Friday, June 5, 2009

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you guys so much for all your positive feedback regarding my recent "low thyroid diagnosis!"... I'm coming to grips with it.

Trudi- I found that interesting about what you said about water weight. Yesterday I woke up and felt really thin. Out right skinny! And even DH commented on how different I looked, even just from a few days of meds. I had no idea water weight loss was a side effect of the meds. BONUS! However, I went out with my bffs to celebrate May Birthday's & had mexican food- tried to make good decisions but the bottom line with eating out is you NEVER know exactly what you're getting. I stayed up way to late and woke up feeling a little bloaty & puffy. So I'm really trying to drink a ton of water today to flush out the junk from last night.

My workouts are still going great. I started running again last week and feel good. My foot hasn't been bothering me (knock on woood) so I'm going to try and do my weight training 5 days a week and add cardio to 3 of those days. Makes for l o n g workouts but cardio & resistance training are BOTH SO IMPORTANT!

One other change that I've made within the last 2 weeks- Instead of eating 5-6 small meals a day I switched back to 3 square meals and 1 snack if I NEED it (which most days I do not)... This was a suggestion made by Jillian in her Master Your Metabolism book. She said it was ridiculous to eat 5-6 times a day. Says there is NO reason to keep your insulin levels elevated that often. Makes sense to me! Plus I like eating MORE food LESS often rather than the other way around. I HATE being a slave to food. So the less I have to decide what to eat & prepare meals the better! (this is just ME- I am not a dietitian)... I am also going to try and make an effort to buy more organic items. I am going to take baby-steps as I'm sure I'm going to feel it in my wallet! I'm starting with veggies & fruits, maybe some meat & then dairy too... So we'll see how it goes...

So my mood/spirits are still up & hopeful that the meds will work for me.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Ugh- Nothing witty or funny to say about THIS!

Yesterday I found out that I have a thyroid functioning at level POO! OMG! The nurse stood there reading the results with a look of disgust on her face. WTF!?!?!


Today I'm having mixed emotions about my recent diagnosis... Part of me is totally bummed that I'm not "normal" and will most likely have to be on thyroid medicine for the rest of my life & another part of me is hopeful that this means that once my meds kick in all my hard work & dedication will FINALLY start paying off. My relentless calorie counting. My obsessive exercising & every DIET ever known to man. Which reminds me- apparently THAT is what got me here. My years and years (since I was 14- WHAT?!) of crash diets, fad diets & over training my body... UGH- all this time I thought I was "healthy!" and keeping my body fit. What a disaster.


So now I feel like I'm in limbo. I pretty much wanted to CRY at the gym this morning. (I don't recommend crying at the gym- it scares men!) I don't know what to do now... Continue what I'm doing? Or shoot myself in the face. (If you're new to my blog you'll soon learn I use sarcasm as a defence mechanism. I assure you I will NOT kill myself)... ugh! That's all I can say.


I did go to B&N and purchased Jillian Michael's (The female trainer on the Biggest Loser) new book "MASTER YOUR METABOLISM" in hopes of finding some info/guidance. The first 3 chapters were amazing. I felt like I could have written the book myself. She too was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age of 30 from years and years of crash diets & over training and struggled with so many of the same emotional issues that I did/do. I really felt like I had found a new bible (sorry Jesus) but then it got really HEAVY. She goes into a tyrant about how toxic everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is! How all of our food is CRAP and how we should all "go organic" and NEVER touch anything processed or packaged. It's been VERY overwhelming to say the least. And tonight I stood in front of my pantry trying to find anything that didn't contain poo-touse or hydro-by-crapos. Everything is filth. I ultimately decided on a new york steak, mixed broiled veggies, sauteed mushrooms & onions & a big 'ol glass of red wine. I think that's called defeat. Or failure. I don't know.

I'm only about 1/3 of the way through Jillian's master your metabolism & never eat another thing again book so I'll keep you posted on my ultimate review. I will also try & update you more about my progress (hopefully it WILL be progress) with my thyroid meds & constant strive for perfection.


Again- no witty banter to end my post.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

"Would you do it again?".... hummm...

