How the Crap Did I Lose Weight?

I lost weight over the holiday week. How did that happen? More on that and my goals tonight.

Things to Write About and a Picture

I weighed myself yesterday. After a two weeks of not working out and a week of being sick, I figured I would have gained some weight back. The opposite was actually true. I actually lost weight! 219lbs yesterday morning. I actually let the scale reset itself and I weighed myself again. I don't really know what happened besides that maybe my appetite wasn't quite what it usually is. I haven't worked out for two weeks. I don't work out when I'm sick.  I'm still sick.

So what am I writing about tonight? The fact that I don't know what to write about. I know I have people that read this often and encourage me to keep writing. I seem to come up with these great blog entries at the most random times of the day. I need to start carrying a notebook or something that I can write these ideas down keeping them for future brain farts.

How about this one? Did you know that Christmas is only 11 days from today? That's scary right when I think about that I haven't done much of any shopping. I have Pat's gift but that's all I have. I am unsure if my family is planning on coming down to Madison for Christmas. I'm not sue yet if I am going to have to buy food for a Christmas meal or not. I was thinking something simple like ham, and Acorn Squash.  I love Acorn Squash, even more than I love Butternut Squash.  I haven't been doing much baking yet because I've been sick. I don't want to share this wonderful cold with my friends and family, especially around the holidays.

Here's our Christmas card picture this year. I think I did a pretty good job setting the camera up on the tripod and using the timer. I also love what I can do with Lightroom.

The Biggest Loser season finale is on now. I suppose I should go watch that.

Sick

I haven't posted in a week. 

Two weeks ago I got a flu shot, at my cardiologist's urging. I had never gotten one in the past. When I asked about getting sick from the shot, they told me it was a rumor that wasn't true.  They told me that people who get sick already have a virus in their system and the shot is just timing.  Well, two weeks later I'm sick.

I could feel it coming on last week. Just a general weakness and lack of motivation to do anything. I should have known it was coming. I could really feel it yesterday. I even told my boss not to expect me at work the next day. I didn't sleep last night. I was awake all night with various bouts of sleep. So just like predicted, I called in sick this morning. I hate calling in sick to work especially on Tuesdays when we are short staffed.

I tend not to eat much when I'm sick. The appetite just isn't there to motivate me enough to get off the couch to eat. I can count on one hand what I've eaten today. A bowl of cereal and yogurt for breakfast, a couple of handfuls of cheezits around 4, two pieced of pizza for dinner and 4 Halls cough drops.  Oh there were a couple of glasses of water in there to keep me hydrated while I work through my fever. There is definitely no working out when I'm sick. Like I said, butt off of the couch is difficult.

I hope I get to go back to work tomorrow. Although it's nice to have a day off, it sucks to be at home sick. I'd rather be at work. 

For weigh in yesterday, there was no gain...but no loss either.

The ER and Doctor's Orders

On a side note, I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. I woke up early on a Saturday morning with pain ripping  through my back. With my family's history of heart disease and my being medicated for high cholesterol, I freaked out. I made Pat take me to the ER at 5am. I really tried to calm down before I got to making that decision. The pain just didn't go away for the 30 minutes I tried to calm down. After numerous tests in the ER, they found that I was not having a heart attack. They kept me under observation for a few more hours so they could run some follow up tests to make sure they were still correct.

Doctor's orders were to go home, rest and make a follow-up appointment with my cardiologist. When I went home, my back hurt more until I was able to get some Advil in me and a heating pad on my muscles. I slept and sat around the rest of the day, and the rest of the weekend. I'm sad my freaking out made me miss a family gathering in Minnesota but I'd rather  be safe than sorry. The pain was gone by Monday morning. I pretty much figured out that I was just having back muscle spasms and Advil helped me with that pain.

My follow-up appointment with my cardiologist went well. They ran yet another EKG which came out normal. She could feel my back was tight. She prescribed me a work out of some sort of stretching. I think she would like to see me doing some yoga or pilates along with my aerobic workouts. I'm really looking for a dvd that will help me with the stretching and flexibility. (I was also given a great massage from Sister Anne over Thanksgiving!) If you have any ideas, I would greatly appreciate them.

