End of Summer Update

Hello Friends,
Well, 2014 has definitely been an odd year and not quite how I had hoped!  By now, I would have been at my goal weight.  My husband and I would have celebrated by going to Hawaii.  I would have gone on a few work trips.  I would have seen more friends and been in touch more.

However, it hasn't quite turned out that way.  Continuing my 2014 of health issues, I had a sigmoid colectomy at the end of August.  I actually thought the day wouldn't come, because I kept having one issue after another leading up to it.  I had 5 horrible weeks of Vertigo and bad thrush from all the antibiotics I had been on.  But, I made it to surgery day.  All went as well as one would have hoped. The surgeon was able to do it laprascopically.  I didn't lose my spleen and I didn't end up with a colostomy bag.  The first 24 hours in the hospital I was miserable.  Sooo much insane gas pain (they fill your abdomen with air).  After that, just mainly it was the incisional pain.  They kicked me out of the hospital 3 days later and I went home.  I was happy to be home but then missed the 24/7 care by the nurses.  My husband quickly got schooled on some things I don't think he ever thought he'd have to do.  Poor guy.  After being home for 2 days, I ended up going back to urgent care because the incision wound opened up.  So, now I had an infection in the site and they would need to clean/care for it.  This included now daily at home visits by the nurse to pack and change the bandage and more antibiotics.  My incision is 6cm deep and these heal at 1cm a month.  What????!!!!  I had only planned on being off of work for 2-3 weeks!  Ohhh heck.  Yep, it could take 4-6 months to heal all of the way!

Well, we are now almost 3 weeks post surgery.  Things are getting better, but very slowly.  Up until this point, I had been sleeping upright in a chair!  Not comfortable at all and awake half the night.  Last night was the first night I was able to get into bed.  Yay!  It was like heaven!  I've been doing more walking around the house. Laps. :)  It's too hot to go outside.  Freaking 100 F!  But, if I do, walking to get the mail is exciting!! :)  I've progressed from liquids and canned foods to some more fresh foods.  The frustrating part of the progression of all of this is the bowels.  They are no where near being "regular".  And, I can't go back to work until they are.  Come on colon!  It will be a very happy day when I have a regular day. :)  You will have thought I had won the lottery!

The nurse comes out now 3 times a week to do the bandage change.  My husband's father is here helping out, so it has been nice to have a dog walker and some company.  I've actually been tracking my food daily.  Ha, go figure!  Well, I mainly started because I needed to make sure I was eating enough calories and protein.  It's been a good way to ease back into WW.  I've had to step on a scale periodically to make sure I'm not retaining fluids, but so far it has been a 10 lb loss since surgery.  I bought a bunch of new clothes right before the surgery (probably stress spending!) and I'm looking forward to wearing them when I go back to work.  I'm actually looking forward to going to the gym too!  What?  Yep, I have major cabin fever!  My husband laughed when I said I would just kill to walk on a treadmill right now!  We always want what we can't have!  And man, I am just craving pizza ..Mexican ....Chinese ....hamburgers ...Subway... oh hell, anything with substance and flavor!  Strangely, I am not craving sweets so much. Well nothing other than my kryptonite of Sprinkles.

This experience is definitely teaching me patience, which is not something I have EVER been good at or enjoy.  I now understand the meaning of one day (or one minute) at a time!  It's so hard to feel 90% good, like your fine but then try to move and have the abdominal pain or go running to the bathroom.  It's also teaching me to sit with feelings, cravings, etc. Because I have no option to binge or "go off plan".  I picture my colon exploding and very bad things happening.  Haha!!  Maybe that's the visual I need to retain for the rest of my life when I want to deviate to not so healthy foods.

Well, that's where we are at the moment.  My big adventure for the weekend is taking a shower. :)  I'm sure soon enough this will all be a distant memory, but for now, it's 3:32pm on a Saturday and time for some cheese and crackers and more bad TV.  Need a daytime Soap or Talk Show update, just ask me!!!!!  

