Diet Pulpit

It is amazing what a few weeks can do when you stay focused, get moving and put your health at the top of the priority list. I’ve incorporated daily walking into my schedule and it has really added to my energy levels, positive mental and emotional outlook, and is helping to keep the scale to budge in the right direction.

I have jumped on the scale a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It seems a bit surreal to be only 8.5 lbs away from reaching my goal target weight – which at the beginning of this journey seemed like an impossibilty. Back then every day was a struggle and filled with pain, no energy, depression, worry and gloom. Today I’m off all medications, no pain, and I have been walking every morning for a little over a mile for a couple of weeks now, eating more fresh, organic vegetables (from our farm share), reaching for new goals by taking classes in qi gong (something I’ve wanted to do for years!). The actual number on the scale is not important – it is how I feel in my body, my health and the quality of my life – which is 110%.

Week 77- 148.5 8/28/10
Week 76- 152 8/21
Week 75- 153 8/14
Week 74- 153 8/7

Wishing everyone health and happiness, Lady Rose

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I am ONLY 13.5 lbs away from reaching my goal (140 lbs). I am confident I will be able to get there and looking forward to years and years ahead of feeling great, having lots of energy and enjoying my life and being with my family and friends.

Yesterday I had my one year check up at the bariatric surgery office – all my bloodwork came back fabulous and all my vitamin levels are doing great. My vitamin D is no longer low! I will be sticking with the vitamins and eating plan I have been using, since they are obviously working. The nurse practioner said their goal for patients is lose 50% of their weight in the first year. She said I was doing great and I’ve lost 82% so far. My BMI when I first went to their office back in Jan. 2009 was 52, my BMI now is 26.

7/10/10 Week 70 – 159.5
7/19/10 Week 71 – 159
7/23/10 Week 72 – 158
7/31/10 Week 73 – 153.5
(8/2/10 Weighin at the doctor’s office, last afternoon 157 lb)

I am starting experiment with some healthy recipes too. I posted two over on my other blog – Edamame with Asian-style Sauce and Quinoa Salad. I’ll post a couple more later in the week.

Health and Happiness, Lady Rose

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The progress continues slowly but surely, with my focus on my health which is going strong and a lot less focus on the numbers on the scale.

This week’s weighin puts me only 20 more pounds to go before reaching my goal, and only 5 pounds away from my wedding day weight (Sept. 1, 1991 – 155 lbs)

Week 69 (7/5/10) 160 lbs
Week 68 (6/27/10) 161 lbs
Week 67 (6/20/10) 162.5 lbs

I am scheduled for my bloodwork next week to test vitamin levels and other things. The bloodwork is in preparation for my ONE year follow check up schedule Aug. 2. My gastric bypass surgery was on August 6th, 2009 – this year went by fast! I am often amazed at the transformation and how much healthier I feel and how much more energy I have.

This year, in early spring, my family joined a farm share at a local organic farm. Every week we pick up lots of fresh veggies (including so far tons fo mixed greens, white radishes, carrots, peas, green beans, and much more). We are all eating healthier and enjoying what we eat a lot more because it tastes so fresh and very, very, very good.

Wishing every good health and happiness, Lady Rose

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Last weekend I was away for four days at Spirit of Womongathering, so no official weighin for Week 65.  Three vegetarian meals are served daily, and I enjoyed a small amount of a variety of fresh and healthy food while there without going overboard at any one meal.  I did a lot of walking around the camp, attended awesome workshops and danced to drumming every night.  I also worked three hours every morning in the kitchen.  It was great being able to help out and do so much physically without the enormous amounts of pain I was in two years ago when I attended.  (You can read the first part of review of Womongathering HERE at my other blog 2 Witches Blog, and I will be posting more about there over the next few weeks).

This weeks scale reading:  162 lbs   (a total of 3 more lbs gone since the last weighin)

ONLY 22 more pounds to go to reach goal!   

Weighin Summary – a weekly log of weighins from the beginning of this blog May 1, 2006 to the present (covering weight lost, regained, and weight lost again and now almost within reach of goal!)

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One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my journey to regain my health is that willpower is not the answer.  Willpower ebbs and flows.  It is helpful at times, but a lot of times it is not enough to keep you putting one foot in front of the other to reach a goal.

I had gastric bypass surgery last Aug – but that only gave me a tool to help me on my journey back to health, it is not full proof and it still takes determination and doing the work necessary to make it happen. It was definitely the turning point in my life – I had struggled all my life starting back when I was 13 years to to lose 5 to 10 lbs (trying to be the perfect 120 lbs), until reaching my highest weight of 308 lbs in Jan. 2008.

One lesson I’ve learned is to NOT depend on will power – that comes and goes – it takes structure and rules. Every one needs to find what “rules” work for them, and know themselves well enough to know when or if a rule can be broken now and then or never.

