Cooking for a week (and last weeks update...OOPS!)

It's been a bit since I have posted on here. To be honest, I forgot to do it last week. I posted this status on Facebook last Monday (my weigh in day):

I went from 246.3 lbs to 245.7 lbs. I was bummed. I had hoped for 2 pounds per week to come off. My friends were all very supportive and I understand that it is progress and it will take time. I also understand that it is just a number on a scale and the fact that I feel better should trump everything else.

But, to me, it is not just a number on a scale. If I was down to a "normal" weight, it wouldn't bother me so much. Even if I am building up some muscle (which I am not convinced of,) I am still SIGNIFICANTLY overweight. I have plenty of weight to lose and it just decides to hang on!

I have failed so many times that, for a moment, I began to think that I couldn't do this. I couldn't keep getting up at 5:45am to work out before work (I know this isn't early to most, but I work 10am-6:30pm, with nearly an hour commute, so this is early for me!) I couldn't keep eating the right things and avoiding the things that I know are not good for me. All I wanted to do was quit and chow down on some pizza and chocolate! But, I didn't. I vowed to keep going, even when things didn't go the way that I had hoped. Maybe I just needed to work harder. Maybe my body is just not wanting to let anything go. Maybe it just needed some more time.

So, I went about my week and I did everything that I was supposed to, except swim on Tuesday because the pool was closed. :-(

I had a hectic week at work with the first full week of school and the first week that I closed the school three nights. It made for some long days, but I still felt good. 

This weekend I had the sons of my two best friends, Karen and Hadassah, at my house to hang out and spend the night. Those ladies mean the world to me and have always been in my corner since I met them 8 years ago...wow, I am getting old! I have loved their boys since they were born. Karen has two boys: Devin who is 7 and in the 2nd grade and Lucas who will be 3 in November. Hadassah has one son, Isayah, who is 6 and in the 1st grade. They came over on Saturday and we played outside, watched Star Wars, and went to church on Sunday. I love spending time with them and I normally do it more over the summer, but I had to heal before I could. I hope to have them over again in September so we can watch the next movie, The Empire Strikes Back.

This coming week is going to get even busier for me because I start school myself on Wednesday. After a long time out of school and many years of trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I am finally going back. My car accident shook up my whole world and I vowed to make my life a better one. One part of that is my weight and my health. Another part is finishing school and getting a degree. I am taking 3 classes and a lab, as well as working full time...two classes are online and one class and the lab are at night. That makes eating healthy a bit harder. 

I eat 5 times a day and each meal is relatively the same size with the same components. I eat my first breakfast at home and take my next breakfast and my two lunches with me to work. I come back home after work and eat my only dinner. Now, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I will also have to pack my dinner with me to eat school when I get there. It also eliminates two nights a week that I can cook and get ahead during the week. So I decided that I needed to cook on Sunday for the whole week. I didn't realize how much food that would be until I started planning out my shopping and cooking list! I have just finished cooking and I cooked the following:

5 chicken breast

4 cod fillets

4 salmon fillets

2.5 lbs Brussels sprouts (12 servings...got a little carried away!)

8 servings of jasmine rice

8 servings of basmati rice

8 servings of quinoa

~6 servings of broccoli

~6 servings of cauliflower

~6 servings of sweet potatoes

rinsed 2 lbs of spinach

cut 2-3 servings of cucumbers

cut 3 green bell peppers

This doesn't include the egg whites that I eat every morning for breakfast. I am hoping that it is enough to get me through the whole week without having to cook again until the weekend and I am praying it all fits in the fridge!

Now that I am done with all of that, I can relax for a bit and then hit the bed early, after a very late night last night. This week will be busy, but I know that I can do this. At church today, PK talked about what if God was whispering to you to give it another try. It could be in any area of your life, but what if He was telling you to try it one more time. This hit me today as I am giving many things another try that I have failed at before. It was what I needed to hear today and I am finally on the right track. I am doing things the right way with God in the lead and I am trusting in Him to give it another try. Check it out at www.12stone.com/watch and look for this weeks message on Peter.

For more info on getting back into exercise or looking for encouragement and a team to cheer you on, check out www.enduredgirl.com #bebravebebadass #operationcarynssmiles #neverquit

Week #1 over!

Well, week #1 of this new journey is over. I started on last Monday and weighed 255.0 lbs. I weighed yesterday morning and I weighed 246.3 lbs. That's 8.7 lbs lost in one week!  Now, I realize that much of this was water weight, especially since I had begun to retain water the week prior to beginning all of this. And I realize that not all weeks will be like this. But, I am still excited!

Through all of this, I have begun to make changes in other areas of my health as well. I have taken way too many meds for way too long. I have taken diclofenac (anti-inflammatory,) gabapentin (nerve pain,) and cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxer) for over a year due to my chronic knee and back pain. I also have maxalt for migraines. Since my concussion in April 2014, I have added propranolol for headache management and trazadone for depression and insomnia. I use Flonase and Zyrtec for allergies and an albuterol inhaler for asthma.  I had to add Mira Lax to my daily regime due to all the digestive side effects of these meds. I have pain meds as well that I don't like to take unless I truly need them for severe pain. I am a walking medicine cabinet. And I hate it!

So when my cognitive neurologist said he wanted to start weaning me off everything, I was nervous. I have gotten so used to all the meds, I was worried what would happen when they were gone. My back pain can be excruciating at times and that is with being on all those meds. I was scared to see what would happen when I came off of them.

I started with one at a time. I dropped diclofenac first, then the muscle relaxer a week later. Next off the list was the trazadone and that was weaned over a month to make sure I wasn't going to have any crazy side effects of coming off of an antidepressant. The next big one was the med for nerve pain. It had been my miracle drug a year ago when the pain shot down the backs of both legs and I was barely able to walk. Slowly over time, the neurosurgeon and my headache neurologist have upped the dosage to help with the back pain and the increasing headaches. This one was weaned down over about 10 days and the pain has increased some, but it is not unbearable. Today I started the last weaning for the propranolol. We will see how this week goes with the headaches because this med may not can be eliminated right now because my brain is still recovering from the concussion. With all of this, I have also come off Zyrtec and Mira Lax. Today was the first day in YEARS that I have taken ZERO meds. It feels amazing to be able to this and I hope that everything continues as I continue to lose weight and exercise.

I want to thank every one for their encouraging words and prayers. Some days I feel better than others. Some days I feel like a rock star and some days I feel like a slug. I am determined to make my life better, one step at a time. I still have physical therapy for my knees twice a week, weekly doctor appts, and cognitive therapy on the horizon to help with some lingering memory problems from the concussion. My world has been turned upside down over the past 4 months, but I believe that everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for me.

Some days it's still hard for me to understand why I had to go through my accident and resulting brain injury, but it stirred some things in me that needed to be stirred. I have been busting my tail to make my life better from that moment on and maybe that is the only reason for all of this. No matter what, one day I will look back at all this, and it will be a distant memory and I'll be able to see how far I have really come.