OptiFast - end of week 12

All the walking (made near 20,000 steps one day), climbing pyramids and good choices paid off and I managed to lose weight over my vacation. I'm sure the Montezuma's Revenge I came home with also helped. Today I weighed in at 266.1 for a loss of 8.1 pounds. Yay!

This is familiar territory for me. I remember when we lived on Jones street, just prior to starting the RN program, I stepped on the scale one day and was horrified to see it read 264. I swore I'd never go higher.... But, of course it did. I'm happy to be back down near the mid 200's and I'm swearing again, I will never let my weight get so high again. This time I mean it.

OptiFast - end of week 11

In Mexico so no weigh in

OptiFast - end of week 10

Weighed in at 274.2 today for a loss of 5.6 pounds, made up for last week and then some. Yay! Off to Mexico!

OptiFast - end of week 9

gained. 1.5 pounds. good grief. ah, well. sometimes you eat the bar... i apparently ate at least half of it.

Gutters and strikes.

OptiFast - end of week 8

down 3.3 this week to 278.3

OptiFast - end of week 7

down 3.6 this week. 

current weight 281.6

OptiFast week 7 - day 6

another week about to close. we're almost to the halfway point as far as full product goes. I'm still having trouble imagining how I will be successful in avoiding food while we're in Mexico next month for Alicia's baptism, although I do plan to either ship powder ahead of time or pack 'em in my suitcase. Will I be able to turn down every food opportunity that arises? Somehow I don't think so. Not only is mexican food my favorite, but we will be spending the majority of our time in Puebla which is a gastronomical wonderland, apparently. And I have already tasted Jorge's mother's cooking last Thanksgiving, chiles en nogado, tamales... ay de mi! Dios mio, ayuda me. There's nothing wrong with having a plan and the tools to follow it. If there are transgressions, they will be protein based, thank god mexican cuisine is heavy on the meats. and there will be walking, so much walking and maybe even some dancing. NOT planning on veering off plan but won't be surprised if I choose to now again over the course of the 8 days. Another worry is access to bottled water/storing and carrying said water. The good thing about powder vs. pre made shakes is you can travel light, the bad thing is, obviously, you need water. Potable drinking water. hmmm. Whatever happens I am determined I will not gain weight. not even an ounce. I will meet my caloric needs and I will burn as much as I can. I will do my best.

back at the gym today, it was 100 degrees in Concord today, thankfully the gym was cool and comfortable 'cause I was sweating like a beast. I did 30 mins on the treadmill at 2.5 mph speed and an elevation of 7. then the 20 minute group aerobic exercise with 3 lb weights. then the bike thingy for 20 and lastly the bike pedal/arm cycler thing for 10. wiped. my. butt. out. One of the respiratory therapists stopped to check on me, was I okay - was I drinking water? (are you having an M.I.? should we call 911?) ;)

I can tell my muscles are defrosting and just my general posture feels sturdier and more solid. that makes 4 days in a row of intentional exercise and 5 days out of 7.  i just don't even know what. i mean i can't even. believe. just wow. glad to be wrapping up this week. did i already mention almost 12,000 steps Saturday? wow.

OptiFast week 7 - day 4

So, the baptism class was good. and brief. then we went to union square and got our frames picked and eyeglasses ordered. Jason got some really nice ones that have a retro look to them, almost straight outta the 80's. maybe more 70's. (pic below). of course i am kidding. he got some nice ones.

Made it to the Giants/Mets game tonight, it was a sleepy game for a bit then they came from behind and won, a lot of fun. and 2.8 miles round trip walk to the park. My FitBit let me know I made it over 10,000 steps for the first time. yay me. that's cool. unfortunately i decided to wear my new Keen shoes for the first time today, though, managed to work up a couple good blisters. le sigh.

i set my daily goal at 5,000 steps. we'll see how this week goes.

Also, more exercise on the horizon (damn, three days in a row). Ann, our group leader is leading an exercise group tmw at Crissy Field. show us some things we can do at any level of fitness, she's really good at showing us modifications to standard exercises (standing push ups against a wall, chair sitting squats, etc). and it's at 10am, so I even get to sleep in and chill for a bit before heading out. i have no excuse not to go, I love Crissy Field for walking, beautiful views of the GG Bridge, cool breeze, should be a lovely day. sure, why not. I couldn't make these changes for years - all of a sudden here I am - just doing it. if i stop to think about it too long, it would trip me out. so i'll just keep moving.

