Living Large in FL!

Here it is!  The beginning and end of my modeling career!

The night I received these pic's, I just laughed and laughed!  Could they be any bigger?   Thankfully, the Mall that this is in is about 100 miles from where I live!

Other than this, our summer is going along just fine.  We spent 5 days in Las Vegas with our family and had a wonderful time.  We also met up with Stephanie from Dreams of High Heels, and her husband who was also out there celebrating their anniversary.  We joined them at the Graceland Chaple to witness their vow renewal ceremony conducted by Elvis, himself!  Lots of fun.

On August 7, we are heading to Long Island for 6 days for my niece Elayna's graduation party.  She is the baby in the family and we can't wait to help her celebrate!

Wow...this is the longest I've every gone without posting!

Seriously, this is a very long time not to update my blog!  Shame on me.  No excuses.

The last time I blogged I was getting ready for my "Modeling Gig" for my surgeons advertising campaign.  I have to say, it was a lot of fun but boy was it exhausting!  I have a new appreciation for models.  It is hard work!  We did the shoot on Vero Beach.  It was me, my husband, the hospital publicist, make-up and hair lady and photographer.  It was about 3 in the afternoon and the beach was pretty full for an afternoon in April.  People were staring, trying to figure out who the heck I was.  It was pretty funny!  I can't tell you how many photo's this chick took but the following is the one I keep seeing on Facebook!    I laugh out loud every time it pops up too!  I am still waiting for the CD with all the pictures.  I'll post more when I get that.

The whole day was a lot of fun and it ended up with Steve and I having dinner at the Disney Vero Beach Resort with me in a wet skirt!  I had changed two times during the shoot and I just didn't have it in me to change again so I sat through dinner worrying if there would be a wet spot when I got up.  Good times!

Doing the photo shoot was a real motivator for me and couldn't have come at a better time.  I had gained 6-7 lbs during my whole SI Joint fiasco and I just couldnt get my head back in the weight loss game.  However, being asked to do this was just what I needed.  I not only lost those lbs but lost 2 more to bring me back to my current weight of 140-142.  This is the weight that I am most comfortable at.  I am still exercising 4-5 times a week and all is well in my weight-world.

Life has been crazy around here.  Steve was in the hospital two weeks ago for a couple of days but he is back to normal now.  Dr thinks it was Diverticulitis or Gastritis and he lost 8 lbs!  I have him drinking  ensure every day in addition to eating to put that weight back on.  If there is anyone who cannot afford to lose weight, it is my husband!  All I kept thinking was Damn!  Last June he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (thank God he is fine now!) and now this.  June is not my husbands month for health.  Next year we are going straight from May to July!  That will take care of that.

This Sunday we are flying out to Vegas to meet up with my girls, their guys, my sister and her two children and its all Stephanie's fault.  She had told me she was going to be in Vegas with her husband in July to renew her wedding vows and knowing that Vegas was Steves favorite place on earth, asked if we could make it.  Steve jumped at it when I brought it up and the next thing I know, he had invited the girls to come with us.  My sister than jumped on board with her kids and there ya have it!  

The girls and I are meeting Steph for breakfast on Monday and then we will see her again on Tuesday night for the re-nuptuals as only Vegas knows how to do it!  This will be our second wedding with Elvis as the officient!  After that we are all heading down to Freemont Street for lots of fun!  We have tickets for dinner at the Wynn and than we are seeing Le Reve' which is at Wynn also.  The guys are all going four-wheeling in the desert, God love them!  107 degrees in the desert is not my cup of tea.  I will be shopping with my girls!  Its going to be hot but it will be fun, fun, fun.

We get home from Vegas on July 11 and than we are heading down to Delray Beach for 3 nights to meet up with Steves brother and sister-in-law.  Than, a few weeks later we will be heading to Long Island in August for my niece Elayna's High School graduation party.  I can't wait to see all my Island peeps as I haven't been up there since March!  This is a record for me.  Don't worry though.  Steve will be with me in August and we are only there for 5 days so I will be heading back by myself in September!  So I have a very hectic Summer coming up and right now the fall doesn't look much tamer as we will be going on a Halloween cruise in October.  

You know what the best part about all this is?  Since I've been maintaining my weight these past 2 years, I don't have to fret about what to wear or what will fit.  I am not freaking out about having to wear a bathing suit in front of people either.  I am not skinny by any means but I am comfortable in my skin now.  Not a day goes by that I don't thank God and my husband for believing in me and helping me get to today!

Have a great 4th of July!

Epiphany's just keep on coming!

There is a huge (pun intended) difference between a naturally thin person and a former obese person who is now thin!  How do I know this you ask?  Well I will tell you!   In my opinion, naturally thin people are not as carb sensitive as those of us who are or were once obese.  I watch my family and friends eat and I'm here to tell you, most do not exercise and most eat a fairly balanced diet.  I don't' see them gaining weight when they go a little crazy with carbs.  Evidently, I do.

Not to bore anyone, I won't retell my SI Joint horror story BUT, I will just say that for a period of about 10 weeks, I did not exercise.  But I did eat.  I continued to eat the way I had been eating for the whole time I've been in the maintenance phase.

