Here we are again.

Well.. once again I have a reasonably good diet week under my belt.

 

 

Renewing my commitment to staying on target. Found some Whole Wheat Tortillas that I actually like.. from The Tortilla Factory. Okay.. you know.. nothing is EVER going to be better than a homemade (by my mom) tortilla... but these are good when heated and wrapped around some ingredients (although I found out last night JELLY is not one of them). What gets me excited is the fiber. I have been in fiber heaven all week long.

With the recommendation of my support group Fat Chics, I searched out Skinny Cow products at the commissary this week. My great find was the fudge pops. OMG.. is that thing thick or what? And tastes so incredible it's hard to believe that this is actually a "good for me" treat. :) So kudos to Stacy, Kelli, and the rest that recommended this treat.

TOM is trying to decide if it wants to be here or not. I've had some spotting. Could I be heading into menopause? I have mixed feelings about that possibility. My mother had a complete hysterectomy back in the 60's so her "menopause" happened when I was too young to have thought to take notes. Now I really don't have any adult female (older than me) that I can ask questions about it. I'm thinking going through an induced menopause at 33 is way different than having the natural route take it's course.. but I could be wrong.

At any rate... that's my random thinking process for today. Everyone have a good weekend!

Well... , I didn't make the best choices for food as I could of yesterday.  Kendra and I had to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Wash, DC.

 

WRAMC is a big hub of medical activity for the military community.  It is a teaching hospital and a lot of people are sent there when smaller Army community clinics cannot handle a medical need.  Also, this is where a lot of injured soldiers arrive and have (among other things) rehabilitation.  Because of this, WRAMC has several snack bars, coffee shops and food spots all through the post.  As you first enter the doors, there is a Dunkin Donuts.  I haven't had a Dunkin Donut in 3 years.  They smelled so good.  But we did not indulge immediately on our way in.

 

Kendra had an ultrasound scheduled for 8 AM, for us that meant being on the road by 5:30 AM ... and even at that we were a few minutes late (I hate DC traffic).  The ultrasound and waiting for the radiologist to read it took 2 hours!  The report was good and the technician (female)... was so nice.. she really went out of her way to make Kendra as comfortable as possible.  And she said the nicest thing to me.  When she saw Kendra's DOB on her chart, she looked at me and said..."you do not look old enough to have a daughter that is 18!"    I told her she just made me day!  LOL.. it's been awhile since someone besides Paul remarked on my "youthful" appearance. .... Anyway.. by the time we cleared out of radiology, it was close to 10:30 and we were STARVING.. so we grabbed donuts (I only had one, but trust me.. that was bad enough) and drinks (I chose water).

 

Then we had to head up to Urology to speak with the doctor that is in charge of Kendra's care.  Another long wait there.  We finally see her at 12:00.  We go over the ultrasound results with her, talk about a few of our concerns and then we are told that they are expecting us in pre-op at 1:00pm... so we should grab something to eat and head up there.  We went to the Cafeteria and I should have had salad, but I was so convinced that I could be home in time for a good, healthy dinner.. that I decided to go with the hamburger and fries....And water to drink.  now how cool is this?  With the interest everyone has in fitness, AND considering the number of military personnel are probably in the "fatboy" program.. the cafeteria lists calories, fat grams, and fiber on all their basic food items.  So I know for fact that my burger was 375 calories and that my serving of fries was 250... so not too terribly bad.

 

Well.. heck.. apparently the pre-op thing is kind of a "free for all".. and while you may have an "appointment" that does not mean that you will be seen in a timely manner.  I had my first taste of "Kendra is an adult now and she must learn to fill things out and she must be the one to sign her forms".  That was a bit humbling and bizarre.  The head nurse laughed and said "I know, Mom, at home she's still "pumpkin", but out here in the real world, she has to do the signing. "   OY.... shot through the heart.. but at least I could laugh about it.

 

We finally hit the last "station" to the whole pre-op thing at 5:30 pm.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT>???  She had to have paperwork, have labwork, have an interview with the anesthesiologist, discuss the procedure with the nurse, etc, etc, etc.

 

Well.. once again, it had been so long since we ate that we were STARVING!! and still looking at a 2 hour drive home minimum.  To prevent further delays, I drove through McDonalds and grabbed burger and fries.  Luckily... I only like their small hamburger and I kept to the small fries.  I would have gotten a salad... but well.. you can just imagine the mess in the car.  

 

Even that probably wouldn't have been too bad.  But then because I had to take no-doz to stay awake on the road both that morning and that afternoon, I was buzzing pretty late last night, so I ended up eating a granola bar AND a skinny cow fudge pop.

