Amy's Journal: Comments Welcome!

[toystoryduo]

Amy,

We're keeping you and Dan in our thoughts and prayers. Keep relying on the Lord for strength.....He is with you both.

Sending our love and prayers.....

 

[lovinaz]

You are doing AWESOME keeping on track with your eating.

Try not to stress too much about the medical issues, I totally agree with not being an internet doctor! Just take it a day at a time, get all the tests done and try not to focus on the "what-ifs". When you get a conclusive diagnosis, you can deal with it then, knowledge in hand.

Keep it up and hang in there!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Denise, Tracy, Stacie and Amy. I have not done one bit more research on the internet!

I was sick yesterday, I had this horrible headache and I didn't really eat that great. I didn't go over on points but I didn't eat very well either. And I didn't make WW, I had to take dd to the orhto and missed the meeting. I plan to go tomorrow. I am not sure how well I have done, between the salty foods I ate camping and being stressed and bloated, I just don't know what the scale will say. I am not going to stress over it. Didn't walk last night but plan to go tonight.

Dan has his blood draw tomorrow so we won't know anything until Monday at the earliest.

I am just laying low and thinking positive. I don't have a bad feeling about this so maybe that's good. Pretty much all through life, I have gotten these premonitions when something big is about to happen. Right now my Madame Leota bell isn't ringing so hopefully that's a good sign! I am betting they will say the usual "we just need to keep an eye on it and retest in six months". Which would have set me right if I hadn't started poking around the internet and seeing articles that say eventually this condition will catch up with people. So again, no more playing Web Doctor for me!

Food today has been perfect and I am heading to the store to stock up healthy food.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers. They really do help!

 

[Goofydiane]

Hi Amy - Hope you are feeling better.

You are a strong person and are going to be able to handle what ever the results are, I just have good thoughts over them. Relax and try to have a calm weekend, worrying is not going to change the results.

I'll be thinking of you throughout the weekend and next week for the results.

Think ahead to your trip!

 

[lovinaz]

Hope you had a great weekend! Did you ever make it to WW or are you just going to wait until Wed? Any results from Dan's Dr yet?? Women's intuition is rarely wrong, so hopefully that holds true in this case too.

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi sweetie,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you and keeping you and Dan in our prayers. Any news on his tests yet?

 

[DisDee]

Amy, just want you to know that I'm thinking about you. Keep us up-dated on those test results.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks so much everyone. I am sorry I have been away from WISH for so many days.

Dan did get his test results, he tested negative for Hepatitis, A, B and C. So that was good. The doctor is still mystified and says he wants to recheck him every three months. He said absolutely no Advil or Tylenol, cut drinking down and exercise regularly. So that was all good, but both doctor and us, are concerned that he has had this for so long with no apparent end in sight. I am glad we have a doctor that wants to keep an eye on this. Maybe this is just the way Dan's liver will always be. Who knows, but one thing is certain, prolonged levels like this aren't desireable so if exercising helps than its good we have already been working on that. I would say Dan takes maybe 5 Advil per year so that won't be an issue. And neither will the drinking, he drinks a bit on the weekends and that's it. So we'll just cut that down to a bare minimum.

I didn't go to WW last week, I never could get to a meeting. So really need to not let that happen again, going to the meetings keeps me grounded!

We had company for dinner on Saturday, our usual monthly dinner group of three other couples. That was all fun and fine until one of the them announced they are splitting up. We were all just flabbergasted and the party broke up soon thereafter. Sadly, I think my friend just doesn't want to be married anymore. Oh, and earlier that same day, another couple we know came by to drop off their son to go to the movie with ds and told us they are losing their house. I was so sad for them. Just really scary times. Ds was upset all weekend knowing one friend is going to lose his home and other friends are potentially getting divorced. Then yesterday he heard a girl talking to a teacher about how her brother was shot two years ago right in front of her in a gang dispute. Her mother moved her in with an aunt who lives in this area (not much gang activity around here thank goodness) so she now goes to ds' school. He asked me last night why life has to be so hard. I wish I knew!

