Saw Dr. H today...

So today i met Dr. Hixson, he's an older doctor and extremely friendly, i liked him instantly. My official weight loss since my last visit was 7 1/2 lbs, darn PMS :( But that's okay cause i wouldn't want to gain next month, so if i continue to do what i'm doing i'm hoping for another few lbs lost next month. Dr. H said he felt i was making a very positive decision in choosing the DS procedure. He reminded me it is the more "risky" surgery with a 1% mortality rate, which i already knew. We also talked about the fact that at 32 (33 next week) I am at a great, healthy place to get this surgery. I am not going in with high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes or any number of other health problems that i will most certainly be looking forward to down the road if i don't get this weight off. Overall a fantastic appointment and Dr. H made me feel really good about my decision and he complemented me about being so educated about the surgery and process, as well as what will be required of me. Made me feel great :-)
Next up is the sleep studay on Sunday night, rescheduled from before when i was sick and then the next time the weather was bad. Hopefully all goes well and i get that out of the way. Then on 3/4 i go see the psychiatrist. March 15th is my next Saranac appointment and i see the nutritionist at that time too.

Down 11 lbs for January

Not too shabby for not doing a whole lot. I totally cut out soda, increased my water intake dramatically. And almost totally cut out sweet treats & junk food. I am also trying really hard to get in some kind of exercise every day, however my fibromyalgia is playing heck with that. On that note i talked to my primary doctor yesterday (when i went in for yet another cold, argh) and she also has fibromyalgia, which is great because a lot of doctors don't "believe" it exists. Anyway she is switching one of my meds for a different one to see if it will help me #1 sleep better and #2 get some relief from my current fibro flare up. She also gave me a referral to a physical therapist, Carthage has one that is doing a reflexology type thing with trigger points and she's heard good things about it and is actually going to be trying it herself.
So hopefully that will help. I have to contact my insurance and make sure they will cover it of course first.
Had to cancel my sleep study on Sunday night because of the weather, i rescheduled it for Feb 14th, so i guess i'm spending my Valentine's night with a stranger sort of, LOL.

One last thing to share, i found a way to enjoy pizza without it being super bad for me. I bought Arnold Sandwich thins (i got them at Walmart, they might have them other places), i bought the multigrain ones but they had other flavors. I put just a bit of pizza sauce on and a small sprinkle of cheese. You could top with just about anything you like on pizza. This way it's whole wheat/grains in the crust and with just a bit of cheese and maybe some veggies it's pretty darn low in fat too, as each Sandwich thin contains only 1 gm fat. That's all for now....

Sleep Study Sunday...

I'm getting a bit nervous about the sleep study. I had to reschedule it because of the pneumonia and it's this sunday night. It works out good because I don't have to worry about Faith having to stay somewhere.
I'm getting nervous though, i mean i just don't see how i'll sleep in a strange place, with all kinds of wires and such attached to me, i mean ugh......

Down some...still working on cutting out stuff...

Well I am down to 371 which is an 8 lb loss since i was weighed on the 4th at ADK.
I think i'm finally feeling better as far as the pneumonia, etc is concerned but my fibromyalgia is flared up terrible, i ache all over and am so tired. Trying to decide if i want to ask the dr. for a prescription to help or not? The motrin/aleve aren't helping much at all right now and i am just not getting restful sleep. I'm also researching alternative measures, as you know i hate prescriptions and if some vitamin therapy or natural herb would help i'd rather go that route.
I have pretty much totally cut out soda drinks. I had some Sierra Mist during the week i was most sick because nothing tasted good and that did. However since then I have had only 1 diet soda and that was when we ate out last sunday for lunch so i think pretty darn good! I change my coffee creamer to fat free, still has sugar of course but the no fat is better at this point, later i will need to cut sugar though so i'll be researching other options. I've been very very good with the sugary foods/baked goods, have had very little to almost none of that kind of food. Have also been very good with fast food and cutting out junk food at home.
My next steps are to work on eliminating all white flour products and choosing only whole grain items. Also i need to bump up the veggies and eat less of the starch, my biggest problem will be cutting out potatoes :(

Getting back in the groove of things..

Now that i'm finally starting to feel a bit better i'm getting back into the groove of things. I have been craving carbs really bad the last 2 days so i'm struggling there. I've had only 1 soda since last week's back slide due to illness. I am getting in my 60+ oz of water which is great, but i gotta cut some of the carbs.....

