Wednesday, June 25, 2014

I Can See 90 lbs

Image Courtesy of Idea go | Freedigitalphotos.net

Weighed in last night down another .8 lbs....puts a 90 lb total loss just over the horizon!

I've still been sticking to Jillian Michaels workouts.  This morning I did the 30 Day Shred Level 1 workout.  I could still feel it in my shoulders when I left for my walk!  I've tried others at the library but just can't get into them like I can with Jillian.  Have you tried any new workouts?

You've probably heard that Beachbody released a new program last week from Chalene Johnson - PiYo.  I wanted to get it right away but with our medical expenses up in the air Benny said it wasn't a good time.  Maybe with my birthday money or Christmas at the latest I'll be able to pick up one for myself.  In the mean time I'm running a challenge group starting next month...on Facebook or G+ depending on participants' preferences.  Here's the link for the event page on G+ https://plus.google.com/events/c4iel1889j03r2h8c26685lrmg4.  If you're on Facebook look for the event "PiYo Challenge" with this cover image


It's been too crazy at work so I haven't had a chance to schedule an appointment to see the doctor about the exercise induced neurocardiogenic syncope.  Kind of want Benny to come with me in case there are warning signs to look out for (and I might not necessarily notice) so he can hear it straight from the doctor.

We received the EOB from Benny's salivary endoscopy already....well at least some of them.  Our responsibility of the doctor's portion is $928, the surgery center's portion is $1182, and the pathology lab's portion is $23.  Not sure if we'll have a separate bill from the anesthesiologist or if that was included in the surgery center's costs.  Either way it didn't cost us nearly as much as we thought; we didn't max out his deductible.  The next challenge will be figuring out how we'll pay for it all.


As of Saturday my garden still looks critter free.  With this changing weather I haven't had to water much.  Looking out the window every day it appears the tomatoes are growing more but I can't tell much else from that distance.  How is your garden doing?

Last week I only walked to the farmer's market.  I picked up more broccoli and some Kickapoo cheese (inspired by the German Butterkäse Benny likes) from the Ludwig Farmstead Creamery.  Benny hasn't tried it though so I'm unsure if he likes this one.  On the way back I stopped at the tea shop that's closing and picked up a strainer to go with the loose leaf teas I purchased last time.  This afternoon I picked up some bell peppers and two different varieties of lettuce.


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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

88.8 lbs Lost!


I weighed in last night down another 2.4 lbs, bringing my total loss to date to 88.8 lbs!  I thought that was a funny number so I wanted that to be the focus.  Last night I also set my next goal.  I'd like to reach the 40% loss by Labor Day.  That's 2.5 months to lose 11.2 lbs.  I think that's reasonable...we'll see if my body agrees.

Is anyone familiar with exercise induced neurocardiogenic syncope?  Most of what I find online about it is more geared to those in the medical field so I don't really understand all the details.  Someone had posted in one of my Facebook groups about their client that passes out and throws up with their workouts.  A cardiac RN mentioned this condition as a possibility.  From what I understand it sounds pretty darn close to what I've been experiencing with my lightheadedness and nausea during workouts and showering during TOM.  I messaged the Doctor's office and they want to see me to evaluate my condition.

I finally received the bills from the ultrasound.  My EOB still shows the $1600-something amount but the bill from the doctor is only $100 and the hospital is $386.  I'm really hoping there won't be anything else popping up from this.  Since I had both bills I finally broke down and told Benny, using the good news bad news method (he wanted the bad news first LOL).  Of course he was upset and I told him he'd be upset no matter whether I told him about it before or not.  He must've agreed with me because he wasn't in his mad mood/voice/etc.

I checked on my garden Saturday. It's doing pretty well two weeks in. Spinach, pole beans, cucumber, broccoli (2 varieties), radish, kale, tomatoes (2 varieties), basil, oregano, bell peppers, and carrots are what I planted this year.  The six shown in the picture I thought had the best growth.  It doesn't look like any critters are eating anything this year; I hope it stays that way LOL.

At the farmer's market last week I picked up some giant kale (well, giant to me LOL) and a head of broccoli.  I've used the broccoli but not the kale yet.  Despite the heat and humidity this week I am walking to the market again today (will be my only walk).  I brought my XL shorts that I don't wear working out anymore (probably would fall off with all that movement) but I think should be OK to wear walking.  I put my 50 oz water bottle in the freezer so it'll keep me cool while walking.  I'll drink out of the small one until it's gone.


