Don't Eat That

I’ve mentioned this before but I’m going to “mention” it again.  I was diagnosed with diabetes and a thyroid condition in October or November of 2007.  Since that time, I have weighed as much as 224 and as low as 215.  I’ve gained and lost that same 9 pounds about 10 times.  And, then, in January, I broke my leg…and I was in a cast…until about 3 weeks ago.  I was in a brace until last week. 

Being bound to a chair with orders to stay off of your feet makes it pretty ridiculous to think about exercise and I am really crummy about my eating habits.  However, as of late, I have started keeping carrots and plums, nectarines and the like in the house instead of chips and chocolate. 

So, I was released last week as far as walking on my bum leg without any support goes.  However, I had twisted the other one several times trying to compensate I think.  Anyway, I spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday working in my house, shoes on (we are a remove your shoes at the door kind of family).  And, today, today I started my physical therapy for the foot.

And, since I have a degree in physical education and it would be a 90 mile one way drive for me to go the doctor for PT, I’m doing it myself and I’m using my bands and EASports Wii 30 Day Challenge to do it with. 

Yes, the Wii 30 Day Challenge has tons of “games” you can play. Sports of all kinds.  But, I am hardly ready for that.  But, what you might not know is there is a section on really static strengthening exercises as well.  And, it’s pretty obvious that my left ankle (the one that I recently had surgery on) is weak.  Earlier this morning while leaving Wal-mart and twisted it again, just a mild twist but it is definitely sore.  So, yes, strength and range of motion right now are big. 

The other ankle is not really swollen anymore but it is sore so definitely the strengthening and range of motion will be helpful there as well.  That said, I kicked my butt in gear, broke out the bands and got started this morning. 

I decided to take a starting weight before I began this morning (and I am glad I did) and I am starting the PT and subsequent 30 Day Challenge at 213.  To you, that might not be a big deal, 213 is a lot of weight to carry around.  But, considering that during the time I have been in a cast is when my weight soared to 224. 

So, let the games began…will you join me?

I’ve done really well with my food consumption.  And, for some reason, as of late, my favorite midnight snack has been carrots and ranch dressing.  Too bad I can’t get addicted to carrots without the dressing, but at least I’m leaning toward the lowfat and such.

I worked hard on Sunday inside the house realizing late into the evening that I had not eaten all day.  And, as I heated my soup, I searched for the last remaining crackers that I just knew were in my fridge.  And, lo and behold I found carrots.  My eyes widened, I yelled to my husband in reference to where in the world did the carrots come from and why in the world was I not told that we had them.

He had plans.  He was making sushi.  It was pretty apparent, the shrimp, carrots, crabmeat, cucumbers and mayo and yea, rice lots and lots of rice.  We never got the sushi this weekend but those carrots…….they wont’ make til he is in the mood for sushi, I can promise you that.

At least if my exercise plan is slow my eating is better than it’s every been…I mean, carrots?  or ice cream?  And, I chose carrots…no really I did.

Yes, I know, you are wondering how in the heck I know that right?  I mean, yes, I’ve been sitting on my ever growing backside since January and the housework has mostly just remained un-done.  Yea, is that a word?  Un-done?

Honestly, my mom tried for a while but the fact of the matter is, my husband is spoiled.  He is very spoiled and my mother was not the person who spoiled him and she wasn’t near as amused as the cleaning lady was.  The cleaning lady quit.  My mom?  She finally gave up too. 

It’s basically impossible to keep things picked up with two kids and a husband.  However, my husband has become quite the supervisor of our children’s bedrooms and toy room so I convinced him that it was time to practice what he preached. 

So, yesterday, I put my tennis shoes on and we re-arranged furniture, put the kids in separate rooms, gave away a bunch of toys and clothes and I started working on the laundry.  Did I mention that my mom gave up on that as well? 

Today, I put my tennis shoes back on and I hit the laundry, the dishes (it only took me two and one half hours) and I got busy cleaning.  My husband looked at me like I had lost my mind both times I put my shoes on to work in the house.  Basically, the rule is we take our shoes off at the front door.  But, with my healing leg/ankle, it’s nearly impossible for me to get around even in my Croc flip-flops which I love.  The four times I’ve sprained the other ankle, I wasn’t wearing tennis shoes.

And, so, finally, I collapsed in my chair about an hour ago.  And, then I remember, I had not had any food all day.  So, when I got up to search for some grub (and not the ice cream my husband brought home from the store earlier), I was aching, I could barely walk.  My bad foot hurting although I did wear my shoes, my right foot swollen from the latest ankle accident, my back aching from just purely not being used to so much hard labor (ahahaha I just called washing dishes and doing laundry hard labor – what?  It took me about 4 hours yesterday and another 4 or 5 today?)

Anyway, it is time to put those tennis shoes on and get busy with some physical therapy and then hit my EASports 30 Day Challenge come September 1st.  And, heck, why not?  I’ll be 41 just a couple of days later.  Why not ring in 41 with some exercising as opposed to the mono and broken bones, diabetes and thyroid disorder that the ripe age of 40 was so kind enough to bring to me.

So, ladies and gentleman, let’s get ready to rumble……

I’ve spent the last several days on my feet.  And just ask my leg that I had surgery on and it will tell you that indeed, I did too much.  I go back to the doctor tomorrow but I still walk with a horrible limp.  I know I sound like such a wimp but honestly, I just don’t know what to make of it all.

