In an attempt to boost enthusiasm for the 90 day challenge, I went to see the Dr. At first I thought she’d be upset with me for going off the thyroid, but ultimately she was calm and told me, “going off your thyroid for six weeks (how long it takes to get a clear TSH reading) is not going to kill you.” Then she followed up with “It’s your body and if you feel like you need to do that to understand it better I can offer support and advice, but if I feel like you are in danger of hurting yourself or doing harm I will give my opinion, and I hope you will listen.”
Fair enough.
So then we went on to talk about everything that I’ve done to make changes. Drinking a gallon of water a day, tripling my protein intake (which puts me at a normal persons level of protein finally compared to what I was before), bringing my carbs to a normal intake, lifting more, and still doing the treadmill. I feel great, with a few notable exceptions; my skin is crazy dry and brittle still, losing lots of hair in the shower and over-compensating for some fatigue with coffee, still not losing weight.
Still, compared to where I was six months ago, I feel fabulous.
On an interesting note, about weight I am still trying to purge the weight thing out of my mind. This experiment was never about that. When I started I wasn’t thinking I’ll lose a ton of weight. But my disappointment about the scale staying stubbornly at 170 is a pretty good indicator that I really did have the expectation at the back of my mind about what a change in health would do to my appearance.
I have a lot that needs to be organized in my mind about this development. Obviously, I would prefer a healthy strong body over the “ideal” appearance, but there is a trigger that I need to dissect and make sense of. I’ll keep you posted.
For measurable results there are definite changes happening; my under things are not fitting quite right. My bras are having to be cinched and my panties are riding up in ways that are both unusual and irritating. Although my pants don’t fit differently, my underwear suddenly doesn’t fit my ass right anymore. WTF? How did that happen!?
Also of note, I wore a shirt yesterday and noticed that the sleeves were much tighter than I thought before, my arms are getting bigger and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Less lifting may be called for. So despite not losing weight, my mass is shifting somehow.
To prove this and keep tabs on it, I scheduled an appointment to have my body mass evaluated. Evidently some electrode thingy that tells you what your body composition is. Pretty cool.
I also scheduled a full panel blood work to see what my cholesterol has done since including more protein, an iron test, thyroid and a few others. I will have a printout to show if I’m making headway.
So there you have it. There has been a sort of quasi-progress in my challenge and it’s encouraging enough to keep pushing forward. Other 90 day related things are also coming along. Making headway in some relationship ideas and also working toward my goal for the fellowship but I do keep hitting the snag of time. Fitting in time to focus on all the changes at once is becoming a bigger challenge than I originally thought.
Okay, guys, July 2nd is the halfway mark! My tests are scheduled for the 3rd. So I will be pushing a little harder, trying a little more and I’ll check back in.
What about you guys? Do you feel like you’ve made a measurable difference in your life? Do you feel better with your changes that without?
5 Comments(+Add)
Yes, you’ve got a ton of changes going on – kind of hard to analyze what is causing what, I imagine.
It’s great that you’re taking care of yourself though!! And thank you soooo much for the support! When I’m making a conscious effort to take care of myself, I bounce back far quicker from bad moods even if I’m tired and haven’t got to work out enough. That’s really cool.
The protein thing – before you said you were going to include more dairy in an attempt to get the protein you need. And I am sure that you’ve probably seen 100 charts with protein ideas… But then maybe not, so I thought I’d lay out some of my favorite ways to get protein variety (not do too much red meat or dairy):
canned salmon or tuna – straight up, drained or with a bit of mayo on a sammich or tortilla or cracker
cold smoked salmon at Freddy’s – yummy.
beef jerky
Any fish/ seafood.
I thought – mushrooms – but according to online source 1 cup portabello only = 5 g protein….
beans – canned beans for salads, refried on burritos, chilis
Wraps – quick and easy, if you have a fridge at your job you can buy all the fixins when you have time then make it fresh every day – pepperoni/ ham and olives tomatoes lettuce with italian dressing; turkey; tuna; leftovers; good to experiment with different veggies like alfalfa or bean sprouts; hummus; pre-cooked chopped up boneless skinless chicken
Soup – you can do a big pot and eat all week – hamburger or chicken (I like to use the cheap stuff in a soup, and think it’s good to have dark meat sometimes).
