Back to School

Well, I'm not so good at writing on my blog as I thought. Oh well.

Let's see, weight loss progress: yesterday I weighed in around 198 (I don't remember the exact weight, but the important thing is that I'm under 200.)

I got an email from BYU today telling me that I got added to my STAC class, which is Indoor Cycling. Basically I think it's a spin class and lots of the people on Biggest Loser have had success with that.
Jake and I are going to take it together, Monday nights at 5:00. I wasn't so sure about taking it as a class,but you can't get on the spin bikes without being enrolled and I probably don't know what I'm doing anyway, so it will be nice to have an instructor. I'm really worried about being around other people when I know I'm so out of shape, but hopefully with Jake there I can just concentrate on us and not have to worry about what other people think of me.

Mostly I just hope this class gives the information and drive I need to be able to keep using my bike and get to a better point in my life.

I finally got some cute fish bowl things to put my pebbles in (remember from earlier, the pebbles that each stand for a pound I need to lose) and now I just need to label them. I'm thinking about chalk painting them so I can update my totals each time I transfer pebbles. But that might be too much work. Maybe I can just write with a dry erase right on the glass? I'll have to try that out.

Carb cravings.

Noticed a class on overeating in my Ed Week program. The Monday class was subtitled ending carbohydrate cravings: balancing blood sugar. I'm always craving carbs, maybe I should be better about taking my metformin! Then I might not feel the need to consume an entire sleeve of crackers.

unexpected progress

So after being 204.4 for 5 days, this morning I was 202.8 so down a pound and a half!

The interesting thing that I have noticed is that the back of my thigh muscle, while sore and a little stiff, actually feels like hard muscle now! It's not a giant jiggle of jello, at least in one spot. So that's fun!

The other day we rode our real bikes to the duck pond and I made it okay, just had to rest a little before we came back. So that means I can ride my bike to campus this fall, at least until it gets too cold.

Now I just need to order a basket to put my books in.

Setback

I didn't work out today or yesterday. Since I've had to drive jake to work in he morning I've just been really tired. 4:30 am is not my best time of day to feel motivated.
I've gained some weight back because if that probably so I'm at 204.4. It's frustrating to gain what I spent the last week losing. It's much easier to gain it than it is to lose it.
I'm also really bad at remembering to take my pils which is probably also part of my weight gain. I'm taking just one metformin a day to try to get used to it again.
I always take my thyroid and phentermine every morning.
Wish I hadn't gone backwards.

Pebble Idea

Alright, so this morning I took Jake to work since his bike is broken, and then I went home and started my workout. We bought me some new workout attire and I was feeling really awake for 5:00 a.m. surprisingly. I started with my typical routine, yoga and strength on the Wii Fit. This morning: half-moon pose, warrior pose, tree pose, and chair pose, then some leg extensions and squats.

After that I turned on my Netflix and watched Biggest Loser. I like to watch that while I work out so I get motivation and I pretend that when Jillian or Bob is telling a contestant to work harder, they're actually telling me to work harder. It's getting to the point though that the people are starting to weight less than I do, which can be discouraging since they started out worse than I did. The difference is that they get to spend all day every day working towards their goal, and I have to go to work and keep my life in order.

I also sorted my pebbles I bought at D.I. last week. I saw this thing on Pinterest where they used the pebbles to visualize how much weight they had left to lose. So counted out 60 large pebbles and 10 small ones. The large pebbles are pounds and the small ones are tenths of a pound. so when I lose weight I'll transfer from one jar to another and exchange ten small pebbles for one big one. (That means since my goal is 150, I started the pebbles at 211 so I could already put some in the "lost" jar.)

I want to make mine as cute as the one on her blog, but I only had a pickle jar this morning. I'll need to find a matching pair and then make the cute letters. I'll probably just cut them out with paper and glue a label on, vinyl seems like too much work for this. I'll post pictures when I get it all done, and then post pictures as my progress continues.

I really should take a before picture, maybe there's been one of me at a camp this summer or something I can use. I suppose if I lose as much weight as I want to, any picture of me taken since 2006, and therefore over 160 lbs, will be a before picture.

This morning I weighed in at 203.7 which is moving in the right direction. It seems to be going really slowly, but I suppose that when you weight yourself every day, and lose 0.7 lbs a day it's hard to see the progress. But over a week that's 4.9 lbs lost which is fantastic. That means the pebbles should help me see how I'm doing over a period of time. It will also give me the satisfaction of a physical action to reward me when I lose weight.

Weight Loss Starting Line

So in order to make myself more accountable for exercising and eating right and stuff, I'm going to start posting daily about where I'm at and how I'm doing that day.

To start out, let's talk about what's going on with me. So first of all I have hypothyroidism. That can cause weight gain, fatigue, minor depression, etc. etc. I currently take a thyroid medication every morning to help my thyroid. I also have a Vitamin D deficiency which is essential to thyroid processes. So I take a supplement for that. (about 5000 iu's)

My doctor also believes I have poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. This can also causes weight gain and even makes it difficult to lose weight. For this my doctor has prescribed Metformin, a medication commonly used for diabetic patients but has been successful in helping people with PCOS control their weight. It should also help with hormone issues like my acne.

In addition to the other medications, my doctor has prescribed Phentermine to help speed up my weight loss. I take half a pill each morning with my thyroid medicine.

So basically I've got a mix of genetics and heath conditions that compiled with my bad habits have gotten me to the state I'm in today.

Last year I did Weight Watchers and was really strict with myself. I was down to 180 in September, the lowest I've been in a couple of years. Then I just couldn't get any lower and actually slowly started gaining weight again even thought I stayed on my diet. That's what prompted me to set an appointment with Dr. Lundell who has had success with PCOS.

So anyway, I'm hoping that with the meds I'll be able to get further this time. My highest was 214 and I'm down to 205 right now. Which according to my Wii fit makes my BMI 32.99. I think my waist measurement is a 36, but I'm not sure that I'm measuring in the right place. My Wii fit says to have a healthy BMI I should weigh around 123. That's a pretty long way to go, and I wasn't even that thin when I was a teenager. I feel that 150 would be reasonable enough and that's at the high end of normal.

My doctor believes I could be down to 170 by October when I have my next appointment with him. The important thing at this point of my life is that I'm at a high risk of health problems if I don't change. The most pressing of this is decreased fertility. With PCOS I'll have trouble getting pregnant and if I don't lose the weight I have a higher risk of miscarriages.

I recently bought myself a retro exercise bike
isn't it cute?

So hopefully with my bike the house I can just get on and not have to worry about what exercise to do or where to start. So that's somewhere to start anyway. Then once I feel stronger I can progress to riding my real bike in the real world.

Wow, this post ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be. Anyway, just wanted to put something down in words so that I can see how I'm progressing.