Basically, my maintenance phase consisted of exercising 3-5 times a week for at least an hour each time and keeping my daily calories to roughly 1200.  My goal weight was 155 and I've been steadily maintaining 142-144 without any problems.  I had gotten down to 136 at one point but that was too hard to sustain.   I did not have to pay attention to carbs and protein while maintaining, I just ate what I wanted....some days were carb heavy but most days were protein heavy.

During the period I could't exercise, although my calorie intake continued to be 1200, I somehow managed to put on a solid 7 lbs!  (my fresh daughter will tell you it was also the period of my new bread machine!  brat!!!) I am now weighing in at 149 which while still below my goal, is still too heavy for me.  I did see 150 one day (yea, I'm a daily weigher!) and I almost fainted!  My clothes are tight and I'm not comfortable.  I've been back to the gym full-on for about 3 weeks but it wasn't until last week that I took a hard look at my almost-daily food journaling.  My carb intake is just too damn high for me to lose weight!

So, last week I went back to basics and Im keeping my carbs under 50 grams and my protein over 60 grams.  This is what I did to lose the weight in the first place.

My protein gram intake has easily been in the 80-100 range and surprisingly, my total calories are coming in under 1000.  I am not beating myself up (today!) I'm just getting my head back in the losing game.  I have said it many times, I may have won the battle but the war continues and when you don't pay attention, this is what happens.

I just recently read somewhere that a regain after losing the weight doesn't make us a 'failure', what it makes us are actually 'successful failures'!  The analogy used the Challenger Shuttle disaster.  That was truly a failure.  However, I'm not sure which Shuttle it was, but one of them was on the platform in the countdown to lift-off phase and at 2 minutes to go, the computer detected a problem and shut everything down.  The Shuttle didn't go up that day, no one was hurt, and it went up another day after whatever the problem was was fixed.

I am sure I am not relaying this exactly like I read it but what it was saying was that sometimes there are no do-overs but other times, we have the ability to fix something and get back on track.  Make sense?

In other news....My surgeons office asked me if I'd consider being a 'model' for some billboard or something like that.  I am still not sure.  My initial reaction was HELL NO!  However, after sleeping on it, I've decided to go for it.  If nothing else, it will help in my motivation to lose these 7 pesky lbs by April 4th!  Actually my goal is to lose 5 lbs by then.   Wish me luck!

Finally!

The last time I was at the gym was on Dec. 8th!  Today, after all this time, I was finally given the ok to return to the gym in a limited capacity!  I am so excited.  I have really been feeling like a slug and eating way, more than I have a right to!  Thankfully, my weight has remained steady, 142-144 during this whole period.  I can really see a difference though in my  body.  It doesn't take long for muscles to forget and I'm here to tell you, mine forgot!  While the scale has remained steady, my body is no longer as toned as it once was.  That ends tomorrow!  Listen up muscles....prepare to start feeling sore!  A good sore though, I hope.

I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about the Sacroiliac Joint and I pray to God that it never gets twisted again!  It will take me a long time to forget the pain from that damn twisted joint!  I will really be taking it slow at the gym for this reason.  The last thing I want to do is have a set-back especially because my doctor said surgery is the next step if it happens again.  I do not want to go there.

My WW adventure continues although I am only doing it half-hearted.  Some days I forget to count my points.  I still love Myfitnesspal best out of all the online calculators!

Tonight my hubby is taking me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday (again) at a really nice Italian restaurant that I've been dying to try.  It will be great knowing that I can have dessert and will be working it off  at the gym in the morning!  Did I mention that it was my 50th birthday?  With the exception of the SI Joint issue, I am starting this new decade off 100% healthier and happier than I started the last one.  Salute!

Guess who is doing W*W?

Seriously.....I am now an online member!  Never thought I'd say that again!  However, I am not doing it to lose weight.  I am still maintaining 10 lbs under my goal weight.  I'm doing it mainly to stay accountable and focused during this period where I cannot exercise.

It's been a real eye-opener and its made me appreciate everything I've done during these past almost three years to get where I am.  For me, as long as I can exercise, I really don't have to scrutinize every morsel that goes past my lips.  Take the exercise away and it gets scary for me!

Thankfully I am feeling a little better every day.  It was determined that I am suffering from Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction!  What a mouthful.  It mimics lower back pain and although my MRI showed herniated disks, surgeon said my disk problem is not the problem.  He has me going to physical therapy, which has given me some relief and I am getting another epidural steroid injection directly into the SI joint.  Hopefully doing these things will get it back in place and I can avoid having surgery.  The surgery basically implants 3 screws between the hip and the SIJoint to fuse it together!  No thank you....I will only do that as a last resort!  Truth be told, I would do the surgery tomorrow if I'd exhausted my other options!  I have a very high tolerance for pain but this has brought me to my knees!

I am really starting to feel like me again.  I was getting so depressed, having to take pain pills to get through the day.  That's so not me!  It has been two days since I've taken a pill and I take that as a big accomplishment.  The pills are really good but they make me so loopy and I absolutely come to a screeching halt when I take them.  Driving isn't an option so I am stuck in the house.  Each day for the past week, I've been taking them later and later into the day.  It's a great feeling to know that I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't a train!