Busy With Life!

I can't believe it's been so long since I checked in with EP...retirement life is very busy!  I've been continuing to make healthy food choices and adding more exercise into my life as my knee is SLOWLY getting stronger.  Last week I lost 0.6 pounds which makes a total of 23 down.  I'm trying to think of a nice reward to do for myself when I hit 25 down.

Just an aside...I was soooo excited to see Ali win the BL!!!  Her transformation is so inspiring!!! 

Smiles, Donna

Just hangin' around

Had a good day...nothing spectacular.  The sun was shining and I got out in the yard for a bit.  Went to Tai Chi and made it through the hour-long class without my crutch and only sitting for a short rest two times.  Felt great!  Then went to lunch with a girlfriend who's also a retired teacher.  We just relished our good fortune!!!  Plan to also ride my stationary bike tonight while I watch a little TV.  As I went to write this post, I noticed I didn't write yesterday...thought I did...certainly had planned too; but I guess I got so carried away posting on others blogs and on Nifty50s that I forgot.  I'll just not give myself the 1 point for today's blog.

Smiles, Donna

I'm Up...I'm Down!

Ya just never know...yesterday, life just couldn't have been better and then today...I hit bottom.  I let my emotions get the upper hand today and I'm so mad at myself.  I won't go into all the details but I was at lunch today with girlfriends and was very upset about some things I heard.  There's nothing I can do about them...so totally out of my circle of influence.  But I was upset just the same.  So I go on about my afternoon...returning some things to Walmart...my knee hurt like hell by the time I got out of that big place.  Then it was on to Circuit City to return an anniversary gift and they WOULD NOT give me money back even though I had the original receipt from my daughter...they wanted to put it back on her charge card, instead I had to take a gift card...don't know when I'll ever use it...and then my knee was really killing me...no pain pills with me or TENS unit!!!   SOOOOO what do I do on the way home...drive through Dairy Queen and buy a small Blizzard with Heath bar and eat the whole thing!!!!!  This is truly the first time since I started this weight loss journey that I've slipped backward with my emotional eating!!!  I know I'll get over it and a slight gain won't be the end of the world but I was just beginning to feel so strong.  I'm so disappointed in myself.  I didn't even try to talk myself out of that Blizzard like I've learned to do.  So that's my life today...tomorrow will be better I'm sure.  Thanks for listening...I'm so glad I have a place like this to vent. 

Good night.

Smiles, Donna

A Sunny Sunday

I had a sensational Sunday!  The weather was beautiful and my husband and I spent the entire afternoon sitting on the bank of our lake just fishing and enjoying the spring weather.  It's amazing how food never enters my mind when I'm enjoying the outdoors.  We had pretty good luck too...caught about 30 fish (bluegill, crappie, and bass).  DH baited my hook and took the fish off too...I can do both things but it's always nice when he does them for me.  I do love my man!  He's been extra sweet during this "painful" period with my knee that I've been going through . 

The TENS unit continues to be helpful with pain control and I'm trying to walk short distances without my crutch. 

To all of my EP friends...having a healthy weight loss week!

Smiles, Donna

Less Pain

Well, I got my TENS unit yesterday and am wearing it today as I am doing a little house cleaning and the laundry...it IS making a difference in the amount of pain I'm feeling and the amount of pain meds I'm taking!!  YEA!!!!!  It definitely is a weird feeling...all that "tingling."  I can turn it up and down if pain is more or less.  Amazing!

I'm going to try to get some "meal planning" done this weekend too.  I know that making meal plans is key to better weight loss...but I really hate to do it.  I'm just not fond of cooking anymore unless I'm having guests or a party.  Cooking for 2 people is just not fun...is so much easier to go out!

And last but not least...I had a great weight loss this week...2.6 lbs!!  That's the first time since I started my journey that I've lost 2 or more pounds.  I'm very excited.

Have a splendid weekend! 

Smiles, Donna

Not Much News

I've just been mostly a couch potato!  At least I made it to Tai Chi yesterday but that's about it.   And I haven't been eating enough...just no appetite.  Maybe the scales will be down tomorrow!!!!  Today was rainy and I didn't go anywhere; so I rode my recumbant stationary bike for 25 minutes and did some arm exercises with weights.  That felt good.  My knee is still causing me a lot of pain so I've been taking the pain meds pretty regularly.  Of course then I fall asleep if I try to read or watch TV.  I was talking to a PT friend of mine and she told me about something called TENS Therapy, or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Therapy, which uses mild electrical impulses as an alternative to drugs.  She says it really works well for some people and that the doctor could write a prescription; that way insurance might pay for some of it.  I think it's worth a try; so I'm going to call the doctor's office in the morning.

Looking forward to the weekend and some sunny weather. 

