Friday, December 20, 2013

As time goes on

Lately I've been going through a good amount of hurdles. I have been plateauing for a month at just under 200 lbs, which is frustrating to say the least, since I was going to have my 6 month follow-up appointment and felt like I didn't have much to show for the additional three months. I rescheduled my appointment because I left my bloodwork until the last minute, and I wanted to make sure they had the results before I went to the appointment.

I have been very focused on the excess skin situation lately. I feel like it's hampering my attempts at sizing properly, not to mention making me feel dissatisfied (even to the point of minor disgust) with myself... "What am I doing wrong that it looks like this? I should be going to the gym more." - but then too depressed to get out to the gym...among other excuses. There's other things I could be doing of course...

...other things I've been "slacking off" on. I've been irregular in taking my vitamins, mostly because I can't afford the chewable/dissolvable ones. So taking the large and bad-tasting pills isn't something on my mind. In addition, I haven't been taking my calcium supplement, which is indeed liquid. I just don't really think about it, though I should. Generally when I get home from work I get a beverage - water, iced tea, whatever. The calcium supplement is right there. And yet... Nope.

Which relates to another problem I've been having - teeth. I have had crappy teeth all my life. I had a molar abscess when I was about 7 years old. (The new molar also abscessed later on. Eventually I had it extracted, which makes me more or less happy as a clam.) I have more fillings than I'd like to admit to. But lately, things have gotten worse. I have two broken molars, and some other damages to existing fillings and the like, probably from deterioration from the teeth underneath. Most recently, I broke off part of a tooth (that already has a substantial filling) while eating granola with flaxseed in it. Yep. Granola. The dentist thinks we can save my tooth, which would be grand. It's already next to two teeth that had to have root canals and crowns.

See how this is going?

In any case, my coworker, whose wife and stepdaughter both had weight loss surgery, said their teeth went to hell after their surgery, mostly from stomach acidity. I didn't really believe that would happen to me, since I haven't had any heartburn or acid indigestion really - but that's because I've been staying on Prilosec nonstop. But combined with the calcium-fail on my end... And maybe acid I'm not even thinking about... Definitely need to do something to turn this boat around, before I need dentures by the time I'm 30.

I always joked with my friend Meryl about my teeth problems and being so poor that I need to start hookin'... That I would start giving gumjobs. Welp, that doesn't seem so absurd of a likelihood now!

Have been making some Christmas cookies - and able to eat them. Thankfully, they are so absurdly filling (like any of the meager carbs I've tried) that I can only get away with one, maybe two -  not handfuls like I used to do. So huzzah for that!

I'm sorry I've been so absent from posting - I will do my best to work on that. Don't hold me to it, though - clearly I'm not very good at following through on stuff lately.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Thanksgiving Challenge

So, after I long absence, I return! With a summary of the most eating-focused holiday here in the US - Thanksgiving. A day where we fill ourselves until we feel like we're going to burst. And, in my case, two days - one for my family, one for Dave's.

The biggest problem I had was the excessive odd looks and questions about the tiny amount on my plate, and having to pass up on a lot of things. "You're not going to have sweet potatoes? No rolls? No stuffing? No XYZ?" Especially at Dave's family get-together. Thankfully I was at the "kid's table," so I only had a few people looking at the meager portion on my plate. (A slice of turkey and a slice of ham.) At my family's celebration, I nabbed a smaller plate so I would be more satisfied with how it looked. No one really paid any mind - though I think I will just need to get used to the fact that I will always and forever have people raising a literal or figurative eyebrow at my absurdly small portion sizes.

Regardless - I made it through! Just focused on the meats - which is what Thanksgiving is really about, right? The turkey - the lovely, lovely turkey. I did, however, have wayyy too much pumpkin mousse for dessert at my parents'. I ate it too fast, more importantly... so I felt queasy, but didn't actually end up with vomiting or diarrhea. So that worked out well.

The only big issue I had was on the way up to my parents' Thanksgiving, we stopped at Cabela's (an outdoors store) and ate at their cafe. I had a bison bratwurst, which was tasty if a bit spicy for my taste. (Also, I accidentally took a wee bite of the bun, which I mostly spit out, lol. I had a moment of OSHI-- and then took out the bits that were distinguishable.) Thankfully, I took pretty much everything I had - two Gas-X dissolvable strips and 2 Tums Freshers. One or two trips to the bathroom resulted just in gas, but still, I felt better. Better enough to make it the next two hours to the house! So that's what really matters.

I'm getting better at some things, but not everything. I'm doing my best, and puttering along.

Also, just recently I broke 200!! I'm kind of ecstatic - and hoping it will stay on the downward path of course.

Lastly, buying clothes has been very difficult... Still pretty much can't find pants at all. It's a good thing I'm ok with wearing skirts, but even those... I used to wear patterned tights all the time, and even those are too big now. UGH. There is so much clothing I need, and can't afford. Money is pretty tight right now - Dave's having issues getting work secured steadily, especially when his full-time gig pooped out for 3 weeks or so. Events getting cancelled. Ugh, who knows. Frustrating, though, to say the least! Thankfully I'm making almost everything, and working with cheap supplies for the most part. Sadly, it means everyone is getting something not on a wishlist, but hopefully will still be enjoyed.