Hope

Last Thursday I had a Dr.'s appointment. Actually two of them. One with my Family doctor to go over all my lab results, and one with the weight loss specialist in their office. All of my labs are within normal ranges which is good, though some of the numbers are higher than I like them to be. I asked my doctor to up my dosage of metformin to 1600 mg and he agreed. And unlike starting at 1000 mg, moving up to 1600 has had no adverse side-effects.

Then I went to meet with the weight loss specialist. I've put off this appt several times. Every time I try to talk to a doctor about losing weight they tell me the same thing.."Eat less, Exercise more." This usually after I tell them that I'm eating 1500 calories a day and exercising 6 days a week! Then if I press the point they usually tell me that I must be lying about how much I'm eating. GRRRR. So I didn't have high hopes for this appointment.

Well the guy who ran my appt was awesome! I say "guy" instead of "man" because he was maybe 22 years old. He listened to what I told him about my current routine and then told me he wouldn't change any of my exercise because I was doing everything right but he did want to tweak my diet a little. Then he ran a metabolic and body composition scan. This tells you exactly the number of calories you specifically burn and also your percentage of fat to lean muscle.

Well it turns out that my percentage of body fat is 35%, ideal is 18-25%, so mine is actually pretty good. He told me he had never seen a woman who weighs as much as me have that low a percentage of body fat. It's usually closer to 50%. He told me if I had 10 more lbs of lean muscle they would put me in the same category as female body builders! Also because I have so much muscle and muscle weighs more than fat he changed my goal weight. All this time I've listed 150 as my goal weight but he told me that 170 is my goal now! So I lost 20 lbs just at that appt! :-)

After seeing the results of the scan he said he thinks my biggest problem is I'm not getting enough protein in my diet to support all that muscle. He gave me a program that involves 2 meal replacement shakes a day, combined with snacks of fruit & veggies. And then one meal that's heavy on lean meats and vegetables. He wanted me on the shakes because he said it would be easier to keep track of the calories I'm eating and at the end of one month we'll know exactly what's going on.

So I've been on the program for 3 complete days now, I was 203 on the morning of the first day and this morning when I woke up I was.........................

196.5!

I lost 6.5 lbs in just the three days I've been on it. Plus I've had more energy, I spend more time full and less time hungry, I don't crave carbs at all anymore, and I've been sleeping like a baby! HALLELUJAH! Something is finally working and I'm so happy. I have hope again for the first time in months.

So with the change in my goal weight I now only have 26.5 lbs to lose. Seems so much more manageable to me than 50 lbs. Everyone say a little prayer for me that I will be able to stay on the program and not cheat.

I am however taking the day of Thanksgiving off! Have a happy Turkey Day everyone! I'm so thankful for each one of you being in my life!

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The Finish Line

This last Saturday I finally checked something off my "to-do" list. I ran in my first 5K. I was very nervous because I've been so sick the last couple of weeks but I knew if I kept putting it off I would never do it. So I decided Friday night that I was going to run (in large part because my family decided to come cheer me on).

I got to the race Saturday morning and registered and got my number. I stretched and tried to stay calm. There were a lot of seriously scary runners there. I felt intimidated just stretching next to some of those people.

My goal was honestly just to finish the dumb race but in the back of my mind I really wanted to run the whole thing. Not walk at all. I'd never run longer than 20 minutes though.

Here's my before picture...you can tell it's the before because I'm still looking pretty good. :-)


This is me looking less happy 3 miles into the race.


This is the finish line and me looking overjoyed because I got to stop running.


And finally this is me crying all over David's shoulder because in the end I was able to run the whole thing. All 40 minutes and 3.2 miles.


Sadly but not real surprising I did not lose weight this week. In fact after the race I gained 2 lbs. Just my luck. So I'm hovering at 203-204 and can't seem to budge. I have an appt this week with my doctor to try and come up with a game plan. We'll see how that goes. I hope everyone will set a goal this week, something you think you could never do. Have a great week.

The Side Effects of Met

So I have some good news this week. I've been asking my OB to put me on a medication called metformin for a long time. It's actually a diabetic drug but it has has a lot of success helping women with PCOS manage their symptoms and lose weight. But my Ob has always been more concerned about helping me get pregnant again, rather than treating my PCOS. So last week I made an appointment to see my family doctor and he had no problem prescribing the medication for me. Without getting too technical, metformin helps with insulin resistance.

Now the bad news. 50% of women who take met will have no side effects at all, and about 25% of women will have low-moderate side effects, and 25% of women will have extreme side effects.

Does anyone want to take a guess as to what group I fall into?

I have been taking this medication for 3 days now, the majority of which I have been in my bathroom having an overly-friendly relationship with my toilet. When I'm not in there I am nauseous and have horrible headaches, not to mention the fatigue and stomach cramps. Part of me this morning was considering if lying on the floor and dying wouldn't be a better option than taking my morning dose. I will adjust to the medication, most women will have no symptoms at all after 2-3 weeks.

That's right...2-3 WEEKS! So 3 days of complete misery down, only 18 days to go. If any of you who live close to me want to drive over here and shoot me I'd appreciate it.

On the bright side I've lost 5 lbs in 3 days. You can guess how.

Trudging, Trudging

That's all it feels like I'm doing lately. I can't shake this cold I've had for about 3 months (I suspect it comes from working in the nursery). I've been very cold lately too so I wonder if my thyroid is acting up again. Anyway, I was 203 again this week. Sigh. Trudging, trudging.