A Cold & MG

So I've been feeling not so great lately.  I've been getting a cold, and it doesn't help that my room at work is freezing.  I sat in my winter coat at lunch debating if I should go sit in my car blasting the warm heat.  That mixed with my MG has led to not much exercise lately.  I'll be honest, I probably could have exercised more, but I didn't really know what to do because of the MG.  My muscles were getting so tired so easily, and I didn't want to start falling more and have to ask the hubby for help bathing and dressing again.  That's just not (always) fun!  So with great timing, I had a neurologist appointment yesterday.  I think he really wants to put me back on steroids again.  He knows I REALLY don't want that, so he's not going to for right now.  The saving grace?  I can still breath.  Yes, my friends.  A lot of people with MG have problems breathing and chewing, etc., so I'm very lucky that most of my problems are my legs and arms.  If I have problems breathing, chewing or swallowing, I think he's probably going to throw those steroids down my throat.  He did mention that there are MG specialist doctors, and I could consider going to one.  I didn't even know this prior to yesterday, so I think I'm going to strongly consider this.  I really had hoped that the thymectomy had fixed a lot of the problems...at least for longer than a year.

Anyway, I have officially lost 50 pounds.  It is just so amazing!  The latest and greatest number is...

225

Less than 100 pounds to final goal weight!!!  

Much love!

The Green-Eyed Monster (and the number)

The Green-Eyed Monster.  I've been doing a lot of reflecting on my jealousy in the last couple of weeks.  I'm extremely grateful to have such an honest and caring husband who helps me figure things out about myself in order to allow me to work on those things.  Recently, I straightforwardly asked him why he thought I might be so competitive.  I always want to be better than others, particularly girls.  Without hesitation, he answered that it's probably because my low self esteem.  I was so shocked that this was so obvious to him!  After thinking about it for awhile, though, I realize he is completely right.  Does that make me any less jealous?  Not particularly, although I'd like to be.
1)  This is just mean sometimes!  I don't want to lose friends over something like this!
2)  It's just time consuming!  For example, if I'm going out with friends, it already takes long enough to get ready, but then to try to make sure I look my best in order to not look absolutely horrendous next to the pretty girl going out with us (even if it IS a good friend) takes a lot of time and effort!

My friend *J* is the sweetest girl ever...we met in college and I love that girl to death.  She has been working on weight loss so hard!  Just today, she posted that she has gone from a size 13/14 to a size 6/8!!!  Wow!!!  She moved out of state, started a new job and LOST weight instead of gaining it like a lot of people would.  And not only lost weight, but lost  A LOT of weight!  That girl is amazing!  So thankfully my first reaction was sincere PROUDNESS.  I know how hard it is to lose weight, but she's been going to the gym and watching what she eats - everything.  After a minute or two, I got jealous, though.  Ugh...horrible jealousy!  Why can't I get these results, too!  I've been working so hard!  But I know she's been working MUCH HARDER than I have - going to the gym all the time, working with a personal trainer, etc. - so she deserves those results 110%.  So, my love, I'm sorry that my jealousy came out (even though you don't know about it 'til now ;), and I'm so happy for you and proud of you, and I hope you realize that!!

So I went to talk to my husband about this, and he had quite a few things to say to me about the topic, and about me losing weight slowly.  Then I talked some more to my lovely friend Janet who has ALWAYS been there for me even when I was a chubby chubster.  She's always suggesting new ideas to me for anything with which I need help.  So after our talk, I think I'll be switching up the exercise a little bit.  I'll for sure be adding in some weights after the walking.  So hopefully I'll be able to keep on trucking until I get to my finish line!

And after all of that, I'll let you know that the number this morning was... 232.9.  

Am I EVER going to get out of the 230s?!?!?!  It seems like it's taking forever!