Thank you all for the beautiful flowers, thoughtful cards, and visits!

Cheers!

Jessica

Long Overdue Post - Yikes 5+ months into 2014!

Dear Friends!
Wow, where does the time go?  I can't believe my last post was over 5 months ago!  Honestly, 2014 has not really gone the way I would have hoped for. :(  Towards the end of 2013 I had really gotten off track with my weight loss goals and was in the deep darkness of peri-menopause and hormones, binge eating, and sliding back into a depressive state.  I just couldn't seem to pull myself out of it and get things going again on the right track.  I would take 2 steps forward and 10 back.  I was up about 40 lbs from last October.  Just when I'd get a few good days of eating and exercise under my belt, BAM - I was hit with the most intense severe neck pain and spasms.  Over the course of 4 days it went from a pinched nerve to complete lockdown of my neck.  I was in horrendous pain fueled by heightened anxiety that this was it...... It was all coming down to this - time for neck surgery and I was no where ready for this!  I ended up at Urgent Care where they gave me some IV pain meds.  I immediately had a reaction and started vomiting.  I was now immensely uncomfortable.  After several hours, they seemed to get it calmed down and I went home on pain killers and muscle relaxants.  Well, the next morning Matt had already gone to work and I was dying in worse pain.  I thought to all heck I had slipped a disk in my neck, as I had no movement.  I called 911 and oh boy, that was not fun. :(  When you are in considerable pain, an ambulance ride is NOT the way to go!!  After several hours in the ER, they couldn't get the pain controlled so they admitted me to the hospital.  I spent the next 3 days in the hospital on Morphine, Percocet, steroids, Valium, you name it I was on it.  I was shocked how much it was taking to get rid of my pain.  I finally was discharged and stayed home the next several days recovering.  It took a bit longer to get off the Percocet then I had hoped.  NOW I know how one can become addicted!  It's not so much that I needed the pills anymore, it was when I tried to go without them I had horrible withdrawal symptoms - profuse sweating, massive anxiety, creepy crawlies on me, and intense frenetic energy where I just paced around the house for hours.  Ugh!!  Well, things finally seemed to calm down for a few weeks.  I went back to WW, started to walk some, but still wasn't 100% committed.  I couldn't shake this mild depression and hormone issues.

Until BAM, yep, another setback!  At this point I was truly asking who the heck did I piss off?!  I was having bad stomach pains for about 4 days and I finally dragged myself to urgent care over Memorial Day weekend.  You see, I really do despise urgent care as I end up spending an entire freaking day there!  When I went in, I thought it could perhaps be a bout of diverticulitis but I wasn't completely sure.  The dr. immediately said "No", probably a female thing.  So, they did an ultrasound and he said they had seen some mild fluid so it was most likely a ruptured ovarian cyst, and to go home and come back if it got worse.  Well, 3 more days go by and it is WAY worse!!  I can't take it anymore so I end up back at Urgent Care.  I told my boss I would be in a little late that day. :)  Well, they did a CT Scan and I get the wonderful news that not only is it diverticulitis but it now has an abscess!!  I was mad!!  I was soo angry that if this had been caught the first time, it most likely wouldn't have progressed to this.  Well, now I was being admitted to the hospital (AGAIN!) for IV antibiotics and a possible procedure.  I was soo not happy about this whole thing.  I was in the hospital for 3 days on IV Levaquin, Cipro, and Flagyl.  About Day 2 the pain was going away, but then the lovely side effects of the antibiotics massively hit.  UGH!!!!!!  They did a repeat scan on the 3rd day and saw that the abscess was improving so they weren't going to need to do a procedure.  THANK GOD!!!!  I was discharged on a liquid diet, antibiotics, and follow up appointments with a GI and surgeon.  Yep, a surgeon. :(

