MaggieWest

First, I want to thank each and every one of you who wrote encouraging things to me and who prayed over my husband about his heart attack diagnosis. I knew there were some really great people here at BuddySlim, but I never realized how many of you truly do have a heart for the others here. So many of you lifted my husband in prayer and told me to “hang in there.” You are all priceless and I hope you are all blessed beyond words. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

 Now for the update part. I ended up taking my husband BACK to the ER Friday because he felt, once again, as if he was having a heart attack. The ER doctor’s were awesome and jumped right in to assist him in any way possible. The did an EKG, ran cardiac enzyme tests, took x-rays….all that stuff and finally, after hours and hours waiting for the results, the doctor came in and told us that Tony did NOT have a heart attack but that he has a hiatel (sp) hernia and that can cause the exact same symptoms as a heart attack. Woooohooooo!!! That’s the best news I’ve heard in the past two weeks.

So now, he’s NOT going to die of heart failure any time soon and if he’ll get his cholesterol in line and make sure he continues to drink lots of fluid, he should be fine and dandy for a very long time.   :grin: 

 I feel like my life has started over again. I feel like now I’ll have someone to grow old with. I feel like now I can get back on this diet journey and get those pounds dropping once again. I didn’t do too badly….only gained 4 during the past 2 weeks while dealing with this stuff. I do, however, feel like I’m starting all over again from square one. Oh well….it’ll pass.

Thanks again to all my wonderful, wonderful friends who have supported me in this time of need. I now know that I can come here and can depend on you guys to lift me up and help me through. You are a GREAT bunch of people!! I love you all!!

Well, for those of you who read my last blog about my husband’s trip to the Emergency Room last week….we finally got the test results back and it’s not good news. Apparently, the blood work shows that he’s had a heart attack. He has been strongly advised to find another line of work (he builds log homes — real logs) and a good cardiologist.

I’m devastated. I don’t know what we’re going to do. He’s the love of my life and he’s only 40. He’s been a carpenter all his life and while he’s very good at many other things, carpentry is what he loves.

Heart problems run deep through his family, so we’re not entirely surprised by the pronouncement, but still…it shakes you up. He’s going to be a grandfather for the first time soon and he has three teenagers and a 7 year old.

Dammit!!! I do not want to spend the end of my years without him!! He promised me he’d sit on the front porch in a rocking chair with me when we were old and gray. We have dreams! We have desires! Now this thing comes along and threatens to put a complete hault to the whole thing!!!

So, I jsut ask all of you out there who believe in an Almighty God to pray for my family. We need to figure out what to do now AND how to afford all the care he’ll need to have. Neither of us have insurance so it’s going to be tough. God’s going to have to step in to help or we’ll never make it.

I’m not going to worry about me right now….I have to put my concern in his well being for the moment.

I think I just need some time to process this information. It’s hit me like a two-ton bag of bricks and I don’t quite know how to get up from being slammed just yet. What do I do now? Where do we go from here?

I’ve had a week straight from hell and my weight has definitely reflected it. Tuesday night, my daughter got sick…starting running a fever (103.4) and was complaining about her head and her stomach hurting. Didn’t know what was going on there, so I decided to call the doctor Wednesday morning to make her an appointment to get checked out.

Tuesday night, my husband came home complaining of a pain in his side (just below his breast bone). We thought he might be constipated until he woke up Wednesday morning almost completely unable to move because of the pain. So, I called to make him an appointment too.

Wednesday afternoon, I took my daughter to her doctor to check her in…dropped my husband off at the Emergency Room…went back to the doctor’s office to get my daughter seen…and then back to the ER to wait with my husband. The thought he was either having a heart attack or having appendicitis.

My daughter ended up having a sinus infection that was working its way into her ears, but my husband was still in question. The did an x-ray on his chest and his stomach, drew blood, and some other things. They discovered he was severely dehydrated so they put him on an IV drip and gave him two shots of demerol for pain.