OptiFast week 7 - day 3

Back at the Mt. D gym with mom today, did the treadmill at 2.5 speed and elevation 6-8 for half hour but also the group exercises with 3 lb. weights for 20 mins and the "arm bicycle" thing for 10 and the NuStep stepper for 10. back on Monday, hope to up it. or at least keep it up. got our baptism/godparents class at St. Patrick's tomorrow. possibly a Giant's game Sat. night or Sunday afternoon. 

OptiFast - week 6 weigh in

I'm way in. It was a good week at the scale - I lost 5.4 lbs. my pants are sagging like an urban teenager. ;)

Numbers as of today:

Highest weight (2 weeks prior to starting OptiFast) 313
Weight at start of OptiFast Product 306.2
Current weight 285.2

my first thought was to celebrate with a Gordo burrito. no kidding. instead I went to Safeway and stocked up on drinks and a few things for Jason. I stood in the deli section for a good 5 minutes salivating over the salads. Fresh spinach with bacon and egg or Turkey and Ham with cheese? I totally intended to buy one. and eat it. then I noticed the expiration date of today at 6pm. It was after 7pm. told myself they were probably wilty and not worth it. and walked away. wow. 

eff yeah. i'm delighting in this feeling because I know they won't all be banner weeks.... 
or will they? stay tuned.

OptiFast week 6 - day 6

Had a good day today again, with Mom at the Mt. D pulmonary rehab gym. Lots of treadmill with good incline, some rowing and then group led exercises and small hand held weights. it's quite the scene, majority geriatrics and about half are wearing oxygen. it's quite the sight and perspective, hard to not go for it with gusto and make it happen when you're exercising next to someone hooked up to oxygen who's keeping pace (or better) with you. it's very inspiring. and humbling. they are also really nice people, and really enjoy seeing and greeting each other. i get a kick out of how they all call each other kiddo. maybe they can't remember each other's names. ;)

Last week I said I was hoping for bigger numbers this week. 

I'm kinda laughing at that now, 'cause I've been thinking lately (as I've been exercising my butt off) that's this thing is not a matter of hope. it's a matter of hard work. and focus. and making it happen.

and i been doin' it. we'll see what tomorrow's weigh in brings. but no matter the number, i'm feeling great! and what i've done this week in terms of movement and exercise is not special or lofty. I mean, it's totally repeatable. It was more than I did last week and the week before and the week before that... but it's not something that I can't or won't do again next week. ;) so that feels good. it's totally doable, it's just my choice. and lately I've been making some really good choices. 

favorite motivating thing i read this week:

OptiFast week 6 - day 4

i am hungry. TOM must be coming...


Yep. it is.

OptiFast week 6 - day 1

Went with mom to pulmonary rehab today - did two 25 minutes sessions on the treadmill and a 15 minute session on the rowboat/pulley/thingy machine. also about 20 minutes of group arm exercises with 5 lb. weights. next time I will go for the 2 or 3 pounders. it was rough. but good. 

as for intake - not much to say - shakes are shakes. i think i'll start blending with ice again now that my tooth problem is well past. that should liven things up a bit. not. lol. 

I'm glad our group leader continues to weave the importance of exercise thread through our meetings. She says the OptiFast is like the handle on a bathtub faucet, since we have turned it off (or to a drip essentially) all those extra calories are not pouring in, so we are bound to reduce in weight. but, she says, the magic happens when we add exercise to the mix, that way we are also able to widen the drain, so to speak, and let the water (which i guess is fat) run out. i don't want anything clogging up my drain, so i'll be back at it again. if not tomorrow, Friday - i'm scheduled for another meal service at St. Anthony's.

We talked in group last night about this language around diets. If we stray from the plan we tend to say things like "I cheated" or "I was bad" which tends to reinforce the negative self-talk that many people with eating issues already struggle with. Instead, she says, we are always making choices. and sometimes we need to be really choosy about how we spend our daily calorie allotment. 

Another group member asked what others did when they "slipped up" on a diet - do they then go completely off or work extra hard the next day at staying on plan or put in more exercise? One answer that I like was someone who said she tended not to give the incident any more power or punish herself by being extra good after a "slip up" but to just see it as such, as an isolated incident and move on with the plan. She used an egg metaphor, if you drop an egg on the floor and it breaks, do you then smash the others down? something like that, anyway. heh. mmmm, i love poached eggs. guess it's time for a shake.

