December 25, 2012

A very Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Remember that Christmas is the celebrations of our Savior's birth, no matter when He was actually born!

Well...

I weighed in and haven't lost anything. The good news is that I haven't gained anything either. Holiday time wasn't easy for me for a long time. I'd just get in a funk that lasted from about the week before Thanksgiving until just after Valentine's Day. I even went to my doctor before to get prescribed something. I was just sad all the time. I didn't want to be home, but I didn't want to go anywhere. I hated my job and most of the people I worked with at the time. I stopped taking my prescription because it made me crazy sleepy all the time. I decided a couple of years ago though, that I was going to beat this depression, without meds and I decided that God was going to be the one to help me. He was obligated. His word said that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. And you know what? I did! I mean every once in awhile something takes hold of me, but that November to February mess? I haven't seen it for at least 3 years!

Checking In

Tuesday, December 04, 2012 I'm alive. As of yet, not gained (I'll weigh in tomorrow), having some emotional issues. Had my first Thanksgiving without my Dad and although I enjoyed my family time, I spent all day the following Saturday laying in bed. I know I'll get past this, but not right now. His birthday is coming up and I'm looking for a way to celebrate. Later...

Holiday Gain

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I stepped on the scales at dialysis and the results are...........0 gain! I was mindful of portions and on Thanksgiving day I slept late, ate a small breakfast and used the rest of my points for dinner. My dessert portions were next to none and I was satisfied with that! Bring on Christmas!

My First Gain

I'm not even making a big deal about it, it was bound to happen... I gained .3 lbs. My challenge to lose weight is twice as hard, but I can do all things through Christ and so I will.

Sunday I didn't have a great treatment and left a couple of hours early, so I was unable to get all the fluid gain from the weekend off and last night I was so uncomfortable, that I got off 1/2 hour early, so I still had some of that fluid on. As tragic as it is (personally) to gain while losing, it's almost a guarantee at some point for the kidney patient. Thanksgiving dinner will probably put more fluid on because of the sodium intake on that day. I'm going to do the best I can to enjoy the foods I want, with minimal weight and fluid gain. I long for the days that I could flush it out with drinking copious amounts of water. Thank the Lord for your ability to do so.

What Will Tonight Bring?

Tonight is my weigh-in. Not sure how I will do this week. I mean I've stuck to eating within my limits, but last treatment I had some issues running and I didn't get all of my fluid gain off, so I'm going in with 1 kg from that treatment, plus whatever I've gained. *crossing fingers, toes and eyes* Well, maybe not eyes, but that's another story for another day.

Catching up

I always have good intentions, but then I get overwhelmed. I haven't been posting over here, but I have on my Weight Watchers blog, so I'm going to catch you up. Peeking In November 12, 2012 It isn't official, because it's not weigh-in day, but I made my first 5 lb. weight loss goal!! I did have a free weekend, and I thought I was staying on track with my points, but for two days in a row, I went to bed with over 10 points still available. Going to try and get back on track today. See, my problem isn't overeating. It's not eating enough and of the right things. I'm going to get better though! It's Official November 15, 2012 I weighed in on Tuesday and my total loss is 6.9 lbs! That doesn't seem like much, but since I've adopte this "lose 1 lb over 100 times", well, I've done it almost 7 times in a few weeks! I checked into my first challenge and I guess I got booted because when I went to check where I was, it was asking me to joing it. *shrug* I found another challenge that I think is going to work even better for me. One day at a time! Popping In November 19, 2012 I haven't done a great job of tracking as I eat, like I normally do, but I've found that even not doing so, I've become accustomed to what portions "look" like and have managed to stay within my points allowed, rarely venturing into my extra points. Yay me!