Some of my rules are:
Drink lots of water and take high quality vitamins every day.
Don’t give up – plataeus will happen, but stick with it.
NO sugar at all ever! There are no exceptions to this.
ONLY 3 meals a day – no snacking ever!
No fat or very low fat items ONLY for items bought premade, but mostly cook simply and healthy at home
Plan ahead – for the week I know what I’m having for breakfast and lunch, and I have a basic dinner plan with a few options so I can easily pick and chose during the week.
Keep a food journal and record everything – it really really does make a difference – EVERYTHING is written in my food journal (a steno pad I keep next to the calendar in the dining room)
Eliminating trigger foods and addictive foods – if there is something I know I will crave if I taste it, I treat that food like a “drug” and I don’t have it – ever! (foods have been chemically manufactured to get us addicted to the salt, fats, etc. – so I just remind myself I don’t want to be controlled by any money grabbing company – and I stick with mostly fresh whole foods).

Following rules may seem a bit harsh at first – but really it isn’t. Once the addictions and cravings passed (about a month or two) – it’s a matter of putting myself and my health as my top priority and not instant gratification of a food item.

It’s sooooo worth it.

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I am now 25 lbs from goals! (5 more lbs dropped this month) Wahoo! As exciting as that is I am keeping in mind that NUMBERS do not count (not weight, not age, etc.) – yes it’s nice to have a visual goal to keep in sight, but my main focus is on getting healthy and enjoying life.

This weekend we started our farm shares – weekly pickup of lots of fresh, organic produce at a farm about 15 minutes from our home. This week the share included dark green lettuce, red lettuce, mixed greens, spinanch, white radishes, and we picked our own strawberries (3 pints). We also got to snip some herbs (catnip for our kitty, and some oregano and lemon balm). The farm shop also carries other items from farms in the area such as organic eggs, honey, and roasted coffee. We had a great time at the farm and are looking forward to visiting every weekend from now until November. If there are farms near you that you can buy shares from, I highly recommend it. It may seems like a lot of money to put out all at once up front – but over the course of the entire year it is a lot cheaper for all the wonderful produce you get, plus it is so much fresher, healthier for you, and better for the environment too since the produce isn’t shipped from all over the country.

The freshness of the produce makes such a difference; the taste is great. Even my daughter (who is 14), who used to eat only romaine lettuce as a salad has been enjoying a big bowl of mixed dark green salad every day (with very little dressing on it!). The white radishes were amazing and the strawberries were out of this world.

This week on Thursday I will be leaving for Womongathering, a four day retreat - I’m so excited. I’m taking my mom this year and she is just thrilled. She has only been once before when we went at least 20 years ago (I don’t remember exactly when it’s been that long). Two years ago Mama Kelly and I went together and we had an awesome time (see post: Highlights of Womongathering 2008). 

I have also been working on getting a new venture underway.  I am now a Slumber Parties consultant (offering education and quality products to empower women, and improve romance and intimacy). You can read more about it in my post Silliness, Secrets and Sexy Surprises. I am having a lot of fun, meeting awesome women, and looking forward to expanding my inventory over time.

I am now on Facebook (profile link) and have a new Twitter account too, please feel free to friend me and\or follow me.

May weighins
Week 64 165 lbs 5/31/10 (a Monday weighin)
Week 63 167
Week 62 167.5
Week 61 169

Wishing every one health and happiness, Lady Rose

Slumber Parties consultant contact information:

Cynthia King
Your Confidential Romance and Intimacy Enhancement Consultant
I want to give you a FREE shopping spree and discounted items for having a FUN “Ladies Night Out” get together. 
Website: Slumber Parties by Cynthia King – Shop my website 24/7 with confidential and secure orderin!
Email: cynthia.king@slumberparties.com
Facebook page: Slumber Parties by Cynthia (direct link: http://www.facebook.com/SlumberPartiesbyCynthiaKing)
“Like” my facebook page for HOT HOT deals and discounts!

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Wahoo! Just got a clean bill of health from my cardiologist today. I no longer have to see him and I am off all medications.

At my appointment back in Jan. 2009 – I was 282 lbs (on the office scale), had congestive heart failure, on high blood pressure medicine and an aspirn a day, and pre-diabetic. NOW – no medication not even a daily aspirn, blood pressure is fine, all bloodwork is excellant, heart is fine, and only 173 lbs on the office scale (home scale 170 lbs) – with only 30 (33) lbs more to go.

He was my favorite doctor to visit and I’ll miss him – but I’m so glad I no longer need to have regular checkups every few months.

I am celebrating the good news by picking up some new undies for myself – all the one’s I own now are old and waaaaaay to big! LOL

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I have to admit I was totally stunned when I weighed myself this morning. I usually take an official scale reading on Saturday or Sunday but I was visiting my best friend Mama Kelly this weekend so didn’t have access to my home scale until this morning.

May 1, 2010 – 170 lbs

Can you believe it!!! I’m not sure I can. I keep thinking it was a trick of the lighting or the humidity and rain were affecting the digital reading.

