Lost another 11 lbs.

I went to the doctor on thursday, sept. 3 and I had lost another 11 lbs. That makes 26 lbs total in 2 months.
I am really not trying too hard. I just eat less and snack less and have smaller portions. I still treat myself to an ice cream sandwich a couple times a week. I enjoy eating popcorn I pop myself in the microwave in a special container. I use spray butter which is suppose to have no calories which I find hard to believe but at least it is less than melting butter on popcorn. I use popcorn salt that is fine and sticks to each kernel.
Some mornings when I get up, I take my pill and have a slim fast drink.
I need to explain my schedule. For the past 4 years, my husband has been retired. We don't have to get up in the mornings to go to work so we have been staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning. I enjoy playing games on a website called lalena.com. I also sing karaoke at singsnap.com (nickname gatyamgal) He tapes his soap opera, (young and the restless) and watches them in the evening. He also likes to look up things on ebay. Just last month we purchased over 60 things on ebay. He has been buying marble to put in our turtle tank. He has also bought pocket knives. Now he is remodelling his little section of the basement and has bought new headphones, and a cd player.
He's not the only one buying. I am buying workbasket magazines. I am trying to collect them all. I scan crochet instructions out of them and then I am going to resell them. I also bought this laptop I am using. It is the same as my other laptop (T-23 ibm thinkpad). I was able to get this one for $62. They usually go for $199. I have purchased a square trade warrantee on it and I am using it every day. It is just like new. I also bought a different digital camera. It is a casio exilim ex-z80. They sell for over $150 and I got it for $45. I had to order a battery and charger separate but that was just $15 for 2 batteries and a charger. They use the same flash card as my kodak so that works out great. My favorite camera is still my canon s400. I have 2 of them. One I gave to my husband. I also have a fuji z-1. It has its own cradle charger which is nice. I have another fuji that has a larger screen but no cradle. The pictures it take are a little grainy so I don't use it much. Last year I bought a Kodak camera that is bigger to take pictures at a friend of a friend's wedding. It's nice also. Has large pixels but it is bulky to carry around. Then I have a sony camcorder that records on 8mm tape. It is bulky also but I used it the other day to take pictures of the Metlife blimp when it was in the area. It has a nice zoom on it. And the other day I bought a little argus camera for 49 cents at DAV. I have downloaded the driver but I can't get it to work, yet... I am still working on it.
Didn't mean to type so much but I want this written down so years from now I can look back and see how much technology has changed. At this time, we don't use a cell phone except for emergencies. My husband and I use virgin mobile phones. They only cost $21.00 every 3 months to top off. And that includes the minutes. I have over $120 of minutes on my phone. I gave it to my daughter's boyfriend so he could have a phone. I don't know if he uses it or not. My husband's phone probably has $60 minute time. We just don't need them at this time.
OK. Back to the diet thing. I really don't exercise like I should. It just isn't fun. I need to find something to motivate me to exercise. I enjoy walking around at Goodwill and such. I just need to move around more. I hope to lose another 15 lbs. by next month. We are having our class reunion on October 10th. I have gone to all of my class reunions over the years. Here is the low down on where I was at in life every 5 years.

5 year reunion 1979 single Went with Jean Cullison. She really didn't want to go, but we were the last ones to leave.

10 year reunion 1984 Married to jim. The reunion was out at Oak Run by the lake. It was different. Jay Chivers got up on a picnic table and exposed himself by pulling up the leg on his shorts. Very interesting... He died in 2004, I believe.

15 year reunion 1989 My husband and I had been separated for a year. This was less than 2 months before the actually divorce. I got drunk and had my eye on a former classmate.

20 year reunion 1994 I was married to second husband, Jeff. We had a good time at the reunion.

25 year reunion 1999 Jeff and I were still married but we were having disagreements. I really think the computer had a lot to do with my mindset at the time. I had several people that I would talk to on ICQ. Jeff and I separated 1 month later. A classmate, Jeff Moore died on August 31 that year.

30 year reunion 2004 I was married to my third husband, Donnie. I enjoyed having him by my side. We stayed at my mom and dad's overnight to attend the 2 day event.

35 year reunion 2009 We didn't have the reunion in July like we used to. It is being planned now, like I said for October. This will be 5 days after Donnie's 60th birthday. We are planning on staying in a motel that night. The knox county scenic drive is that weekend also. It should be fun.

Ok. It is 3 am. I better go to bed. I'll write more later.
Oh, by the way, I am going to be on a local tv show called Paula Sands Live. I am going to show how to make my starched fabric decals. This is going to be on this Thursday. I am getting anxious. I was on her show in May with silicone ware and also 3 years before that with my crocheted plastic bag purses. I still have my silkworms and ironed plastic I can do. I had told myself in May I wanted to lose 20 lbs. before I went back on her show. Now it will be closer to 30. It is a great motivator for me.
And finally. I want to say that this medicine, meridia makes me very constipated. But it is better than having the runs! Gotta go! bye for now!