In any case, food on Saturday and Sunday could have been better. I think missing the meeting, losing some focus, have some stress with friends and just not taking the time to track my points all added up to diet meltdown! I did get back on track promptly MOnday and Tuesday. I stepped on the scale yesterday and it said I was up 3 pounds, which was really a mystery until TOM arrived. For about 12 hours. Now its gone but the bloat remains! Bummer, I was hoping to keep my winning streak going.

I did make my 5x per week exercise goal. So I was happy with that. I am really having to play drill seargent with Dan to get him out of the office and onto the walking track! Its getting harder and harder to go before it gets dark. So we are going to swtich to walking at the mall in the evenings and doing the track on the weekend days. Hopefully my pounds and his liver enzymes will both drop down! The doctor did say that even though Dan is very much in normal range of weight, he needs to drop down to the lower part of normal. So Dan is going to try to lose between 5-10 pounds. Which will probably take him a month. Men!!!


Edited to add: I lost .4. I was pretty happy, I kept up my winning streak and in spite of missing a meeting, TOM, and eating too much on the weekend, still managed a tiny loss! I REALLY need to do well this week and esp. on the weekend. I have one weigh in left before we leave for WDW!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Amy,

I'm glad to hear that Dan's tests came back negative. I know that it's probably frustrating to not know what is going on, but at least you know what is not going on. (Did that make sense? ) I'm glad that his doctor will be keeping an eye on him and rechecking him every three months.

I'm sorry to hear about the situations with your friends. We are living in such difficult times right now. Prayers go out to them.

Great job on making your exercise goal and on your weight loss!!! You are doing a wonderful job, Amy!!! Keep up the good work!

I hope you have a great day ahead!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Tracy, those nice words are just what I needed today!

Food last night, not so great. My sister was coming down to stay at our house. Its Yom Kippur for her (no idea what that is) and she had services until 9:30 and then again this morning starting at 8:00. Since her congreation is less than 2 miles from my house and 65 miles from hers, I told her she could stay here. Sounded like a good idea at the time, but once the day arrived, I was stressed all day. She just has that affect on me. So I ate a Sonic burger, two cheddar peppers and half of a Dr. Pepper last night in a fit of stress. Dh was thrilled to be bad with me, now that I have him on this low sodium diet he is like me, he wants the bad stuff! The doctor said fast food was fine but no more than once per week. I told dh that is still too much, heck we have barely been eating fast food lately because of my diet. He kept eating those tater tots like they were caviar! Ahh, welcome to the world of not being able to eat whatever you want dear!

I am determined to do well on food today. I didn't walk last night, Dan had to go shopping and get his suit pressed, his boss is here today from Dallas and they have a big meeting with their client. I hope it goes well. Anyway, we had to clean out his car last night too, he has to pick her up at the airport. So no walk happened, but tonight I am determined. He has a business dinner so I'll be on my own. Which will be sort of nice, I never get to listen to my iPod anymore since I walk with him now!

Oh, and I ate out lunch yesterday too. I was fairly good at lunch (Mexican place, had soft chicken tacos) but I am sure I plowed through some flex points between that and Sonic.

I am a bit sad my weight losses have been so measley but slow is okay. I am not looking to set or break any records and the fact that I have had six successful weigh in's in a row is huge for me. I have also gotten back into the habit of walking. Its funny, I am so much better at doing the right thing for someone else as opposed to myself. As soon as this blood pressure and liver stuff came up with Dan, I was right out there, walking at the track a minimum of four times per week. Just another weird thing about myself, refusing to take my own health seriously. My mom was the same way.

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Amy,

I hope the time with your sister went okay for you.

I think you are doing a great job with your food and exercise! I know that you may not be losing the weight as fast as you would like, but the key thing to remember is that you are losing weight, Amy. You keep up the good work and you will definitely meet your goals!

I hope you have a great weekend! How many more days until Disney?

