Gangsta' Gallbladder

Dear Amber ~

I'm happy to report "G-Money" is a hold out no longer. The Gangsta Gallbladder was captured during a surprise raid on Tuesday and has not been seen since. All reports indicate he put up a slight struggle but was captured and brought out of the hole. At this time, his neighbors (known as Lizzy the Liver and Patty the Pancreas) have indicated the hood is calm and a "sense of relief" can be felt throughout the area. Everyone should rest better knowing he can cause no more pain.

In case you are wondering, yes, I have taken my hydrocodone and yes, it may indeed be influencing this blog. Overall I'm feeling better than I have in a long time but I'm pretty damn sore in my belly. I haven't been able to stand up straight yet - muscles are pretty tight. Ill be taking the dressing off the incisions this afternoon and can FINALLY take a shower. That sponge bath shit is retarded. I've been living on a diet of chicken broth, grapes, and crackers. Oh, and my mom made some red potatoes for me yesterday which were amazeballs. I'm a little concerned that I haven't been drinking enough water... and I haven't pooped which is a bit of a concern as well. Ive read that 48 hours post op isn't unusual for no BM but I just don't want to get crazy with it. If nothing by this afternoon Ill break out the laxatives (and you know my history with those bad boys!).

Other than that I have managed to pay most bills (today is payday!woot woot!), avoid some other bills (cause I'm feelin' gangsta!), and sit my rather large butt in the bed and/or chair but mainly the bed. Apparently my bed laying annoys my son... he started griping yesterday "I wish I could get four holes in my stomach so I could sleep all freaking day." Umm, yeah, you would sleep all day except to graze for food and pee if I'd let you! I think there should be another planet for teenage boys - ya know, kinda ship em off until they are human again.

OK, that's all I have for now. Doctor said two weeks no exercise - I told her I had been practicing for the last month. :o)

Miss you!!

Mind Over Munchies

Dear Amber,

It is such a relief to know that you haven't fallen off the face of the planet! This world would not be the same without you. :o)

I'm so proud of you for fighting the late night munchies - I recently subscribed to "SHAPE" magazine and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I snagged a $3 year's subscription through another magazine and have been in love ever since! Anyway, I was reading it last night and there was a great article titled "Mind over munchies." I couldn't find the exact article online but I found one similar to share Mind Over Munchies. Also, in this handy dandy magazine, I found an advertisement for "Silk Pure Coconut Milk." It has less fat that regular milk and it not supposed to upset the tummy for those with dairy allergies, etc. I'm going to Whole Foods to pick some up this week and Ill let you know how it is.

My surgery is Tuesday (and I'm getting kinda nervous) and Ill be down for at least a week. I may try to get in a walk or two the following week. I don't want to attempt to do any core exercises until I'm given the all clear, but walking is a necessary evil and I think I would shake off some of my stress this way. And speaking of exercise... I'm probably going to have to change gyms. The YMCA is a wee bit expensive and not close to home. There are a couple of other gyms (Bally's and LA Fitness) closer to home and they are a bit cheaper too. I might look into those and see if I like them. I really only use the treadmill and elliptical so for the savings it may be same-same.

I'm starting to feel some inspiration/motivation creeping back in - I lost it there for a while! School is back in session and work is busier than ever so going to the gym again will be a great stress reliever.

Anyway, read the article if you find some time - I found it interesting and helpful :o)

Miss you!

I'm here

Dear Julie,

I swear I haven't fallen off the earth. I'll say two words about where I've been- NURSING SCHOOL. Yeah, kinda got ran over by that train.

Here's a quick recap of what I failed (that's right- I award myself an F for failure to keep up my emails and encouragement to you- bad me) to blog about this week. I made some fantastic progress this week on late night snacking!! Holy cow-I'm afraid to say this out loud but I think I just might, possibly, maybe have in a small way, gotten past that problem! Well, not past as in will never do it again, but past as in, I'm not snacking most nights. ;) I am eating a LOT of Sonic ice. Helps with the munchies. As far as the rest of the meals, I did pretty well. Not super great, not super bad. I'm doing that thing that doctors and fitness people everywhere tell you absolutely not to do- I'm skipping meals. I know! Ah! Here's what I say to them all- screw it - it works! I actually did eat pretty well when I did eat. As for exercise, well that's where the school interfered for me this week. I got some in- no worries there. Also, pretty sure I'm totally counting the clinical hours of running off my feet the whole time as my exercise for those two days. I think I got in 3 times of actual "exercise" this week. But! One of those times included a 3 mile walk with a friend in the blazing heat I might add. Which was encouraging because I didn't pass out and die on the side of road and I only begged her one time to go get the car and come back and get me. :) What? She knew I wasn't serious... really, I wasn't. Now, when I pulled up to a drive through after and gasped out "water, for the love of God, water" I WAS serious. Very serious.

