No More Plus Size … eventually

I hate hate hate having yearly exams done. It’s not pleasant being poked and prodded the way we get poked & prodded during the exam. I have a confession – it’s been over 2 years since I had my last one done. I always use the excuse that I can’t afford to have them done because I don’t have insurance. Yeah, it’s an excuse and a crock of crap. Here in Michigan they have health departments that are very reasonably priced and if you meet certain income guidelines your exams are free. And there are even some doctor offices that work on what’s called a sliding scale fee so they base what you pay on what you make. So the point is – there’s never a reason for me to NOT have a yearly exam done.

So I went. I dealt with the poking and prodding but was a bit concerned when there was a heck of lot of poking going on with my “girls”, the “tatas”…you know boobs. I’m very well endowed (lol that’s putting it nicely) in that department so I don’t know what feels normal and what doesn’t (ok so I don’t exactly do self-breast exams regularly like I should but once in awhile I do).

She felt several lumps that were a bit ‘concerning’ so I spent a week in ‘what if’, freak out mode. Because of different things relating to my cycle and blah blah blah she wanted me to come back in for a follow-up this week to see if there was any change before sending me in for an ultrasound or mammogram.

I’m thankful to say that today things were better than they were the week before. As of right now she’s not concerned with the lumps (and in fact most of them were gone) but set up a follow-up appointment for April 18th so she can check them again. Then we’ll go from there. Let’s just say I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief…

If you haven’t had a recent exam I urge you to call and make an appointment NOW. I used to think it was better to not know if something was wrong but that’s not the case. Oftentimes the key to surviving something as serious as breast cancer (or whatever it may be) is early detection! I’m glad that I’m being monitored and followed up with on a regular basis just to make sure that nothing changes or becomes something that has to be biopsied, etc.  It’s scary to go through something like this but at the same time it just reminded me how short life really can be and to live each and every day to the fullest.

My new motto is:

Live every moment
Laugh every day
Love beyond words

All this to say: ladies, feel your tatas! Learn what’s normal. Learn what’s not!

This morning I had a Doctor’s appointment and I was pleased to step on the scale. I weighed in at 285 which is a 38.8 lbs loss since November 26th – not too shabby, not too shabby at all. However, my blood pressure was running a bit on the high side again (132/88) so I have to get it checked in a few weeks and then we’ll discuss what to do from there. Over the last several years my blood pressure has been running on the high side but I’ve been able to control it with diet and exercise so I’m hoping that that’s the case this time around too.

I joined a local gym (it’s $47 a month but that includes all the classes they offer which is what I was looking for because I like taking the Zumba class….this gym doesn’t offer Zumba but they offer what is called Latin Butt Blaster or something like that lol) so my goal is to get back into exercising on the treadmill and elliptical at least 3 times a week. Plus I’m going to do the weight machines too.

I haven’t been putting a whole lot of effort into the “diet” thing recently – the boyfriend and I have ate out a lot plus he’s an amazing cook so that doesn’t help either lol.  But my goal over the next 2 weeks (just to check whether the diet/exercise thing really does help with my blood pressure like it has in the past) is to start eating a ton of fruits and veggies (plus the exercise like mentioned above).

So…that’s where I’m at right now. How are you doing?

Once again it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Once again life has been busy and even busier for almost a month now…because I’m dating someone It’s a bit of a challenge trying to balance working at home, hanging out with new friends (I’ve made quite a few new friends…FINALLY! It only took about 5 months of living in a new town! lol). I’m playing on a Volleyball league, and will be playing on a softball league this summer.

So back to the boyfriend….he’s freaking awesome. I love hanging out with him – he’s smart, funny, makes me laugh and he’s an awesome cook (which isn’t good on the “diet” front but I’m doing ok with maintaining my weight & not gaining so that’s a plus! lol)

So, here’s a pic of us and what a way to end a crazy year (2011) by meeting him and what an awesome way to start the New Year…with him and being super happy

Isn’t he handsome? (I think so! LOL)

How’s your new year going so far?

Just wanted to pop in real quick and post an update. Since 11/3/11 I have now lost 26 lbs. I swear it’s like getting a brand new wardrobe too (cause ya know I had a closet full of stuff my fat butt couldn’t fit into!) I just bought a brand new pair of pants back at the beginning of November and I put them on Friday and they slid right off my hips…those babies are going to Goodwill & I’m proud to donate them even if they only got worn 3 times!

I’m doing great with drinking water. My grandma told me to be careful because she thinks I could be drinking too much (every day for the last 5 days I have drank 101.4 ounces of water – if you don’t know that’s 3 liters!). And other than that I’m not dieting – just filling up on fruits & veggies and eating a ‘main’ meal whenever I’m hungry.

I was actually concerned that I wasn’t getting enough food because when I think about what I eat now (compared to before) I eat like a bird. I eat one meal a day and the rest of the day I’m munching on fruits & veggies like I mentioned above. Plus I’m drinking all that water so I guess there’s just no room in my tummy for lots of food. And when I do eat a regular meal I notice that it’s hard to eat it all. This is new territory for me – I’ve never had a problem eating all the food in front of me before!

