The Journey begins with me page 5

[athomeontherange]

WTH WAS I THINKING?? SODA! LIQUID SATAN! crap moving on...

well yesterday was the official clean out the pantry to rid the house of grains, nonsense and yes, the occasional expired food. You name the grain and I had it in abundance and properly labeled. What was I thinking?? Oh yeah.. CW! 6 black trash bags later.... trash day is not until Friday and the can is full. Had to buy another can for outside. Now I have a nice set of empty tupperware cabinet storage containers and rubbermaid storage containers. The pantry looks empty and I am all right with that. With the pantry being fairly empty I do not feel bad having my mega freezer full of healthy food.

[athomeontherange]

Ok.. have hid a skid in the road but I am just going to run over it rather than let it stop me. The edema is kickin my butt on the scale. Soo.. Not going to look at the scale until.....Oct 31 (why not). I am on a whole30 or rather a bacon30 and so far am doing well. You know, I had not been using a food diary for a while but I think for my own peace of mind, I am going to start up again.

Dr. BB suggested finding my sweet spot and that is my focus.. I am not going to focus on my Dr and his comments. I feel better. My clothes, while they do not hang on me, go on easier (that has to count for something).

Good news: My 4:30am workout buddy is ready to go starting Monday! I think my feet are ready to go as well.. the edema will be there until I lose the weight and if I don't workout, I wont lose it as steadily and wont be as healthy (vicious circle I am going to circumvent). I am going to work with my gazelle (not much impact) as a beginner with the tootsies and also work on my core and strength training. I WANT TO DO A PUSH UP!!! Course I am a wimp right now... but that is a goal!

[athomeontherange]

I have the feeling of success today.

1. I DID NOT want to get up at 4:30a to workout. I seriously thought of baling, but I didn't. I worked out and it felt good.
2. I DID NOT succumb to the delicious looking cake bon-bon's in the lounge. Nope, I pulled my delicious chicken salad from the fridge and a bottle of water and had that instead. I ALMOST forgot/baled on the bacon30, but I didn't.

Its the little things, ya know? In fact, I do not feel sad about the bon-bons or the extra sleep time.. these are happy, healthy decisions!

[athomeontherange]

I am mastering my sugar consumption and am doing very well.. have not succumbed! It seems with every reward there is a trip on the road.. so, I have this bump on my arm I think may be a sting, although I have no idea where I would have got it. (painful and itchy) I think well.. it will just get better, not going to stress it. The next day there are a few more and this morning I have like 5 on my hand. Starting to freak out I head to the doc... some to find out, I have the frickin shingles! So.. ok.. at least Im not laid up in bed, right? Doc gives me an antiviral to stop it AND pregnesone which stimulates the appetite. major bummer!!

On a high note.. had to step on the friggin scale at the docs and I have lost 2 more pounds!!

bittersweet day so far.

[athomeontherange]

Wow.. been busy starting school and getting back in the swing. The good news is that I am still on track and not even tempted to be derailed. This INCLUDES when thoughtful team members bring in the CUTEST bon-bon cake bites or when my boss brings in the CUTEST cookies decorated with our mascot. No-thank you is my response. We even had popsicles for the kids Friday before they left for the day and I made sure to have a large glass of water in my hands. Can NOT open a wrapper or be tempted to open one with a hand occupied. Tough due to the 110 temps to refuse though- not for a sugar craving. I also am proud to say I was a champion choice maker when we had out luncheon!! Yes!! I just let someone else eat my share of the brownies and other poison present.

Observations: Interesting.. I maybe drink a cup or 2 of coffee early in the morning if there is time, or a glass of tea and then its water the rest of the day. When did water start tasting SWEET?? Oh my!! Yes on occasion I put in lemon but I am amazed at the sweetness of it. Weird!

Also, yep- cut the salt.. about the only salt I get is from Bacon and my edema is SO MUCH BETTER!

Also, (men- skip to the next line) no cramps, no back pain for this time of the month.. really??? If this is primal, Im all for it!

What am I eating?
For lunch this week, I prepared hamburger with slaw mix in it.. very satisfying for both breakfast and lunch. I also made some bacon wrapped chicken livers from the cookbook that were to die for!! I find as long as I plan, it is so easy to stay on track and not get derailed. This next week I am planning to make up a big batch of the chicken satay from the cookbook and divide them for lunch. With some slaw, It will be great!! Oh yeah, my slaw is so simple/lazy.. slaw mix, mayo and all purpose herb seasoning- no salt. I like it and find I do better with no muss no fuss combinations. Seems the simpler the better! Been making some salmon for dinner that is awesome as well. Also, when I have to eat out am making some fine choices. Village Inn has a "pick your breakfast" and yeah, they really let you have what you want from their choices! Today had some Mediterranean food with extra grilled veggies instead of the rice- WOW.. who says you have to give it all up? Can you eat just anywhere?? no- not really, but you can still eat smart when you must eat out.

Exercise: Well I started out getting up at 4:30 but then I got the shingles and have not been "at it" since. I am on an antiviral and steroids (I'm going nuts) but am starting to feel better so Monday I am back in the saddle. For my feet I have 2 pair of nice minumus runners and a pair of vibrams I gave a test run with errands today. I am happy to say I did well although my mother laughs at them. Who cares, right?

[athomeontherange]

Food wise doing ok.. I want sugar and comfort when things are not sailing smooth though or am nervous. Ok so here is the deal.. went for me "well woman" including mammogram and was called back for another mammogram, sonogram and possible MRI. Ummm yeah... where is my food comfort? I am trying not to over react as they did say, sometimes you are called back for another check but saying it and doing it are 2 different things. I go in Monday and will have results before I leave they say. Sooo... have to go a weekend with this on my mind.

[honeybuns]

When I got my first mammogram two years ago, they had me come back three times!

Here's hoping that yours turns out to be nothing.

[athomeontherange]

Good News- dense breast tissue (yes the sisters are on the large size) and I am cleared.

I have not been staying away from the scale and am disheartened by the lack of loss. I have gone from being 95-100% to @ 80% and maybe that is why. The pain from the shingles is better so I need to get back into working out since its not as painful. I have a balance board I have been playing with a bit as my balance is far from good. No way I would pass a sobriety test and I dont even drink!

[athomeontherange]

Good heavens.. sugar is my crack! I think that I even need to cut the fruit back as 1. I am no longer losing-I think and 2. I just want more and more sweet and do not really care where it comes from.

Running errands the other day while it was 100+ degrees I was thirsty while waiting for my oil to be changed and decided to have a soda. Not exactly sure where my head was I opted for a diet pepsi (the first in like 3 months). the result?? a 2 day headache! Poison, poison, poison!!! Lesson learned! To think I used to drink multiple servings of diet coke a day!! Makes me shutter!

Sleeping- WTF? I seldom sleep through the night anymore. I was awake at 1 am this morning. I went to bed at 8pm because I really need to be up at 4:30 to get things done and get to work. So I wake up at 1 am and just lay there for a couple of hours waiting for the sleep fairy to pass my way. If this were the 1st time I would not be so annoyed but this happens frequently.

[athomeontherange]

Cutting the fruit for a while.. sticking to the fat/protein and veggies. Later I will reintroduce tart berries and go from there. Massive headache and not sure why today- Fruit-Carb flu? Allergies?? Who knows!!??

The good news: I slept last night through the night, the bad news: I had to take a Tylenol 3 to do it. So aggravating!! I am watching my caffeine and have NONE after 6am.