My Health Journey

Sassykat

Sassykat

New member
I've been on a long journey to better my health. I feel I've come a long way. I've been member of other forums, but thought I'd like to try out this one. One of the old forums I posted on had a lot of great people there, but most of them have quit posting .


I am a 42 yr old female, wife and mother of 5.


I've been through a lot (it feels like) in my life. There was one point where I was very ill. I've improved my health a lot in getting off of some prescriptions, taking herbs and supplements and through diet and exercise.


At my highest weight I was 175-180 lbs. I am 5' 5" and now weight 138 lbs. My ideal weight is somewhere between 118-125 lbs.


My goals are to become more functional, stronger, slimmer and to find more peace within my life.


I am starting back on the alternate day diet, which I have done before with great success. I have a slow metabolism and the weight comes off very slowly.


This being the week of Thanksgiving, I really don't expect to lose any weight. Next week will be a little better for me to get back on track.

I plan on cooking and having our Thanksgiving meal at my house. My daughter has to work, but both of my older sons will probably come over. I also have two sons still at home ages 15 & 11.


One of my favorite hobbies is studying herbs. I also enjoy hiking, camping, gardening, reading, crafts, music....Lots of hobbies.


We live out in the country and have a small construction business that I do the bookkeeping for. I've got a very supportive, great husband who is doing the Alternate Day Diet with me.

I'm looking forward to getting to know the other members on this forum.
 
I ate way too much yesterday. I started out well, but then somehow my appetite and eating picked up momentum by afternoon.
It also made me tired. Funny thing I have more energy on low calorie down days and not eating much then when eating more. I thought food was suppose to give you energy.
Apparently the shift in all the insulin the body has to produce somehow puts a burden on the body and makes you tired. Weird stuff.

So I'm trying another down day today. We'll see if I make it though because I started to get a migraine.

I've got a lot to do today, baking, cleaning and I need to fulfill my promise to my dad of calling him. Today is the one year anniversary of my mom passing away.

I've taken a Coleus Forskohlii (herb) to help with the migraine, but I'm still not quite my perky usual self.

If I adhere to my previous plan it'll be Light Progresso soup for lunch and a low calorie Ready made meal for dinner (similar to a TV dinner). Maybe some pickles to snack on.

I plan on enjoying Thanksgiving and the leftovers on the days afterwards. I will get back to my diet next week and plan on doing down days Monday Wednesday and Friday. Maybe I can get back on track next week with my exercise also.

I'm off to bake! Pumpkin pie, fruit crisp, banana bread and broccoli casserole.
 
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Plan is: Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be down days (500 calories or under). The rest of the days will be up days (eat normally), including the weekend.


I've decided to fast today. I've done this before and actually sometimes it is easier to fast once you get the mindset. If I am having a hard time with it, one way to get through it is by telling myself I can eat whatever I want the following day. I do find the Alternate Day Diet easier because I only have to diet every other day. So it's really not that bad. And the more I do it the easier it gets.


We had a really nice Thanksgiving. My older kids came over and it was great seeing them. The meal turned out nice. I tried a new recipe for Broccoli casserole and it was delicious. We got our Christmas tree already put up, but it still needs to be decorated. I think this is the earliest we have ever gotten a Christmas tree up. I'm much more in the mood to celebrate the holidays this year.


It is so good to see the scale going back down again. data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACQAAAAYCAIAAAAd2sgZAAAAfUlEQVRIie3V0Q6AIAgF0Ptt/P8/3R5qzmCWQ2DVcr7KEcEBvGKRQspHvR2r8Jr0+Mckj13hNcxHVifnOFOI4TK/vgNVdH9P2uIpRpEBH+DcMqJUe4klrA8Hc/3ItFTQ2/1jM9hIRVLNrIeMKTOKmDJiigo24wVLIzKLCVkb7tVxoJAfVooAAAAASUVORK5CYII=
 
Weight this morning 134.6 lbs.

Most of that is water loss, but it's still nice to see the scale go down. Once I eat normally my weight will go up on those days, but overall hopefully the trend will be down.

Hopefully by the end of December I will be able to fit into some of my pants I was wearing last year.


Our microwave is making terrible noises, in a scary way so I think it's pretty much out of commission. It's a real eye opener as to how much we use it. Doing the ADD I probably use it even more because I use a lot of low cal TV dinners and light soup that are very easily popped into the microwave. I hate having to spend money on buying a new one, when money is tight and it's right before Christmas.


