Well, Whaddya Know?

I got on my little old scale yesterday and got a shock ... I've now lost twenty-two pounds. Yep, that was a shock in a good way. :) I knew I felt a little thinner, but until I saw it on the scale, I thought it had to be wishful thinking or something. I mean, people like me don't lose weight. That's why we are the shape we are. Right?

Well, up until now, that has been my truth. Every time I've tried to lose weight in the past, I either haven't been able to get any off, or I had to get off whatever program I was doing, usually because of time constraints. But because of our health problems, I've been forced into this, and you know, it's not fun to be forced, but I'm seeing some serious benefits. I'm going to need to take in the elastic in the waistbands of my pants ... and I imagine it won't be too much longer before I won't be wearing pants with elastic waistbands. :)

My biggest triumph is that it's been over eight weeks since I've had any chocolate, or any dessert at all. I didn't think I could go this long without a num-num.

My biggest obstacle right now is lack of preparation. I have cheated, and it's always been when I'm away from home, I didn't bring food with me, and my blood sugar drops. I need to get in the habit of taking a snack with me. My mom got me a cute little purse-sized insulated lunch bag, so it's not that taking something is difficult - it's that I don't remember and I don't prepare. If I can get that ironed out, I think I'd be progressing even faster.

My goal right now is to lose a total of forty pounds, and then I'm going to treat myself to a pedicure. I've never had one, and I think cute toes are fun. :) Then I'll set my next goal and decide my next milestone celebration.

In the meantime, the kids are feeling some better, although they miss "good" food. (Their quote) I hope they understand the reasons behind all this and don't fall off the wagon as soon as they get the chance.

"This is Heavy"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, vacations aren't good for diets. I've been in Texas for a month. Land of BBQ, fried okra, Blue Bell ice cream, and my mom's cooking. I've gained about 7.5 lbs. I go home tomorrow and need to step it up! I can do it!

Hi! Remember me? Probably not!!

Lately, I've been rejoining the blogging world. So here I am again.

And how am I doing with my weight?

Need I go on?

That being said, I've begun taking the right steps. Again. I did do HCG three times. For a while I was down to 185 and I kept that weight pretty well for probably eight or nine months. Then I fell off the bandwagon and started gaining. And gaining.

Hit 200 again. Hit 210 again.

Panicked. Hated myself. Called the doctor.

I've been meaning to get into the doctor for a while to ask about some things. One of them was my thyroid and just general health stuff. I came back fine. Everything was fine. Which is good in a lot of ways. I don't have to worry about high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a bad thyroid or any of that stuff.

Which means, that I can't blame my weight gain on anything BUT my own choices! Sigh. I guess the great thing is that I can start making different choices.

One choice? I've just started on some anti-anxiety medication (go see these two posts for more information). I tend to eat a whole lot more when my anxiety is high. So managing my anxiety through the medication and other things is important.

In speaking with my doctor we decided to also put me on an appetite suppressant.  I'll only be on it for a total of three months, but it should give me a bit of a jump start and encourage me to keep on losing.

In the meantime I'm trying to develop healthier habits overall. The eating hasn't been as good as it should be, but my appetite is definitely smaller, so I have lost weight. I've also been walking more. I read about people doing all kinds of great exercise, running five miles a day, or spinning, or lifting weights and how they feel so good and blah blah blah. I hate it. Because I kind of have the belief that I won't get to the weight I want to (my doctor recommended 160), without doing that kind of crazy exercise.

But you know what? That's okay. I'm just going to start with walking. And so I have. I haven't walked every day, but I have walked a lot more this summer than I have in a long time. And I listen to an audiobook while I do it, making it pretty enjoyable. I don't even walk that far--probably 2 1/2 miles when I do. But hey. That's ok for now.

And I'm just going to continue developing healthier habits. Maybe after walking for a couple of years I'll go to the next level, and maybe start running. Doubt it, but hey miracles have happened before.

I just need to remember this process isn't just about being thin (although I love the idea!), but it's also about me being HEALTHY. Maybe I always figured if I was thin I'd be healthy. But that isn't necessarily true.

So I'm back. And hopefully I'll stay. I've gone from 210 to 196.2 as of this morning. Keeping on, keeping on. And this time, it takes as long as it takes, and I will make sure I'm either maintaining or losing. NOT GAINING. And being HEALTHY.

Eggplant Pizza

I love summertime when the garden is just bursting with vegetables and we have something fresh every night. This year to help us stay on our primal plans we planted (or I guess I should say my husband planted) a lot more than usual and he tried a bunch of new things to give variety to our diet. So when he came to me with 3 beautiful eggplants, I was pleased, but had no idea what to do with them. I'd heard of Eggplant Parmigiana, but since we don't do grains I was looking for something I didn't have to bread (although the few things I've breaded in Almond meal have been divine). So last night we tried Eggplant Pizza. I cut the eggplants length wise about 1/2 and inch thick. Then I broiled them on one side until they were lightly brown. I flipped them and added pizza sauce and mozerella cheese and broiled till the cheese was bubbly and lightly browned. The result was perfect. The kids were not as convinced, but once I told them they had to eat it or else, it actually went down well. I think the name just through them off. I even heard a comment that we could have it again. We will because I loved it and maybe next time I will add other pizza toppings to make it seem more like a real pizza.