Back on Meridia again

Just wanted to fill in here from nearly 2 years ago. I gained all of my weight back exactly to 310. I had a heart problem back in January of this year. It wasn't until July that I was able to get back on Meridia. In one month I lost 15 lbs. I have lost another 3 lbs. this week. I feel so much better. Don't ever want to be 310 again! Ironically, that is how high my scale goes. It is even called the Royal ex310 shipping scale.
Like I said, I feel good, I don't snack like I used to at night. I have cut down on my breads and my pop intake. I have cut down on cookies and candy. I do enjoy having either popcorn or an ice cream sandwich in the evening. I really should eat breakfast, but I don't. Sometimes I have a can slim fast. The Coffee flavor is my favorite.
I will keep posting now that I found this site again.

Meridia in the News and Dad's Cancer

Just wanted to write about what I heard on the news the other night. They were saying that Meridia does not help people loss weight and the damage that it could do to the brain could be bad. This is what the study says:
Three diet drugs, one of which still hasn't been approved for use in the United States, will assist in weight loss, Canadian researchers report, but there can be serious side effects and the weight loss isn't all that great.

According to the Associated Press, the report, published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal, found that people who took the prescription drugs Xenical, Meridia and Acomplia (Acomplia is not sold in the United States) registered lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and reduced diabetes. For the 45 to 50-year-old study group, which had an average weight of 220 pounds, weight loss registered a little less than 11 pounds per person.

About 20 percent of those who took Meridia experienced side effects that included raised blood pressure and pulse rates, insomnia and nausea, the A.P. reported. Up to 30 percent of those who took Xenical had side effects that included unpleasant digestive and intestinal side effects.

About six percent of those who took Acomplia experienced mood disorders, a primary reason the drug didn't receive FDA approval, the wire service reported.

I need to contact someone and let them know that I am having very different results. I started taking the pills again last month. I did only lose 3 lbs. in a month but the results are deceptive. The week before I weighed in, I had ate a lot of salty chinese food and I had had pizza and pop the night before. It has been a week since my weigh in and I have already lost another 3 lbs. I really feel that the pills are helping. I will prepare a midnight snack for my husband, and I will just sample a little of the cheese and summer sausage, and then find something else to snack on. I find myself eating a lot less at night. I used to want a full sandwich, chips, pop, and other bad things. One thing I really haven't done is purposely exercising. My Doctor told me if I don't start exercising, she might take me off the pills. So I now have a resistance rope in the dining room and when I am waiting for supper to cook, I do a few arm stretches and leg stretches. It is not much but it is a start. Yesterday, I sat down on the living room floor and did a few sit ups and stretches. I was able to get up of the floor with very little trouble. I almost cried. It was the first time I have been able to get up off the floor without struggling. I hope to just get better and better.
Please read my blog about the news I received today about my Dad's cancer. It was 2 years ago today, being the Monday before Thanksgiving that my mother passed away. Today I found out that my Dad is not going to be able to participate in a cancer program that could prolong his life. So he just has 8 to 14 months to live.
He wants to move down to Houston to be with his lady friend. I think it is a good idea. My brother is down there also and he can help take care of dad if or when he gets really sick. We will see what happens. I will write more on the Cancer blog I wrote about my mother.

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It has been another 4 weeks. Still losing

I took a couple months off and I was able to maintain my weight lose of 30 lbs. Then 4 weeks ago I went back to my Doctor and got back on the meridia again. I have not tried as hard as I did the first time around, but I have still lost another 5 lbs. My measurements now are 47-42-53 That is 3 inches off my chest, 8 off my waist, and 7 off my hips. My face is getting thinner and my legs are getting a little smaller.
I feel better. I have not been exercising like I should. I really need to start getting serious. I wanted to be down to 250 by christmas. I don't think that is possible now. But I am going to try.
I will write more after monday's visit to the doctor.

No I haven't given up... I'm doing great!

