Bye Bye 160's!

I knew I lost this week but not how much.  Last night I weighed in down another 4.4 lbs!  May 13th was the last time I had that much of a loss.

Since the beginning of May I've lost

.25 in off my thighs

.38 in off my arms

.5 in off my chest

1.25 in off my hips

Yesterday Benny said that I didn't need to get back down to my high school weight.  It's not a NEED; that weight just happens to be in the ideal range.  So I looked online last night to bring up ideal weight calculators.  Calculator.net had the most variety out of what I saw.

 

There were some other interesting things calculated on other sites.  Take Halls.md...

 

 

I discovered afterwards that according to my wrist circumference my frame is large not medium.

There were other sites but I didn't capture the URLs such as these two.

Everything says my goal weight of 130 lbs is spot on!

Monday I followed up with my Dr.  He said the ER diagnosed me with pleurisy but that didn't make sense based on my symptoms.  He's just as much at a loss as I am!  If it happens again we'll look at other tests like the stress test to see what all is going on.  I said that I don't know how I'd do that since I don't run LOL.  As far as the exercise induced neurocardiogenic syncope symptoms (nurse never actually showed him my message but he skimmed it there in the room) he gave a couple of ideas.  Add some salt to my water that I'm drinking with my workouts so that I'm replenishing salt while losing it with the sweat.  Also, get another fan to keep me cooler.  I told him that I might knock it over with all my bouncing around during the workouts LOL.

My primary workout program this week was the 21 Day Fix.  The GPS wasn't working on my phone so the mileage wasn't recorded during my walk Wednesday.  Saturday morning I did Jillian Michaels Cardio Kickboxing to try and combat whatever I was going to eat at the neighbor's.

The cookout at the neighbor's went well.  I was chilly the whole night for some reason; everyone else was at least comfortable.  Several of us were devoured by insects; my legs almost look like I have a rash with so many bites.  Hydrocortisone doesn't stop the itching for me anymore so I had to find something else.  I discovered this Calagel® Medicated Anti-itch Gel at Dollar General and it appears to be working.  I put it on Monday night and I was able to sleep without itching.  I reapplied it during my lunch yesterday then forgot it on my desk so I was itchy all night LOL.

What do you use to treat insect bites?

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Zucchini Carrot Bread

I picked up a zucchini at the farmer's market but had no clue what I'd make with it. I don't remember ever making anything with zucchini before.  We were invited to a cookout at our neighbor's house on Saturday so I was on the hunt for a good starter recipe to make.  I didn't want anything that had an overpowering zucchini taste. I'd found a few zucchini casserole recipes that didn't look too bad. There was also some zucchini tots that looked worthwhile. I settled on zucchini bread since everyone loves my banana bread. It took a little searching to find a recipe that didn't use whole wheat flour (never used it and had no intention to buy it to use this one time).

I found this carrot zucchini bread recipe on SparkRecipes and used it with my own tweaks. The recipe calls for cloves and cardamom,  neither of which I'd used before let alone had in the house. So I looked up what I could use as a substitute. Cloves can be swapped with allspice, cinnamon, or nutmeg; I have all three so I was good. Cardamom can be swapped with the same spices or even ginger.  I guess it all depends upon your personal preference.

Ingredients

1 Zucchini

2-3 Carrots, depending on size

1 cup Vegetable Oil

2 cups Sugar

3 cups Flour

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

3 Eggs

3 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Allspice

3 tsp Cinnamon

1. Wash & shred the zucchini, squeezing out some of the moisture with a paper towel.
2. Peel, wash, & shred the carrots.
3. Preheat the oven to 350.
4. Prep two 8x8 pans.
5. With the blender going the whole time, add the wet ingredients.
6. Add in the dry ingredients one at a time,  pausing to mix after each one (after every cup with the sugar and flour).

7. Pour into prepared pans and bake 45-60 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool at least 10 minutes.
9. Slice up into desired serving size. (I went down the middle of each pan and then cut across in approximately 1/2 inch slices. This resulted in 40 servings instead of the 12 as noted in the recipe.)
10. Serve alone or with fruit.