They finally released him but he had to go back Thursday morning so they could run a test on his gall bladder. According to the sonogram, he has no gall stones, but his gall bladder is NOT working the way it is suppose to. Uuugh! I’m hoping and praying that whatever it is that’s bothering him is NOT serious, but I won’t know until the doctor calls. He’s still in pain and has missed several days of work, but he’s at least getting around a little better than he was.

Sooooo….through all of this ordeal, my “healthy” eating went out the window! Due to the stress, I put ANYTHING into my mouth and the more the better. Didn’t make the situation improve any, and it didn’t make me feel any better, but I just felt hungry….ravenous even. When I jumped on the scale this morning, it showed I had gained a pound…maybe even two (my eyes weren’t focusing all that well this morning).

I feel like I let myself down as well as my team (if I’m still a part of one). I’m not giving up though. I’m finally starting to feel like I’m making some headway and I want to keep it up so I’m not going to let this get to me. Even if the total gain for this past week is five pounds, I’m going to get back on track and get that weight OFF!!!

Didn’t really realize how stress causes me to eat like that. You know I found myself just cramming Little Debbie snacks into my mouth and eating Pop Tarts,  chocolate and more. Most of the time I wasn’t even aware of what or how much I was eating…I was just shoving it in.

Anyway, I’m hoping everything’s okay with my husband and that I can get back on track with my eating. I also hope all of you out there are doing WAY better than I have been.

Good luck to you all and have a great weekend!!!!

Sorry, everyone, for taking so long to write another blog, but I’ve been extremely busy at work and at home. I have missed you guys tremendously and while I usually have a chance to read a few blogs, I haven’t had the time to respond or write my own.

Things have been pretty crazy since I started my new job. By the time I get home from work, I have to get dinner, do laundry, bathe the kids, feed the chickens, tend to my plants, take care of the new puppy and straighten up the house. Then, I fall into bed exhausted where I crash until I have to get up and do it all over again the next day. And, to make things busier than they already are, we just added 8 rabbits to our “farm.”

This was much easier when I was still a stay-at-home mom. I had all day to get everything done…now I do that full day’s work in the hours between 5:30 and 10 p.m. My husband helps, as do my kids, but it’s still non-stop until bedtime. Whew!

My diet’s going okay. Still trying to get myself on some kind of system where I can continue to stay on my program with the least amount of extra effort. Still drinking Slim-Fast and I’ve even brought water to work so I have it to drink. My coffee consumption has gone from 5-6-7 cups (pots) per day to around 2-3 cups. I still haven’t figured out where to put a workout into my daily routine, but I’m not too worried about it right now…just can’t worry about it.

Oh, one more thing that might be happening soon is that my husband has two daughters from a previous marriage. The girls are 12 and 13 and they might come to live with us for a while…at least that’s what my husband would love. If they do, I’ll have FOUR children…three of whom are in puberty! AAARRRRGGHHH! Wish me well….lol.

Alright….I guess I’d better get back to work. I really do love all you guys and miss talking to you. I do read your blogs and I’m here with you guys in spirit.

Hope things are going superb for everyone!! Take care!!!

Today is my day off and I am fixin’ to get my kids up so we can get out of here. There are a few garage sales that start today and I’m going to go look for clothes that fit me now. I have three pairs of pants that I rotate at work but it’s time for some more! I also need some new shirts….I’ve noticed the ones I’ve been wearing look a bit frumpy now that they’re too large for me. I am NOT going to go spend the money on new things that I will shrink out of so garage saleing it is!

 The middle school here is having their yearly sale today to raise money for those children who can’t afford school supplies and such so I’m going to hit that one first. Don’t know exactly what I’ll find, but I’ve been told it’s enormous. I LOVE garage sales (thrift stores, etc), and I’m really excited about going! Wish me luck!

My diet change has been going okay. The Slim-Fast thing is working okay for me. As long as I keep myself busy at work, I don’t get hungry, but I can already tell this will NOT work for me long term…I enjoy food too much I guess.

