New Driver's License!

My drivers license expired this year and I had to go to the DMV to get a new one! It was so fantastic to update my weight and my picture! On my last drivers license, I put 250 even though I was pushing 275! Then I put on another 60 lbs! On my new license I only fudged a few pounds and put 170 instead of 178. I figure I'll probably settle around 170 so I thought that would be a safe number. The lady at the DMV even commented on my weight loss. And on top of that fun I had an appointment and was in and out in 20 minutes! Sweet!!!

Walking challenge update: I am done with my miles already this week. I had 3 long walks this week. Sunday my sister and I walked the 3 mile walk from her house to our BBQ at my mom's. Monday I played hookie from work and the kids and I went for a walk at the beach for another 3.5 miles. Yesterday I did another 3 miles. My son has art camp this week at our community center from 2-4. Usually at this point in the summer it is 90+ degrees but we have had very mild weather so I decided to save the time and gas going across town back home and took the baby on a walk instead. We walked to our local 99 cent only store 1.6 miles away. This was a very hilly walk! I prefer flat (who doesn't!) so this was challenging. This pic is from mile 2- 2.5. This picture doesn't do the incline justice! I was also pushing 50+ in a stroller. It was a WORKOUT! My feet/shoes are still bothering me. I experimented with the ball of the foot cushions I bought when I got my shoes. They didn't help at all and I think they actually made the problem worse. The last mile was horrible on the feet and as soon as we got back to the park, I took my shoes off and headed for the grass! My toes felt like they were on fire. This is really bumming me out. They don't bother me much for the first 2 miles but after that they start to hurt. I am almost wondering if some type of fitness sandal would be a better option for me. Maybe having my toes free would feel better? I just want to make sure I have some cushion and shock absorption. When I did that walk in flip flops a few weeks ago I ended up with pain in my heel! Damn feet! I think I am going to look online at fitness sandals and see whats out there. I have to figure something out because I am loving distance walking and I don't want foot pain to stop me. Take care everyone!

Let's talk about vitamins...

...because I need to remind myself of their importance! I have gotten very, very lazy about my vitamins. I do manage to take a multi-vitamin 2x a day when I take my depression medication, but I have a very hard time getting the rest in. Maybe I don't need the additional ones?? On a good vitamin day I should take the following...

1. Centrum Chewables 2x

2. Citracal 250 iu each 2x-4x

3. Iron 325 mg 2x day w/stool softener (sexy...)

4. Vitamin A 8000 iu 1x

5. Vitamin D 1000 iu 1x

6. Daily Depression med. 2x

I even bought myself this fancy old person pill box at the 99 cent store! Problem is ideally I have to take them all throughout the day in order to reap the full absorbtion. I can't take iron with calcuim. I don't want to take the addional A or D or iron or calcuim with the multi because I doubt I can absorb it all at once. I really need to be better with this to avoid the vitamin deficencies. Thus bringing me to my other deliema...

Labs. My 1 year labs are due this week. My doctor has been sending me hate mail reminding me to go. Ok, not hate mail. It's nice to have a doctor/insurance carrier that is as proactive as Kaiser is. But our insurance benefits changed at the beginning of the year and I have a $300 deductible and a 10% copay. Kaiser orders 15+ labs at the 1 year check-up and I cannot afford it. I applied for the member assistance program and was denied because they thought I made too much money. I can't afford the labs that I really need to have. If my levels are good then I don't need to worry about taking the extra vitamins/supplements but if they are not, then I need to get them up so I don't do some serious damage to my body. It sucks having to pay for healthcare. Last year when I had my surgery, I had FANTASTIC coverage. I didn't have a deductible or lab copays. I paid $250 dollars for my hospital stay and surgery! I was super lucky! This year it would have cost me $1000+ and I wouldn't have been able to afford it. My hubby's work changed the policy and I had no choice in the matter. Don't get me wrong. I am very thankful to have affordable health insurance, but in times like this, I really wish it was better. I'll figure it out and come up with the money somehow, but it won't be this week. I need to go to Kaiser this week and ask how much it will be. Maybe by some miracle I was wrong about my benefits and it won't cost me as much as I am fearing. If not, at least I will know how much I need. Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend! My hubby, kids, and I went to Balboa Island/Beach today and walked 3.5 miles. I bribed my oldest with a dried starfish and he didn't whine the entire time. He ended up with a shark tooth necklace but whatever works right? My 2 year old feel asleep for the last mile...

