Today is April 29, 2007. This is the eighth day with meridia and I am doing great! I went to the Doctor on Friday and my blood pressure was 138 over 78. So it has not shot up. I also weighed 303 with my shoes on so I have lost 5 lbs. What is nice about this diet pill is the fact that I don't feel hungry and I fill up on very little food. I am drinking Mocha flavored Slim Fast for breakfast. That gives me my coffee taste and milk. I find different things to eat for lunch. And supper this last week consisted of chili without beans and ham and black eyed peas. But I eat a lot less than I used to. Each night I have been having 1 pickle spear but I usually don't eat the skin so it is not much. It is just the sour taste I crave. Yesterday we had lunch at Connie's Restaurant in Downtown Knoxville. By we, I mean Sherry, Dan, Dad, his "significant other" Karen, Donnie and me. It was a great time! Karen is a very interesting lady. She is nearly 6 foot tall, 70 years old and she was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Aruba. Dad met her at the YMCA in Houston. She has had a stroke and a heart attack. She gets around slow and her speech is slow but it seems like she has come a long way from her stroke. She also
makes Dad happy so that is what counts. Donnie and I are going to meet them at the airport as we send her back to Houston. She has been here for 9 days. I think Dad is going to be lost without her. We will see what happens.
Anyway, back to the diet. I had a chef salad with turkey for lunch yesterday and just ate 1/5 of it. I gave the rest to Sherry to take home. I felt full up to suppertime. Then for supper I felt like I splurged. I fixed a sandwich in the toaster with thin sliced turkey, sauerkraut, and cheese. When it was done, I added a tomato. It was very thick but very good. I also had a couple thin slices of apple. I was not hungry the rest of the night. This is quite a concept because Donnie and I both snacked in the evening mainly out of habit but I was usually very hungry. I can't stress enough that I AM NOT HUNGRY! And my stomach doesn't growl.
These pills trick your brain but I don't know how it tricks your stomach but that is ok! I just hope this affect lasts. My mind WANTS to eat healthy food. I avoid frying things even though an egg roll would be good.... I threw away an eggplant because the only way I like it is fried. Now I just have to start exercising. I have been going up and down the steps more often and parking further away to I walk more. But I know I need to be doing other exercises. I think as the weight comes off, I will feel like doing more. I liked my doctor's recommendation. She said just to walk 15 minutes a day for a few weeks and then work up to 30 minutes. That makes more sense. There are a couple things that let me down on diets. That was being told to eat a drastic amount less and starving and then walking 30 minutes. When you weigh over 300 lbs. I think you need to start slow or you get burned out.
My body will tell me when it wants to do more. I think this is going to be a big change in my life. It has taken 51 years but now I get it. I want to live longer and better. This is my chance and I am going to take it.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
I start a new way of living
Wow! So much has happened this year. I just want to put in writing a few of the highlights. Just before the new year, I started feeling sick. I had a bad cold and as usual I was afraid it was going to turn into Pneumonia. I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. They did not seem to help so the Doctor prescribed Prednisone. I had just finished the 10 day supply when I got a call from Karen Freeman at Freeman Tax. She wondered if I would like to come work for Amerifile in their Davenport office. I thought about it for a while and decided why not! So I got my first job in nearly 6 years. I really liked it but I didn't like worrying about the weather and driving. There were only a few bad days that I remember. February 6th we had a big snow and February 24 we had an ice storm. Other than that I did o.k. with the driving. I enjoyed meeting all the people and had fun playing with the kids. But when it was all over and done on April 17th, I was glad to go back to my everyday existence. I think Donnie liked having the house to himself during the day. He did most of the grocery shopping and feeding the reptiles. I worked 6 days a week at one point. When things slowed down I was working just half days, 1:00-5 or 6. I have decided though, that I'd rather stay retired.
On April 3rd, Donnie and I went to see Eric Clapton at the Mark of the Quad Cities. When we sat down in our seats I made a discovery. My rear end has grown
considerably since the last time we were there. I literally could not fit in the seat! My thighs were sticking out the sides and to make matters worse, we were in section 113 and had to sit sideways to see the stage! And to top it all off, my knees were hitting the seat in front of me. I was so uncomfortable that I was crying! We tried to get handicapped seating at intermission but a gentleman came in a wheelchair and we had to leave. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy the concert very much. THEN Eric Clapton didn't play any of his familiar songs until song 13. When we finally got out at 10:30, I was glad to go home. A couple days later I looked at my upper thighs and there were bruises on both of them from the arms of the seats. That was when I decided, I needed to do something about my weight.
I have tried diets before but I just get hungry and they don't last long. Besides, 95% of them fail and you end up gaining it all back and more. I had seen on TV an ad for Lapband surgery. It is the same concept as stapling the stomach but instead they literally tie off part of the stomach with an adjustable band. The closest place to have the procedure done is Peoria. It is a drastic move but it seems to be successful. There are people that fly to Mexico to have it done for a lot less money. But I would be scared of not having follow ups with the doctor. At least Peoria is 100 miles away. Donnie and I will find out more about it on May 1st. Last Friday, April 21, I went to my Doctor to see about getting a sleep test because I have trouble falling asleep. She thinks I should hold off on that test for a while. I told her my sinuses fill up at night so she gave me a nasal spray called Nasacort. I also told her about the lapband surgery option. She said that she would approve me for it if that is what I wanted. Then she remembered she had another patient considering lapband. The Doctor had put her on Meridia. I asked if I could be put on Meridia also. She said yes. So she got me samples of Meridia and Nasacort. I started the Meridia on Saturday, April 22. I noticed almost immediately that I didn't feel like snacking. I just ate 3 meals and I didn't feel hungry at bedtime. It was a great feeling. I did have trouble sleeping the next night but I didn't know if it was the diet pill or the nasal spray. So I quit the nasal spray and that seemed to help. Tuesday night, Donnie and I had supper with my Dad and his girlfriend, Karen, at the Isle of Capri. I ate a lot of shrimp but not much else. (Just a sidenote. We went gambling after supper and I spent $20 and I didn't care about gambling after that.)