I met with the surgeon and she highly recommended surgery.  Not what I wanted to hear.  This will not be a fun surgery (are they ever?!)  I will spare you the details but they have to remove a large piece of my colon and re-hook things back up.  If I don't have this done, it could mean having these diverticulitis episodes often and eventually it would become emergent and/or the antibiotics would stop working.  I was also coming to realize myself that this was no way to continue living.  Never knowing when it would hit, and when it did hit, being down for 2 weeks at a time.  Soooo, the surgery has been scheduled for August 27th.  I'm praying I can stay well until then.  And praying even harder things go well.  I will be in the hospital for a week and then at home recovering for 3-5 weeks and off of work.  I'm hoping I can start working from home at week 4.

Meanwhile, I've had to re-focus my attention and efforts on losing weight, eating healthy, and exercising.  It certainly hasn't been easy, as my body freaking hurts this time around.  Lots of aches and pains.  I'm trying to take one day at a time, stay positive, and not freak out about things.  What good will that do?! :)  Work is insanely busy right now too, so I'm trying to balance that load and manage my health.  My biggest bummer is that I haven't had the opportunity to catch up with or see many of you lately!!  Please know that you are always on my mind and I think about you often, even if I am unable to call or see you.  I immensely appreciate all of your calls, emails, posts, and check-ins.  Thank you for your friendship and it means the world to me!!  My hope is that once I am through this, I can in-turn then be a better friend and share more in your lives.  I'm ready for this 2014 to turn around!

I hope you are doing well and please drop me a note if you get a chance.  I love hearing how you are doing and what is new!  I certainly hope your 2014 has been a much better year so far!

With love and friendship,
Jessica

One Step Forward, Two Back, One Step Forward in Mid-Strike

Happy New Year!

I love the sound of 2014. :) Just sounds better than 2013. Let's make it live up to its expectations! :)

Sooo, I WAS back. For a day. Felt great after all that yummy healthy food and tons of exercise, and then life.... The day after I got back I was walking the dogs and they saw another dog coming and went crazy. They don't like other 4-legged friends. I was off my game since I hadn't walked them for 2 weeks. Instead of standing still and letting them do their thing, and then get out of dodge. I tried to walk while they were doing their thing, we all got tangled, and I went down hard in the middle of the street. Right on the OTHER knee! I tell you. Someone does not want me to have sexy knees when I lose this weight. :( I cut up my hands, knee hurt like heck, but nothing seemed broken. I continued to sit there for 10 minutes to get my wits about me. I finally stood up and had to continue walking them. That was not fun. As soon as I got home I ice'd it and took advil. Thank gosh, it didn't turn out like the other knee, which I still (a year later) have not recovered from! Yeah, it was the casualty of Christmas Card writing! Hmm, I since a theme here. Can I skip December in 2014? So, this kind of put a damper on my continued exercise regime and the racing around getting all of Christmas done in 1 day. :( I sat on the couch for the next 24 hours nursing the knee. I mustered up the energy to do a little necessary shopping, went to a movie that had recliner chairs, and then headed to Christmas Eve. It was nice. Good food, so fun to see the family. The next day was just hubby and me! We have not had a Christmas Day by ourself ever, so that was nice. We ordered Mimi's Turkey Dinner and pumpkin pie and it was delicious. I was going to go to the gym the next day, but I'm not sure what happened. I didn't. Things started to unravel from there. Started having bad stomach pain and GI issues. This went on for several days. I finally went to Urgent Care, thinking it was probably diverticulitis (and would need antibiotics). The dr wasn't sure it was, but ordered tests, but no ct. Said if it got worse, to come back. Well, by Monday it had gotten worse. A whole lot worse!! The most horrific GI issues I've ever had and it just wouldn't stop. I hadn't eaten or drank anything in days. Finally, I went back to Urgent Care yesterday. The tests had all come back, and were negative. No parasites or e.coli. He ordered a ct scan. Actually, no diverticulitis either. What?! Then what the heck is going on. Well, the pain was most likely do to a ruptured ovarian cyst they saw on ct. Huh?! Didn't expect that one. Okay, but what about the GI issues? Probably just horrible IBS. Are you kidding me?

