Whew! It's my Birthday!!!

That's right, you read that title correctly. It's my birthday!!! I'm gonna party like it's 1984! Well not really, because then I was just a gooey twitching pile of baby in the hospital. But you get the idea. I've decided that I'm not going to count calories today. I will try to make the best decisions as I see fit, but I'm not going to sacrifice on my birthday. For all the Catholics out there, consider this my Fat Tuesday. Oooo I'll have to get a piece of king cake. I've been craving some so bad. I'll post about all my eating later.

I haven't worked out since Tuesday. Yesterday I was starting to feel sick, like the hard to breathe phlegmy kind of sick. I blame my husband for having bronchitis. I came home from work two hours early and took one of his pills and went to sleep. I slept for two hours in the living room recliner and then went and slept another two hours in my bedroom. It's crazy when you wake up at 7 at night and I'm like whoa...I slept that long?! I'm feeling better today, but I'm still not going to work out. We're going out of town this weekend to see my father-in-law for his birthday. I'm a little nervous about it because both my father-in-law and his girlfriend smoke and my husband and I both are sick with a respiratory infection. Those two together do not make me very happy. He said he'll talk to his dad about not smoking while we're there. I wonder how well that's gonna work. Anyways...tata! Have a great day everybody!!!

Eh kinda day...

Yesterday I did end up going to the gym. My husband asked me if I felt okay and I felt great so he said he wouldn't mind. He's sick right now so I think he really didn't care. I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike and tried to do 20 minutes on the treadmill but I got winded so I stopped after 10. I did some leg weight machines and worked on my abs. I was so tired and hungry after that I didn't even bother to take a shower before I went home. I went by Wendy's and got a cup of chili to snack on before I made dinner. Last night it was the Zucchini noodle lasagna. It wasn't done baking until around 9. I weighed 309.2 last night. :-| I think I'm starting to put on water weight for that time of the month....joy.

Tonight I plan on taking my monthly measurements. I've been nervous about this since I thought up doing it. I mean day to day weight fluctuations I can blame on water weight or having a heavy meal or something....but if I don't see results in my measurements I'm going to be so down trodden. Wish me luck!

You will not believe this...

Yesterday....I drank a Dr. Pepper. Not only did I drink one can of Dr. Pepper....I drank TWO cans of Dr. Pepper. I know, I know I said no more Dr. Peppers, but I had to. Because I gave blood!!! HA HA HA! I had all of you fooled. You thought I fell off the bandwagon. Nope, I did a good deed and needed some sugar and fluids. That was my first time to donate blood, and it was particularly fun either. I kinda had a, not really reaction but thing maybe? Basically I lost all my color started to sweat like a pig and was about to pass out. The ladies at the lifeshare are good though, they immediately knew I was lying when I said I was okay and put ice packs on me. They put a fan on me and gave me a Dr. Pepper. Bless those sweet sweet women. I sat there for some time after and talked to them. The one who actually did my blood draw was a pretty lady in her late 20's to early 30's who had seen me several times before when I came in and got my iron checked to see if I had a high enough level to give or not. Finally this time after taking iron supplements for two weeks my hematocrite was at 38 which is there limit for cut off so I could donate! Well I was telling her how I might go next door and get a quesadilla from Dilla's when I felt up to it and she said she had never eatten there before but she heard it was suppose to be healthier for you than other place even though one time a co-worker of hers got something from there and it looked greasy. So from that I guessed she was into healthy living and talked to her about my cooking WW meals, and she said be sure to drink plenty of fluids and I told her about my 2 liter bottle of water in the car. She drinks a lot of water too, because she had gastric bypass in October of '07! Crazy! She was telling me how horrible it was. She gets sick all the time even though she eats the right foods. She can't throw up when she gets sick so she just dry heaves for half an hour. Then she told me about all of her loose skin that was suppose to be removed and they had to cancel the surgery because she won't stop losing weight! I wish that was my biggest problem! She also told me about how she had to have an iron infusion because she doesn't use a large portion of her intestines which is were all the minerals and vitamins and nutrients are obsorbed into the body. And she said most people who have bypass surgery lose their gal bladder. Can you just imagine? I've heard about what happens to you after you lose the gal bladder, it isn't pretty. Nobody ever tells you about the bad parts of gastric bypass until it's too late. Well I am SO glad I met her. Even though I'm getting this weight off the right way it would've been so easy for me to take the easy way out and get lap band or bypass. Man did I make the right choice.