I've also been in search of some new foods since I've been making a lot of the same things lately.  Hubby and I have been very happy with a new pizza recipe.  We use Flat-outs and reduced fat cheese.  I've been putting mushrooms and turkey pepperoni on mine.  Yumm!  I also made a new soup with green beans, potatoes, ham and water.  The batch makes about 10 servings that are only 3 points plus each!!!  For a long time, I usually have split up crackers, chips, etc. into 1 serving size bags at the beginning of the week, but I've recently been doing that with our grapes, too.  I'm so grateful, because those things take forever!

Well, off to do more laundry!

Much Love!

Walking and Water

I'm so pumped that I was very easily able to complete my second day of walking. I was really worried when I woke up so tired this morning and had a somewhat stressful day at work. But as I drove home, I was not only ready to walk, I was excited. I think the thing that is so different is that I KNOW I can do it. I don't have to worry or be fearful. My muscles are at a good enough point (as far as the MG goes) and I'm healthy enough that I can walk 30 minutes without a problem!  So I changed, grabbed my iPad so I'd have reading material and headed out the door right away! Side note-I actually drove to the fitness center of our apartment because I nearly fell 4 times on black ice on my walk yesterday. Yikes! I started reading my book and listening to music and decided to check the time after what I thought was around 7 minutes only to find out it was actually 12 minutes already! The next time I checked, it was 20 minutes! So I finished the workout with ease.  :). I once again felt an urge to do some strength training, but I just worry about pushing it... :/

As far as water goes, I cut it much closer today than yesterday. I totally forget to drink water all day at work, then forgot water again during my workout! I drank 1 glass after workout/ during dinner, but then forgot to drink again until just now finishing off my second glass. Oh, we'll! That's why my goal for this week is 2 glasses!  :)

So here's to my excitement to work out again tomorrow! Woot, woot!

Much Love!

Sunday Nights, Water & Exercise

Sunday nights, one of the most dreaded nights of the week.  OK, probably actually the worst night of the week.  I know a lot of it is my anxiety heightening everything, but...UGH...I just don't want to go back to work.  :/
Oh well, at least I have a job.  And it's in my career field.  And...I have other things to look forward to after work.  :)
In college, Sunday nights weren't really that bad.  AOII and APhiO meetings were ALWAYS on Sundays, so it was a time I looked forward to - sharing everything I loved with all of my closest friends. <3

Anyway, today was an interesting and VERY good day.  Last year, I lost a total of 40 pounds, as I previously wrote about in another post.  I did this without a whole lot of exercise.  Realizing that I could lose 40 pounds without a lot of exercise, I was really curious to see what I could do with healthy eating AND exercise.  I know it's not the most perfect thing to do, but I really enjoy starting new routines on Sundays.  Therefore, I started this morning with a 30 minute walk on the treadmill in our fitness center.  I thought quite a bit about what form of exercise to do, but walking seemed like the only thing at this time that would be least overwhelming enough that I would actually keep up with it.  I wanted to find different programs with different inclines and speeds, but I'm going to save that for later months.  For right now, I am just going to try to walk 30 minutes a day as often as I can.  I think I'm kind of hoping for 6 days a week, although I don't have a set rest day.  At this time, I'm also hoping to do this right after school.  I enjoyed the walking today, but that was after waking up without an alarm clock and not having anything else to do immediately.  I hope that I can continue this past the first few days in which I might just be exhausted after work.  I eventually want to work in weight machines.  Not to be superwoman, but just for some basic muscle and toning.  I used to be so much stronger!  
 
Also in a previous post, I had posted about wanting to give something up.  Thanks so much to those of you who gave me ideas.  I've decided that I'm going to try to drink 8 glasses of water a day.  The number might go down, because my friend Meli told me that 3 - 5 glasses a day is enough.  I'm definitely seeing how that could be possible.  Already on day 1, I wonder why I didn't want to do this sooner!  I drank 1 glass before/during/after walking, and then 2 more throughout the day.  I'm finishing up glass 4 as I type.  Even during the first couple of glasses, I felt so full!  Three of the four glasses were straight water, and 1 of them was flavored with Crystal Light Appletini flavor.  Yum!  :)  I am aiming for 2 glasses a day this week, 3 glasses a day next week, and 4 glasses a day after that.