I took my measurements this morning and I’m happy to report that I’ve lost 4.5 inches from my hips and bustline and 7 inches from my waistline! Wooohoooo! I can’t really see it yet when I look in the mirror, but my clothes are definitely fitting better. Oh, and those three pairs of pants I’ve been wearing? Two of them are pants I haven’t worn in a while because they were too tight…now they look a little baggy on me.

Anyway, I hope you ALL have a GREAT day today! Stay on plan and keep your eyes on the prize at the end of the tunnel…you WILL reach it!!!

I had to do it! I had to change the plan I was using to lose weight. See, I was simply counting calories and that worked just fine while I was home and able to create meals, plan, prepare, etc., but now that I’m working, I don’t have the time or the energy to figure out what I’m going to eat from day to day. I would simply end up grabbing whatever was on hand (which often was not what you’d consider healthy).

So, I’ve decided I’m going to try doing Slim-Fast at work. I can grab a can for breakfast and another at lunch (no thinking involved), and then just make sure I have healthy snacks either in my drawer (which I do) or in the refrigerator. I bought a case of water, which I’ve been drinking), and I have cut down on the amount of coffee I drink per day (just had two cups today…rather than 5 or 6).

I don’t want to stick with a liquid diet for a long time, matter of fact, I don’t think they’re very healthy over a prolonged period of time, but I’m struggling here and this whole SlimFast thing makes it so much easier for me while I’m at work. I will still do my preparing and stuff on the days I don’t work so I think I should be okay.

Still having a difficult time working in exercise….haven’t found the time in the mornings and by the time I get home at night I’m exhausted. Hopefully I’ll figure something out in that department. Maybe, once I get use to the hours and my energy level picks back up, I can get myself motivated to get up at 4:30 in the morning and start something, but for now I’m going to try to adjust to what I’m already doing.

I hope everyone’s having a great Monday! I see you all working so hard and you should all be proud of your efforts. Congratulations on your progress so far and good luck in the future!!!!!

Okay, so I’m not really getting new kids…just feel like beating them….lol.

If you read my blog yesterday, you know I gained 3-4 pounds on my scale when I weighed. Well, I guess I was super tired because I totally messed up on the scale thing. Apparently I did NOT gain any weight. I jumped on the scale this morning to weigh and noticed something that really made my day.

I bought this new scale and  around the edge of the weight measurement part, there are these little arrows you place at your weight so you can keep track of your starting and stopping weight. I have been using the little red arrow to mark my progress…I place the arrow with my big toe, put the scale on my table so I can see the numbers and then figure out where I am.

Yesterday, I must have been really tired because when I saw my weight 3-4 pounds higher than my little red mark, I didn’t investigate further…didn’t have it in my because of the gain. Well, this morning, I weighed and upon taking a closer look, I noticed that the little red arrow had been moved!! My daughter likes to play on my scale and apparently she (or my son) moved it.

Once I placed the arrow where I was suppose to be this morning and checked my weight….I have actually LOST one pound this week so far!!! I am soooooooo relieved to see that it was the arrow that had moved, not my weight! Takes a big load off my back!!

So thank you to all who commented on my depressing blog yesterday. While I thought I had gained, I was kinda depressed about it, and you guys were there for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I’m not so depressed anymore although I may have to strangle some kids….lol. If they only knew what I went through in my mind yesterday!

Anyway, you guys are great and your support is fantastic. I love you all!!!

Okay, I jumped on the scale this morning and it shows I’ve gained 3-4 pounds!! OMG! That just sucks big time!! TOM is here and I caved to the donuts yesterday so that may be why, but geez!

Matter of fact, yesterday was a BAD, BAD day for me program-wise. This is now the time to be honest about what I ate yesterday…

2 donuts, 1 single Reeses peanut butter cup, a sandwich, 1 string cheese, 1 oz. of Flat Earth Berry Crisps, 6 cups of 20 cal. coffee, 2 diet sodas, 2 chicken fajitas with light sour cream, a bowl of ice cream the kids brought me (don’t have a clue how much it was), and 2 Hersheys nuggets. I did not exercise and, in fact, went to bed early because I was exhausted.