WEIGHT UPDATE: 
Highest weight 313.0
OptiFast start weight 306.2
Current weight 290.6

Hello Gap! OptiFast - end of Week 5

down 1.7 today - to 290.6

was hoping to get into the 80's. ah, well. next week!

still diggin' volunteering at St. Anthony's - 2 days a week there ensures that I get at least 8 hours of walking in, plus carrying bus tubs full of trays and bending to sweep, etc. pretty good exercise that gets me sweaty. tomorrow I'm heading out to Mom's and will be joining her at Mt. D's gym. Looking forward to it.

bored. with. shakes. meh.

OptiFast - end week 4

Today I weighed 292.3 - a 3.0 pound loss. total loss so far 13.9 - averaging 3.5 pounds per week. i'm okay with it. not as dramatic as i thought it'd be. i guess i'd imagined major loss each week, like 4+ each time. instead i'm focusing on the overall and celebrating the sum total. looking forward to getting out of the 90's.

OptiFast week 4 - day 4 - TMI WARNING

Well, I am finally on the mend. I am tapering off the Vicodin and as of today, no longer need to eat bites of food with the doses. yay! Thursday night was rough, the opiates and lack of hydration and exercise finally caught up with me. Thankfully, I had thought to grab a Fleets at the pharmacy when they were ringing up my Vicodin refill that afternoon. I hadn't really thought it would be necessary, boy I was wrong. I ended up having to "install" a dose about 6pm that evening. Jason was on his way out the door to the Giants game while I was trying to give birth out my back end. LOL. the cramps from the Fleets fluid immediately started my belly cramping and i was dizzy and sweaty. I was seriously afraid for him to leave because I thought I was gonna die like Elvis. I suffered along for about half an hour and then some of it gave way - to my total relief and delight, it worked some.

I then headed out to Safeway (again!) for some Milk of Magnesia. man, I was miserable. Took that dose about 9pm and when midnight bedtime rolled around, I was busy! I went from one misery to the other and after about an hour (with about 7 trips to the toilet), i was empty and fell asleep exhausted and drained. (literally).

ok, enough poo talk.

The implant area seems to be healing well, the swelling has gone down a lot, still taking the antibiotics. The corner of my mouth is probably causing the most pain right now, there's a sore there when either it was overstretched or an instrument injured it. in any case, it's healing, too.

this week flew past and I'm certainly glad it's behind me. New Kitty girl (Mini) has a dime sized bald patch between her shoulder blades and this morning the skin there was open and red. not oozing or swollen like a cyst but looks uncomfortable. I'm afraid she has a skin condition as she keeps twitching her coat sorta like a horse does when shaking off flies. that and she jerks her head to groom, like she's responding to an itch or sudden pain. of course it's the weekend. I emailed Give Me Shelter this morning (with a picture) and the director responded right away. She suggested I apply Neosporin and if it doesn't improve, they'll arrange a vet visit. Sad for her. :( of course she managed to lick off the ointment both times we've applied it, hopefully some is remaining and doing some good. I hate that she's uncomfortable. On the plus side, she and Jim are no longer hissing at each other and even mildly curious and coming within a couple feet of each other. Great progress. of course, now, we will be keeping her isolated to the bedroom until she can see a vet, in case what she has is contagious.

suppose that's it for now. the weather went from a crazy mid week heat wave (temps above 90) to today being our typical SF chill and windy. just finished this week's homework and about to finish the last snowflake for the Mom's Christmas lap quilt. I laid a few of them out side by side to see what it'll look like - considered making it into a Christmas tree skirt, because I think she'd be more likely to use that and not a lap quilt. (she'd say it's too nice and put it away somewhere safe). we'll see.

why do i feel the need to document this? i don't know. ow.

poor Mini Minnie girl

OptiFast - end of week 3

Got the tooth pulled and the hardware place for the implant today. I managed to make it to Kaiser for the weigh in and to pick up product but didn't stay for the meeting. Alternating between woozy, dopey, weepy and exquisite pain. I was advised not to eat anything after midnight last night, no problem, heh. Had my first shake about 2pm, post procedure. it went down fine. but my new pill regimen is Vicodin and Amoxicillin and my stomach is worn out, tired, protesting. The thought of trying to chew a protein bar gives me the heebie jeebies. but i had to eat something - ended up being a half cup of refried beans. that did the trick. also, because of all the narcotics, i'm noticing i went from urgency and constant diarrhea (the doctor wondered if i'm lactose intolerant 'cause i haven't had a solid poo since starting OptiFast) to backed up (constipated). 

wonder if that's part of the reason i didn't lose much this week - i'm full of shit! so i chased my pain pills and antibiotic with some Metamucil and 4 Colace. i can't believe how many pills I've eaten in the past 4 days or so. i've been slacking on my water, too. I usually do at least 3 liters a day, no problem. but i like it with ice - especially during these warm days we've been having, but ice is not tolerable with these tooth issues, so i've just been having less. 