Next time I decide to give up/add something as a "rule" to my lifestyle, I think I'm going to go with making sure I eat a fruit or veggie every day, then maybe switch it to with every dinner or something similar.  I pretty much always eat fruit, so that might not be too bad.  But that's for a couple of months from now!  :)

Have a good week, everyone!
Much Love!

A New Year

Current Number: 235

I've spent the last week or so reflecting on 2012, as I'm sure a lot of you have done.   A large portion of the reflecting has been based on my weight/weight loss, as much of 2012 was spent.  When I say this, it might seem like I'm dreading it, or thinking about all that I still have to lose.  I'm proud to say that I have actually been quite positive in my thinking.  I've lost 40 pounds in 2012!  That's amazing!  I think back to how many lapses I've had...even a month or so at a time, and I still lost 40 pounds!  That makes me feel so empowered to do EVEN BETTER in 2013.  I don't know if anyone else does this, but I often find myself calculating just how long it will take me to lose the weight I need to lose to get to my goal weight.  This is the first year I can realistically find myself at my goal weight in 365 days.  That, my friends, is amazing!  Speaking of goal weight, I have a few different goal weights.  My overall goal weight is 130 pounds.  Being overweight pretty much all of my life, I don't know how realistic this is.  Maybe I'll get to 150 and be happy with how I look.  Maybe I'll notice I can go much lower than 130.  Another goal weight is 140 pounds.  This is the weight I need to be (approximately) to be within a healthy BMI.

And last, but not least, are 2 goal "areas".  The first is to be able to comfortably fit into any size 18 jean.  Some of you might already know why I say this.  Size 18 is often the largest size that stores will carry.  I used to buy a lot of jeans at American Eagle, but they're not a plus size store, so I'm not able to shop there anymore.  And the last goal area is to fit into a size 12-15 comfortably.  The point of this goal is to be able to buy clothes in most stores as a lot of stores that aren't plus size that DO offer sizes up to 18 often require that you go online to buy the bigger sizes.  This time of year in 2012 has found me resting somewhere between a size 18 and 22 jean.  The highest I ever had, this time last year, was a size 28.

So a lot of this might have been a little boring to read (sorry!), but what I've been discussing brings me to another point of my reflecting.  I've noticed 1 major thing in particular that has changed with my weight loss this year, and I couldn't think of many others, although I'm sure there are a lot!  I wanted to document what has become easier for me in everyday life, and what I'm excited for becoming easier.  So, here it goes!

Things that became easier in 2012:

I'll never have to ask for a seatbelt extender on an airplane again!  (This was a big one!)
I can walk further/easier than before (with the exception of the Myasthenia Gravis on occasion).
Giving up all bread before meals. (Since somewhere around October 2012!)
Giving up coffee. (Since January 2012!)
Giving up pop. (Since January 2012!)


Things that I'm looking forward to in 2013 and beyond:
Finding MY exercise (I still haven't found anything that is perfect for me).
Perhaps running someday.
Seeing my muscles develop again!
Buying clothes in a store that doesn't cater to the plus size crowd.
Finding another area to give up (such as bread, coffee or pop).  Please comment with suggestions if you have them!  :)


So this has been somewhat of a rambling, but I've been off and on planes and in 3 different time zones in the last 24 hours, so please forgive me.  :)

Much Love!

Christmas, 2012, The Number & Exercise

Christmas, 2012, The Number & Exercise

It's been quite a long time since I've written in here - a little over 2 months.  Wow!  I've been fighting some demons from within quite frequently lately, and it hasn't been very fun.  Therefore, I haven't had much of a desire to blog.  Tonight, I think I'm up for it...So what's been going on...