So I got a text the other night (actually my husband did) from one of our friends asking about the HCG diet- apparently his wife was looking into it... And he asked "knowing what you know now...Would you do it again?"... hummm... to be honest, I had to really think about it! My ultimate answer "I WOULD do it again... but I don't know if I COULD do it again!"

Have you ever noticed that the FIRST time you do a diet/workout program it's a LOT easier then if you ever try and do it again? (or is it just me!?!?) I think about how hard the first week is on the HCG- headaches, irritable, hungry and I just don't know if I COULD do it again. Don't get me wrong, I'm SO GLAD I did it the first time. I was able to lose ALL the baby weight in record time but I just don't know if i could do it again.

I think my apprehension is partly to do with my workout regimen. I have been able to get a lot stronger and have worked really hard to tone up and increase my strength & endurance and I KNOW that I would not be able to keep that up. And yeah, I could probably lose 10 more lbs if I did HCG again but I wouldn't be surprised to see that 10 lbs sneak RIGHT BACK ON as soon as I return to regular eating & exercising. And let's face it peeps- you can only fight your body so much... ultimately your body is going to settle in where's it's comfortable- whether it be a size 6 or a size 12. And for me it's a size 8. And even then, I still have to watch what I eat and workout 6 days a week...We have to all just except who we are and stop trying to be something we're not (like a size 2!) Sometimes I should listen to my own advice! he he he! BUT with that said- we can all strive to be the BEST/STRONGEST/HEALTHIEST we can BE!

love your HCGuts!
A

Monday, April 20, 2009

Slacker!

You guyzzz- I'm such a slacker!!! No, not on my diet or workouts (ok, maybe a little on my diet) but on my BLOG! I just feel so BLAH about blogging lately. But things are going great. Still kickin' it! I have been a little bit of a slacker on my diet lately. Thursday night I got a visit from my obnoxious monthly friend and pretty much went to town on the kids' Easter candy. I ate ALL of their peanut butter M&Ms and cinnamon bunnys too. I was like a caged animal that was released into the wild! I swear- sometimes the monthly *B* just takes charge and I have NO say! But luckily it only last a short period- no pun intended. I'm back to my regular workout routines and eating habits. It's so crazy though how CRAPPY that junk food makes you feel. I really wanted to barf. I'm lying. It felt great! ; ) just can't let it happen often.

I've been trying to incorporate a little more cardio into my workouts lately. Today I did my regular Monday "quads/glutes & Abs" but in between sets I jumped on the bike and did 5 minute cardio bursts! it felt great! I'm lying. I wanted to barf. Just kidding, it wasn't that bad. I think people in general put too much stock in cardio and not enough on weights. In a perfect world you have time to do plenty of both- but let's get real, most of don't have time to have our legs much less spend hours at the gym. My ultimate goal at the gym is to train my muscles (lifting weights) so intensely that it gets my H/R up and causes me to break a sweat. 2 birds- one big fat sweaty stone! Do me a favor- next time you are at the gym, take a look around and answer me this- WHO has nicer body's: The people on the cardio equipment? Or the people in the weight room... I think you'll be surprised to see the people in the weight room are in better shape than the air suckers on the elliptical. Now, that's not to say that there is not a place in this world for cardio because chances are good the peeps in the weight room paid a visit to the cardio room a time or 2 but they get in there and they GET IT DONE! None of this meandering along on the tread mill for 60 mins a day. Boo!

Those are just my 2 cents for the day! But what the hell do I know! he he he!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Raw, Raw, Raw!