Today the scale showed a loss of 0.4

down to 295.3

not thrilled about it, but it's still a loss.

BIONIC MOUTH

moving on....

OptiFast week 3 - day 6

what a miserable last few days i've had. i'm on my second bottle (refill) of Tylenol #3 - taking them about every 4 hours to keep the awful tooth pain at bay. i feel dopey, lethargic and constipated. got the oral surgeon's office to squeeze me in this week, and then to expedite the process so instead of just having a consultation when I go tomorrow, i'll be prepared to have the procedure done if time permits. tonight i picked up the post procedure mouthwash i'll use, the (large quantity of) amoxicillan i'll be taking and some vicodin. I tried taking vicodin in place of the tylenol #3 a hour or so ago and it didn't work! i guess there's a reason my dentist prescribed what she did - perhaps codeine is more effective with nerve pain? in any case, i'm sufficiently drugged and really bummed out. my poor liver. can't wait 'til this is over. tomorrow is my weigh in and meeting day. obviously, i wasn't able to stay 100% on the product this week, having bites of bananas and some cheddar cheese and milk to keep from being so nauseous. thankfully, those little bits didn't make me want to eat more. i doubt the scale will be affected because some days i didn't manage to get all my products in... at this point, i really don't even care. not that i don't care overall, like in general, i just don't care right now. meh. argh. 

OptiFast week 3 - day 4

well, shit. that temporary filling my dentist put in started to break down and got wedged in the crack in my molar. imagine one of the metal blade pieces that are used to split logs - being driven down into the heart of my toof. damn, it hurt. so i called and so they sent a prescription over to Safeway. Tylenol with codeine  sweet relief. there is nothin' like a toothache. 

i visited her again today to have her take a look. she removed the offending piece and some of the pressure was gone. she also sent a refill for the Tylenol #3s, I am burning through them like nobody's biz. I really don't like the way they make me feel - dopey but not sleepy. and NAUSEOUS. each dose sets my stomach to churning. Pharmacist said to take them with food and I thought the shakes would suffice. they don't. :( so i'm caught between tooth pain or stomach trouble. i'll take the stomach trouble and keep taking the pills. my consultation is Tuesday morning, just gotta make it 'til then. 

actually I don't know that they'll extract it the same day or if I'll hafta return. anyway - the end is in sight. in the meantime, I had to email and notify Dr. Alexander that I'm on them and also asked/said that I'd need to make a food choice - something to help the pills settle better on my stomach. i'm avoiding carb choices entirely, today with my first dose I had one scrambled egg. second dose I had a small banana. next one i'll try half a can of no added salt green beans. all low cal, natural and sugar and carb free foods. 

i am not - i repeat not - going to feel bad about eating temporarily. i also am not going to use it as an excuse to "really eat". i'm looking at it as a necessary temporary situation and give myself permission to not lose (much) weight this week. i will be happy if i maintain. fuckin' tooth. argh.

WOOT - we are fostering to adopt a kitty girl tomorrow! she's been housed at our neighborhood Petco for a little over a month now. I stopped in yesterday to pick up vittles for Jim and there she was - still there! I was surprised, remembered her immediately for her friendliness and charm. I spoke to a woman from the all-volunteer run cat rescue organization that is behind the adoptions (called Gimme Shelter). She understands we are slightly trepidatious due to not knowing how Jimmy will react, she is going to bring her over tomorrow at 2:30 for a trial run/introduction. We plan to keep them separated and go slow, following their lead. i am really excited and a tad nervous. Jim is going to shit bricks. heh. I want him to have a companion tho, for when we're gone during the day and when we go on trips. I HOPE they become pals. fingers crossed. 

OptiFast week 3 - day 3

It's been a good week, spent the past two days volunteering. Thursday at Glide and today again at St. Anthony's. Had a lot of fun, it was good to get out of the house and participate in things. Got some steps in, too. Sore but happy.

I finally pulled the trigger on Chamberlain School of Nursing - i'm enrolled in my first class - Transitions in Nursing. so yay.

here are some pics.