Chicken on my Mind

Contrary to what the stereotype would have you believe, I'm not a huge fan of fried chicken. I prefer mine baked. But when I opened my eyes this morning, I wanted some fried chicken wings and I knew where I wanted them from. Now Popeye's isn't that far from my office, but I swore off a lot of fast food places. While Popeye's is good, I kinda like my chicken plucked BEFORE it's fried. Well I wasn't really hungry at breakfast, so I had some juice and a yogurt. It was Yoplait Greek 100. I was NOT impressed. I'm a fan of Oikos yogurt and when I buy Greek, I want it thick, like pudding. I think this is just Yoplait in a shorter, fatter container. I saw the rave reviews it got here and I didn't agree at all. It's just ok. I had fruit for a mid-morning snack, but today was the first time in a long time that I was HUNGRY. As I looked back at my tracking, I realized that my breakfast was just 4 points. I need to stick with a GOOD breakfast so I can stay full. My weigh in day isn't until next Wednesday, but I have to weigh when I go to dialysis. I weigh when I get there and I weigh again before I leave. When I left last night, I was VERY pleased to see that I am down 4.18 lbs at week 3. Now that doesn't seem like very much, but understand, unlike most people who can flush their bodies by getting in their water, I no longer urinate, so what I drink stays with me until dialysis. Now that I have changed my mindset to fit losing 1 lb, however many I ultimately lose, 1 lb makes me very happy. Lunch today was kind of a mish mash of things. I still had a craving for that darn chicken and I was determined to fight it. I decided that if I'm going to have a "treat" day, I wouldn't be on the weekend, it would be on a day that if I gained more fluid than normal, I would have time to lose it. So Tuesday it is. I ended up eating a small baked potato with salt and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (1 tsp), 2.7 oz of ground beef and 1 tsp of shredded cheddar cheese. Not something I would normally have, but I needed to get that protein in. It was filling. I'm sipping on my after meal tea now. That seems to help me stay fuller longer. Not sure if I'll pop in over the weekend, so you have a great 3 day weekend and honor a Veteran!

I'm No Claire Huxtable but...

I surely know how she felt on the episode where she goes on a crash diet in order to lose enough weight to fit into an old dress. It's one of my favorite episodes because it is one of the rare times Phylicia Rashad's sister, Debbie Allen, was on the show (Season 5, Episode 9-If the Dress fits, Wear it). In the particular scene I am thinking of, Claire had just been allowed croutons in her salad, for the first time since she'd begun dieting. Debbie's character had 7, Claire had 5 and she wanted her extra crouton! LOL The scene played out in my head as I counted out my 5 croutons for 1 point as I made my lunch. One of the challenges of being a kidney patient and trying to lose weight at the same time, is that sometimes you have to decide what diet you want to stick closer to. Just in case you're interested http://www.davita.com/kidney-disease/diet-and-nutrition/diet-basics/dietary-protein-and-chronic-kidney-disease/e/5302 I know I need more protein in my diet right now, so I sacrifice points per meal by adding more protein. I had an 11 point salad today, 6 of which was grilled chicken. I think fat free dressings are gross too, so I will sacrifice the amount of dressing I use, to keep my flavor. Here is my 11 point salad (which looks really small in the picture) with the point breakdown.

Grilled chicken breast - 6 oz = 6 points Iceberg, Romaine, red cabbage mix- 2 1/2 cups = 0 points Kraft Ranch dressing- 1 tbsp = 2 points Kraft Catalina dressing-1 tbsp = 2 points Large cut garlic and cheese croutons - 5= 1 point I will have a low point dinner tonight. An eggbeater on low cal bread and a tablespoon of Miracle Whip Light and fruit for a nice 5 point meal. Enjoy the clip!

Baby Steps

When I left dialysis last night, I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't lost an ounce. When I put my weight into the weight tracker, however, I realized that I'd reached that weight in between weigh days and had actually lost a pound and some ounces since last weigh in! It isn't much, but it's a pound in the right direction! My lunch was so good yesterday and filling! I have to cook more and stay away from so many frozen meals. I think the sodium is working against me and the phosphorus (preservatives) isn't good either. I have purchased some divided dish containers for my home cooked lunches. I'll find a time when my energy is up and I'll cook ahead. This is my 7 point meal from yesterday. Boneless, skinless chicken breast, Steamfresh broccoli/cauliflower mix and Steamfresh Chicken flavored rice with broccoli and carrots. YUM Having leftover rice and chicken today with a salad!