Helllooooo! After a weekend full of Easter goodies I am back on the wagon. I am toying with the idea of "going raw" for a few days. Meaning only RAW fruits & veggies & nuts. However, I don't know how I would get enough protein. I workout pretty hard and try to get about 100-120 grams of protein a day and just don't find the feasible on the "raw" plan... I would be a good cleansing diet so maybe I shouldn't be too concerned about the protein- how much could it hurt for a week or so?...
I had a GREAT workout this morning! Quads & Gluts & Abs and HIIT... This week I am on 8's. Meaning I do 4 sets of 8 reps PER exercise followed by 4-5 minuets of "burn out" at a lighter weight. For example- I started with seated leg extensions at 115 lbs. 8 reps (w/"baby pulses" at the end of each set) and then dropped the weight to 40 lbs and burned them out for 4-5 minutes... Oweeeeee! Then seated squats: weight 175 lbs again, 4 x 8 reps w/babies and burn out... Yeikes! Then the booty buster machine- (not sure what it's really called) w/weight of 90 lbs I think. And again- babies and burnout. Then I did 5 minutes of ball/wall squats on the bosu ball and lastly, I held a 10 lbs ball and did squat/crunches on the bosu ball- you sit down on the bosu, go back into a crunch, return to standing position all while holding the ball. Killer! After that I did some abs and then I did HITT for 10 minutes on the bike. I would have liked to do 20 but DH had to get to work so I had to hurry... 30 second sprints w/1 minute recover for 10 minutes. Really got my H/R up! And judging by my STANK i got a GREAT workout!
Eating plan for today: No Sugar/No starches... high protein. If I decide to "go raw" for a few days I'll have to take a trip to the grocery store!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Hello, Hello!

Hey- HCGers! I'm so sorry that I've been MIA~ life is just crazy busy! I am still here and alive. I don't really have much to "report" as far as HCG goes. I finished phase II in Feb and have just been maintaining in p3 ever since. I don't weigh but feel I have, for the most part, stayed the same. I'm certain I've put on a few lbs from my lowest weight but I was so much lower than my body is "comfortable" that I knew that was inevitable. You can only fight your body so much.

I get up every morning at 6 and go to the gym to lift weights. And I recently started running in the evenings to train for a 180 mile relay race but a stress fracture in my foot has stalled those plans. It hurts so bad! Even to walk- so I'm just sticking w/the weights for now.

And as far as the diet goes I'm still doing the L/C thing. No sugar & No starches. I do allow myself a "treat" on the weekend as I am just trying to maintain and build strength & get toned now. Last night I had mexican food! And some of my daughters b-day cake. Yummers!

OH- I also found out last week that I have PCOS (polycistic ovarian syndrome) which sucks- BIG TIME! But hopefully now that I know what's "wrong" with me I can be more proactive to fix/control it. The doc has put me on metformin to help regulate my insulin levels which in turn regulates my hormones. Which, you should know- have been outta control lately! So I'm looking forward to feeling a little better as far as that goes. A fantastic side effect of metformin? weight loss and hunger suppression. BONUS! So maybe that will help even things out...

I have been recently toying with what might be a crazy idea... I would really like to get certified to be a personal trainer. I would like to specialize in training/motivating young teen girls that are struggling with their weight. I was an overweight teen and made so many poor choices when it came to diet/weight loss. I wish I would have had somebody to teach me how to be healthy! It will most likely not be something that I will do anytime soon as I already feel stretched pretty thin- but maybe once my youngest baby is in school I can look into it further...

Well... Thanks for stopping by! Sorry I don't have anything more informative or exciting to report. Weight loss and even maintaining is a progress & a journey. . . stick with it. It will get easier. It will become a part of your life and your life will be better & longer because of it!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Back in action-

Monday morning bright and early. Started my day with a 6am workout. Quads and Abs! And started right back on my no sugar no starches. Sugar with drawl wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected it to be. In fact, I wasn't hungry much at all on Monday & Tuesday so that was good- usually I turn into a carb crazed psycho after a weekend of carb craziness! But not this time. We went to IHOP on Sunday with some friends and it was SO disgusting that I didn't even eat it- wasn't worth the calories! I was wishing I had stayed home and made my carb-quick pancakes & Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage, SO MUCH BETTER!!!


I am still having some hormonal issues though. Ever since I had my baby (6 months ago) I've had a hard time with regular cycles and that's frustrating when you are trying to lose/maintain weight. I believe hormones are a big issue in weight loss! I am going to call my nurse today and discuss my recent "issues"... But I won't bore you with the details. I hope we can get this straightened out so I can continue STRONG with my diet/weight loss goals!

So I'm still just here... hanging out in maintenance. This morning my friend and I were talking about doing a popular workout program known as Px90 but I'm scared! Ha! I'll keep you posted on what we decide!

Keep HCGing it!