For comparison here is the photo I took when I first started this blog.

May 1, 2006, 293.5 lbs.

From May 1, 2006 to now has been a roller coaster. I managed to get down to 218 lbs by May 1, 2007, but the weight loss stopped and eventually I gave up for awhile and gained everything back and more, reaching my highest weight of 308 lbs Jan. 31, 2009. (See weighin summary for weekly for details and progress photos page.) .  What a difference four years can back~

What does weighing a 170 lbs mean? For starters it is life changing, but also

• it means I’ve lost 136.5 so far from the day official starting over date of March 1, 2009, (or 138 lbs from my highest weight of 308 on )
• it means I reached a milestone of being only 15 lbs away from what I weighed on my wedding day (Sept. 1, 1991) and ONLY 30 lbs away from my goal weight.
• It also means I am feeling healthier and have more energy then I have had in years.

It can be a long and frustrating journey to regain one’s health – but let me assure you all it is soooooooo worth it. Dont’ give up, keep going and find what works for you and then stick to it.

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The past few weeks have been a slow and steady progress to a healthier me.  I’m now finding that some of my extra large pants are getting to big and have dipped in to my small pile of large size clothes that I had set aside.  A few months ago I was fortunate to have run into a sale at a local discount type store and had found pants on sale from $3 to $5 and tops from $5 to $7, so I picked up a few extra large things that I needed and a few size large for later.  Well now it’s later and I’m actually wearing them! It is a really extraordinary feeling to slip in to a size large now instead of the previous 2x and 3x sizes I used to wear (my highest weight: 308 lbs Jan. 31, 2009).

I am loving the qi gong classes I’m taking on Thursday nights (this sessions runs for 13 weeks) and I practice daily.   Last night there was a charity event at a belly dancing studio in my neighborhood.  The cost of the introductory class was donated to a cancer resource center.  I’ve always loved belly dancing and perhaps I’ll look into doing a class now and then (the studio allows “drop-ins”). My focus right now is learning and practicing qi gong, but the belly dancing could be a fun night once in awhile.

Here are my weighins for the past few weeks:

Week 53  187  (3/14/10)
Week 54 184 (3/21/10)
Week 55 182 (3/28/10)
Week 56 180.5 (4/3/10)
Week 57 179.5 (4/10/10)
Week 58 178.5 (4/18/10)
Week 59 174.5 (4/24/10)

I find myself staring at the scale almost in disbelief – it seems a bit surreal to only be 34.5 lbs away from my goal weight (and only 19.5 lbs away from what I weighed on my wedding day, Sept. 1, 1991). The most important thing though is how much healthier I feel and how much less pain I feel every single day. No matter what the scale says now or in the future, getting healthier is still my main goal.

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Can you believe it has been a whole year since I officially got back on track and in that time I’ve a lost a total of 118.5 lbs, (and down 120 lbs from my highest weighin of 308 lbs on Jan. 31, 2009).

However, the month before the “official” starting over date I was 308 lbs, so I’ve actually lost 120 lbs all together since the beginning of the pre-op stage preparing for gastric bypass surgery (Feb-Aug. 2009) to now.

Week 52 – weighin 188 lbs

It has been much longer though since this whole journey began.  It has been a frustrating journey since I started blogging about my weight loss.  It all began with an Introduction post dated April 30, 2006, weighing in with a starting weight of 293.5 lbs.  The next day, May 1, 2006 was the official first day of my journey to getting healthy.  Over the course of the next two and half years I managed to lose 99 lbs but  hit a wall and began gaining rapidly no matter what I did, and ended up gaining it all back and more and hit 308 lbs in Feb. 2009 (weekly weighin summary).  This had happened so many, many, many times in my life since I was 13 years old and trying to lose 5 to 10 lbs in order to weigh 120 lbs that I just felt like I was doomed to fail. 

My health was getting worse, I was in pain constantly, and emotionally I had hit bottom.  But I picked myself up and through the fog of depression and pain, to kick off the new year in 2009 I decided to look into gastric bypass surgery. Now after the six months pre-op of more doctors visits than I care to remember in preparation for surgery and seven months post op, I am so glad I did it.  I am feeling healthier, happier, and optimistically looking foward to enjoying life.

I still have my goal of 140 lbs in mind, but it is not written in stone.  I am focusing on taking one day at a time, one pound at a time, and moving forward to improve my overall health and well being rather than just a number on the scale.

One thing I am doing to improve my health is learning qi gong.  I have always been interested in learning about qi gong for healing and last month I met with a couple who teach it here in New Jersey.  I signed up for a seminar (an afternoon class) at the end of this month and a summer intensive class (for two weekends) in July.  I’m very excited to finally be able to feel well enough to pursue my goal of learning gi gong.  The first step is learning gi gong to improve my own health, but I plan on continuing my education as far as I can in order to be able to help others learn about it too.

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