I honestly thought that since this recipe was on SparkRecipes it'd be healthier.  Zucchini carrot bread has a great taste either way and there are many things you can do to lighten it up such as using unsweetened applesauce instead of the oil.  How would you change the recipe?

Weight Watchers: 4 PP

A Trip to the ER

Well, I didn't reach the 90 lb loss this week; I actually went in the opposite direction with a 1.4 lb gain.  With how exhausted I felt this past week I wasn't surprised with or concerned about the gain.

Monday morning I woke up with a stomach ache.  I've had these before (many times after eating too much cheese) so I just went to the bathroom to take care of it.  While in there I started having stabbing pain in my chest on the right side through my back; it felt like how I'd imagine a sword through the chest would feel.  Pain was worsening not improving when I went back to bed.  I tried different positions and nothing was helping.  I tried calling out to Benny but come to find out he was in the garage so he couldn't hear me.  We got dressed and he took me to the ER.  (Turns out it was the last day University Hospital's ER would be open.)

Benny was thinking it was my liver or lung that was the problem.  He also kept saying it was because I ate spinach almost every day LOL

We got to the ER and were checked in.  I was hooked up to the EKG machine and they started drawing blood.  I've never had so many pokes before!  One of the vials clotted so they had to have an extra draw; I thought that was odd because my blood doesn't clot like that.  At some point they said my O2 level was too low so they hooked me up to the oxygen.  After all the blood was taken and IV inserted I went down for a chest x-ray after peeing in a cup.

 

Where they drew blood from the back of my left hand was swollen most of the day.  It stuck out about 1/2 inch I think and gradually decreased but the bruising spread.  The ER nurses had difficulty getting the needle through my vein; it kept rolling on them.  I didn't even realize they had a double stick on my wrist until I removed the bandage.  My hand remains tender to the touch.

I've never had blood drawn from my forearm before.

The site of the IV irritated my wrist a little bit while it was in.  I never knew they removed the needle with an IV; the nurse said it was more of a catheter.  I think it's weird that the IV site has the smallest bruising.

I had no idea what all they were testing besides the one for blood clots in the lungs (not sure how that's determined with blood work).  Between the urine and blood they tested almost 50 things, most of which I've had tested before.  There were tests for kidneys, the pancreas, and the liver mixed in the bunch.  All the labs came back negative for anything they were looking for...everything was in the normal range or at least my normal range.

Image Courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Based on your exam today, the exact cause of your chest pain is not certain. Your condition does not seem serious at this time, and your pain does not appear to be coming from your heart. However, sometimes the signs of a serious problem take more time to appear. Therefore, watch for the warning signs listed below.
 
HOME CARE:

1. Rest today and avoid strenuous activity.
2. Take any prescribed medicine as directed. (800 mg ibuprofen)

FOLLOW UP with your doctor or this facility as instructed or if you do not start to feel better within 24 hours. [NOTE: If an X-ray or EKG (cardiogram) was made, it will be reviewed by another specialist. You will be notified of any new findings that may affect your care.]
 
GET PROMPT MEDICAL ATTENTION if any of the following occur:

• A change in the type of pain: if it feels different, becomes more severe, lasts longer, or begins to spread into your shoulder, arm, neck, jaw or back
• Shortness of breath or increased pain with breathing
• Weakness, dizziness, or fainting
• Cough with dark colored sputum (phlegm) or blood
• Fever over 100.0º F (37.8º C)
• Swelling, pain or redness in one leg

Have you ever experienced pain like I had and were given a diagnosis?

I've just sent a message to my doctor as the follow up so we'll see what he has to say.  Yesterday I had asked Benny if he wanted to come with me to the doctor and he said as long as it wasn't on Friday.  I scratched my head and told him it's the holiday so they wouldn't be open anyway.  Benny wasn't thinking about the 4th...he was thinking about Germany's next World Cup match LOL.  (I couldn't find any other way for him to watch Monday's match than downloading the Univision app on my phone.  German watching game in Spanish was funny looking.)

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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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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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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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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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