 

Bringing my total calories for the day to 2000.  No exercise and way too much sitting around has me feeling very bloated today. 

 

So my plan to correct this is to have a lower than usual calorie day, and drink a lot of water.  And walk two miles. I'm hoping that by weigh-in tomorrow... my weight will NOT be too far off from what it's been.

Biggest Loser is back!

I like Biggest Loser.  I find it very motivational.  I really am surprised that they voted Jen off when they should have voted off the big mouth that was slamming Jen for not having lost more.  Ah well....  Leaders and sheep.. that is what it is all about.

Anyway... I'm starting up my exercise program tomorrow.  Visiting Paul last weekend was a lot of fun, but it really messed up the dieting for me.

I am homeschooling my son now.  That takes a lot of my time.  Worth every minute, but still a big time stealer.  I'll get it together though.

Here's a quote that I found inspirational this morning:

" How soon 'not now' becomes 'never'."  Martin Luther

Second Week Weigh In

I am fighting a cold.  My head is all stuffed up.  I feel like crap.   And my weigh in this morning was not as great as I'd like it to be.   I believe my period is due any time, so I'm hoping that is part of the less than stellar performance of this week.  Although ... the back to back birthdays probably aren't helping either.

Anyway....  My weight this morning was: 220.4

I am up .7 from last week.  I am okay with this.  I have been doing well with the eating,so I am sure I will see changes in a week or so (depending on when TOM finally shows up).

Birthday Central

This part of September is always hard on me.  Kimberly, my middle child, was born on 15 September, and Kendra, my oldest, was born on 20 Sept.  So in the span of a week, we end up having two birthday cakes in our house.  This year is made slightly more hazardous in that we are going to spend next weekend down in Alabama with their dad and he has ordered a third cake for them to share. LOL.. it seemed like a good idea at the time.

This year Kendra turns eighteen.  I am the mother of an "adult".   How wierd does that feel?  Now, mind you.. I get to ignore this for several months since she doesn't graduate high school until this May.  I don't think you are really an adult until you are all through with your basic learning.  Still.... wow.. how the last 18 years have flown by!

 

What Happened to Yesterday?

I could have sworn I made an entry yesterday, but clearly I did not.  I guess it was a long day.

Kendra had an appointment with Dr. Cartwright up at Walter Reed AMC.  Dr. Cartwright is the current Pediatric Urologist Head at WRAMC.  I don't know how much I might have said about Kendra in the past, but she was born with bladder extrophy.... which means her bladder was incomplete, as was the closure of her abdomen.

Her first repair surgeries happened at 7 days old at WRAMC.  Kendra was born in Germany during our first tour there.  We had to be "medically evacuated" to the states because there were no doctors that could care for Kendra in Germany.  We've been blessed with a great deal of continuity in Kendra's care from the beginning.  Her first surgeon/urologist was a Dr. Skoog, and his intern, Dr. Peppas.  When Dr. Skoog retired, Dr. Peppas stepped up and continued to provide most of the care Kendra has needed from time to time.  Kendra has had several surgeries along the way.  Her final surgery was in 1998, when they augmented her bladder and created an abdominal stoma (opening) through which she does her catheterizing. 

The last few years we've been moved so often that we seem to never be with one specialist very long and we seem to end up teaching them all that we know about this affliction.  Anyway, now that we are back here, Kendra wants to see about making some modifications so that she feels less "obvious".   This doctor (who happens to be female) was fabulous!  She really sat and listened to what Kendra had to say and addressed so many of our concerns and hopes.  It was a great visit.. I can say that Kendra was moved to tears, the news was so good.

OMG... LMAO.. I am such a dork... you can't tell now, but I accidently deleted the whole above text.  I was sitting here pissed off at myself and my son wandered in and showed me how to get it back.  YEA MAC!!!!!!!!!  He's the hero of the day!

Anyway... diet wise things are still pretty good.  I did have three dunkin donut munchkins (those are the donut holes, right?) while we were up at WRAMC, but other than that.. I've been good.

No exercise yet this week though, other than the typical daily chore stuff.

Week 1 Weigh in

I Lost 4.3 pounds this week!

My kids have today off because elections for local offices are being held.  I'm hoping that today I will get more work done in the house, the boxes are starting to drive me nuts.

I am really excited how well everything is going on this diet.  I believe I am ready to have all this change happen.  I know the first 20 lbs will be easy to lose, it's going to be after that, that the true fight begins.  Still... for now I can take my success and keep running with it.