Chocolate on my Face!

I was going for the "Egg on your face" idiom, but I thought the other title was more fitting.  It has been nearly a year since my last blog post and SOOO much has happened and almost ALL of my weight has returned. *sigh*

In May, I had surgery on my foot.  He repaired my OCD on my talus as well as a perineal tendon on the outside of my foot.  After surgery, I was off my foot for another 6 weeks and in physical therapy for 3 more months.  I was finally released from my doctor last month - a full year + since diagnosis Jan 2011.  Recovery has gone very well and I'm not 100%, but feel like, overall, the surgery was a success.

Being handicapped for 6 months wrecked havoc on my body and my metabolism.  I am noticing that the inactivity has changed how my body processes things, and I'm sure age is ushering in a bit of this as well.

At the beginning of August, I finally started to see things changing, then I was devastated with news of my father.  He was diagnosed with cancer and treatment began right away.  It has been such a difficult obstacle being 2000 miles away from my parents.  Not being able to help them out, clean the house, bring over dinner, just hug their necks - it has been a big hurdle for me personally.  My emotional eating was spiraling out of control.  I would start and restart, and restart again, but in all actuality - I could have cared less what I was eating.

In January, we had another change in our household.  We pulled our highly gifted son from the public school system and began homeschooling him.  This has been a positive change and he is excelling wonderfully!  However, it was still a shift in our routine and it's taken some time to adjust.

So here we are in March.  My father was just released from the hospital for Stem Cell Replacement therapy and it has been a success so far! He is my catalyst for change.  His attitude and strength have changed how I view things.  Not once has he taken the victim's role - He is a FIGHTER and has the right mind set to see this treatment through.

Where, then, is my justification in my own victimization?  Isn't that what I've been doing?  Giving myself a pity party for all that's been on my plate? Yet, here is my father, my role model, forging thru without one complaint.  The scales have been peeled from my eyes and I am seeing my true reflection in the mirror.  I am the only one responsible for my weight today.

So here we go!  I have already been making a shift from eating highly processed foods to a more natural diet.  My first run thru WW's, I did all I could to eek out as many points as possible and ate horrendously processed things.  My new motto is "If it comes from a plant - eat it! If it's made in a plant - stay away!"  Basically, if I can't pronounce most of the ingredients, then I don't buy it.

So I weighed in today................

227.6

Whew.

Yeah.

Wow!

Yikes!

I'm owning it and accepting it and am making a plan!

Here's my plan of attack:

I'm moving away from the paid WW's route.  I feel confident in the tools and knowledge that I can do this without breaking the pocket book.  I'll still follow the Points Plus plan, because I know it works and I love the flexibility of the plan to eat what real life gives you.

My workout plan:
Monday - Zumba
Tuesday - easy walk
Wednesday - Spin
Thursday - Zumba
Friday - easy walk
Sat/Sun - family hike or activity

*I'll be listening to my foot and moving ahead cautiously in my workouts.

I will post Weigh In Wednesday with a pic of my progress.


So I'm off - and will hopefully leave a piece of my rump behind in the process!!! Join me in the restart of my program.  It's time and I'm ready.

Jen

6 weeks done!

I was such a good girl for the past 6 weeks with my non weight bearing treatment for my ankle.  I purchased three scooters - a bit overkill, I know, but well worth it.  One for downstairs, one for upstairs.  The scooters are too heavy to carry up and down and flying solo as much as I do, I physically can't do it alone.  I do the 'boot scoot boogie' up and down my stairs on my bum.  The third scooter was for my car - again, the cadillac scooter I mainly used was too heavy for me to lift up and down by myself, so I got a light weight scooter to get in and out of the trunk while I'm out.

I have to say that I am a HUGE fan of these knee scooters and highly recommend them.  The crutches are a pain to deal with and maneuver, and this is a welcome rest to the sore wrists and pits.  My only problem is my knee.  I have a Cinderella knee from being on it all the time and my leg has atrophied by almost 3 inches!!  I look very similar to this... remember this commercial???

So, I was all pumped to get the MRI findings from my Dr today and was handed 2 huge helpings of bad news.  First off, the MRI showed ZERO improvement.  Nothing, nada - exactly the same.  *sigh*  That alone knocked the wind out of me.  To think that all that work that I had done for the past 6 weeks was for nothing.  I mentioned I was a good girl, but I mean it.  I'm confident in knowing I gave it 100% effort!  So that alone sent me on my spiral downward and I wasn't quite prepared for the next bit of news.

My Doc was leaving the practice and moving to a new place where my insurance wasn't accepted.  So this man I grew to trust and had complete confidence in to cut me open and break my bones was now no longer my surgeon.  I have to find someone new who I don't have that history with.  

Additional problems are that this lack of physical activity has obviously impeded my weight loss efforts and I'm up about 7 lbs.  One thing I've learned about myself is that my moods definitely coincide with that serotonin high you get from a quick jog, so a bit of depression has started to set in.  Today's popping of my balloon of hope didn't help matters.

So, what happens from here?  I search for a new doc and explore my options.  But I definitely know that surgery is on the menu coming up soon...