Christmas (in Ohio!) is coming!
I've been super excited for our first Christmas back in Ohio!  Bob and I ended up decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving day since our Thanksgiving plans were a little turned around.  We actually get a tree skirt and a star for the tree this year, so that felt a little more complete.

Unfortunately, we're tight on money, so we don't have many other decorations besides a wreath.  I'd love to get some lit up garland for outside next year.  We have one garland right now, but it only reaches about 1/3 of the banister.  However, decorations are not that important in the long run.  :)  We have many gifts wrapped under the tree all ready to go to their owners.  I admit that I do have a bit of a problem in I usually like to buy the hubby tons of gifts, so he's lucky there are only 4 (I think) gifts wrapped for him this year!  We still have some gifts to buy and wrap for family and other friends, and I'm very excited to do that!

2012
The year has brought three different jobs for me and life in two different states.  It has been quite crazy, but I wouldn't trade being back in Ohio for anything (OK, it'd be nice if Bob was 100% happy with being back in Ohio right now).  I'm grateful that I have a job, no matter how much stress I receive from day to day, at least I am bringing in money and able to live  with a roof over my head.  It's been a big year for many people!  I saw this video today that a friend shared on Facebook.  One part in particular had me in full on tears:

http://news.yahoo.com/year-in-review-2012-video-inspiring-astounding-moments-042418776.html
 

New Year's Resolutions
Although it's not quite 2013, my brain has been on the path to be working toward new resolutions.  Last January, I gave up pop/soda and coffee.  I have done extremely well with these goals!  The only time I've had any is when I've had mixed alcoholic drinks that may have had pop/soda in them.  I try to avoid it still in mixed drinks, but I will make exceptions from time to time.  Any suggestions for new resolutions?  Of course I'm always working on weight loss, but I want to work on something a little separate from that.  I'm open to ideas!  Comment and leave me some!

The Number

As just mentioned, I'm always working on weight loss.  I think I definitely could have lost more weight this year, but I am also proud of how much I have lost.  Losing the weight slowly, they say, means that I'm more likely to keep it off.  That said, I have lost (to date) ~40 pounds this year!  I still have a few more weeks left, and I'm hoping to make it around 45 for the year of 2012.  I'm sure that at the rate I'm eating clementines (4 each day currently), I'll keep filling up pretty quickly!  The above picture is from February 22nd, 2012, which is just after the start of my weight loss journey.  It's a little inspirational as I can see a little bit of a difference compared to a newer picture from  September 16th 2012.  So in case you haven't read before or can't do the math for some other reason, the newest number is right around

235 pounds

Woohoo!  I'm at a mixture of emotions.  When  I compare that number to the starting point, I am SO PROUD!  But when I just look at it without comparison, I'm so embarrassed at how I've let myself get this fat. ugly. disgusting. (OK...stay semi-positive) overweight.  Anyway, my hope is to lose 50 pounds in the year 2013.  It's hard thinking that, because I was hoping to be at that weight at the end of this year, but I was setting my hopes a little too high back in January 2012, I guess.  Hubby said he will join me in following the Weight Watchers plan in January, so we'll see if that has any impact on how I do on my weight loss.  

Exercise
I'm definitely doing well with following Weight Watchers, and I'm even really enjoying following the plan, trying new healthy foods and experimenting with recipes.  Apparently there's another aspect to this weight loss thing called exercise?!  Who ever decided to include this?!  So all you freaks. lunatics. crazy people.  people I'll just admit I'm jealous of, share your secret.  Give me your favorites or what you think might work for me.  I'd LOVE to hear it!  :)

So let me know all your thoughts on Resolutions and Exercise and anything else that's on your mind!
Much Love!
Katie

10 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About Me

Credit for this idea? - Haley. :) Thanks, friend!

http://haleyhite.tumblr.com/post/30467459395/10-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-me 