So, all that rambling to say that maybe living a healthy lifestyle really is as simple as listening to my body!

Hope you’re doing great!

Until next time…

Wow…I can not believe the last post I made was September 29th! That’s crazy. But things have been busy…but still that’s no excuse. My Virtual Assistant business is booming, not leaving a lot of free time for blogging. I’m still settling in and adjusting to being in a new town and not having my son with me 24/7. You would think going into the fourth month of being in a new town/place that I would be all settled but I’m not. But I love it here. I love the town – even though I totally don’t fit in! (This town is full of rich people…big boats, bigger houses, nice cars, yada yada yada. But even though I don’t fit in I still love it. It’s an amazing town – the beauty is awesome. Seriously I never knew that I would be so in awe of living in a place that was surrounded by water, boats and ritzy people!)

Ok…so onto my health/weight. Uhm, it’s NOT pretty. I let myself gain quite a bit of weight once I moved in here and ‘felt sorry’ for myself that I had no friends to hang out with (truth is, even if I had made friends right off the bat I think I would have had found excuses to stay home & eat!). It got so bad that I was so swollen I could barely walk up/down my steps because it hurt…my feet were so swollen that bending them literally made me cry out in pain – that’s the worst they’ve ever been. The swelling had even moved up into my calves/legs. Again, the worst it’s ever been – it’s never been more than just my ankles/feet. So, I knew things had gotten really bad and it was time to do something. Here’s the proof of how bad I let things get (the scale was NOT my friend that’s for sure..but I needed to know what I was facing)… (more…)

They always say you don’t realize how much you take something for granted until it’s gone…in this instance it’s not something I ‘lost’ (well technically I guess you could say I did lose something – my mobility) but something that put me out of commission for almost a full month…my back.

When you have back problems you know how awful and inconvenient it is.  You never know when you’re going to have a flare up. I was shocked that my back went out on Labor Day when I was bent over reaching for the dust pan and I twisted just the littlest to the right. I’ll never forget that moment and the pop noise I heard, horrendous pain sending me instantly to my knees where I proceeded to crawl to the bedroom. EEEK! It makes me cringe just typing and thinking about it.

Over the last several weeks I’ve been thinking about how much I take for granted. Like my back. I hadn’t had a flare up in quite awhile so it really threw me for a loop when it happened. ThankfullyI work from home so I didn’t have to call in and miss work but it wasn’t easy trying to work from my laptop in bed either like I tried that first full week.

Thankfully I am not almost 100% pain-free (praise God!). I can stand up straight again and walk normal again

Anyways…this just reminded me that life is too short to be taking things for granted including my health, family time, time with my friends, etc.

What have you been taking for granted?

I had a great weekend with the kiddo! This is the first time he’s spend the weekend since the move last month. I was a bit bummed that my back was still bugging me because it prevented us from doing a whole lot. I was so impressed with how helpful my kiddo was! He vacuumed, swept, changed kitty liter – all without me asking him to, well I did have to ask him to do kitty litter.

Friday night it was really sweet – he cooked us steaks and made us sit down at the kitchen table to enjoy dinner together. Seriously, it made me want to cry he was so sweet about it. ‘Dinner’ wasn’t served until a little after 10pm but hey that’s ok, I wasn’t going to say anything considering he was so proud of making dinner for mom and us sitting down together to eat it

Things are going great for him – he absolutely loves being at his dads with his step mom and brother. He really likes school, has quite a few friends and football started recently too. It sounds like he’s busy busy busy with school, homework and football practice! He’s so happy…I’m trying to not let stupid thoughts enter my head about how I must be a really bad mom because he was never this happy when living with me, etc. We had a lot of issues when he lived with me – constantly fighting, etc. So, I’m trying to not beat myself up over anything but to see him this happy and to see him thriving like he is, it’s kind of hard to not get down on myself about things. But I suppose the past is the past and all I can do now is to make sure that our relationship turns into a better one than when he lived with me.

A quick update on my back – today is exactly one week since I hurt it and while it’s doing 100% better than it was last week, I’m still in quite a bit of pain. Still moving pretty slow and have to be careful doing the littlest things like getting up out of bed, a chair, etc. I’m so over this and just ready for it to be back to normal!

I hope you had a fantastic weekend

Until next time…

Ouch!

That pretty much sums of what I’m feeling right now. I’ve had back issues for several years now. In the past the flare ups I’ve had haven’t lasted long or ‘stopped me in my tracks’. That’s why this one seems so weird to me. It happened this past weekend. I worked on a huge project and was at desk for an insane amount of time over the course 3 days. I felt it getting tight but it wasn’t hurting.