So, was told to start eating low fiber white stuff (rice, bread, bananas), take Immodium. I did. Oh my heck. 2 hours later last night I thought I was on death's door. Immense stomach pain and now the opposite GI issue. Good grief. I thought we'd be headed to the ER before long. It finally subsided after an hour, and I was able to lie down and go to sleep. Today, well today has been slightly better, but not hugely improved. This is so frustrating. I'm supposed to go back to work tomorrow after my long and restful vacation!  Well, at least half of it was.  Thanks to hubby for being nurse, housecleaner, dog walker, and everything else on his few days that he had off!  Guess I can consider that his pay back for the 40th bday Vegas disaster. :)

As for 2014 goals and WW, I'm taking it one day at a time right now. Not really eating "healthy" as I can't have much fiber, but I'm not eating junk or very much either. I'll get back to the gym when I feel able to, hopefully next week. But again, one day at a time for now.

I hope your 2014 is off to a GREAT start!

Cheers,

Jessica

I'm Back!!! :) :)

Season's Greetings Y'All!
Oh my gosh it feels like it has been forever since I've been on here!  Well, it has been.  Basically Oct/Nov/Dec were up and down and all over the place for me.  I had gained 15 lbs back (man, it sure doesn't take long!!) and was going into December not seeing any end in sight.  I was really really having a tough time and I was binging again.  Not good.  But, I recognized that and knew I needed to take some serious action before it got too too much worse.  At the same time, I realized I had 144 hours of vacation time of which 100 needed to be used by 12/31.  So, I scrambled to try to find a wellness retreat/resort I could go to, to start breaking the bad cycle I was in.  I really wanted to go to Rancho La Puerta in Mexico, but they were booked all of Nov/Dec.  I then found Red Mountain Resort in Utah which looked great.  Only problem was, it was difficult to get to (plane plus 3 hour drive) and it was going to be way too COLD!!!  No way.  I needed something semi not winterish. :)  Then, I stumbled upon Shane Fitness Resort in San Antonio, Texas.  I knew nothing about it, but I asked a lot of questions, and it seemed like what I needed.  A getaway with structure, no Starbucks, no desserts, and lots of fitness!

Well, I just got back from an 11 day stay there!  Wow, it was great.  I really needed this and it did exactly what I needed it to do.  I broke the binge cycle!  The food was so clean and healthy, and fantastically good!  Amazing how you feel when you don't put crap in your body.  I ate salads twice a day with meals, tons of fruit, complex carbs, and good lean protein.  No diet soda or sweets.  No sweeteners or preservatives.  Only natural stuff went into this body!  I also limited the caffeine to 1 cup of coffee in the am, 1 cup of tea in the afternoon.  And then 80 oz of water a day.  And now for the fitness part.  OH MY GOSH!!!!  We did 3 workouts a day of 1-2 hours each.  I didn't know I had it in me to do this!  We did circuit training, boot camps, hikes, treadmill intervals, and we walked Walked WALKED everywhere!!!!!!  The resort was HUGE.  I have never walked so much getting from one place to the next.  I opted for no elevators, and took the stairs the whole time. I was sweating so much, I had to shower twice a day and change my shirt twice.  It was nuts!  By Day 2, I thought I had been hit by a truck.  Every muscle fiber in my body was screaming.  It finally calmed down by about Day 5 and I wasn't as sore.  I even did 3 miles today before I left to catch my plane!  My biggest success is that I have never run before.  It's so weird, but I don't know how!  I've tried a few times and it feels awful, is weird, I can't describe it.  I was mentally freaked out by it.  The trainer worked with me, and by the end I was able to jog some intervals. :)  Now, to try it on the treadmill which also totally freaks me out!