Fall Back!!

I remembered to turn back the clock. I got to church on time. I grabbed a 100 calorie pack to munch on for breakfast and I've been successful in tracking my meals this weekend. I'm very proud of myself and look forward to going to dialysis to weigh! Today's lunch was Healthy Choice Herb Crusted Fish. It wasn't that bad, but it was a tad bit peppery for my taste. The veggies were crisp, like the steam in bag veggies and the pasta was a bit bland to me.

Overall, it was a passable meal. If I forget and buy one again, I'll go ahead and eat it, but it will be the last choice.

Playing Catch Up

Ok, so I didn't post yesterday...I did the damn thing though! My morning started with a mug of hot cocoa and half a slice of Starbuck's pumpkin bread (thanks to my co-worker). My Mom then invited me to lunch. I chose Bob Evans and I went over that menu with a fine tooth comb, considering the points I'd used and the points that would remain. I ended up with a grilled chicken meal from their Fit From the Farm menu. A grilled chicken breast (it was seasoned lightly, not full of sodium), a baked potato (with salt and one butter cup thingy) and broccoli (with another butter cup thingy), no bread at all and water with my meal. It was 11 points, but it was worth every one! GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST A marinated boneless chicken breast served with fresh steamed broccoli and a baked Russet potato with a serving of margarine. 446 / 8g / 2g / 641mg For dinner I had a Healthy Choice Baked Taste Baked Lasagna with Meat Sauce. It was 7 points and it probably would have tasted much better with a little salt, but I refuse to add it. Dialysis isn't until Sunday.

There was a good amount of sauce and meat. The noodles were tender, really pretty good for a microwave dinner. I had some New York Texas Style toast with it which made it a 16 point meal. I sacrificed my daytime snacks however, so I was still pretty good on points. Later that night, I went to a party. I'm so proud of myself. My first trip through the snacks was green grapes, red grapes and a couple of strawberries. Then I had a wine cooler. Well I haven't had alcohol for quite awhile and I drank probably 95% of it before I started feeling it. (yes, I said ONE) I thought since I'd be driving later, I'd better get some real food in my stomach. I got 3 meatballs and 4 tortilla chips with about 1 tbsp of salsa. At the end of the night I'd used all my available points and only 3 of my extra weekly points! YAY ME!!! Today is my splurge day, so I've had breakfast and I skipped my lunch so I can have an early dinner. A personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut with beef, light sauce and light cheese. I'm going to eat half at dinner time and save the other half for a snack later. #winning #watchme

The Day After....

Thursday, November 01, 2012 Halloween, in the past, has been just another day. My kids have never really been big on Trick or Treating. November 1 is usually the day that the kids and I go to Walmart or Walgreen's and each person buy their personal favorite candy by the industrial bag and take it home and pig out the next week or so.

Well this year I bought one bag a week prior to, and let the teenager get it after I took my initial 5 pieces and yesterday I had 1 bite size Snicker and that was it. I'm so proud of myself because I love chocolate and caramel! I had two beef chili dogs and at the end of the day I was still 5 points from using them all. Now that was a direct violation of my kidney diet, but I don't do that often, so...*shrug* I had to go pick up the kid from school because he's dizzy. I'm pretty sure because he didn't stay hydrated at the skate park last night. Well I used that time, since I had to buy him a small arsenal of Gatorade anyway, to stock up on lunch options. Michelina's lite meals are on sale right now for $1!!! I'm stocking up because they are actually pretty good. I came back to the office and configured the point value for everything I bought and labeled them, so I know ahead of time what kind of snack I want to have for the morning and afternoon. My choice for lunch today was a Smart Ones Slow Roasted Turkey Breast. Taste-wise, it wasn't bad. I don't add salt to my diet, so it was just fine for me. The sodium in the gravy evened it out. To me though, there was too much gravy and not enough turkey. One good thing about the kidney diet is that I need extra protein, so yay meat. I'm topping off my meal with a mug of Lemongrass green tea, with a teaspoon of Splenda. I've been sipping on it for about 20 minutes now and I'm almost stuffed. Seems to be a good fullness tactic. I'm really excited for next Wednesday to come around so I can see the fruits of my nutritional changes.