Needless to say after giving yesterday I did not work out. I did however want to work out today because I feel fine but my hubby isn't comfortable with me doing that just yet. I might sneak in some home workout before he gets in. No cardio though, I'm not that crazy. Last night I weighed 304.5. I can't believe it. That is so AWSOME!! Maybe I can make it to 300 before February's over. That's pushing it I know but a girl can dream can't she?

*Yawns*

I am so tired this morning. It feels like I can barely keep my eyes open. I only stayed up til 10:30 last night! I feel like such an old lady now. To bed at 10 and up at 6. My hubby and I did mostly good this weekend. We worked out on both Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday he had me do my arms...bleh. I haven't been working them since I don't care to have big arms and MAN am I weak! I could only do like 20-35 pounds on most of the stuff. I'm a little stiff today but nothing seriously bad. We were bad for lunch on Sunday though. We went to Chili's. I got the Chili's classic sirloin. 8oz. with an herb butter sauce, broccoli and sauteed mushrooms to go with it. I feel remorseful for my strayed ways. Guess I'm going to have to be even more strict with myself now. For dinner we were good. We made turkey meatloaf. Added some shredded carrot and celery for filler....it tasted goooood. I opened a can of sweet peas and sliced new potatoes for sides. Not sure how many points that is but I can probably look it up...not sure I want to though. Well I'm off to get breakfast...my stomach is starting to growl at me.

I feel productive

Yesterday I feel like my hubby and I got a lot done. I didn't actually get out of bed until 12:30 which is unusual for me since I've been getting up at 6 for work. When I got up I ate two roast beef sandwiches with a light coat of mayo and 2% milk cheese. I really need to buy some lite mayo. That's like the only condiment that I like and it's loaded with fat, straight fat. I remember when I was younger I would make mayo sandwiches....and I wonder how I got this way so fast. I'm off topic. After that I did the dishes that have piled up for the past three days because my husband said he would do them but he never did, so instead of nagging him and making him pissed I did it myself. Then I started another load of laundry because Saturday is our laundry day. After that we headed out for the gym. It was about 4 when we left. We worked out there until they closed at 6. I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike with the random hill program at level 9. Then I tried to do 20 minutes on the treadmill with an incline of 4.5 and speed of 2.5, but I only make it about 13 minutes because I gave up. Not the best mentality I know, I'll have to do extra today. Then we did weights for the rest of the time. My hubby wanted me to focus strictly on my legs so I can work on one muscle group in a day. I still did my abs too, and my triceps. When we got back home I cooked spaghetti squash with meat sauce for dinner. And after that we put all of our laundry up. Whew busy day. Last night was the first night that I've been below 309! I weight 308.6. WOOO!

Weight Update

Yes that's right. That weight up there on that ticker has been updated. It says 311. THREE ELEVEN!!! I can't believe it. 17 pounds down. But I won't get a big head...I still have a long way to go. And I will stay at it with an increased vigor.

Last night my husband and I tried a new recipe from a different website than Gina's. It was....different. Beefy noodles in sour cream sauce. I'm not used to V-8 juice or I think I would've enjoyed it more. It wasn't bad, just different. I think tonight I might make spaghetti squash. Mmmmm.

Last night at the gym I did 20 minutes on the bike at level 8 out of 20 and I did 20 minutes on the treadmill at an incline of 4.5 and a speed of 2.3 to 2.5. I was a little more tired on the treadmill since I did it last. After cardio I did weights. I'm rather proud of myself. I did two sets on each machine and then did another rotation on the machines with one to two more sets. And I'm not even sore. W00t!

Feelin' Good

Yesterday I went to the gym after work. I did a half an hour on the stationary bike. I started doing the one that looks like a real bike instead of a paddle boat type bike, and man does my butt hurt. The bottom of my hips bones feel like they're bruised, I'll probably just do the treadmill for cardio today. After the bike I did weight machines. I worked everything. Triceps, abs, hamstrings, glutes, quads, I mean everything. I tried focusing with more reps on my abs and triceps. I so want to tone away my belly and lunch lady arms. My next measurement day is coming up soon. Next week! I can't decide if I want to measure before, on, or after my birthday. If it's bad news I don't want it before or on, but if it's good news it would be a perfect birthday present. My morning weight was amazing (307.6) but I still feel like I can't count that. My nightly weight yesterday was 310.6, it still shocking me how I can lose 3 pounds of water weight in my sleep.