The Shane Fitness Resort was like having a private trainer and nutritionist by your side.  The ladies were awesome!  So caring, knowledgeable, fun, and just fantastic people.  There was only 1 other woman in the program with me, so it was just all around great!  There were also a few behavior classes, cooking classes, and clothes styling.  The other woman had been 3 weeks.  I will definitely consider going back next December again as the holidays are my most difficult time ever!!  Oh, and I came back 6 lbs lighter and several inches smaller!!  I FEEL GREAT!!! :)

While I was there, I read a really great book by Deepak Chopra called What Are You Hungry For.  For anyone that struggles with weight or food issues, I cannot recommend this book enough!  It has been a really wonderful read with lots of good, sound insights.

Finally, over the past several months I found a new OB/GYN and a holistic practitioner that specialized in women's issues.  I had been having a lot of very weird random symptoms over the past year and after talking to a friend (thanks T!) and doing some internet searches, I was pretty certain I was in peri-menopause.  I finally saw these doctors (who were great!) and they ordered a bunch of tests.  Low and behold, I am very low in DHEA, low in testosterone, not converting thyroid well, still very anemic, and low in Vitamin D.  Guess, what?  Yep, in peri-menopause.  Whoopie!!!!!  Welcome to the 40's.  I have a follow up appointment tomorrow with the doctor, so I will find out all the lovely supplements I must start.  Anything to help me feel better and be able to lose weight.

Well, now it's time to crazily get ready for Christmas in 2 days.  Yikes!  Hope you all are doing very well.  I may not be getting Christmas cards out in time this year, so if not - Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  I cherish each and every one of you, and value our friendship!!  I hope the new year brings you much joy, happiness, good health, success, and prosperity!

It is good to be back.... for good this time! :)  Love and hugs to you all!

Cheers,

Jessica

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of this Journey. I'm Climbing out of the Ugly...

Well, I did it.  I got wayyyyyyyyyyyy off track!  And I can't even blame the holidays…. because they haven't even happened yet.  Yikes!!  One month of binge eating and not caring can really do some serious damage.  Up 10+ lbs. :(  I say 10+ because it was 10 last week at WI and I'm not going today.  I know I should, but I just can't.  I can't bring myself to see the new number (and I need rest still).  Instead, I made a pact that I would start tracking again, blogging, and go for a walk - TODAY.  Tomorrow, will be even more of an on plan day.  Baby steps.

I know what happened and I've learned a lot (MORE) about myself, yet again. Those dang frequent learning opportunities!!  What blindsided me is that I actually made it through the planned happenings pretty okay (conference, trip, meeting, vacation).  It was the sort of sudden, train has left the station with no brakes thinking, that the 1 week during all the other planned happenings needed to be filled with um… (not relaxing and being on track) but buying a new car.  Yep, buying a new car started my spiral out of control.  Who would have thought.  Well, I should have.  It was that same sort of stressful situation mixed with heightened emotions that got me in this 286 lb mess to begin with (i.e. planning a wedding, buying a house, selling a condo, adding 2 dogs to our family).  Before I knew it, I was at the donut shop buying 6 donuts and Sees Candy buying a box of truffles, at that was only the beginning.  Holy heck.  What did add to this car buying stress, is that they completely messed up my financing and it took a week to settle.  I was also extremely fatigued and feeling really crappy post return from vacation.  Every day was getting a little bit worse. Good excuses to need massive amounts of Starbucks drinks and takeout food, and not go to the gym!

ED (eating disorder) LOVES excuses!  Every day I felt a bit worse, and let's see, today it would be helped by Thai…. the next day Mexican…. the next day burger, shake, and fries, etc.  Now I was caught in the trap.  The trap that yes I started feeling crappy for some unknown reason, but now I'm SURE the food was perpetuating this crappiness and making it even worse.  Enough excuses, and I finally dragged myself to urgent care this week.  Well, I was exhausted because I was seriously dehydrated.  Hmm, all that caffeine I was adding, well that sure didn't help.  They gave me a bag of IV fluids and I stayed home the next day and drank electrolyte water and gatorade.  I also had a local infection and a bit of a cold. Explains the crappiness.  I've been on the antibiotics 2 days now and I am starting to feel a bit better.  Taking it easy this weekend for the most part so that I can feel better, get my head on straight, and get back on track.