 

[traceycooper]

Hi Amy I'm so glad Dans tests came back ok! you must have been so worried - how come i never seem to be around when you need me???
when i came online tonight i thought ''i've not been on for a while - i hope Amy's ok!!''
But i'm so proud of you for managing to stay on track throughout this!
I think you do take your own health seriously - you have been exercising & eating healthy for a good few weeks now!
WELL DONE YOU
I hope the visit from sis went ok!

 

[DisDee]

Amy, You made me laugh with the description of you husband eating the fast food. I'm so glad his news from the doc was encouraging and he just needs to make some lifestyle changes.

I hope the weekend with your sister wasn't too stressed filled. Sometimes our family are the ones that drive us most crazy!

You are doing really well on your fitness plan and shouldn't feel bad about the slow weight loss. I've always heard that is the best way to do it. keep up the good work! BTW...what date do you leave for WDW?

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi everyone, I am so sorry I haven't been around so much lately. Its been beyond busy around here.

My visit last week with my sister was fine, I barely saw her. Then she and my nephew and his girlfriend came down on Sunday and we had a great time. She was on her best behavior (praise the Lord) and Dan and I feel in love with nephew's girlfriend and her son. I think she is perfect for him and her little boy clearly adores my nephew. It made me think of nephew at that age (this little boy is 8) and how much he adored the men my sister dated. I hope it works out, if not, I think that little boy will really be sad! My mom would have loved the girlfriend and her son, just another thing she is missing.

Today is ds' birthday, he is 14. Where does time go? Its also my sister's birthday so the whole troop is coming over again tonight for dinner. I made healthy chili with extra lean beef and we are having pie. Ds prefers pie to cake!

I am going to weigh in on either Thursday or Friday. I have an appt. tomorrow and I know I won't make my meeting. This also gives me an extra day or two to burn off the piece of pie I know I will eat tonight!

Food over the weekend was lousy but I got back on track yesterday. Alhtough I did have a big lunch at Applebee's with stepdad. I picked him up at the airport and he offered to take me to lunch so obliged. Did I order off the Weight Watcher menu? Unfortunately not. I was stressed, he had been out to see his son and his wife, who after nine months of my mom being dead are still bound and determined to be angry at her, me, my brother and stepdad. LIstening to him describe the things they said was very upsetting. I really wish my brain and heart were like a computer, and I could hit "delete file" and just wipe them out of my life. It hurts to hear that stuff, its amazing they never were able to see anyone else's point of view. I know one thing, if I was lucky to have either of my parents at my home for a visit, the last thing I would waste my time doing is griping at them. He was upset and so was I. I listened but I may have to tell him that in the future I just can't hear those things anymore. And they wonder why I told them to NOT come to my mom's funeral. Idiots.

Well, enough of that, I moved on and drank plenty of water to flush out the salt and then had 0 point veggie soup for dinner.

I will only get in 3x per week of exercise, dh is working late getting ready for vacation, its been freezing cold and I have just been really busy. Not 100% valid excuses I know but I have done the best I can. At least I got in the 3 times, believe me it was a challenge! I have no idea what the scale will say, I was hoping to lose 10 pounds by WDW and it will probably be closer to 8. But I am okay with that. I need to catch up with all of you.

We leave in 4 days!

 

[traceycooper]

4 days!!!
where has the time gone??
I'm sorry you & your stepdad have to hear such hurtful & no doubt ridiculous comments!
i've been struggling at the weekends too, but at least you got back on track again i had an egg custard tart & a cookie then go to the gym!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Tracey, you are always there for me so don't say otherwise!

Today was busy and just non stop errands and aggravation. I ate a Happy Meal for lunch and then two grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. I did use whole wheat bread, tomatoes and 2% cheese slices but still not a great choice. I am just low on groceries and frazzled! Didn't walk (I did yesterday). I took the kids to church tonight then raced over to the mall to buy new Crocs, my old ones are just too worn out for 9 days in the parks.

