Finally broke the plateau! UPDATED

As of Friday I weigh 223 ish.  Hurray!!  It goes up .4 or so pounds, but I finally broke the 225 plateau.  I was at 225 for at least a month.

I'm feeling better.  Taking longer walks on the weekends.  And I like that I don't get myself so full that I feel sick or hate myself for eating so much.

One of my best friends, Nikki, told me about cauliflower with buffalo sauce.  I want to try that so bad!  My Publix didn't have it, but I bought mashed cauliflower with bacon and cheddar cheese and mashed cauliflower/broccoli.  The first one was so yummy!  Tonight I'll try the 2nd one.  Eventually, I'll go to Winn Dixie to see if they have the buffalo one, and Wal Mart if WD doesn't.

And, no, I don't eat the whole tray at one sitting.  That's 4.5 servings!  The first tray lasted dinner Friday night, lunch and dinner Saturday, and lunch Sunday.  Each serving counts as one veggie serving.

My next box o'food should arrive sometime this week.  :-)

UPDATE:  As of 1/25 there were 156 views on this one post.  I'm not sure if people were hoping to find a secret to breaking the plateau and I didn't provide that.

There isn't one.  At least for me there wasn't.

I kept eating at or below 1200 calories.  But I did get pissed and walk more.  If you get discouraged, talk to someone.  Preferably someone that is supportive.  :-)

Weird dream with Ma and Pepsi

The dream started with me drinking a Pepsi at lunch.  I was talking to my sis and said something like, "I need this," or something like that.

Then it switched to dinner and Ma had made all kinds of meat.  Beef, chicken, ham......I took some of each plus some yummy veggies.  Then poured an insanely huge cup of more Pepsi.

Ma was never really an amazing cook.  Some of the things she made were delicious - lasagna, her sub sandwiches, lumpia, jumbalaya - but her other dishes were...normal...I guess would be the correct word.

Sis looks at me and I say something stupid like, "Well, I already screwed up, so why stop there?"

As I'm walking by one of our executive's office this morning I see a box that looks like a single layer cake box.  I sneak in, he watches me, I see it's a keyboard box and laugh.  I tell him I thought it was cake.

"How long have you been on your diet?"

I tell him I've been stuck at 225 for awhile and I'm kinda frustrated.

He then says that the box does look almost like a King Cake box and it is that time for those.  Then I tell him about my dream.  That got him really laughing.
:-)

It's a Good Day!

Fighting my fatigue - stupid thyroid.  But I'll be going for a walk shortly.

I surprised Dad at his gig Friday night.  It was fun.  He had some regular fans there.  And one couple even remembered me.  And the bartender even remembered what my new dinner order is!

Then drove back to his place Saturday and spent the rest of the New Year weekend with him and David.

It was nice just to hang out.  We watched rugby and soccer.  The scrum was a curious thing for both of us to watch.

Saturday we did a little shopping at the Exchange.

We did the Sunday puzzle.  It was a rainy day.  That's one of my favorite parts of visiting my parent's house.  We'd pass it around the 3 of us.  David didn't play that I saw.  Probably because he'd solve most of it.  :-p
But when I visit on Sundays Dad let's me have a go at the puzzle.  And it usually is infuriatingly fun.  This Sunday we solved it though!  And it was still infuriatingly fun.

I was happy coming back into work yesterday.  I needed this weekend visit.  :-)

The wooshing in my ears, the body aches, the neck pain, the surprise fatigue, and the wooshing changing to a high pitched tone - I'm really hoping the endo doc can fix all that.  It can wear me down sometimes.  But visiting Dad helped and hopefully, I can stay upbeat till my appointment in February.

More Thyroid Info for All

I met a lady this weekend who had her thyroid removed.

She told me all of her tests came back within normal range.  But one day she just rubbed her throat and felt a lump.  She very wisely mentioned it to her doctor who ordered an ultrasound.

This was 10 years ago.  And she knew prior to it being taken when it was misbehaving.  If it was over active, she felt like she could peel the paint off the walls of a room with her nails.  If it was under active, all she wanted to do was sleep.

There were days when she'd loose her voice because of the thyroid pushing on her throat and days when she'd feel like her ear was plugged up.  I have the ear plugged up thing sometimes.

Don't give up!  Even if the tests show normal, it's your body.  Talk to your doctor about all your symptoms.