As I was once told, with disordered eating, it is not if you slip but what happens when.  Because, it will happen.  Not once, not twice, but many times.  As soon as you have caught yourself, you do the next right thing.  And then, the next right thing after that.  And after that, and after that….  Pretty soon, you've picked yourself up, dusted off, and started down the road again.  

Sure, it's not fun losing and gaining the same 10 lbs, etc. again and again.  It's definitely not ideal.  But, it is still better than, and a long ways away from being all the way back where you started.  This journey may be 1 year, it may take 5 or 10 years.  Who knows.  But as long as I'm on it, it means I'm alive and breathing and there is another day to see the sunset and another day to make a fresh start (and get out of the ugly!)

Cheers to that!

Jessica

Hitting the Re-Set Button!

Hello There,

Happy Fall!  I love saying that.  Now if the weather would just get a little bit cooler!  Well, I survived the last 2 weeks.  I'm sooOO happy that is over.  Things all went well for the most part, but I'm worn out.  The 3 day meeting was a lot of sitting and eating.  And eating and sitting.  I did well the first day.  Even took a long walk at Seaport Village. But the second day, it was all over.  They had amazing food.  Not typical catering food, but the Manchester Grand Hyatt Restaurant food!  Even a freaking candy bar with all my favorites!  I did avoid any alcohol to not complicate matters.  But, man, I was hyped up on coffee and espresso beans.  Each night I got home around 10pm and then had to work because I had a deadline amongst all this.  As soon as the meeting was over Saturday, I went straight to the gym and did a 5K.  My WI for that week had me gaining 2.4 lbs.  Yikes.  I had gained 0.8 lbs the week before.  So, I was really worried about what was still to come.

The next few days were crazy at work, but I was able to be back on plan.  Did some very long workouts each night, which I think saved my butt for the next week of insanity.  My colleague and I then headed to Madison, Wisconsin for a vendor meeting.  What a cute college capitol town!  I loved it.  Again, I did well the first day of travel.  Packed my lunch, ate a healthy breakfast, but had Mac and Cheese (with cheese curds, buffalo chicken) for dinner.  Yeah, that pretty much set the tone for the next few days.  Cheese Curds galore!!  They were raw, they were broiled, they were fried in vodka batter.  They were even on the healthy beet salad we ordered.  They were everywhere!!  The second night, I had, yep, Mac and Cheese again but with Pulled Pork.  Lunches were not light either.  It was more pasta and tons of desserts.  WW, healthy eating, what's that??!!  Yeah, I pretty much lost my mind and what I was supposed to be doing.  Even went for the regular Coke, M&Ms at night in the hotel room.  It was like every bad habit I had (and had gotten rid of) had come back!  It was even topped off with a dinner stop at Jack in the Box the night I flew back.  Say what??!!!  I felt soo horrible and ill.  I was very happy to get back on plan Saturday.  In fact, I got up pretty early and went straight to the gym.  Walked 4 miles!!  I was starting to not feel so ill anymore.  I went to my WW meeting and was really dreading what was about to happen.  I vowed I would not let it get me down, but we would hit the re-set button.  Much to my crazy surprise, I lost 0.2 lbs.  Huh??!!!  Seriously??!!  I was surely expecting a gain of about 5.  I'll take it!!  I think all the exercise I did before I left and the 4 miles helped things.  Now to be back on track for the next 3 weeks before I leave again to Virginia.  This I do promise needs to be a better attempt at balancing health with food enjoyment.  My hubby will be with me, so I think it will be slightly easier to help keep each other on track.  Plus, a lot of walking will be involved!