I realize it is August 27th and I haven't written on this blog. Things have just been going so well, changing my eating habits has just become a way of life. It isn't something special. That is what I need. We bought a new refrigerator at the end of July. It has filtered water and ice on the front. Because we have a very narrow kitchen, we went with a counter depth model. They cost twice as much as a regular fridge. So ours cost $2500. Years ago I worked at the Maytag Refrigerator
in Galesburg, Illinois. (They closed down and moved to Mexico.... imagine that!) Anyway, when we started making Maytag brand fridges we were told that we needed to do a good job because these sell for $3500! This was back in the early 90's. We found out later that they were not that much but they were always more expensive than other brands because they were made very sturdy. Regular fridges at that time were filled with fiberglass mats of insulation...(talk about fun!) Maytags were filled with foam insulation. Anyway, there are fridges now that are close to $3500 but most are around $1000-$1500.
Back to the fridge we got. I LOVE the ice and water on the door. I drink a lot of water. A lot more than I used to drink. It is so convenient and it tastes good. I have been taking my pills religiously every day. It seems that they are losing their potency lately. I have made a decision to stop taking them for a few months and see where my weight goes on its own. I hope to start them again at the end of October to start losing more for Christmas. Who knows, I might be able to lose without them. If I can just stay the same, I will be happy. Oh, I didn't say how much I weigh now. Without shoes I weigh 268 which is nearly 40 lbs. from my highest weight. I feel so much better but I know that I am no skinny minnie. My measurements when I started were 50-50-60. I am now 48-42-53. Not a bad change! So
I am going to start adding exercising soon. I have been able to go down in the basement and rearrange my stuff. Before it was so depressing to move around.
My Van has been in the shop since Since August 9th. We have been driving around in Donnie's 1992 Ford Truck. I can get up inside it a lot easier than before. I am fitting in booths at eating places better. My legs don't hit the side of the computer chair arms as badly as before.
So I am going to try this on my own for a couple months. Wish me luck!

34 lbs. in 3 months

I went to the doctor today. I have lost 34 lbs. in 3 months. I weighed 274 with my shoes on. That is something I would like to comment about. They have a program called Celebrity Fit Club that has been on VH-1 for several years. They have many "b" list celebrities that try to lose weight. This past season they Marsha, from the brady bunch, Tiffany the 90's rock singer, Kimberly from American Idol, and the Brat, a lady rapper. For the men they had Cletus T. Judd, a country comedian, Ross Matthews from the Jay Leno Show, a former athlete, (can't remember his name) and Screech, Derrick Diamond from Saved by the Bell. They would do little challenges like they do on Survivor and other weight loss shows and then they would weigh in each week. No one gets voted off. More than half the program is about the weigh in.
Anyway, I mention this because when they would do weigh ins, they would always be wearing different outfits. The funniest was when they were at a ski resort and when they weighed in, some of the girls weighed in with a heavy vest and Ug boots. That had to be the silliest thing to do. Then they would get all depressed because they didn't lose as much as they thought, or they would gain weight. The boots and vest alone probably added at least 3 lbs.! It was just so funny. When I was in TOPS years ago we would sometimes take off our shirts so we could weigh less.
But I have always tried to wear the same shoes when I weigh in and I don't wear heavy clothes so the weight total is about right.
I have decided to try the pills one more month and then try to go a few months without them and see if I can maintain my weight. This way I can give my body a break and if I have to, I can go back on the medicine. They don't want you to be on it more than 2 years straight. I don't know if there is a limit of back and forth or not. I will just take it one day at a time. I feel really good now. I need to get out and do some walking. I think I would feel even better. We will see what happens.

Still staying with the Meridia

It has been almost 3 months since I started taking meridia and I'm still losing. At first I was not weighing myself mainly because I didn't have a scale. Now I do have a scale and the compulsion to weigh several times a day is there. Since I am still losing, it doesn't bother me to weigh that often but I think I will go back to just focusing on what I eat and not worry about numbers. I haven't been here for over 2 months. When I went to the doctor's last month I had lost nearly 20 lbs. in 2 months. Tomorrow I am hoping for another 10 lbs. gone. I could probably lose it quicker but why? This is going to be a lifestyle and tempting foods are always going to be there so why deny myself? I just eat less of it. I am trying to eat more fruits. I pureed a box of blueberries and I add them to pudding for a snack. It is sooo good. I still try to stay away from cola or any kind of pop for that matter but sometimes, a few sips of pepsi sure is refreshing. I have had pizza and yesterday I ate at long john silver's. I enjoy making chicken stir fry but I know I use too much soy sauce. But as long as the weight keeps coming off, I don't sweat the small stuff. My measurements have gone from 50-50-60 to 47-43-55 but the measurement under my bust is 40 so that has gone down also. I hope to weigh in tomorrow at 275 with my shoes on but we will see. I have seen as low as 269 the other day.
We purchased a new refrigerator yesterday from sears. It cost 2500 bucks! It has a section on the fridge door where you can keep fruits and veggies handy to snack on. That will be nice. It also has filtered water and ice in the door. The ice container is on the door so you can easily remove the bucket and there is more room in the freezer. It is going to be black and it is what is called counter depth so it doesn't stick out from the counter. In our small kitchen, that will be very nice.
I will write more tomorrow after my doctor's visit.