Luckily, my blood work was showing my thyroid all out of wack.  I never mentioned my plugged up ear, or swollen tongue, or achiness to my doctor.  So let your doctor know everything - even if you don't think it's connected.

Christmas without Ma

Christmas on a Monday is just weird. 

This year I had 2 dogs that weren't able to travel even the 1 hour to Dad's.  So I went back and forth from Dad's to my place each day of the 3 day weekend.  Traffic was not as bad as I expected.

E2 got to Dad's around 8 or so Sunday night.  I was already home and in my jammies by then.  :-)

Christmas morning I got to Dad's around 8:30, I think.  There were presents all around the tree.  Dad was in his Christmas lounge pants and Grinch shirt.  I'm smiling as I'm typing that.

Ma was Santa at our house - the person that handed out the presents from under the tree.  This year Dad asked me to be Santa.  It threw me off balance for a second, but I dove right in.  Didn't get it quite right.  LOL - passed out everybody's presents, except my own.  But it was still fun seeing what everyone got.

While I thought everyone was having a good time I also felt like something was missing.  And I kept shaking off that it was Ma.  Because the feeling I had wasn't just missing a person in the home.

David cooked a very yummy dinner.

But that feeling stuck with me into the next day.  Until I realized it was Ma that I missed.  But not just her being in the house.  Her excitement at Christmas.  She loved Christmas.  Every Christmas Eve she'd try the same thing.  It would start with opening just one present.  Then she'd want all of us to open another one.  Again, I'm smiling typing that.  Her children telling her she had to wait till Christmas morning.

Then she'd try to stay up late, figuring 12:01 am counts as Christmas morning.  Nope, Lady, go to bed.

I've started talking to my Ma.  Normally when I'm outside working in my yard.  I'm finding it helps me relax.

We received a beautiful gift from one of Ma's sisters-in-law in Ma's memory.  An angel, I think made out of crystal.  She (the angel, not my aunt) is on the tree now, but Dad is going to keep that angel out all year long.

NS Update - Got My Bears!

It's been longer than normal since I've blogged.  I've been spending plenty of time in my own head.  But it's time to get some of it out.

I finally got my 2 bears.  20 showed up before 10 because of me logging my first 10 after they already sent that month's food shipment.  And then they forgot to put 10 in with 20 the following month.

But as you can see - they're together.
  

I'm around 229 now, but I can feel that I'm losing more.  And that's without me subtracting the 1.6 difference from my doctor's scale.

I treated myself to the turkey and stuffing entree.  Got 2 - still have one left.  It's delicious!

Christmas was wonderful because my family has been very supportive.  We had salmon burgers one day for lunch.  Baked ham on whole wheat bread another day for lunch.  And Christmas dinner was this yummy chicken, rice, bean, spicy slow cooker thing my older brother makes.

If I can't do my full 30 minutes walking due to rain or whatever reason, I'll clean in my house or wash dishes or do laundry.  I always try to find something to keep me busy at least 30 minutes a day.

The thyroid doc is going to see me in early February.  I'm so looking forward to that!  Hoping that it won't take long for the fatigue to go away.  And really hoping to get rid of the headache and the buzzing in my ears.

I just realized today is my 2 month mark being on Nutrisystem.  :-)

Hopefully, mid-January I'll be able to write that I've lost another 10 pounds!

Happy and safe New Year.

Grocery Store and a Blah Day

2 separate things, but they both happened today.  So I'm putting them on the same blog page.

I went grocery shopping before work.  And I enjoyed it.  Got my veggies, my fruit, eggs, my water flavor thingies, and toilet paper.  Winn Dixie doesn't have iodine.  :-(

As I'm walking around trying to figure out where the V8 is I realize there is so much that I do not have to buy and I don't want to buy.  I've got it all at home in the perfect serving size.  And what I did buy will last at least 2 weeks.

I got to work feeling pretty good, but then fatigue hit me hard at 10.  I drank my shake, had not gone on any walks yet.  Decided to give it a try.  Managed 5 laps around even though it's warm today and I had to dodge smokers at the end of the building.

Did another 4 at lunch.  Thyroid doc won't be able to see me until January or February.  So I'll just have to keep plugging along until then.

I don't know if the aches are due to my walks or the thyroid.  I'm hoping the constant headache and tinnitus is the thyroid.  Because that means it'll all be treated at one time.