I want to get back to exercising, but I seem to be coming down with some kind of stomach bug.
 
Weight this morning 134.6 lbs
I don't know if my scale gave me an incorrect reading or what happened, but my weight should have went up. I ended up eating quite a bit of junk yesterday.

I'm feeling better today. Yesterday I felt so wrung out. I ended up taking a drenamin (adrenal supplement) and that pepped me up quite a bit. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and a head ache, but it has gotten better.

Ttom is due tomorrow.

I actually got quite a bit done, compared to the last few days when I really wasn't feeling too great. I cleaned out the cupboard where I keep the pans and rewashed all of the pans that were in there. My sons are not that great of dishwashers let me tell ya.:confused:
I cleaned off all the multitude of spices that we had on top of the dead microwave. So it's ready for my hubs to carry it out to the trash. I also sorted through some clutter and threw out a few things. Mopped the kitchen floor thoroughly (again, the boys just do not do a very good job with cleaning chores).
And I got the fridge cleaned out and gave some leftovers to the dogs outside. I guess it was their Thanksgiving.

Today has been a down day and it's surprisingly been rather painless. I was a little unsure if I should even attempt it after not feeling well lately, but something I've been taking I guess has me feeling better today. Hopefully it continues and I don't end up feeling sick again.

Still trying to get by without the use of a microwave... until this weekend when I plan on buying one. I can't believe how dependent we become to things. I'm not even sure it's healthy to use a microwave, but it has become such a way of life for us.
Coffee cold? Just nuke it.
Want soup? Pop it in the microwave.
Got a low calorie TV dinner - microwave it.
Rent a movie? Want some popcorn? - Microwave.
Reheat leftovers - whala the microwave!
Got the stove full of other pans and want to warm up some canned peas? Just put them in the microwave.

Tonight we are having TV dinners. I don't plan this often, but hubs and I are dieting and once in a while they are nice to have for a busy evening, like tonight when the boys have activities going on at the church. Did you know some TV dinners can't even be placed in the oven anymore? The ones I got will take 37 minutes at 350 degrees placed in the oven.
The little ready made meal I had for lunch came in this plastic container. I cooked it in the toaster oven at 300 degrees for 5 minutes. The plastic melted and burned. It probably would have caught fire if I had left it in there any longer.

Oh how I miss thee, thy microwave!;)
 
Weight this morning 135.6 lbs

So yeah, yesterday's weight was not accurate. I hate my scale. Stupid thing is incompetent.

Yesterdays down day went well. Today is an up day. I'm making enchiladas for dinner.

We are getting a snow storm today with high winds. I feel sorry for my hubs who is out working in it.

The last time I did ADD my weight loss was actually slow and steady. It seemed like a lot at first, but that was the water loss. I probably could have done better with it too. This time around I need to be patient. The important thing to me is that I don't get derailed from my goals. I really want to get my weight down to 120 this time and not be a weak, flabby malnourished 120 either! I want to increase my strength.

So at some point here I need to add exercise back in and I may have to increase my calories or change my eating plan to do that. I just feel I have to make small steps so I can focus on one change at a time. I should take a few minutes and make a plan for next week, food and exercise.

It's helpful to write everything down. My husband downloaded some work out templates for Excel that you can log your exercise on. I should use it too. Maybe that would help keep me focused.

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/workout-chart.html
 
Hey there SassyKat!


I've never heard of the ADD, but if you know it works for you that's great. My only concern would be when you start to incorporate exercise. I'm not sure how well the ADD will work when you start to exercise. If you do continue with the ADD, I would only exercise on days where you eat at least 1200 calories. This is really the bare minimum of calories you should be eating. I would be afraid that exercising on a down day for you would result in you being very fatigued and possibly getting sick.


Like I said, I've never heard of the ADD, so I'm very curious to see how it works!


I know how scales are. My eyes are terrible and mine has these tiny hash marks. It makes it really hard for me to be able to see what my weight is exactly. I want to upgrade to a digital scale, but it's not really a necessity at the moment. Maybe for Christmas I'll get some gift cards and can buy one with that.


Keep doing what your doing!
 
Hi Munch. I agree with you and that's been on mind also. I will be careful about exercising on down days. I may decide to just exercise on up days. The weird thing is though, I actually have more energy on down days. Eating more makes me tired. Either way I plan on starting off slow at first. For me the big hurdle is making it a habit.

