm feeling much better. My muscles are really starting to tone up. My arms are littler than they have been in a long time. I'm one of those people that gains weight all over and I'm starting to really see some of that disappear. I love it!!! I actually got up early Sunday so that I could get my exercise in, for me that is amazing. Getting up early when I don't really have to is unheard of. I'm trying to add more to my exercise too. I'm walking 3 miles plus doing some weight lifting and other exercises. So hopefully it will just keep getting better.

Clinginess and other gripes

I had to take Andrew to the doctor this morning and he has tonsillitis again. He just had it in December and they said if he has it again they will send him to a specialist. Having to take him to the doctor meant that I didn't get to exercise this morning though. Normally I would just forget it but I have decided that if every time I get busy I just forget it then I'm never going to get anywhere. So after supper I went to walk, the treadmill is in our room and by the time I got done with my 2 miles every one of them had been in there at some point. Mike and Matthew were in there the whole time, Andrew and Joseph kept making appearances and Audrey was even in there a time or two. You would have thought they were afraid I was running away. I know there will be a time when I will be hoping that they will want to spend time with me so I don't fight them on it too much but sometimes it gets overwhelming, especially when it feels like they are all taking and no one is giving.
Did you know that in less than 2 weeks I will be the mother of a teenager, not that she doesn't already act like a teenager but it is just so hard to conceive that I am going to be the parent of a teen. That's what I get for being a teen parent I guess, I'm getting old long before my time.
My last gripe is quite random but for any of you that eat healthy you will understand. The media is constantly discussing this country's obesity rates and trying to diagnose the problem. To me it is really simple, take a poll and compare how many of the people that are obese are also poor. If they want people to eat healthier and become more physically fit then they should find a way to make the good for you stuff cheaper and the junk more expensive, instead of the other way around. It really is that simple; if you can barely afford to feed your family then you definitely can't afford to feed them healthily.
I'm done I promise but I do have a quick question and if anyone can give me an opinion please do. I'm considering joining the YMCA for the summer, to see how we like it, for the kids to have some things to do and for me to have a place to do some different exercises. So has anyone been a member of the Y and if so did you like it or not? Thanks in advance to anyone that can give me an idea.

It finally showed up

I was pretty discouraged when I didn't lose any last week because I knew I was smaller but it finally showed up on the scale this week. I had lost 3 ½ lbs when I got on the scale this morning. It may surprise you as much as it does me but I actually enjoy the exercising. I just feel so much better when I do it; I had heard that for years but never really believed it. Once you get past that initial phase of dreading it and just start doing it on a regular basis it really becomes enjoyable. I can't wait to get something a little different to do, which I plan on doing with income tax. The eating is really not that bad either. Once you go awhile without all of that sugar things start tasting better. I still can't quite handle the vegetables but there are a few I will eat and I'm sticking with them for now. I know that the more I lose the harder it is going to be to lose it so keep your fingers crossed and pray for me.