Smiles, Donna

Hanging On!

I'm trying to hang on and beat this emotional eating...but my emotions are running wild.  I had a terrific weekend, but then yesterday I got the stitches out of my knee.  I'm still having a lot of pain and the doctor said it was normal for the amount of arthritis they scraped off of my top knee bone.  Not good news!!!  It left a spot of bare bone exposed about the size of a half-dollar and that's what's causing most of my pain now.  They're hoping that a scab will form and some of the pain will go away.  Then they want to give me 3 Synvisc injections in about a month or two...some kind of synthetic cushioning stuff.  I'm still having to take a pain pill every 4 hours or I can't do much of anything.  I'm walking on one crutch and that at least gives me some relief from the pain, but mostly I'm lying around watching TV...boring!  I'm a go, go, go type person and this is NOT suiting my lifestyle.  Waaah, waaah, waaahhh...enough of the whining!

I've stayed pretty much with my eating plan but my willpower is waning...I'm glad I don't have any chocolate in the house!!!  Anyway, it hurts to get up and go get something to eat...at least that's a good thing.

I'm heading to Tai Chi tomorrow...even if I have to take 2 pain pills!

Smiles, Donna

Gone Too Long!

Well, I've been away from EP for 4 days...and that's way too long to be gone!  But, I've had a wonderful excuse.  I think I wrote that my Texas kids were coming home on Thursday and that the WHOLE family would be together.  Becky, my youngest daughter, was "supposed" to be planning a surprise birthday party for my 4 year old grandson and Julie was coming from Texas to help with and of course attend the party...wouldn't let me do anything because of my knee...although my husband and I did keep all three grandkids most of Friday. 

We got all the kids ready for "the party" and walked in the building at the assigned time...I was looking down to see Colton's reaction to his "SURPRISE" party and didn't even notice WHO was there yelling surprise until my daughters yelled "MOM...it's for you and dad, Happy Anniversary!!!!"  I looked up to see over 100 friends and family members smiling and laughing...needless to say I lost it.  The tears were streaming down my cheeks but I had a mile-wide smile that just wouldn't quit.  I was so touch!  Denny was blown away too!  There were friends we hadn't seen in years and 4 friends that I started kindergarten with over 50 years ago, lots of cousins and aunts and uncles...which is always very touching since both of my parents are deceased.  We had a BLAST!!!! 

After clean-up, we all arrived back home telling stories about "keeping the secret" and reading cards that people had sent.  Then my Texas kids asked us if we wanted our anniversary gift that night or the next morning...I said "right now!"  So we opened our new Wii...what a blast!  We bowled, played tennis, and boxed until 2:00 in the morning!

I feel so blessed.  My girls have been VERY supportive of my weight loss journey and I was able to stay well within the limits of my eating plan the whole weekend.  I didn't quite get all of my exercise in AND I NEGLECTED MY EP FRIENDS, but the weekend was truly glorious.

Smiles, Donna

PS  Looking forward to catching up with all of the EP group!!

Looking Up!

Today was a much better day!! !  And it felt even better because I got through yesterday without "eating myself into a frenzy"...thanks to all my EP friends!!!

My knee was a little better this morning and I decided to go to Tai Chi.  It was terrific.  I only had to sit down one time during the hour and it was so good to see all my friends.  Then I went to the hair salon... my sytlist and friend, Melodi, gave me a new cut and color, an upbeat "counseling" session, lots of praise on my weight loss, and a lesson in religious faith...all in an hour and a half.  She's just the BEST!!!  Then I had lunch with girlfriends.  We ate at Chipotle and I stayed "LEGAL"...brought home enough leftovers for two more meals.  I even had enough stamina left to go to the grocery store...I was totally out of fruit.

The knee was definitely tired by the time I got home...but no worse than it was yesterday when I sat home doing nothing and feeling sorry for myself.  I've been icing it and now it's feeling LOTS better.

Hope all of you have a terrific evening.

Smiles, Donna

Pity Party

Well, I've basically had a great big pity party today, but at least I've made it through the day without binging on food. 

YEA me!

My knee was not good enough to go to Tai Chi this morning so hense...the pity party started.   I continually wanted to eat, but...with the help of EP, some TV, and some phone calls to longtime girlfriends...I've stayed on my food program the whole day!!!  I spent time reading all of the great comments from EP friends, read through some amazing blogs with amazing stories, and watched some shows that I'd read about on TracysWWJourney.  All of these things saved me today!!!

The name of the show is I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna.  He had some terrific ideas that I want to try and there are lots more episodes.  Here's a web address where you can see the listings and the times.  tlc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html

Thanks again to all of my new EP friends who've left encouraging comments!!!  You're just the greatest!

Smiles, Donna