Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Today I am thankful

Today I am thankful for family and friends.
This week is one of the toughest and craziest weeks I have ever had.
This past Friday afternoon, we were notified that my uncle (mom's side) had passed away. He had been battling some health issues and was doing well but recovery was going to be a long road. He died peacefully and is no longer suffering.

Saturday morning around 1:30 am, I was notified that my father was on the way to the hospital with my grandmother (his mother) who was having a heart attack. She passed away shortly after that message. This was very unexpected. She was doing well recovering from a knee replacement and was her usual happy loving self when we gathered on New Year's Day to celebrate the holidays and her birthday.

Early Monday morning (around 2:30 am) I took my boyfriend into the emergency room for a pancreatitis attack. This is something we have been dealing with for about 6 months. He was scheduled for a cholecystectomy on February 1, but they are keeping him in the hospital and working him on for surgery now. I am thankful that they are not waiting so he does not need to suffer through any more painful attacks.

I struggled yesterday to get my protein in. I woke up late, spent the day at the hospital working on homework and forgot to eat as often as I should have. I was so exhausted when I got home that I ate a little bit and then went to bed.

Today I am eating while in the hospital and have a couple of snacks with me. I will be meeting my sister at the airport and then having dinner with family. My nephew was born in September and this will be the first time I get to see him in person. I don't like the unfortunate circumstances but I am so thankful to be able to spend time with her and my nephew. She's coming home thanks to my brother's in-laws. They are wonderful people and paid for her flight.

I will struggle this week for protein but I will do my best.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Not much change

Today is just an update because I haven't posted one in a week.
I haven't weighed myself in a while. I was so excited to have hit the 50 pounds lost goal that I didn't want to spoil it for a while.
I still have not ordered my fitness tracker. I have had lots of input from others and just need to bite the bullet and purchase one. I have a few friends that I have reached out to that have not provided their information on the ones they use. My plan is to have one ordered by the end of this week regardless of whether I have heard back from them or not. Realistically I can order one and probably sell it and get a different one if I end up not liking it.

I rescheduled my hair appointment for next week. I am still really excited to get it done. I will be working at my mom's store the majority of the day tomorrow and then heading to a friend's house (Maggie...I don't usually put names in here, but she is one of my very good friends and I spend time crafting with her so you might hear her name more than this). I will be helping her set up for a big day of crafting on Saturday. I'd love to say that I will spend some time crafting, and I may, but more than likely I will end up running around helping others. I love helping people learn new things and just seeing what everyone else makes. It really is a wonderful thing when people can come together to enjoy their passion.

I've been sort of down this week. I started feeling sick on Sunday evening (just a cold) and ended up taking the day off on Monday. I was lazy yet productive. That means I sat on my butt and did homework, played games, researched for school, and researched things for my blogs (I'm slowly learning HTML coding and how to make more fancy things). Yesterday I was absolutely miserable, but had an awesome day at work. I found out at the beginning of my day that I did not get the job for which I had interviewed. That is okay. Although the hours would have been great for me, I feel that this solidifies that the path I was taking before my leave for surgery was the right one so I will continue down that path (leadership). I had a couple of meetings, a job shadow, and a group listening session (where we listen to calls and learn from them).

I have found that I can eat more than I could a few weeks ago. I'm eating anywhere from 2-4 ounces of food at each meal. I tried a recipe for Protein Squares. It was okay. I made it in a 9x13 pan but they were very thin. I think I will use a smaller pan next time. Also, they turned out very dry to me and I even added a little more liquids than the recipe called for. They have great flavor, but I will be making some tweaking some things for next time.

I have tried pizza. Actual pizza. From a pizza shop. It was okay. I ended up taking a few bites of the flavored crust and just eating the toppings from the pizza. It was delicious. I still love the Wonton Pizza Bites I mentioned before, but it was nice to be able to eat something that everyone else was having (we had it while at a friend's house).

My boyfriend has been using my Torani sugar-free syrups to flavor water and carbonated water so that he doesn't buy and drink much soda. This has been a great change for him and he's enjoying mixing the flavors. It is nice to have support with the changes I have made in eating as well.

That's about it. I'm signing off to jump in the shower and get ready for my first day of on-campus class this semester. I have not taken a class on campus in a long time. Wish me luck!

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Legs crossed and 52 pounds down

I am sitting waiting to get my hair cut. This is my first hair cut since surgery (actually it's been around 7-8 months since my last cut). Nothing fancy; just trimming and thinning. The fancy thing will come next week when I get a new color on the under side of my hair. There will be pictures of that.
As I sit here, I comfortably have my legs crossed. This is not the first time I've done this but it is still strange for it to be comfortable.
This is a wonderful NSV to have.


I have also noticed that I cross my arms more often than I used to. A friend of mine who had the same surgery in May says she does it too because her boobs aren't in the way like they were before. Mine still get in the way, but I'm okay with them; we've become pals.

I had a scale victory today as well. I am officially 52 pounds down since surgery. Fifty pounds was my first major goal so my reward will be purchasing a fitness tracker this week. I will post about that when it arrives and I've had some time to use it.
I feel amazing. I still wear a 2x in most shirts, but some I can wear a 1x. My boobs are rather large so I'm not sure how quickly I will drop shirt sizes. I also have much to lose in the belly area. I wear around a size 18 pants - down from a size 26. I also find that I am wearing more girly things more often because I feel great in them.

I have been out the majority of the day running errands. I struggle with getting fluids and food in when I am out and about. I brought my water bottle with me and drank most of it. I ended up grabbing a few things while out (string cheese, almonds, protein shake, hummus) and I'll have some chicken when I get home. I did a lot of driving and there was no reason I couldn't have been sipping on a protein shake or munching on protein snacks.

I start a new college semester on Monday. I already know that, for one of my classes, I need to complete 5 hours of volunteering. I hope my schedule changes back to 8-hour days sooner rather than later to help get everything in. I had an interview on Tuesday for a position in a different department. It will be a better position for my career as well as for my health. I will find out about that position next week.
Currently, I work full time (4 10-hour days) and take classes part time (3 classes this semester to keep up with financial aid requirements).
Oh, the joys of being an adult.

I purchased 4 bottles of the Torani sugar free syrups to use in protein shakes. I purchased them at World Market. I am excited to utilize some of the recipes and flavor ideas I have found on Pinterest.
My other errands consisted of purchasing my textbooks for the semester, getting adjusted at my chiropractor's office, shopping at Costco, buying a pair of pants at Goodwill, and visiting my boyfriend's brother.
Yes, I shop at Goodwill periodically. No, I don't agree with the amount of money the company CEO makes. My local shops have a reward program that I signed up for. As quickly as I am going through sizes, it is worth it for me to shop at thrift shops. I do shop other places than Goodwill. This one just happened to be a couple of doors down from my hair salon.

Time for me to sign off. I am off to do some more shopping at our local grocery store, unload my car from all the shopping I've done today, and get some rest for more shopping tomorrow. I love having a couple of weekdays off!