When I was sitting in the ER that morning, I was thinking about how frustrating it is that my body is hurting so badly when I've been so good to myself. I'm supposed to be getting better by working out and eating well. I'm not supposed to be going to the hospital. Looking back on it, maybe it was my body telling me to just keep going. I never want to have to go to the ER again.

I just wanted to let you know that I only gained a pound over the last holiday week. I am going to be happy with that and I'm going to work through the next few weeks coming up to Christmas. Pat and I are planning on doing Christmas down here. It will be interesting what happens foodwise since we won't be going to the big family dinners and going out for drinks with friends. 

Turkey Day 5k

I really did want to do it but it was too dang cold. When I woke up on Thanksgiving morning, it was -10 degrees windchill and the air temperature was about 5 degrees above zero.  I didn't bring up the proper clothing for weather THAT chilly. I didn't have anything to protect my face for that weather. I still go up early and did a work out on the treadmill in my parent's basement. I would have felt like major crap if I didn't do any workout that morning. I did a 2 mile walk/run in 30 minutes. I was really pushing myself to run as long as I could without stopping. I am still really proud of myself for making it a half mile without stopping.

A Friend and An Accomplishment

I'm blogging tonight because I saw one of my sorority sisters on tv, specifically The Biggest Loser special tonight on NBC.

I am so happy to be able to support Shannon in her goal to make life changes. She was able to be involved in the first group to take advantage of the new Fitness North. Fitness North was started by a couple of previous Biggest Loser contestants. Shannon wrote about her experiences during her two week stay. Reading all of her entries made me feel that I was walking right along with her.

I worked out this morning. I've decided that running on a treadmill is easier than running on the road. I actually ran a full half mile! I know, I'm a dork but that is a huge accomplishment for me. My body aches now. Tomorrow is Turkey Day 5k and it's supposed to be the coldest Thanksgiving in 20 years. We are going to evaluate the weather when we get up in the morning. If we decide it's too cold, I plan on hitting the treadmill again to get that workout done.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

10 Year Reunion

My mom insists that I have to do another post because she "has nothing to read". So here is the post as promised.

My 10 year high school reunion is coming up on Saturday. It was decided to do the party on the Saturday after Thanksgiving because it was a time when classmates would be home. We are gathering at Solera in downtown Minneapolis for drinks, appetizers and lots of chatting (I'm sure). This will be my first reunion since my class decided to not have a 5 year reunion.

Let me tell you a bit about my class. I graduated from Wayzata High School in 2000 with 600 other students. Most of us were heading off to a college for a 2 or 4-year degree, some were working, some were going to the military, and some didn't have any clue what they wanted to do. Graduation was held on the University of Minnesota campus and an all night party commenced back at the high school.  I was horribly sick but wouldn't miss graduation or the party for anything, even though my boyfriend at the time and best friend opted out. Only about 80 of those 600 are showing.

I look back at high school...and I don't miss much of it. I miss the band parts the most.  I regret some of the petty sh*t that happened during those years and some of it, I wish I could take back. I'm hoping some of that stuff is just crap that people have decided was just insignificant. I am hoping that most of the cliquey (is that a word) stuff is gone. I am looking forward to seeing people that I didn't talk to much during those years but that I have come to found are great people. There are the old friends that are coming that I am beyond excited to see, although I wish more of them were attending. And looking at the RSVP list, there are people I do not wish to see that are attending, although few. I will just be polite. I am happy that Pat graduated with me so I will be dragging him with me.

Sure, I wanted to look hot for this party. I wanted to lose all the weight I had gained since high school. I wanted to be accomplished, successful. BUT WHO CARES!? If someone is going to be judgmental of me, so be it. That's their problem that they feel the need to have to judge others to feel better. I made the decision a few months ago to only worry about myself. I plan on buying a new outfit and look stylish in this body.

The past ten years have been different for all of us. Some people have found their ideal careers, some haven't. Some classmates are doing something different then what they dreamed of when they are younger but they are still happy. Some classmates are single, married, divorced, bi, gay and lesbian.  Some have kids, some don't. I'm just excited to catch up with people that I haven't talked to in a while. In the days of Facebook and social networking I do know a lot about some of these classmates but I don't think it's the same as seeing them in person.

Overall, I'm looking forward to this reunion! See you all on Saturday!