Wooo hoooo!!

Since the last time I posted a lot has happened! Well my husband went to the gym for the first time in two weeks because I made him get off his lazy butt and go workout, and he got my membership card from the guy at the front desk!!! I was shock/stunned to say the least, but I was also a little PO'd because I had spent the last two weeks trying very hard to get everything done so I could get into the gym and it was as easy as going in and asking for my card. Well poop. But YAY! Anyways, I've only worked out for one day (yesterday) and I took it easy. Half an hour on the bike and some crunch machine and triceps machine and back machine. Then I got called back to work! But that's another story. Today I had my stress test. It went great. He skipped the first couple of stages and put me straight into third (I think). First one I was doing was fine, second one okay this is tougher I'm feeling it more finding it a little harder to breathe, third one OMG man stop this thing I can't run!!! I believe that was stage five. Which I did about five seconds worth. He said my heart acted normally, it went up gradually with increased difficulty on the treadmill and it came down as I rested. So I'm all cleared to go with him, but I don't care if my primary care has to say because I have my membership and I will go to the gym tonight.

On a side note, has anybody noticed their weight drop like 3 or 4 pounds as soon as they start their period? I mean I knew I was retaining water, but damn. Anyways, down to 310!!! But I won't post that on the ticker until I'm done with my period at the end of the week. Then it will be official.

Valentine's

I was kinda bad on Valentine's day. My husband and I went to eat Valentine's dinner on Friday night because we knew we wouldn't be able to get in anywhere on the day of. We ate at Outback, one of his favorite places. For appetizer we go the half chicken quesadilla which was LOADED with cheese, I mean lots of cheese. I got a 9 oz. Outback Special with garlic mashed potatoes and Caesar salad. The next day for a late lunch we went to eat at Red Lobster. We had the lobster seafood spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer. I got the broiled seafood platter with buttery scallops, shrimp scampi, and stuffed flounder and broccoli and a Caesar salad. That's not all! Later that night he gave me a small box of a Whitman sampler. It only had five pieces of chocolate, so that's not too bad. I ate the coconut filled one and half of the milk chocolate bar with the little dutch boy and sampled the rest with a small bit. He made me eat another bite of the last one. At least for dinner we ate something good. I made Zucchini Lasagna. It was soooo good. Not that hard to make either.

Finally!

Friday at work I spent most of the day dealing with the insurance company again. I found out that my pre-cert was denied because you can only have nuclear imagining if you have an EKG that is unreadable or you fail the stress test. Which I've had neither because I have YET to have my stress test. Anyways! I called the nurse at the cardiologist and tell her this and she said do you want to just do the stress test and if you can't finish it then you can get the imagining? Um YES! I thought all I needed to do was the freaking treadmill, but noooo! The cardiologist wanted to get this imagining done and that's what's been making me miss two weeks at the gym. Bastard! I'm over it...maybe. So my stress test is scheduled for Tuesday morning! Finally! I have no idea how long it will take to get the results but I'm going into the that test saying that I want the results faxed to my primary care physician as soon as they're done. I refuse to wait anymore!

I am so sick of this!

Yesterday was another rope-a-dope day with the medical insurance industry. I talked to the lady at the cardiologist office and she said that she had scheduled the stress test for today, then she said that the nurse at my primary care's office said she just put in for the pre-cert and it might not be in be ready by the time they need it. So I call my insurance company and ask them if there's a way to speed it up and they say no you need to call this other company that deals with pre-certs before us. So I get that company's number and call them and ask if there's a way to speed things up and they just say no. I call the lady at my cardiologist's office at the end of the day and she hasn't heard from the nurse at my primary care's office so they don't have the pre-cert number. So that's ANOTHER canceled stress test. I'm really starting to hate the field that I work in just because of insurance. I'm calling the pre-cert company right now to see if they have it yet. Yeah right...