The sad thing is that I am starving as I type this. Hate that. Tomorrow I need to do much better with food. I weigh on Friday and I am not all that hopeful!

I ate way too much last night at ds and sister's birthday party. A bowl of chili, two pieces of pie and some cheese and crackers. Oh, and two light beers. Terrible evening on the food front. And I had done well all day only to blow it that night! Nephew's girlfriend eats like a bird and has the body to show for it. I on the other hand, eat like a cow and look like one too. I don't feel like I have derailed, just sort of lost my edge as the trip draws near. The good news is that I have planned some healthy meals at WDW, we have only one ADR and we are on a very tight budget so I plan to share lots of meals at cs places. I also bought a new water bottle to take to the parks, I really want to drink the water. And both Pop and SSR are great resorts to walk around. So hopefully I can hold my own and not gain back the weight I worked so hard to lose these past 7 weeks!

I can't believe we leave on Saturday, I am very excited but still have a lot to do.

The kids and I collected change for the past few months and got that cashed in today, $47, ds had the closest guess (he said it would be $42) so that was good. Amazing how that change just adds up over time. We had only been saving about three months. Dd proceeded to come home and clean out her junky desk drawer and found a few dollars more, we put it back in the jar, I have a few dollars now going towards our June trip!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Amy,

I wanted to stop by and wish you and your family a safe and magical trip to WDW. Have a great time!!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Tracy, I"ll have a Grand Marier slush for you!

I was down a pound today. So that was good. I have lost 9 pounds (well 8.8 actually) since August 13th. I was hoping for more like 15 or 20 in two months. In all, I have simply not been as disciplined with food as I would have liked. So that is something to work on when I get back. I have done a lot of good work, but there is definitely some fine tuning to be done. I haven't been tracking that much and I know I can do better. But I am still happy that I have lost the weight, its slow but it does add up over time. That's about a pound a week. If I had done that for the past year, I'd be down 52 pounds!

I think I got a bit down as I packed for WDW. I was hoping to fit into some crop pants and skorts I wore in the summer of 07. They zip at least but barely. Way too tight to be comfy in a park all day. Nothing worse than trying on clothes that used to fit and now don't. But maybe it will serve as a reminder to stay on track at WDW. I packed my workout clothes and shoes and am taking my Ipod. I really want to take at least four good solo walks in the ten days we are gone. Walking around the parks is good, but its not a constant sort of pace and I am not sure how much that gets my heart rate up.

I bought new Crocs so that will be good, I'll have comfy shoes for the parks and can maybe do some fastpass running.

So it was good news, just not as good as I wanted. But then again, I can't help but feel positive about things. I have overall stayed pretty consistent. And I have a loss each week since 8/13, not one gain the whole time. So that's good too.

Well ladies, I will try to post from WDW and keep up with all of you. Thanks for all the support and I will see you soon!

 

[DisDee]

Amy, have yourself a wonderful trip and try to post so that we can be on a "pretend" vacation with you. You've done really well over the past 2 months so I'm sure all your activity will make a difference. Just remember to drink lots of water!

Have fun! We'll be thinking of you!

 

[CACruisin']

Amy, have a fabulous time at WDW on your vacation! You really should be so proud of yourself for consistently losing wt for 9 weeks! There have been a few bumps, but life happens. What's important is that you did not let the stresses and conflicts going on derail you. You kept going. Slips happen, but we just have to keep going. NO MORE "Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda"! The past is behind. You can only go forward (or whatever that line is from Lion King.) You have done an admirable job!

I have faith that you will do ok on vacation too. You have really thought about it and planned well. The limited ADR's, the sharing of meals at counter service. The walks - those could be nice and peaceful in the morning or evening while the family is asleep or at the pool. Drinks lots of water, but most importantly - Have a good time and enjoy the family time!

I know I haven't been posting my journal, but I can commiserate with your frustrations. I have been so impressed with how you have handled yourself in the last 9 weeks, and have taken inspiration from that when I have felt discouraged. You are really, really doing a fantastic job, WISH sis!