Wow! That’s a lot of poor food choices I made yesterday, but come on…I’ve been doing really good on my choices all the other days! Can one day of making bad choices REALLY lead to a 3-4 pound gain in a day????? I am NOT going to record any gain until I weight again tomorrow (my weigh in day for the HotRods). If I still show a gain tomorrow, I’ll record it begrudgingly. I don’t want to, but I am going to so I can be honest with myself and have some kind of accountability.

Sometimes I wish I could just take a kitchen knife, cut off all the excess fat and live like a thin person. I use to wish I could just take all the excess fat and push it up to my boobs but I’d have some serious honkers then!!

I am determined that I will NOT give up….regardless of what the scale says!!!! This morning I had a slice of whole wheat toast with a slice of fat-free cheese on top followed by a banana-peach smoothie made with fat-free milk. I realize those pounds could be water weight caused by TOM (I’m putting up wanted posters for that guy!!!), and my bad day yesterday didn’t help any, but I sure wasn’t looking for that this morning.

Oh well…despite the rise in the scale, I realize I’m still on the right track…just had a MAJOR slip-up and now it’s time to get back to being serious. Seems like everytime I have a good week, weight-loss wise, the next week is awful. Need to really think about what’s going on with that.

 Hope you all have a GREAT day today and that you make sure that what you put in your mouth will benefit you…body, mind and soul.

Take care all!

Hey guys! Well, I made it through my first day at the new job and I LOVE IT!!! Of course, working at a newspaper is what I know so I was very comfortable and confident in the atmosphere. If you’ve never worked for a paper, let me tell you…it has a life of its own. Things change minute by minute and I really like that…nothing’s ever the same twice.

The people at work are wonderful! We had the best time yesterday and I know I’m really going to like it there…don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

There are only two problems I’m already having to deal with: today is “donuts for breakfast” day (which I’m going to try hard to stay away from), and one of the guys who works in the back brings bags and packages of chocolate which he lays on top of the microwave for us ladies. Oh boy! However, I did NOT even touch a piece of chocolate at work yesterday, although I did sneak a couple of small pieces from our stash at home last night.

Taking my lunch worked really well for me yesterday. I made sure it was healthy and I also took a couple of healthy snacks just in case. Once I get myself into a regular routine, I’m going to branch out and take something besides a sandwich….lol.

Thanks for all the positive comments my friends! I just want to say here and now that I appreciate all of you and love you all as well!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic day!!!!

Today is the first day of my new job as copy editor for the local paper. I’m excited, nervous, and giddy as a schoolgirl on her first date! I’ve scheduled my routine down to the minute this morning although I realize in hindsight that I did NOT schedule in a time for a my walk. Oh well…I’ll just have to do that this evening. I don’t know how this routine will actually work…hoping I did it right, but I’ll find out once I get to work on time (or not as the case may be…lol).

I’ve already planned my meals and snacks for today, except for dinner. I know I’m having grilled chicken tonight, and probably some broccoli, but after that I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.

I hope I have a desk…I’m sure I will, but I’m not certain. I can’t imagine doing my job standing up, that’s for sure…lol.

 Anyway, I won’t be online as much as I use to. I won’t be able to comment on everyone’s blogs because I just won’t have time. I’ll try to catch up on everybody in the evening, but since there are so many blogs to read, I’m sure I won’t get to them all. I’m apologizing in advance to anyone I miss.

Anyway, I’ve gotta get for now so I can jump in the shower. I’d shower at night, but with this hair of mine, that just doesn’t cut it. And makeup! OMG! I don’t normally wear makeup and it’s been a long while since I’ve had to wear it on a daily basis!! Hope I remember how to do it…lol.

I hope you all have a GREAT day!!! I’ll see you guys later!!