Meals

So for the past three nights my husband and I have done excellent on our WW recipes for dinner. The first night we cooked turkey stuffed zucchini. Second night I cooked spaghetti squash with meat sauce, which was SO delicious! My husband loved the meat sauce so much I told him he could take it to work and make sloppy joe sandwiches out of it for lunch. Hehe. And last night he made turkey meatloaf, I made some instant mash potatoes to go with it. And I prepared some crock pot turkey chili to put on to cook this morning! Everything has been so good so far, my only complaint is the smell. And it's not even really a complaint from me it's from my mom. When we're cooking the smell makes her feel sick because she's not eatting it and it's so strong. When I wake up in the morning and walk into the kitchen I can smell it but it disapates quite fast. As I was messing with my bangs this morning I could smell that smell on my hands...and I've washed them several times since cooking last night. Makes me wonder what I could do to help with the smell....

Grrrr

I am so PO'd! I got up at 6:30 this morning to get to the hospital by 7 for my stress test. Well when I get in the lady at admissions is saying how in my records it says make sure that patient has gotten pre-cert. What the hell?! I can't even get a pre-cert even if I wanted to that has to come from the doctor. They let me be admitted and then made me wait for two hours while they tried to get the pre-cert. There was some confusion as to who needed to get it, my primary care physician as he's the one who ordered it or my referred cardiologist. Well my cardiologist's office tried to get the pre-cert but that didn't get it. So I got up early and abstained from eatting for no reason at all. BLAH! I'm mostly bummed because I was all nervous and now I have to go through it again. And I have to wait even LONGER to start exercising at the gym.

On a good sidenote, my husband and I have actually gone grocery shopping and bought all kinds of good stuff to make the recipes on Gina's Weight Watcher Recipe blog! We made turkey stuffed zucinni halves last night. YUM YUM! Tonight I'd like to make the Squash spaghetti with meat sauce. Mmmmm.

Aight

I actually stood up to what I said. I actually did my exercises last night. I didn't do them the night before because I went to bed at 7:30. I was exhausted for some reason. But last night I did my exercises from the chiropractor. So I'm happy with myself. Although yesterday I was kinda bad with my food choices. For lunch I ate beef and broccoli Chinese style, with all of those bad sauces even if that restaurant only uses vegetable oil. And I ate all of my fried rice. Them for dinner I ate a Reuben sandwich with turkey instead of corned beef and no sauerkraut. And there were Cajun fries....I ate many of them. OH and my evil husband made me drink a half a 16 oz. bottle of Dr. Pepper. He kept reading the label saying...If you drink half of this then you'll get so and so calories, if I drink the whole thing then I'll get so much sodium, blah blah blah! Tempter!!!

Frustrated

I'm starting to slip back into my old habits. Not being able to go to the gym is making me so depressed. I keep stepping on the scale two to three times a day just to watch the numbers go up and down. I've tried to call the cardiologist's office to get my stress test scheduled twice now and yesterday they said "Amy" will call you when she gets to your information and she's only in on Mon. Wed. and Fri. Bleh. So I trying calling again just now and they said she'll call you when she can. BLEH! If I had at least a day in mind as to when my stress test will be at least I could look forward to that and start psyching myself up. But nooooo. I know even after I have the test done it'll probably take a couple of weeks before the results come in. Le sigh. I'm going to do my exercises at home tonight. I WILL do my band exercises and crunches! I won't let all of my progress be thrown away! I WILL get out of this funk!!!

Bleh...Just BLEH!

So today was my appointment with my primary care doctor about the whole high heart rate thing. He thinks that since my heart rate was elevated for over an hour after the end of my exercise that a stress test would be the best idea. I don't much disagree. The only part that I hate is not being able to work out at the gym until I have the stress test done. He won't sign my medical release form until I get the stress test done. So bleh. When the nurse at his office tried to call the hospital that I work at to schedule the stress test they were asking her tons of questions so she said it would be best if I scheduled the appointment myself. I call to make the appointment and they tell me that I have to have a cardiologist who my primary had referred me to. Which is what she was trying to tell the nurse at my doc's office. Sheesh. Anyways, I got a list of cardiologists that work at my hospital to give to my doctor's office so they could set up a referral. Jill, the girl at the front desk who I see all the time at Shoney's, told me she would take care of it. Have to remember to call for a follow up on that tomorrow. The longer I have to wait the more time I spend away from the gym. According to my doctor I've lost 11 pounds on his scale since October. Woo! He was thrilled. My Potassium is doing fine and my protein level in my urine is down almost half from my last 24 hr urine. Wooo! Now just a waiting game.