Don't Eat That

Let’s just get that out there ok?  You are so not what you eat.  I didn’t even write a post last week because I was so disgusted.  I was at a conference on Monday, Tuesday required me to devote a lot of attention to my kids so by Wednesday I figured there was no reason to write and give you the crappy news. 

As you know, I had TMJ surgery on November 12th.  I was on liquids until right before Christmas when I was told that I could add noodles and the like.  Apparently I was a bit anxious to consume some real food because on Christmas Day I tried a small piece of very tender ham.  And I paid for it.  The pain was horrible and of course, the good doc put me back to liquids.

As you may (or may not) remember, when I had the surgery, I weighed in at 208.  And since that time, I’ve had liquids.  Yes, soda’s, but yogurt and fruit, non-fat yogurt at that.  Yes, I’ve had ice cream and milkshakes but people, real food?  I finally ate some rice yesterday but please, this is really getting old.

And the worst yogurt?  My weight is climbing.  Since I had surgery it has steadily started to rise.  I’m back to 216.  That’s a total of 8 pounds gained on liquids.  And, as I said, it hasn’t been all low-fat foods here and I haven’t actually “counted” calories as I am just not really a believer in that as much as I am in changing eating habits.  (I just can’t actually change any eating habits right now other than to continue to consume liquids). 

The word diet shouldn’t refer to the process of going without food, it should be about the food you do consume.  Meaning that, as if you didn’t know, your diet is what you eat, not what you do without.

With that, I am on a list to receive Jenny McCarthy’s game for the Wii.  Your Shape is the name of it.  I will be receiving the game from Collective Bias and along with a group of people, we will be offering up our weight loss as a counter or “Up the Ante” with a group of people who are the official weight-loss and Your Shape group for CB. 

I will try to post here more often about the game and as always, I’ll continue to use the EASports game too when I can pry the remotes out of my kids hands.  In the meantime…………….just remember……

You

Are

Not

What

You

Eat!

*****Post written in multiple places, be prepared for jumping around…you might even lose weight that way….although I wouldn’t count on it.****

Ok, so I started a post on Education Uncensored and if you want to know how it all came to be about the following, you’ll need to jump over there, read down to the part where it instructs you to jump back to here and then go back there for the grand finale. 

Sound like a major pain in the butt?  Yea, it is but mostly a pain in my jaws….but we’ll get to that. At last week’s tally I had lost 16 pounds and not one soul noticed.  By the end of the week I was down a total of 20 pounds.  This post is late because yesterday when I weight, I had managed to find 4 of those and return those to my body.  Lovely! 

But now, now I”m looking at some bigger issues of how to gain weight, not lose it.  You see, here I am, torn cartilage in my jaws which has rendered me almost as helpless as my broken leg did.  I mean, you can use crutches or a walker (in my case) to get around with a broken bone and generally, you don’t have this feeling in your whole body of just general run over opossum.  And, to answer my cousin’s question, no indeed, I do not smell like road kill.

However, my jaws started to flare up about 2 or 3 months ago and of course everyone chalked it up to tension, stress, gritting and grinding my teeth.  But, I had already paid a small fortune for the diagnosis of a “grinder” and had a mouthpiece made to help with this.  So, now what? 

For 2 months or more, I’ve worn this stinking mouth piece day and night.  I take it out to eat, to brush my teeth and the appliance and to talk on the phone.  Talking in person is not so bad, people can generally make out what I’m saying.  But on the phone, I sound much like one big drug slur. 

And, still, no relief.  I saw an oral surgeon last week.  I had a test run the next day.  I saw him for results today.  And, the diagnosis?  Torn cartilage in my jaws. 

The answer?  There are several but the most obvious place to start is with cortisone shots.  Because hey, I’ve just lost almost 20 pounds, let’s go get some steroids shot up in us and see how long it takes to gain it back.

I am part of a team of EASports folks but because of my broken leg which I not even been given the all clear for major exercises, I’ve only been doing static exercises.  But, it’s amazing what static exercises and a change in diet (regardless of whether you simply decide to watch what you eat or your jaws hurt so bad that you don’t want to bother), the weight will start to dissipate. 

And the proud kicks in.  But, then, you look, 16 pounds gone and not one person has noticed.  How in the heck did that happen?  How do you lose 16 pounds, 20 now and no one notices?  According to my husband, you wear baggy clothes and pj’s all the time and no one can tell.

***************Jump back to the Education Uncensored story and then it will tell you when to come back here and finish!**************

Anyway, back to where I was going with this originally.  I have torn cartilage in my jaws.  Tomorrow, I will be sedated and this horrible steroid shots will be injected into my jaws and I, I hope to be a new woman in a week.  If not, then I get another set of these beauties.  And then, hopefully, I am back to being a chatterbox, verbally, not just with my fingers, and all is well for a period of time.

However, if no results come from these shots that are almost too painful to even think about, I will have jaw surgery.  Hey, that could render me losing some weight.  But….that’s not exactly what I had in mind either.