Annnnnd The Results Are In.....

Written by afrodeezha on 10/31/2012 4:07 AM -1.3 lbs YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! It's the first time in months that there has been a loss of weight (not just fluid). I had to kick start my weight loss again, so I've stocked up on yogurt and Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones and any other meal my picky self will eat. It's been over a year since I had a lapband fill and I've come to the realization that thanks to Medicare's rules (even though my work insurance is secondary) I can pretty much bank on doing this on my own. I need to change my lifestyle anyway, not depend on saline fills. Well it's 4 am and my alarm wails at 6:30. I had to report my good news! Several hours later and I want to try and remember to post what I've had for lunch. The worst thing in the world is to be hungry and trying to lose weight and get a meal that sucks! Today I'm eating a Michelina's Lean Gourmet-Chicken Alfredo Florentine. It's pretty good, but the pieces of chicken are very small.

Getting Motivated Again

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 I re-joined WW less than a week ago and I can already tell the difference in the fit of my (still a little tight) jeans! This time I joined a challenge to try and stay motivated. It's a challenge to lose 30 lbs by January 31st. My mind set is to do 5 lbs at a time, so things don't seem so overwhelming. My main goal right now is to get to a point where the waist of my pants isn't digging into my skin. It burns and leaves scars because I refuse to buy bigger jeans. True, sometimes I sit at my desk with my pants unzipped so I can breathe (just another fat girl trick), but I can't stay like this...I just can't. Dialysis is tonight, so weigh in tomorrow. I'm excited to see a loss, even if it's one lonely pound. The thing I like about dialysis is that they weigh you by kilos and your weight doesn't look SO bad... Now to get motivated to work out again...

Here I Go Again

Friday, October 26, 2012 It has been months since I've written and I can't even count how many surgeries I've had, but I can tell you that I have put every single pound back on since April. I refuse to be defeated. My jeans are tight as hell and I also refuse to buy anything bigger than what I have. I can do this. I WILL do this. My life depends on it! They don't give kidneys to fat people. The thing that I have on my side is that I'm not diabetic and my blood pressure isn't high. LET'S GO!

Must it ALWAYS be an uphill battle?

Monday, April 02, 2012 Well, I have failed miserably at the weight loss challenge. It's not totally my fault. Since January 1st, of course I lost my dad, but two days after his funeral, I had a kidney related surgery. I had another last Monday and last Thursday and I'm about to have another procedure done now. Gotta go. See ya...

I'm Back

Monday, February 20, 2012

The last time I posted, I'd just found out that my father had pancreatic cancer just 7 days before. He went into the hospital on January 14th. He died on January 24th. I think I stuck to my plan up until about the 18th. I'm not sure what I weigh. I haven't paid attention when I go to treatment, but I know I need to get back on again. I am an emotional eater and during the days following the funeral, I ate, ate, ate. There were so many things to choose from, it was pointless to try. I was very close to him and though it was very hard for me to go through those last days with him, I wouldn't trade them for the world. In September my parents remarried after two decades of being apart and I joked that I'd been his daughter longer than my mother had been his wife. That was in the beginning, when I thought he'd just have a couple of surgeries, get chemo/radiation and go home. Never in a million years would I think that I'd go into February without my Daddy. Today is the day I get back on track...

Yikes!!!

Friday, January 13, 2012 It's 11:28 am and I'm already eating lunch! I'm stahvin' today for some reason! For breakfast I had a Boost-Glucose control. I'm not diabetic, but it's what I can have, with reduced calories and I had a Weight Watchers Praline Nut Cluster. Can you say YUMMMM? Mid-morning I had some fruit in unsweetened juice. Yesterday I went to bed with 0 points available for the first time! With that said, I just had a Smart Ones Cranberry Turkey Medallions meal and I've got 26 points left. I'm thinking what I might have to start doing is having a "traditional" lunch. I have to watch my sodium intake too, with the Smart Ones. It helps my bp stay at a regular, but I don't want it to go overboard! Dialysis again tonight, so I think I'll save some points for some Snackwell's sandwich cookies (yumm again). Have a great weekend!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

Thursday, January 12, 2012 Today is the first real snow of the season. I have nothing to report, big or small. Happy Birthday to Phil Perry, who has one of the most beautiful voices ever!

