Sunday, October 27, 2013

Tomorrow's the Day...

So after several weeks of planning and all day shopping today (and spending an exorbitant amount of money), tomorrow I'm starting my new "diet".  I hate the word diet, but honestly I can't think of a better word for it.

I have tomorrow night's dinner marinating and have my lunch packed up for tomorrow and every morsel I intend to eat is already tracked in my Weight Watchers' tracker.

I have been so looking forward to this and now I find myself feeling a bit indifferent.  Probably from the stress of the day.  Probably a little also from nerves and the question of "will I fail yet again?" running through my head.

I don't think I have a choice but to succeed this time...

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Well!

So, I disappeared for a couple of months....

When last we spoke, I was having some crazy ass sciatica issues.  Well, in the midst of all that, I met someone and started a new relationship and also started back to work teaching my little third graders.  The week I went back to work was the worst with the pain.  My sister and my new girlfriend conspired against me as I was at Meet the Teacher Night (in tears, mind you, because I couldn't pick anything up in my room, my room was a mess, and I was about to be bombarded by 37 sets of parents and their children, not to mention the fact I hadn't slept properly in a month and was in searing pain.) and talked me into going to the ER.  My co-workers also saw the state I was in and strongly encouraged the move as well.  So, fortunately, I did go to the ER, had a great ER doctor, and got some much needed steroids would seriously helped me.  I haven't had the same level of pain since (this was almost 2 months ago now) and feel almost human again at this point.

I later went to my GP and she recommended talking to a surgeon, which I flat out refused because of all the horror stories I've heard relating to back surgery for sciatica.  She got a little miffy with me, but we talked about pain management which I was all for at the time, but I haven't followed up on that, because my pain level just isn't high enough for it to make it worthwhile to me at the moment.  Today, for instance, I'm going on Day 3 of not taking any kind of pain medication or anti-inflammatory medication.  My pain level is maybe at a 2 or 3 at the worst, but it generally stays around a 1 or 2 and is even at 0 lately.  Which is fantastic, of course!

So anyway...I bore you with my old lady pain stories to tell you this...I have gained probably 20 pounds and weigh more than ever.  I just haven't cared.  I haven't exercised and I've eaten whatever the hell I want.  I'm ready to get back to healthy eating and for the past few weeks have been planning (I have to wait for payday to fully implement, which will occur on Saturday).  Andi over at Can You Stay For Dinner has been posting weekly updates for the past several months about putting her mom on a diet.  I have to say I find it incredibly inspiring and have started a little notebook with the meals she's been eating and have already made a grocery list for my first week.  Everything looks pretty straightforward, simple, and definitely tasty.  So, I'm going to be following what her mom's been eating pretty closely and I'm really excited.

I also recently started wearing my Weight Watchers Activlink monitor again and my lofty goal is to hit 1 activity point a day.  After over 2 months of pretty much sitting all the time, I think this is pretty reasonable.  I intend to start incorporating 5 minutes of scheduled movement into my days.  I've noticed the more I walk, the more my leg starts to bother me.  I learned from my GP visit that I've probably herniated another disc higher in my back because I do have some weakness in my left leg.  During the worst of the sciatica, I had a burning sensation in my hip when I would walk any length of time, probably from overcompensation.  So, I do need to be careful and ease my way back into activity.

I'm considering rejoining Weight Watchers meetings with my new plan, but I think I may just do the online for the time being.  I fully intend to track my points because when I do and I stick with it, I get great results.  Also, the plan on Andi's blog is geared toward a woman who weighs significantly less than me, so I'll be incorporating some additional healthy points into my days to bring the total up where it needs to be for my current weight.

I'm super looking forward to this.  I need to get the fridge cleaned out this week before heading to the store.

Thanks for stopping by!