Now, honestly, I want and need to lose some weight.  And, if you’ve seen a photo of my face, you know that it is is swollen most of the time, here let me show you…

Notice that MY right is much worse than my left.  I have torn cartilage in both places but the right is worse.  And, the oral surgeon confirmed today that some (and of course he couldn’t know for sure) but some of that swelling could be from the torn cartilage.  I mean, duh, you get swelling in your knee’s when you tear cartilage, right?

And, normally, normally as in, in the past, when I have lost weight, my face is the first place to show the loss and the last place to show the gain.  But, this time, no loss was noticeable and possibly we know why now. 

And so the saga continues…2009…there’s just not much left for me to say other than…you suck….

For the remainder of this story, you’ll have to jump back over to Education Uncensored.  Sorry!

Well, I’m no where near ready for photos of me in a swimsuit or anything like that, and to be honest, this week was pretty insignificant since I managed to only hold steady at 209 pounds.  I do think that next week will be my release date for doing more, however, the ortho seems to think that I’ll never get the ankle as strong as I want or expect.

I mean, you know, really, I guess even if it does have a rod, screws and all that, it is probably way stronger than it has been since I was in college and spraining it every few weeks only to go back to the field before it healed properly.  Hey, we might have just figured out why this all happened in the first place, eh?

So, anyway, considering we ate out 3 times last week, holding steady this week is really an accomplishment.  And, well, count that piece of apple pie and you have a recipe for trouble.  So, here we go, a new week ahead and a fridge stocked with ice cold water instead of cans and cans of soda….woot woot!  Go me!

So, I know I’m late with this post, and probably had I been here to bear bad news, I would have just forgot about it entirely.  However, the good news is kind of an odd bit though. 

When we last saw “the scales”, I was up 7 pounds.  Yesterday, down 9 pounds.  Now obviously at this rate, I should start to slim down albeit extremely slowly if I am going to gain 7 and lose 9, gain 7 and lose 9.  However, this does put me below where I’ve been in about 3 years.

I’m not sure if you guys realize that when you eat like I do (as I shove another chocolate covered cashew in my mouth because I am a nervous wreck about an event tomorrow), losing weight is no easy task.  And, regardless, exercise is the answer.  However, I have yet to be released from the Ortho and so I am stuck…..doing static exercises and trying to build up the strength in my foot.

And really, static exercises rank right up there with watching glue dry – worse than even watching paint dry…

Hopefully, soon, and I do mean soon, I can say that I am ready to kick the EASports ladies butt.  That chick, she just mocks me and my static exercises.  I have tried the volleyball and boxing again from my chair which I know sounds ridiculous but I try to bend and reach to my sides as much as possible when I do this.

The down side to that is I tend to put my legs in a constant state of contraction and I end up with an aching leg (from the break and subsequent surgery) for a day or two.  But, it’s better than watching glue dry. 

Check this out on Dr. Andy Baldwin and his ride across Pennsylvania. 

Yes, indeed, I give you 7 pounds…or more like someone gave me 7 pounds.  Sound impossible?  It does to me as well.  But, as hoped aboard the scales this morning, my eyes bulged from my head right before big tears of hate poured onto the floor.  How is this possible?

Yes, my foot still has me in physical therapy mode but I’ve cheated some and did a few odds and ends to up my activity level just to see how my foot would fair.  And, I only had one major breakdown last week when my husband brought home a milkshake and I simply couldn’t leave it to melt.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

So, up 7 pounds, I don’t know, I”m pretty disgusted and hope that very soon I can move into the EASports with a big bang instead of these little therapy sessions which apparently are strengthening my leg and ankle but doggone it, I need to give YOU 7 pounds, not the other way around.

Ok, as you know, I lasted indicated to you that I was down 2 or 3 pounds as I began my journey.  And, as I weighted this morning, I was tempted to cry.  I am back to that 215 mark and not happy about it.  Here’s what’s been happeing though, just for the record…

• I ran out of thyroid medication on Friday and forgot to get it filled and since my husband and I both are battling the flu, I didn’t get it today.  That alone could cause an increase in 2 pounds just because my face is severely swollen as are my hands and feet. 
• My foot still hurts quite a bit so I am still using the exercises on my EASports Active that are static.  I’m dying to try my hand at volleyball but my one session about mid-week last week left me with a really achy foot.  So, I vowed to go back to the actual physical therapy and static exercises to build strength
• I have found that habits are easily formed and not easily broken.  Basically, I have always been a midnight snacker, and luckily for me I have become addicted to carrots and Light Ranch Dressing as opposed to chocolate covered donuts. 
• I actually managed to return to drinking more soda than water last week as I was out and about at my son’s school and it was easier to just grab a soda.  And, with this little flu bug bothering us, we ran out of the kind of water we prefer (I know, we could drink the water from the faucet but it is really disgusting and chlorinated heavily). 

So, I attempt to keep doing the physical therapy on my foot doing the static exercises and return to drinking water more than soda.

That’s it in a nutshell…

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?

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….