Back to real life tomorrow! Take care!

Testing my will

I am currently at a BBQ with the family. The menu for the night was grilled chicken breast, salad with tons of veggies, couscous salad with cucumber and feta, and homemade potato salad! Fucking potato salad! I want to rub it on my body! Tee hee hee! I ate some but what annoys me is how bad I want more! I am feeling frenzied about it. I want to eat and eat and eat!! Here is what I ate plus some extra nibbles over the course of the evening. I am on my iPhone and I can't figure out how to upload from here. It was a pretty plate full of 85% healthy and 15% potato salad! I am sitting outside right now far from the kitchen. I did make a plate of potato salad and couscous for later to ease that part of my brain that is obsessing over the food. We have about an hour and a half before fireworks and a ice cream sandwich cassarole desert thing in the fridge. Damn it! Oh well, we did walk 3 miles here so maybe I earned some of the potato salad and a tiny slice of desert ;)

Initiation

I have been giving my new shoes some action the last couple days. Last night I went with my sister Laura and her friend Lindsey for a walk at our local Regional Park. I did 1.85 of the planned 3 mile walk because my son started whining and I simply didn't want to listen to it anymore! I got a late start on the walking challenge this week because of my foot pain last weekend and the new shoe purchase. Today I walked 2 miles on my lunch hour around beautiful downtown Redlands. It was hot but there was enough of a breeze so it wasn't terrible. The heat doesn't bother me like it used to. It's amazing the difference 150+ pounds makes!! Walking at the park yesterday had me craving some nature so we headed up the mountain to Lake Gregory and walked there this afternoon with the kiddos. The lake had a nice walking trail around the entire lake. The weather was great and aside from the whinning kid it was fantastic. I don't understand what his problem is. Kids his age should be ecstatic about being outside! Right?? In his defense, I didn't realize he was wearing flip flops and we did just walk. We didn't stop to play in the water or anything. This is mostly due to our other son, 2 year old Cooper. He is a wild child and if he is content in the stroller at the moment, we try not to push our luck. So my walking tally is up to nine miles for the week! Not too bad for the last 3 days!

In search of kicks...

I went to the Running Center today in search of new shoes. This place is great! The guy spent time with me and watched me walk and brought out tons of shoes for me to try on. After 30 minutes and about 8 pairs of shoes, I settled on this pair:

I wasn't concerned about how they looked. These ended up being cute enough. They were $100 which was under the $150 budget I had for myself so I ended up splurging on a $10 pair of socks (gasp! but the guy said they were important and I am a sucker :) I was so happy leaving the store. I went back to work and slipped these bad boys on. Within 10 minutes the bottom of my feet started to tingle! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I wanted to cry!!! All of the other shoes I have purchased in the last few years have had this same problem. Why did I spend $100 on shoes that do the same thing as the $40 ones did??? But because I spent so much on them I went back to the store and told the guy what happened. We tried on some others and I exchanged the shoes for this pair: Its the same shoe but in a Wide and I like the color better, so that was a bonus! They were the same price so that was easy. I wore these on the treadmill and I did have some tingling :( When I explained the tingly feelings to the sales guy he said that I might have Morton's Neuroma. "Morton's neuroma occurs in a nerve in your foot, often between your third and fourth toes. The condition involves a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. Morton's neuroma causes a sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot. Your toes also may sting, burn or feel numb." This is exactly what happens to me. I don't get it when I wear flip flops or when I wore I my old faithful shoes. The guy said that it gets aggravated when my feet get constricted (like in more supportive shoes). Fan-friggin-tatic!! So essentially he said that if this is what I have I am going to have to learn to live with it and use supports and cushions to help alleviate the pain. He suggested some ball of the foot cushions that I have to put under the removable shoe liner. They feel like my sock is bunched up. It doesn't feel good but he assures me that I will get used to it. I also thought about getting some arch supports and see if that helps. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to wear the shoes around my office and see what happens. I think I may also go to CVS and try that Dr Scholls machine that tells you what insert works best for your foot. I have a few bucks left since my shoes were cheaper than I planned. We will see!