Milestone Moment

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 I reached my first milestone!!! I'm glad I decided to weigh again after the extra fluid was removed. I'm so encouraged! Really Weight Watcher's makes it easy! I hated the old program with all the weighing and measuring!

I Survived the Weekend!!!

Monday, January 09, 2012 I thought the weekend would be hard since I had all day to think about food. Turns out Saturday night I had to eat a dessert and a fruit to get all my points in. Sunday, because I sleep later, and actually slept right through the breakfast hour, I still ended up with 11 points at the end of the day. To that I say, things will get better. I can feel a lot of fluid on me, which is probably a result of the Smart Ones meals. It's challenge enough dieting, but when you have to factor in the kidney diet, it get crazy. Somehow I lost my phosphorous binders, so I have to order some more. Phosphorus is in almost everything we eat. It isn't bad for the normal consumer because your kidneys filter it out of your body. When your kidneys don't work, it stays in your body until you dialyze. When there's an overload of phosphorus in your body, it can calcify your arteries. I'm usually pretty good at doing what I should kidney diet-wise, but all the Smart Ones I've consumed the past couple of days, I noticed the whites of my eyes are yellowish. I need to go back to making fresh meals and not the frozen ones. This is just temporary, to get into the groove of things. I weighed in this morning and was more than my starting weight, but then I realized that I have a whole weekend of fluid on me, so it will be more accurate after dialysis tonight. So many challenges, but with God, nothing is impossible and I have faith that I will meet my goals and I can't wait! Two main things I want to be able to do again is wear heels without feeling like my body has broken down at the end of the day and I want to run. Not the little fast shuffle scoot that I do now, but I want to take off running maybe to the end of the block, with no pain. Maybe race my kids and challenge them on the basketball court like I did when they were little. I'd venture to say that I'd even like my youngest to teach me how to ollie and flip kick (<------those are skateboarding terms). Psyche on that last one! LOL

Another Day

Thursday, January 05, 2012 This is day two. We're doing a weight challenge amongst local government employees and I'm on the police department team. Yesterday was fairly easy. I was almost too full, but when I got to treatment, I was hungry. I'll have to save a snack for that time. My challenge will be getting in exercise. Right now I feel like I have too much fluid on me and I already don't like to exercise, so I have to find something I can bear. I wish the workout fairy would grant me a membership at Curves, LOL.

A New Day

Original post January 4, 2012 I'm an overweight dialysis patient. They do not give overweight dialysis patients kidneys. Not even if they are young, single parents. So I thought I'd get a quick fix. I had the lapband surgery back in 2009. I dropped 20 lbs in the preliminary time period for that. They want you to lose weight on your own, in the beginning, to prove that you're serious about losing weight. Surprisingly, that was the easiest weight loss I've ever experienced. So the surgery was performed and the next thing I knew (a year later), I weighed 84 lbs lighter. The lowest I weighed in my adult life. With that great weight loss, came a drop in my blood pressure. Dizziness when I stood up. The day I figured out that was a problem, I'd passed out and hit my head either on the bathtub or toilet. I had a traveling hematoma that left me looking like Kung Fu Panda for a few weeks. That weight loss was beautiful, except by the following November, I hit a plateau.

Decisions...

I have decided that instead of letting this blog sit with the memories of the past, that I would start to post my Weight Watchers posts here also, especially to make it easier for my Here's To Our Health members to read it. Hope you enjoy and hope even more to inspire (myself included).

A Friendly Reminder to No One and Everyone at the same time

Something made of glass can easily break; it is vulnerable; and we are all vulnerable in different ways. Sometimes we forget our own vulnerability and "throw stones" at other people in the form of criticism.

A person might remind us that we too have our own faults and weakenesses by saying "people who live in glass houses should not throw stones".

Check that.