1)  I often consider what it would be like in different careers.  This may sound pretty normal for a lot of people.  Sometimes I think it'd be fun to do something else like psychiatry or counseling.  I often think about being a nutritionist, but I have to take my own advice first.  I think it'd be fun to open a restaurant, too.  :)

2)  I am completely awful at video games.  I'm awful in numerous ways.  I cannot for the life of me figure out Lego video games.  I'm just so horrible at them.  They hubby refuses to play with me anymore.  When I play games like 007 and sometimes even Mario, I freak out about dying and scream, cover my eyes and my palms start sweating.  Crazy...but I still like it!

3)  I have a scar on my left butt cheek.  When I was younger, I climbed onto the counter to get a bowl from the cupboard.  Upon attempting to get down, I slipped and the cabinet handle that runs vertically nailed me in the bum. OUCH!  Worst part, my Little Mermaid underwear was ruined!

4)  I'm scared I won't be able to have kids one day.  It's a huge dream of mine (like many other people) to have kids one day.  A couple of years ago, I had a huge ovarian cyst removed.  It was laying across all of my stomach organs (PLEASE ask to see the picture.  It's so amazing, but kind of too graphic to just put on here).  Anyway, it was large enough that they had to remove 1 ovary.  I recently found another hard spot on my stomach, and I'm scared something else is wrong and they'll have to remove the other ovary.  Of course, there are countless other things that could go wrong, but it's just kind of scary to think about.

5)  I have a slight obsession with my Build A Bears.  Four years ago I got my first Build A Bear, Harvard, and I have been obsessed with him and Lafayette (who followed 2 months later).  They have tons of clothes, sleep with me every night, and it gets worse.  Anyway, they started helping me with my anxiety issues and kind of talking me through things, so they've definitely earned their place.  That's just how it is.  :)

6)  Water is extremely calming to me.  This also stems from my anxiety issues.  I was on the swim team in high school, and I believe my calmness came from swimming.  We used to do 1/2 hour swims a lot where we just tried to swim as many laps as possible in 30 minutes.  A lot of swimmers hated this.  Although I was a sprinter, these 30 minute swims were a calming reflection time to me.  When my anxiety got really bad, I realized that swimming still calmed me.  Since that wasn't always possible, I discovered that long showers also helped along with carrying a bottle of water with me everywhere just in case.  Win.  I also love rain and thunderstorms, but that could just be because they're so beautiful! (When not harmful).

7)  I love popcorn!  I get super excited about popcorn at the movies, baseball games, and anything in between.  I love popping it at home, and I pretty much consider it a food group.  

8)  I love traveling.  This one isn't as exciting, because I know a lot of people enjoy it.  While I would love to travel to different countries, I focus more on doable trips within closer distances.  These are more budget friendly at the time, so I actually get to complete them.  It was great living in Seattle, and I wish we would have had more time and money to visit places, but we will someday!  I love hotels alone, besides all the germs.  I love the experience and excitement of a new place, wherever it is.  Hocking Hills is next on the travel list, I believe.

9)  I hate family get togethers.  I love my family, and I love visiting with them, but not altogether.  For 1 side of the family, that can just lead to a ton of people in a few tiny rooms...Crazy anxiety...everyone yelling so loudly...it just gets too crazy.  The other aspect is that I feel sooo incompatible with all of my family members.  Everyone has a 1 (or 100) up on me whether it is looks, career, personality, or all of the above.  I feel like I don't have much to offer to the group, so I get very intimidated.

10)  I support Barack Obama.  Did I vote for him? No.  Will I vote for him this time?  (I'll keep you guessing on that one).  Is he our President?  YES.  Does that mean that he deserves our respect 100% from the day he steps into office?  YES.  I firmly believe that no matter who you vote for, you should always respect our President.  

Well, hopefully that was a little entertaining for you.  I'd love to see more people post things I don't know about you!!