Easily discouraged

This was week 2 of the walking challenge with my sister. Ever since my shoes were stolen last week, I have been feeling very discouraged about exercise. This week I got in my miles, but it was rough! We went to Disneyland and the zoo this week and we went out of our way to walk more than usual so I could get my miles in! On Thursday I decided to walk on my lunch break and I took off for a fast 2 mile walk...IN FLIP FLOPS! So dumb. I thought they would feel better than the shoes that make my toes numb. Bad idea. I think I have plantar fasciitis. When I walk more than a few steps, I get a sharp pain in my heel that heads up to my calf. It feels awesome... Today I needed to get in my last mile so I got on the treadmill and walked like a gimp! It took me 23 minutes to do a mile! Suck! So according to about.com I need to rest my foot for a few days and get some better shoes and maybe try some heel seats/cups. Sounds like a plan :)

Out of Control Snacking

I am out of control. The last few days/weeks/months I have started snacking. It is amazing how fast grazing calories can add up!! I think I only had 1 real meal today but I managed to eat 2250 calories! WTF!!! My calorie goal according to Livestrong is 1804. Crap I just checked it again and because I have lost some weight since my last log in, I have less calories, 1749 calories per day! I have it set to lose 2 lbs a week. If I want to maintain my weight I could/should eat 2749 calories. Well at least I am not in the gaining weight mode. At least not yet. If I don't get this snacking under control I am going to start gaining! OMG! I can't even bear the thought. I have come to far to fall back into these old habits! So as accountability I am posting what I ate today. Feel free to judge quietly to yourself :)

As I look over the list I am noticing a lot of carbs! I have to rein that in as well. I still did well on my protein, over a 100 grams but my trifecta (protein powder, bar, and Greek yogurt) really helps me there. I need a game plan. Just how my rule about eating my trifecta everyday, I need to establish some other rules/guidelines to keep me on track. My sister and I were discussing this because she is trying to lose weight too. Here are some of the ideas we had:

1. Track calories on Livestrong.com and stay below the target calorie goal.

2. Workout more so I can eat more "normally" what ever that means

3. Balance a not so great food choice with a healthy one Ex. Tostada for lunch = fruit for snack (not Kettle corn... sad face :p )

4. Drink more water (Thanks Falon for the reminder!)

5. Stop snacking

6. Stop eating all together...ok not really but sometimes I wish I could...

As I have said before, I hate that I have to worry about eating. It will always be a struggle but I hope in time, I will find what works for me and be successful at maintaining this weight loss. Maintenance was and is my #1 fear with life after WLS. I have been very lucky to be complication free (so far) and I can tolerate just about every food. Some fucked up part of my brain kind of hoped for some sort of problem that would force me to eat tiny portions or a very strict diet. Like severe dumping or something like that. That didn't happen so I have to learn how to not put crap in my face. In the classes they always said in the first 12-18 months it is 90% surgery 10% you and after that its 10% surgery 90% you. I am almost 1 year post op and my time is ticking with the 90% surgery thing. This has really been true for me. I didn't work out like crazy or follow the post op diet religiously and I have had enormous success this last year. But that will only last so long. The next 60+ years are on me (yeah, that would put me 89+ years old!). That is such a scary thought but one that I need to deal with because this is the time to figure it out! Well, I should get on the treadmill but I have another early morning tomorrow so I can get in 8 hours of work before my hubby has to leave for work. So that means leaving the house at 6:45! Boo... Oh well, we do what we have to do right? Good night!!