Curry – same story. Really quick and easy to put together, the coconut milk is almost as heart-warming as dairy : ), and you can put in any combo of veggies n meat you feel like. I like to buy the little jars of curry paste that don’t have the MSG (cubes do) – they have some directions on the side so you can get the idea of how to put the base together. Don’t overcook.
And shrimpies! A bunch of garlic, hazelnuts and shrimp sauted for like 3-5 minutes and a salad and you have a meal!
Tofu.
Sunflower seeds, any kind of nut. Heh heh. Peanut butter.
Eggs. egg whites. scrambled eggs with veggies, boiled eggs, eggs on toast.
Stir-frys with mild italian sausage from New Seasons and a buncha veggies (include broccoli!) in a wrap – omigod so good.
Right on, I’m stoked for halfway!! And hungry now….
I find myself at a standstill right now. My reason and logic are desperatly fighting what I think needs to happen. I have temporarily lost control to fear regarding the uncertainty of the future and so it seems I now need to rebuild the confidence and courage to do what my instinct is telling me to to and somehow stifle the logic and reasoning Lara that wants so badly to shut out the intuition.
Building the foundation was the easy part. Using the metafore of a mounting being a challenge, I think mine was a crater. Halfway seems to have been downhill, and now I have to climb up to the top of the other side.
Meh!
I just joined an online weight-loss support service (like, JUST joined, 15 minutes ago). I need to lose about 40-50 lbs to feel healthy, though honestly, I’d be happy with 30! My problem is I always lose motivation. I’ll lose a couple pounds, then get upset because I’m STILL not a size 8 and then I’ll eat a bunch of chips. Not that I want to be a size 8, really. I think I’d be a pretty hot size 12. But anyway. It’s hard here because the fresh produce is so expensive. I was going to the coast guard gym for a while (my coworker’s a coastie wife and I could go with her for free) but now we work different hours and I can’t go without her. I don’t want to buy a membership at the college gym because it’s SO spendy! I hope when I move down to OR I can save enough money to buy myself an elliptical. I really like those.
I know I’m totally rambling. I haven’t really formed a plan of attack yet. I just hope I can stick to whatever I decide to do without getting frustrated.
I think the hard part is finding not just something that will help you lose weight, but something that will keep you interested. Personally, I’m way too self-conscious to go to a gym. I wouldn’t get anything done. So my thing is that I work out at home, and I have various DVDs of yoga, pilates, etc. I just have to make sure to vary them often enough that I don’t lose interest.
Maybe that’s part of the reason you tend to stop at this point usually? I mean you’re a person with a million interests and hobbies and such, constantly seeking new simuli, which makes it difficult to commit a part of your day every day or every other day or whatever, to doing the same exact thing. Maybe if your interest starts to flag you can go back to the idea (which was something you were checking out when I first wandered in here) of doing some kind of physical activity. At the time it was poi, but anything will do as long as it gives you goals to work towards.
So that’s a hugely long comment. Basically I mean good luck, from someone in the same boat. Oh! Also, check out my last entry on my blog, I’d like to hear your opinion on the ‘incident’.
have you tried fish oil for the hair/nails? I know the omegas are both good for cholesterol and Adorable said that ever since she started taking them she has had a hard time keeping her hair trimmed. I just started about two weeks ago. I’ll let you know in about two more whether I start to see a difference. (I suppose I could just eat more salmon for the same results, but I have such a hard time paying for it after growing up at home!!)
I have had some false starts, and some absences, and some bad behaviour on my part. I’ll admit that up front. I find myself in a similar place to Laura, I’ve got really good foundations right now but I’m slow at building. But I do still have faith, I’m building steadily, just really slowly.
I think getting my body under control (step two, to be taken this week some time with my meeting with “DoDo” will hopefully begin that process) will be a big part of helping my recognizing love and loveability. So that is the biggest thing right now.
I also think that working on my worth through other means, such as auditioning more and hopefully thusly getting more shows will also help, and to further that I’ve got an audition with Profile I’m trying to set up for this week and I’m keeping a daily eye on the PATA site.
I think my week in the woods did wonders for me as far as the whole communication with loved ones/accepting love/working on how I show and take love. It is amazing how when you are a: forced to be around the same person for a week and b: learning the styles of how you and another person travel/travel together can make you examine the way you communicate with that person, and how you can wall yourself off/accept what is out there/see what is going on clearly.
So that’s my update. Step one is going forward, albeit slowly, and step two is in the wings ready to be pulled out, slapped on the table, and made to support step one!