Anyway, Wednesday went well and tonight is Thursday. I had a slimfast shake for breakfast, a couple little ham sandwiches on hawaiian rolls for lunch, and a small bowl of ham and black eyed peas for supper. I also had muskmelon. Here at 8 p.m.I had some blueberry yogurt. It was really good then I looked at the calorie count and it was 170. It is still less than a candy bar. I have drank a small glass of milk, some caffeine free cola and a lot of water today. I don't feel sick to my stomach at all. I feel full and I don't have any food cravings. It is a good feeling. It is nearly 10 p.m. Just a couple more hours and I can go to bed and it will all start again tomorrow. I really feel that as long as I feel full, this just might work. Of course, I haven't been tempted too much yet, but I do fix Donnie his evening snack and I don't nibble at it. I know it is early in the game but there are several things that make me think this might work:
1. My portions are smaller
2. I enjoy drinking water
3. I have no desire to snack
4. I don't feel the need to weigh myself every day. This is a big difference. I just know that by eating less, I am going to lose weight.
5. I am going to be content if I just lose a pound or 2 a week. Keep in mind there are 52 weeks in a year. Two pounds a week would be over 100 lbs. Slow and steady just might win this race! I will keep posting.
On April 3rd, Donnie and I went to see Eric Clapton at the Mark of the Quad Cities. When we sat down in our seats I made a discovery. My rear end has grown
considerably since the last time we were there. I literally could not fit in the seat! My thighs were sticking out the sides and to make matters worse, we were in section 113 and had to sit sideways to see the stage! And to top it all off, my knees were hitting the seat in front of me. I was so uncomfortable that I was crying! We tried to get handicapped seating at intermission but a gentleman came in a wheelchair and we had to leave. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy the concert very much. THEN Eric Clapton didn't play any of his familiar songs until song 13. When we finally got out at 10:30, I was glad to go home. A couple days later I looked at my upper thighs and there were bruises on both of them from the arms of the seats. That was when I decided, I needed to do something about my weight.
I have tried diets before but I just get hungry and they don't last long. Besides, 95% of them fail and you end up gaining it all back and more. I had seen on TV an ad for Lapband surgery. It is the same concept as stapling the stomach but instead they literally tie off part of the stomach with an adjustable band. The closest place to have the procedure done is Peoria. It is a drastic move but it seems to be successful. There are people that fly to Mexico to have it done for a lot less money. But I would be scared of not having follow ups with the doctor. At least Peoria is 100 miles away. Donnie and I will find out more about it on May 1st. Last Friday, April 21, I went to my Doctor to see about getting a sleep test because I have trouble falling asleep. She thinks I should hold off on that test for a while. I told her my sinuses fill up at night so she gave me a nasal spray called Nasacort. I also told her about the lapband surgery option. She said that she would approve me for it if that is what I wanted. Then she remembered she had another patient considering lapband. The Doctor had put her on Meridia. I asked if I could be put on Meridia also. She said yes. So she got me samples of Meridia and Nasacort. I started the Meridia on Saturday, April 22. I noticed almost immediately that I didn't feel like snacking. I just ate 3 meals and I didn't feel hungry at bedtime. It was a great feeling. I did have trouble sleeping the next night but I didn't know if it was the diet pill or the nasal spray. So I quit the nasal spray and that seemed to help. Tuesday night, Donnie and I had supper with my Dad and his girlfriend, Karen, at the Isle of Capri. I ate a lot of shrimp but not much else. (Just a sidenote. We went gambling after supper and I spent $20 and I didn't care about gambling after that.)
Anyway, Wednesday went well and tonight is Thursday. I had a slimfast shake for breakfast, a couple little ham sandwiches on hawaiian rolls for lunch, and a small bowl of ham and black eyed peas for supper. I also had muskmelon. Here at 8 p.m.I had some blueberry yogurt. It was really good then I looked at the calorie count and it was 170. It is still less than a candy bar. I have drank a small glass of milk, some caffeine free cola and a lot of water today. I don't feel sick to my stomach at all. I feel full and I don't have any food cravings. It is a good feeling. It is nearly 10 p.m. Just a couple more hours and I can go to bed and it will all start again tomorrow. I really feel that as long as I feel full, this just might work. Of course, I haven't been tempted too much yet, but I do fix Donnie his evening snack and I don't nibble at it. I know it is early in the game but there are several things that make me think this might work:
1. My portions are smaller
2. I enjoy drinking water
3. I have no desire to snack
4. I don't feel the need to weigh myself every day. This is a big difference. I just know that by eating less, I am going to lose weight.
5. I am going to be content if I just lose a pound or 2 a week. Keep in mind there are 52 weeks in a year. Two pounds a week would be over 100 lbs. Slow and steady just might win this race! I will keep posting.
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