I know what you mean about prioritizing on a budget. I would like a new scale also, but somehow I have a feeling that whatever scale I would get will give me different readings and I won't be happy with it. I have a digital scale now, but it's pretty old and I can get it on 3 times in a row, consecutively and it will give me 3 different readings varying 1-2 lbs. That always makes me mad. It's almost like the scale is playing mind games with me. Like this morning I got on it checked my reading, then got on it again and it went up! I didn't even turn and walk away. There was no scientific reason for it to change. Of course, it's just an inanimate object and I only feel emotional about it because I'm dieting.:rotflmao:


I have a problem with blurry eyesight also. Once in a while I will take something to help my eyesight (like Bilberry or lutein) and it does help for the day, but the results don't seem to be long lasting.
 
Ok, good! Just want you to be careful!


I know all about trying to make exercising a habit, I'm still working on that! as far as the scale thing, I'm terrified of buying a new one. I'll feel awful if I get on a new one and it says I weigh more than my previous one said. We just have to be strong and refuse to give into the urge to pick it up and throw it!


I've been needing to go to the eye doctor for awhile now. I have a pair of glasses but don't wear them, their ugly and the old. If I get a nice pair of frames, I wear them gladly lol.
 
Munch, I need to go to the eye doctor too. I've been wearing old contacts and need a new script. Too bad it's so expensive to go. I've thought of switching to glasses. I think it would be healthier for my eyes. I wouldn't even know how to pick out glasses that are in style and look nice. If you find some that look nice you should share a picture with me so I can get them when I have the money. LOL.

I can't rely on my husband to help me pick out glasses.:ack2:


Weight this morning 136.0

Today is a down day. I had coffee with stevia this morning.

I plan on having tuna and green beans for lunch

Baked chicken breast and broccoli for dinner.

Should be around 500 calories total.

My daily weight since starting ADD.

11/21/11 - 138.4 lbs (Started ADD, first down day of about 500 calories)
11/22/11 - 136.4 (Weight the morning after down day)
11/23/11 - 137.0 (Weight the morning after an up day)
11/24/11 - 135.6 (Weight the morning after down day)
11/25/11 - 136.0 (Weight the morning after Thanksgiving)
11/26/11 - 136.2 (Weight after another up day)
11/27/11 - 137.0 (Weight after another up day)
11/28/11 - 136.8 (Weight after another up day)
11/29/11 - 134.6 (Weight the morning after a down day of fasting)
11/30/11 - (134.6)- scratch - scale inaccurate- should have gone up after up day.
12/1/11 - 135.6 (Weight the morning after a down day)
12/2/11 - 136.0 (Weight the morning after an up day)

So as you can see weight fluctuates quite a bit on this diet.
After looking over my weight the last time I did the diet in 2008/2009 I averaged a loss of about 3/4 of a pound a week without exercise (If I remember right).
I have had such a hard time with my weight, especially this year, so the modest weight loss is very much welcome.
It will be interesting to see how it goes for me this time around. Has my metabolism gotten slower over the last 3 years? Almost certainly it has. I am 42 now.

Will the supplements I'm taking actually help my metabolism any? Hard to say, but I hope it does.
Today I took 1 drop Nascent Iodine (400 mcg iodine)
 
That's an interesting diet Sassykat. I think that I would get discouraged very easily seeing my weight fluctuate up then down then up. But if it works for you that's what matters!
 
Yeah I'm sure that's why the guy who wrote the book http://www.amazon.com/Alternate-Day-Diet-M-D-James-Johnson/dp/B001KOTU92/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322866891&sr=1-1

(James Johnson) advised to only weigh once a week on the morning after a down day. I'm use to the fluctuations and this time around I'm more interested in what is actually going on with the fluctuations. And any cut in calories, and cut in sugar actually will result in a lot of water loss. Plus I am in such a habit of weighing daily. I would have a hard time purposely avoiding the scale.


I might like weighing only once a week though. I might think about that idea.
 
Yeah, I'm really trying to do that. I get frusterated if I weigh everyday. lol! So I usually let myself weigh mid week, just to see where I am. A way I keep from weighing in is by eating breakfast. I don't weigh once I've eaten anything, so that's a good deterent.
 
Yay I now fit into my Levis that fit me a few pounds ago. :hurray: That makes me happy. I really haven't been doing this diet very long so it was a nice surprise.


I still have not gotten any exercise back into my routine. We had a blizzard last night and a 2 hour delay start for the boys for school this morning.

I've been feeling fatigued partly probably due to an iron deficiency and partly was from whatever virus was going around. I'm taking an iron supplement, but if the fatigue continues I may postpone the ADD and try something different for a while. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.
 