Sooo very proud of hubby!  He hit a big goal, and has lost 52 lbs so far. :) :)  He looks good and is catching up to me!  Well, it's time to shuffle off to the gym again.  Just taking it easy today and catching up on house stuff.  TOM has arrived, so that makes the next few days oh so fun.  NOT!! :(  Just glad it didn't grace me with its presence during the trip and hopefully it will bypass the VA trip as well.  I have another all day offsite meeting this week with catered food all day, so will opt to eat breakfast at home and skip the dessert.  Need to make this a good week and get back on the losing train!

I hope you all have an awesome and successful week!!

Cheers,

Jessica :)

Yellow Caution Tape Up - Brutal 2 Weeks Ahead

Hello All!

How are you on this fine Sunday evening?!  Me, I'm beat... exhausted..... toast.... fried... tuckered.... washed up..... spent.... empty...... you get it!  I'm officially in the brutal days and weeks of September.  I apologize in advance if you don't hear from me much until the end of September! :(  We have a big 3 day 15 hour/day work meeting this Thur/Fri/Sat downtown at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.  Which will probably be filled with pretty crazy long days leading up to Thursday.  Then, I go to Wisconsin for 3 days for work following that.  Just hope I can get in some exercise somewhere and stay decently on plan the next 14 days.  I've worked too hard to slip and gain a bunch.  The reality is, I probably won't lose over these 2 weeks.  So, my motto is: Minimize the damage the next 2 weeks.

Last night I was not looking too forward to the plans I had.  One of those things that sounded okay at the time, but was turning into being not so fun.  Rarely do I go into something not looking forward to it and just wanting it to be over, but last night was one of those times.  But, I was pleasantly surprised. :)  It turned out better than I had anticipated, kind of fun, and I was able to stay on plan for the most part.  That was a big worry! I'm glad we went.  But, I'm also glad I didn't cut my workout short yesterday so we could be on time.  Was able to still get in a 5K and only be 20 mins late.  Was worth it!

Today, I stayed in bed until 9:30am.  What???!!!!!  Yeah, that's crazy for me.  I'm usually out of bed walking the dogs by 7am.  I just couldn't get up.  When I finally did, I was so out of it and dopey.  After an hour or so, I dragged myself to the gym.  Was really tired but I don't know what it is about exercise - as soon as I start, all the tiredness is sucked out of me and I'm in athlete mode. :)  I ended up doing 20 min fast hill interval walk, 15 min elliptical, then back on the treadmill for another 30 min hill interval walk, followed by an extra 10 minutes so I could finish watching the Chargers game.  Yay!!!!  They actually pulled it off and WON!! :)  Oh man, I was sore when I was done.  So what do I do?  I go to the strip mall, park at one end, and walk clear to the other side to the grocery store, back to the car.  Then the bank, back to the car.  Then Starbucks, back to the car.  Did I forget that somewhere I said I was freaking tired and SORE!!!  Geesh.... I got home and was a vegetable on the couch for an hour before we had to leave again to drive to my nephew's bday dinner.  That was nice.  It was great to see everyone, been way too long!  Was able to avoid the chips, fabulous queso, and margs to stay on plan.  I'm learning and it's getting easier to focus on the people and conversation versus the food when eating out.  At these events, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE FOOD! :)

So, for WI this weekend.  I was up 0.8 lbs.  Not sure what that was totally about, but I could tell I was having fluid issues again this week.  Ankles swollen. :( At our offsite meeting Thursday I did indulge in the dessert they served, some incredible caramel apple bread pudding pie thing with creme fraiche drizzle.  It was definitely worth all the pts!  Oh well, moving on to this week.  Hubby lost 1 lb.  He's now 1 lb from 50 lbs lost!!  So excited for him.

Well, it's time to get this weary girl to bed.  Hope you had a wonderful weekend and aren't having as brutal days of September!  Have a fabulous week and be kind to yourself and others. :)

Cheers,

Jessica