In the meantime, I’ve managed to twist the other ankle a total of 4 times, the last one being on Friday and it is swollen.  Is it bad? No, it isn’t broken.  Does it hurt?  Yea, a little.  Now what?  I wish I knew.

I have no clue what the good doctor will tell me tomorrow but I will most definitely keep you posted.  I honestly don’t look to be released and ready for action since I am still limping so much but you never know, stranger things have happened.

I am going to take a break from the never ending updates on my broken ankle/leg/bone graft/whatever to pose a question to you.  That would be you, my one lone reader…hey waving at you out there one lone reader…

Ok, silliness aside, I in talks (read twittering with) someone who is relatively well known in the fight against childhood obesity.  Yes, there are many out there who are part of this and some are actually celebrities *waving at you Arnold Swaz”.  And, I am doing my best to have another celebrity/celebrity blogger join us here on this blog in a national fight against childhood obesity.

I haven’t always been large.  I wasn’t obese as a child. As a matter of fact, in third grade when I was forced to change schools, all the teachers thought I was in the first grade.  Ahem…how dare they?  HaHa  However, I did enter puberty sooner than most of my classmates and I did take a lot of heat from them about my boobs and my butt and oh my, those other female bodily functions.  But, even then, I had an athletic frame, I could carry more weight than most of my peers and the breasts even though they were there and larger than my eighth/ninth grade peers, they were barely there because of the width of my shoulders.  My frame definitely falls into what the experts label as athletic. 

The problem came when I had the shoulders, the breasts, the hips, the legs, girlfriend used to have a hot set of legs but the downfall came when I started to gain weight in my mid-section.  Hindsight it was probably a side-effect of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) but I didn’t have anyone to turn to to help me deal with it.  And, so, yes I had an athletic frame but my waist was basically the same size as my hips and shoulders.  No, 36, 28, 36 or however it is suppose to be on this body.

By the time I graduated I had managed to work myself into decent shape and was confident enough in a swimsuit, a one piece only, that I hit the beach after graduation and never looked back.  But, then, the weight started adding up.  When I was 23 I had managed to lose enough weight to put myself into a bikini for a summer of beach fun but since then, the stomach is a huge issue.

As it is now, yes, my hips, my waist and my shoulders are basically all the same.  And, the breasts?  They are purely fat.  If I weighed anywhere near my goal weight, I could easily fit into a B cup bra and I would be queen of the world.

So, with that, no I did not suffer from childhood obesity.  However, I was raised on fast food.  My dad and I would flip a coin for who chose the joint the burgers would come from on any given night.  Meals cooked and/or eaten at home occurred about once every two or three months.  I would eat home cooked meals at my mom’s about once a month.  (Mom and Dad divorced when I was 4, I lived with dad from 13 to 19 when he died.)

So, food habits that were born and bred in me as a teenager haunt me even still to this day.  I prefer fast food and restaurant prepared food to anything that even resembles a meal made at home.  I know that sounds nuts but we only cook at home when we know that financially we can’t eat out in any particular week and we buy foods that can be prepared at home.  And, even still, we are talking, spaghetti, sloppy joes, chicken nuggets, french fries, frozen pizza, etc.

I hope to add at least one celebrity fitness guru here (as if I don’t qualify?  I do have a degree in Physical Education).  My goal is to add someone who is currently practicing fitness perfection instead of merely knowing what to do but not necessarily doing it.  And, if I can add a person from the EASports community, I am going to do that as well. 

Plans, dream big is the goal, be healthy is the goal and in reality, size doesn’t matter as long as my arteries aren’t clogged and I can walk up a flight of stairs without passing out.  I am determined and I am hoping that by adding a couple of professionals to the mix, I can get some motivation from them. 

So, keep checking on me, hopefully many big things about to happen….

Actually, it is more like August 2nd and pushing really close into August 3rd.  Why is that?  Well, I have on internet at home and the fast food places turn their wireless off when they close at night (just kidding, I’ve not stayed that long in any one place just yet).  I should have internet service no later than Tuesday afternoon so when you read this, I will surely be moved on to another topic.  Hopefully because really, I’ve beaten this dead horse to the pits of hell.

So, am I part of the 30 day challenge on EASports as of August 1st?  Resoundingly the answer is still no.  I have managed, by some stroke of luck (and lots of carrots) to maintain this weight of 215 which I have bounced from and up to 225 about 10 times since I was diagnosed with thyroid disorders and diabetes.  So, if I can just hang on (and eat more carrots), hopefully the increase in activity level will make a huge difference.

So, with that, what’s my plan?  You know, I always have a plan.  The good news is that my foot is much better.  I actually wore 2 shoes for the past 2.5 weeks with a little black ankle brace and part of the time I even sported a flip flop instead of a tennis shoe.  I go back to the doctor this week and my only issue left to address is that my ankle hurts.

Yea, well that was the issue we were addressing about 7.5 months ago too, eh?  But, in some ways, the ankle seems very weak and I know that part of my problem is shear apprehension that by putting too much weight on it I will cause more pain or even cause it to twist again (which isn’t likely since there’s all kinds of metal in there).  However, a bigger issue in my opinion is the spot where the bone graft was done has a penchant for causing burning sensations and quite painful aches about 95% of the time.

So, what’s a girl to do?  I wait.  I will see the good doctor on Thursday I think and explain the dilemma which I already know he is going to answer with “the graft site has healed, we already saw that on the x-rays” which is all well and good but for some reason, healed is not equaling “pain-free”.

So, I do hope that soon I am on track and I have some other announcements coming in a few days as well….with a few days being relative to when I ever get my internet service back, gah!