Then I went to a friend’s wedding reception Saturday night and danced. Oh my gosh did I dance! The group of friends I was with were dancing machines & I wasn’t going to be outdone One time we danced an hour straight without sitting down. I’m guess over the course of the night I got in about 2.5-3 hours of dancing! I was literally dripping with sweat (to my credit it was uber humid & everyone was just as sweaty! lol) and probably could have wrung my hair out it was so sweaty. Yea, pretty gross! Good thing I was there to just have fun and not worry about what others thought. Of course by that late in the evening there were tons of drunks around so they probably didn’t even notice how sweaty I was!

Anyways I noticed Sunday morning my back was feeling kind of tight again and had a little pain in it. But nothing a couple Tylenol didn’t help. Then Monday night (last night) I was sweeping my kitchen floor and I twisted just the littlest bit to the right to pick up the dust pain and I was brought crashing to my knees with horrible pain shooting through my back and down into my right buttock. I crawled my way to the bedroom, got in bed & pretty much haven’t moved since then (10:30pm).  It hurts to sit, stand, lay, walk – you name it, it hurts to do. I sneezed and thought I would pass out the pain was so bad. A couple times it’s even hurt to simply take a breath.

I’m trying to suck it up and not go see a doctor. After just moving last month my cash flow is very limited right now and the last thing I can ‘splurge’ (yea that’s sarcasm there!) for is a doctor visit (or trip to the chiropractor). So, I’m praying for God’s healing (and quickly!) because this pain is awful

It’s been almost a full month since I’ve moved (where has the time gone?) and I’ve been doing exactly what I didn’t want to do…hiding out in my apartment, not getting out and enjoying anything the community has to offer. This is a beautiful town & they do all sorts of stuff during the summer months (it’s a tourist town) – movies in the park which happens to be right on the water where it’s nothing unusual to see a 30 foot yacht parked there, musical festivals at the library, art fairs, festivals, yada yada yada. Oh and did I mention I live a couple blocks from the beach?

If hiding out wasn’t bad enough, I’ve been eating a bunch of CRAP. It’s pretty sad to think about how I’ve lived the last month actually! Let me sum it up for ya:

• Eat
• Watch TV
• Work
• Eat
• Eat
• Eat
• Order fast food (pizza)
• Rent a movie
• Buy chips & dip to go with that movie
• Buy ice cream to go with above
• Sit on my futon (by the way who ever invented these things? They are the most uncomfortable things ever) eating, crying & being jealous of all the people walking (or bike riding) by laughing having a good ole time wishing that was me out there.
• Eat

Yep, my life the past month has been boring, sad and pretty pathetic. I’m using the whole ‘I’m the new kid on the block & don’t know anyone excuse‘ to stay cooped up in here. Yep, total excuse and I know it. I’ve made the decision to do the things….err lack of things I should say…this past month.

I finally ventured out yesterday morning and visited a church. It was scary! You have no idea how many times I almost had myself talked out of doing it! And even after I was there and sitting for 10 minutes I still debated about sneaking out! Everyone was really nice and made me feel welcome but I found everything and anything (in my head of course) to think about as a reason I should leave or not go back. One of them was super silly but in my head it was a huge issue – I was the biggest person there!

So, with that being said it’s time to:

put my big girl panties on, suck it up, get out & start enjoying life again!

I don’t ever want to move again. Ever! Well ok, that’s not entirely true. Some day when I get married I want to move into a house with my husband (Of course you kind of need to be dating to even think about marriage & dating is non-existent in my life…don’t remember the last time I’ve been on a date to be honest!)

Anyways. Moving sucks. The final outcome (being in the new place) is great but the moving process itself isn’t so great! I have no idea what I was thinking when I took an upstairs apartment! Apparently I wasn’t! lol The steps to my apartment are brutal. They are super steep, at least the back entrance ones are. The front ones aren’t bad but the back ones are more private…if that makes sense.

Not only are there a gazillion steps (13 to be exact) to get to my apartment but where I was moving from (mom & step dad’s house) had a gazillion steps too (don’t remember how many there were but the house was 3 levels so that should tell you something!). So, I’ve had quite the workout the last several days. And it’s been HOT. So, it hasn’t been the most pleasant moving experience but I’m happy to say that tonight is my first night in the new pad. So, with all the up/down steps, lugging stuff, plus sweating plus not eating very much because being too busy & not thinking about it I had to of lost some weight…I know I have because some of my clothes are feeling lose on me! So, I guess I won’t complain

I couldn’t stand the purple/maroon living room so I painted (my landlady is pretty cool!). Now, I love the living room way more! Because it’s small I decided to go with a futon because that will take up less space than a regular couch (plus I needed somewhere my kiddo could sleep when he stays with me). Hopefully the futon gets here soon!

Before & After Pic of Living Room (thank the Lord for paint – amazing the difference a coat of paint can make!):

(click on image to make larger)

It’s starting to look like home Next room I’m working on – the sun-room/office. I’m going with a total cheesy/fun look for this room Can’t wait to get it done & share pics!