This year so far has been tough - in more ways than one. The private gym did not work out for me, they were big into supplementing everything and I was not willing to spend the rest of my life taking supplements (nor was my bank account willing to dish out the $400/mth just for the supplements). It's too bad but what can you do?
At the end of February I found myself sick - and not in a normal way or with some of the normal ailments that obese individuals have to fight (ie. diabetes, heart problems, etc). I ended up with terrible headaches, so much so that I could not lift my head off the pillow and constant double vision. As it turns out, after being diagnosed with Intracranial Hypertension (increased pressure in the fluid around the brain) and trying to rule out all other causes of the onset of this - the Neurologist and Opthamologist determined that it was because of my weight. A lumbar puncture, 4.5 weeks off of work and waiting for the pressure to subside, I am finally feeling much, much better. I was floored by the diagnosis and the reason - I never even considered that I could lose my eyesight or be bed ridden with unbearable headaches because of my size.
So what did I do with it? At 268 lbs it was a lot to take in. While sick, I lost 19 lbs - good start (although the medication is to blame). The specialist also sent me to a weight-loss specialist and that program has really helped as well. Today, I am 224 lbs - down 44lbs!!! I will take it, I wish it hadn't been a health scare that finally pushed me over the edge but I feel better knowing that I am doing stuff to combat my health (apparently there is no determining whether the pressure will build back up or not - the best thing to do is to keep losing weight and hopefully decrease the chances of that happening).
As for my goals for the year:
1. Get healthy - on my way!
2. Lose 100lbs - almost half way there!
3. Fit into the hoodie my husband gave me for Christmas - I went on vacation to Alberta last week (a very active vacation at that) and look what I wore! Comfortably I might add!
4. Stop drinking pop - No pop since March 1st - I am craving it like crazy but the medication that I am on makes carbonated drinks taste like metal. I guess that's lucky for me!
5. Exercise at least 4 days per week - I am no where with this one - it is definitely the next thing that I have to work on. No excuses!
I was also re-reading some of my other posts on this blog - not that there are a lot! But I chuckled at the Bus seat comments - I still think of that. Last week when I was on the plane, I could actually buckle the seat belt and pull it tight with quite a bit of seat belt left over at the end - I haven't seen that in forever! Other people might not even think of something as little as that but it was a huge non-scale victory for me!!
I think I need to start actually updating this blog more frequently...
