Same Newbie - Beginnings of a plan

[gina81752]

Saturday morning
I have spent a fair amount of time re-reading the information on the site. I have been here many times in the past; I know it is where I should be.
I need to continue to lose weight healthfully - I will pull out my old Dr. & Mary cookbooks, purchase some more and perhaps some DVDs and find a few good recipes. I tend to do best when I plan simple meals. A starch and some vegies on top, etc. But I also enjoy stews with beans, grains, etc. I will share some of my favorites as I go along.
I need desperately to add exericse to my life - both for the weigh loss benefits and to lift my spirits. I will continue going to the gym 3-4 times a day after work AND I will use the exericise equipment I have here at home today (Sat) and other weekends and evenings to a much greater degree than I have in the past.
I need to reduce the pain that I suffer- some of which has been diagnosed as arthritis, migraines, and allergies. It is less than a week before Christmas, but I am going to prepare myself to begin the Elimination Diet. This is - a very good time for me do this in many ways - even though it is a holiday. I do not have many parties to go to. I will wait until the celebrations are over to begin the Elimination Diet, but I won't wait to begin the Dr. McD Plan.
I need support. I may ask for a buddy on the correct page of the discussion board when the time is right.
I need to keep a record of how I am progressing. I will keep a journal here on this site.
I think I have a plan !! Wish me luck?

[Letha..]

Hi Gina,
Sounds like you are planning to succeed. Most Excellent. I look forward to seeing your favorite recipes as you continue your journey. Best wishes.
Letha

[Yomom]

Hi Gina,
I wish you the best of luck - you CAN do this!
Writing down your goals and knowing you will be coming back to report, will hold you accountable. Will you be starting a journal?

[gina81752]

Yomom,
Yes,
I did start a journal.... It has a rather negative name "Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired"..... but I posted to it twice today.
I made some progress today.... positive progress today and this week.
I am determined to lose more weight....30-40 more pounds, add exercise to my life-- slowly and surely I am going to make it real and beneficial part of my life. My hope is that I come to enjoy it.
I want to decrease my dependence on pain medication - for migraines and arthritis. I am not sure what I am going to do with the other injury which is most likely a pinched nerve in my neck (and two herniated discs in my lower neck)... but I have to "start moving more".
Thank you for your kind words and your support. I need all the support I can get! I will gladly offer it in return.
Gina

[doublenickel]

Re the exercise--
I find that eating the right food is such a tremendous help. I have a lot more energy to exercise with, and feel so much better just to begin with. It's also so incredibly easy to stay in shape on a good diet! Sometimes I see the big college and professional athletes on tv, and I wonder how they do it on the food I know they're probably eating. Especially the big football linemen. Youth has a lot to do with it, I'm sure. You can do just about anything when you're 21!

Don't kill yourself with the exercise. A little goes a long way. Also, if you want to get something done, schedule it. Otherwise, it won't get done. Don't get perfectionistic about it, though. If you "fall off the wagon" or skip days with exercise, don't beat yourself up. Just go back to doing it.

I've been reading many posts which state "my goal is x number of pounds". Goals are nice, especially for motivational purposes, but your body knows what its ideal weight is. You'll find out just what that is on this diet. Go for it!!

[gina81752]

Thank you so much..
You made a lot of good points in this post.
I feel very --- needful -- to keep at going to this gym that is near where I work for the months of Dec. and January....as often as I am able. I want to do some time on the eliptical machine - it is easier on my knees and of all the cardiovascular machines I like the "feel" of it more than others. I had been feeling very down - depressed - for a number of reasons, and knew in my heart that exercise was one "answer" - so last Tuesday I finally decided to add it to my life. I just wasn't doing it at all.
I am working on my doctorate degree and almost done with my coursework. I will finish the coursework this spring - and will have to commute to the main campus (a 2 hour one way commute) once a week starting about Feb 10th). I have some workout equipment at home, so I thought I could get myself into the habit during this 2 month break --hopefully. I went 3x last week and I went today. I am up to 23 min. on the eliptical machine. It is a little easier than the one I have here at home - I used my home machine one day this weekend but for a little less time yesterday.

About the food --- so far, I started eating McD/ food... about 3 days ago.. I had been dieting and had lost weight/cut back on my appetite over the past year (my high weight was 211 and I was down to 170 recently). I have had some binge eating problems in the past, but I seem to have gotten past those problems most of the time - still have a few bad moments.

I just started buying size 14 medium clothes -- not size 18s and xx larges and am really feeling good about how I look in my clothes. I am hoping to get down to 140 in time, but I am not in a rush. I want to be healthy and I want to be happy. I have many, many things to be happy about -- I have been blessed in many ways. But, I have lost my two best friends in the past year, I nearly lost my father recently to heart and colon emergency surgeries and there have been other family problems that have been painful. It is difficult for me to "let go" of what hurts me. I hold it... and it is making me sick and tired and sad. This time of year is never that good for me.

Enough.
Once again.. thank you very much for the thoughtful suggestions.
I will reread them when I need the boost!
Gina

[gina81752]

After work - I did go to the gym. I did 23 minutes on the eliptical machine.
I went home and ate a salad... baby spinach, tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers and artichoke hearts. I left off the feta cheese I would have usually used and I only put on about a teaspoon of very low fat Paul Newman Balsamic Vin. Dressing mixed with extra balsamic vinegar. I also ate a few fresh beets leftover from the night before.
I felt very satiated and felt pretty well for a while.

As the night wore on I began to feel hungry again and I began to feel pain in my shoulder (from an injury) and I began to feel a migraine coming on (often triggered by the stress from the pain in my neck/arm- or the weather -or other stressers.. i don't know where this one came from). I told my husband it wasn't bad "yet". It was hitting me in my temple.

I rested in my chair for a while with the lights out but it got worse and worse. I took medication (percoset for the pain and half of a maxalt - although my neurologist tells me it is a waste of time to take a half but he/and my insurance only allows me 12 per month so I dole them out cautiously).

It got worse and worse. I decided to eat a potato, so I microwaved a fair sized red potato and put on some vegie broth I had cooked with kale and white beans... thinking it might help me sleep/relax.

Nothing helped.
I was awake until well after midnight in severe pain. I took my regular dosage of Ambien. One of the readers of one of my posts - last night- upset me a little bit - earlier in the evening when she seemed to me to be attacking me about my dependence upon Ambien for my need for sleeping medication. I have been prescribed Ambien for over 15 years and I take a high dosage. Recently other medications have been interfering with the help that Ambien used to provide. And now, I am in pain frequently (for some things that I believe that eating well and exercising CAN help - but I don't think that it is going to help the pain I have from the fall) AND I am sleeping worse than ever... and it is even worse because I do not manage the stress of the holidays well.

It is not a good day, but I was able to get up this morning and come to work. I may not make it through the entire 8 hours, but usually it is better to come to work than it is to stay home and stay in bed. As ususal, I have a migraine "hangover" which I realize is a result of both the migraine and the meds.
I am drinking alot of water and eating well.

It is the best that I can do.
Gina