I've been trying to get some thing figured out to help my thyroid. A big part of my frustration is swelling and water retention when my thyroid isn't working correctly. This past week I started on Thytrophin and that seems to really be helping me feel quite a bit better. I just need to get my dose right.


Also things have been pretty busy lately so I haven't had a lot of time to get back to exercising and planning my foods. I'm hoping this next week to do better with that.


I've also put on a few pounds over the holidays.
 
I quit doing that Alternate Day Diet. I did try counting calories for about a week, but the dieting seemed to make my thyroid problems worse. So I'm hoping now that I'm taking something to help that I can get on track with my goals of eating better, exercising and maybe lose a few pounds in the process. One of my goals is to become stronger. We have some weights and I'll be planning some resistance exercises with weights to do at home. I live out in the country with a limited budget so a gym work out is not an option.


I'll be charting my exercise in a notebook I made with a template I printed out so I can track my progress. And I've been writing down what I eat every day to keep my calories in mind.


One of my biggest challenges is keeping up with my goals consistently because things get so busy and it seems there's always something that comes up. Part of that is just the life that I have , but I am thankful for it so I can't get too upset when things don't go as planned.


My weight has been 138-139 lbs.


I've been noticing that my weight fluctuates a lot depending on the stuff I'm taking to help my thyroid. So what may seem like weight loss, may just be loss of fluid to my thyroid working better. Yesterday my morning weight was 136.6 lbs and I was so happy to see the scale go down. I took a less dose of the thytrophin to see how I felt with that and was a bit tired and then this morning I noticed my fingers were swollen, my wedding ring was fitting tight. I stepped on the scale this morning and my weight had jumped up a pound - 137.6 lbs. So I've decided through this process I'm going to have to be patient and expect a lot of fluctuations in my weight.


My husband has been without work for a couple of weeks so we are also on a budget for our groceries. It's too bad that healthy food always has to be more expensive.


I'm pretty much tired of winter too. I tend to experience some seasonal depression to some extent or another. Part of that I'm sure is from having mild hypothroidism. I don't like being cold and so I don't go outside much and that just contributes to me feeling like I have cabin fever. Hopefully February brings some warmer weather so I can get out and at least take some walks.
 
I haven't been feeling that great lately. I would like to wean off my supplements and hopefully still be able to be a functional person. The only way to find out is to try. Life has been stressful. My husband has been out of work (as well as myself). There just aren't that many jobs being advertised in my area either.

This morning on the news they showed a man that got offered a job from standing on a busy street corner, in his suite handing out resumes to people that drove by in their cars. I would try that, but we live in a rural area and even the people in the nearest city would likely think I was nuts. He most likely got lucky because of the media coverage.

I did apply at an institution that provides assisted living for the elderly. I would love working there. My mom passed away a year ago from Alzheimer's disease and working there would make me feel close to her. I'm sure they got swamped with applicants though so I'll be surprised if I get a call for an interview. Especially since my resume shows most of my experience is in bookkeeping.

Today I felt a little better than the last few, but I still have not been able to exercise in a while.

My husband and I had some errands to run today and that took most of the day. One good thing about being low on finances was I took the time to pack us a lunch because we just don't have the extra money to spare to eat out. I'm sure that was much lower in calories than if we grabbed some fast food. We had sandwiches, fruit and water bottles from home. We ate at the park and it was still nice, having lunch together.


My calories ended up being about 1350 for the day.
 
Weight this morning 137.2 lbs

I'm curious to see what happens with my weight as I quit taking supplements. They are to support my thyroid function so it might go up. I am taking the Thytrophin today, but I did still take my herbs that help with thyroid function (Rhodiola and Ashwagandha).

I got on the treadmill this morning. It was a lot harder, but I pushed through most of it. Ttom is due tomorrow. Usually I have very bad periods. I'm hoping I feel well enough to go to the fireman's appreciation dinner that is tomorrow night. My husband is a volunteer fireman and I think these dinners mean a lot to him so I will make every effort to try and feel my best.

Guess I'd better see what I can get done for the day
 
I just looked up the calories I need to maintain my weight and I was shocked to see that it was only 1600 calories.

And if I want to lose a pound a day it's only 1200 calories. That isn't very much.

Calories add up fast. I like to drink coffee in the morning with those flavored creamers. 1 Tbs of flavored creamer doesn't even make a difference in the coffee. Sigh. I wish I could learn to drink it black.
 
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