So, enjoy your third to last week of me leaving you alone about exercise and eating because that gallbladder is coming out and then you'll be hearing my annoying voice yelling at you all the way from Missouri!

Oh btw- Adam totally told me I looked like I'd lost weight today- woo hoo! It's working!!!

Chubby Girl Salvation

Dear Amber ~

I'm so happy this is your last semester! I know the mixed emotions going on... on one hand you are excited because its the last one; but on the other, there is a growing sense of anxiety to get through it but not too fast just in case you aren't really ready yet. I am so proud of you and all that you have accomplished. I have never doubted you and can't wait to see what the future holds for you.

Today was a pretty good day for me. I'm feeling a little ~blah~ (and that's putting it nicely). I am having the hardest time finding my mojo again. I was doing so good there for a while and it has suddenly collapsed around me. Super frustrating - and whats more frustrating is how I know  this is problem and yet instead of going to the gym I simply *blog* about going not going. Seriously - I'm in a flat spin and cant seem to get out. So, that being said, here is my inspirational post. This always seems to get me moving again - I LOVE this video. It is chubby girl salvation...

Exhausted- and it's only the beginning

Dear Julie,

I'm tired. It's only the first day of class. The only thing getting me through tonight is knowing that I'm less than 5 mos from being able to go to work as an RN!!!

I ate well today- really light lunch that I packed and took to school. I heart those little cheese wedges with a few special K crackers. I also tried Greek yogurt for the first time- yummy! I'll be getting those from now on in addition to my lemon ones. Dinner was chicken enchiladas again. Also yummy. I only eat one so its not so many calories. Second day on fitday! Go me!

Didn't work out today as I was so tired that I took a nap instead :) which is NOT good weight loss strategy. Hopefully as the semester progresses, I'll get out on my lunch break and walk around the building. I really want to add in that outdoor walking that progresses to running as I had such success with it last time I actually lost any amount of weight.

Here's my inspiration for tonight as I need to hear it myself.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Dear Amber,

Fitday is an awesome idea! I forgot completely about it until you mentioned it - so, I logged in and realized I haven't logged i since January of this year! That's both good news and bad news... the good news is I weigh the exact same today as I did on 1/17/2011. The bad news is... I WEIGH EXACTLY THE SAME AS I DID ON 1/17/2011!  I would probably be really pissed off except for the fact that I haven't been doing nearly what I should to make this work. I think I have trolls that go to the store with me and throw shit in my cart. For instance, take my son with me to the store and I swear, he asked for something on every single aisle. I did really good at telling him no, but I also understand that he gets home from school and is starving so I do buy convenience foods for him to eat like pizza rolls, mac-n-cheese, etc. Anyway, so I get home and unpack the groceries and find "OREO Blizzard Cookies," and Mt. Dew (which is safe because it tastes disgusting) among the everything else. I'm going to have to not take him to the store with me anymore.

Anyway, I cleaned like a mad woman today and forced all the minions in my kingdom to comply with my demands. It was awesome. :o) I feel good today and got a lot accomplished. I'm ready to rock-n-roll this week and plan on the gym at least 3 times then Ill be down for at least a week and then back again.

Fitday

Dear Julie,
I started using fitday.com today. It worked really well for me last time. I put in a goal weight loss of just over one hundred pounds. I put a goal date of January 2013. I feel motivated to step up the diet process. So far today I've eaten a carnation instant breakfast and a teriyaki chicken breast (yum!) for lunch. I had a few tablespoons of coconut out as a snack but my dumb cat was wolfing it down when I came back into the room! Stupid cat...
I also got out this morning and jogged/walked outside for about 30 mins. I'd like to start putting jogging and walking outside in the exercise rotation because it is so much more difficult than a treadmill. At least it is to me. Of course, where we live currently is almost all hills... which should provide some excellent training! And now that it is only 99 degrees outside instead of 1,000 perhaps it will be more pleasant to do it out there. 
Nothing much else is going on today. I'm feeling blah and a little downhearted. Blech. I hope your day is better than mine and that you make good choices today!!! 

Here's your motivation for today- works for me ....sometimes...   :) 

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."