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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A Stoney Walk

I've met my best pace and longest walk this past week.  I think it's funny that my longest walk looks like a muscular arm.  I really like this path walking to the circle and back, adding a little extra so I'm not back too early.  I have to be careful because I keep getting interrupted by people stopping me or the train.


I weighed in last night down 1.8 lbs.  On my home scale I'm about 15 lbs less than Benny so I kind of giggle at that.

My body's been weird again.  Normally I'm only lightheaded during TOM.  Sunday I almost didn't complete my workout because of lightheadedness.  Monday I was lightheaded in the shower.  Both days I was sweatier than normal.  Yesterday and today I just didn't have the energy to work out; perhaps that's from this rainy weather.

Yesterday's weigh in wrapped up a crazy day.  Benny finally got the stone removed from his salivary gland.  The day started out with me being tense, on edge, and feeling rushed. Benny was sort of dragging his feet so I had no choice but to take the highway to get to the Multi-Specialty Surgery Center in Carmel.  My car is crap and I don't trust it on the highway; the rain didn't help either.  Benny never seems to think about rush hour traffic when we go places.  So I had all these things whirling in my head while driving.  Benny was smart and chose not to respond to my commentary about everything that was wrong about the day LOL.  My stomach was all in knots and I felt nauseous the whole way.

We arrived about 10 minutes before his scheduled time (9 am) but had to wait 20-30 minutes before he was called back for pre-op.  Some time later they called me back to collect his ring and wallet before whisking him off to surgery.  I think some of the nurses were crazy because they said it was hot in there and I was freezing!  During the endoscopy I read a little, watched TV, and played on my phone.  I don't think I did a single thing for long periods of time.

When they were done Dr. Fritsch came out and talked to me.  Everything had went well.  There was only one stone (normally there are several).  It was 1/2-3/4 inches long...not sure how wide.  The Dr. sent me back to the waiting room for some time before the nurse brought me to Benny in recovery.  I kept chuckling how Benny looked, trying to fight off the sleep.  They had given him some water and goldfish crackers (their way to make sure patients aren't too sick from the anesthesia). Benny was very thirsty and had to have a refill on the water.  The only thing that was bothering him was that his tongue was swollen.  The nurses weren't concerned about that so I guess it's OK.  (It was still swollen this morning.)

The last thing they do to make sure a patient is OK to go is send them to the bathroom.  As long as the patient can pee they're good.  The post-op instructions said if they don't pee within 8-9 hours then there might be a problem.  It was almost 1 pm by the time we got out of there.  Benny wanted to take the stone with him but they said that it has to go for testing.  I guess for them to determine if it's a calcium deposit like kidney stones or something else.



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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

50 Inches with Fido

Adding the 8.1 miles of walking last week led to me maintaining weight instead of losing.  I haven't done any walking this week yet.  I'm still pretty much sticking with Jillian's DVDs.
 
It's been a little more than a year since I started working out with Tai Cheng.  Benny took my first measurements on 5/13/13 and the latest Monday night.  Over the past year I've lost almost 50 inches over my whole body!
 
 
Yes, you're seeing things correctly - that's 12 Dress Sizes!

A little frustrated with my phone (more than usual).  Since the new month rolled over it's not syncing properly (even though it says it is).  So my pictures aren't being backed up!  When I have to do another factory data reset or try another phone I'll lose everything from June 1 onward.  Any ideas how to fix this?
 
Something to think about....some of the exercises you do are similar to a dog's playful behavior.  Here's a workout routine from DogVacay.com that you can do to get fit like Fido.  I've done all but the ladders one since I'm not a runner.
 

Those of you with a dog, have you tried working out (besides going for a walk/run) with your pup?

FINALLY planted my garden Sunday.  Benny's still trying to figure out some kind of gate to put on the fence so I can get in and out.  (I tried stepping over and that didn't work to well.)  This was just in time for the rain.  A little bit on Sunday evening and downpours Monday and today.  I just hope this rain doesn't jumble up all my seeds!  My starters were duds this year so I'm starting from scratch.  Tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, kale, broccoli, spinach, radishes, carrots, pole beans, oregano, & basil (I think that's everything LOL) are on the menu this year.  How is your garden going this year?


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