Vitamin D

My vitamin D level is extremely low, it's 15.8 and the normal range is 32-100. So i'm starting on a weekly vitamin D therapy and hope to get the level up soon. Might even make me feel better.

Delays and backslides

*sigh*
Well my cold turned into pneumonia,bronchitis and sinusitis - my chest is so sore and congested. On a strong antibiotic so hoping to bounce back quickly. I gave in on the soda thing Monday and have had 3 Sierra Mists cause they taste good and help settle my stomach which seems to be upset, probably from all the gunk draining from my sinus. Anyway Sunday/Monday i didn't have much appetite at all but that came back today and i ate some pizza for lunch and some toast w/ peanut butter & apple butter for dinner. Hoping as soon as i start to feel better i can get right back on track with my no soda rule and get back to exercising. Right now i can hardly go up the stairs without being severely short of breath, *sigh*.

A pat on the back...

for me....i have not had any soda since monday! i'm so proud of myself....i've gotten up to 60+ OZ of water per day! YEAH!

Sickness & dieting...

Having a cold surely does help in the diet department. I started feeling sick last Weds. night. It wasn't too bad over the weekend but it is just hanging on and not getting better. The constant nose blowing, sore throat, horrible cough, all over aches, YUCK! I havn't had much of an appetite for anything except noodle soup cause nothing tastes good and the only reason i eat that is cause i can make it boiling hot and it helps clear out my congestion. I also havn't had any soda since Monday on the way home from Saranac when i had a diet coke, YEAH! Of course we don't have much soda in the house and i am not going out to get any either, so that could be helping :)
I weighed myself this morning and am down 2-3 lbs from monday, so all these fluids and very little actual food are helping. However once i am feeling better i'm sure it's gonna be a lot harder.

UGH.. gained a pound...and other rambling..

So as i suspected I gained a pound today from last month. Yes, i realize it's only a pound but I wanted to go in with at least a small loss to show them i am committed, even through the holiday. They were great about it and just want me to keep a food journal along with my exercise journal this month so that next month if i'm still struggling they can help me identify where i am making mistakes.
As far as everything else I again have to sing the praises of this facility. I walked right into registration, on a monday morning, right in and waited on right away in a very courteous manner. Then went to lab, again walked right in and was waited on immediately and extremely courteously. Then off to the physical therapy eval, where i met Stacy, a physical therapy assistant who had surgery 3 years ago. She was inspirational, friendly and offered helpful advice. She along with the physical therapist did some basic testing of my level of fitness and showed me the plan of exercise the Dr would like followed as well as simple exercising i can do. They were great, i have confidence i will be able to increase what I am currently doing if i go at it slow. The therapist reminded me that because of my fibromyalgia going slow is important, but not to use it as an excuse not to exercise, but instead realize i just need to work at it a bit slower and not rush it, so i do not get discouraged. Then moving on i went up for my weigh in and nurse visit which i already told y ou about. On to radiology. Went right in for my gallbladder u/s. This was painful on my ribs, i don't remember it being painful when i had it done before but it was only while she was pressing and i suspect my fibromyalgia being flared up lately has a lot to do with why it hurt me. But the tech was very courteous and quick to finish up the scan. I did end up waiting about 30 minutes for my chest xray but they had new students there today starting their lessons and i suspect they got behind with that, no problem though, when they took me in the were super nice, and super quick. Last i went to the respiratory department where i got my EKG and PFT. Again taken right in and treated extremely courteously.
Overall a fantastic trip. The weather on the way up wasn't too bad, the roads where snow covered and a bit slick but it wasn't horrible. Being i had to be there at 8:15 i had to leave home at 6:15 (and ended up about 10 minutes late). Apparently the plows don't get out bright and early....On the way home the roads where just wet, no problems.
My next step is to figure out how i am going to diet this month and what i need to address first.
My first "diet" goal i have decided to be drinking water in place of soda. So no soda at all, water only. I will still have my coffee each morning, but after that only water. I hope to be into this routine strongly by this weekend.
My first "exercise" goal is to work up to 15-20 minutes (5 of 7 days) on the exercise bike, instead of the 10 minutes i've been able to do so far and to do the theraband exercise the therapists gave me at least every other day. I want to accomplish this goal by next monday.
Stay tuned as i will be updating this often with my progress. Again thank you all for your support and encouragement.