Living La Vida Podunk Week 26, Day 3

No more sleeping in chairs, no more sleeping on the floor. I'm in a bed again. But I'm also on someone else's computer, and the darned thing keeps backing up and erasing what I just typed. Yes..it is the computer's fault, not mine. So if you see typos, I do not own them. That's my story, and I"m sticking to it. I also don't have my bike or my weights. I brought my resistance bands with me, though. And I went to the store and walked yesterday. Leg lifts are pretty easy to do here, too. So we'll see how well I can stick to my exercising while I'm staying in Iowa.

Not only did I do some walking at the store yesterday, but I also picked up some of my "diet" foods. Dad is so impressed with the progress I've made that he insisted that I get foods that will help me stay on track. It was then that I discovered how challenging it is to eat the new way I've developed when one lives in a small town. The organic produce section podunk towns is miniscule -- one tiny row with only carrots, broccoli, and some very anemic looking lettuce. No organic frozen veggies. Very few cheeses that aren't processed cheese "food". Very little to choose from in yogurt. The bread selection is various brands of white. That's okay. I got the best I could find. I like knowing enough to make the best choices with what is available. It makes me feel better about myself. I chose frozen veggies, some fresh, asiago cheese, yogurt, whole wheat cream of wheat --which surprised me they had, and stevia. I passed on the white bread. I just can't bring myself to put that in my body.

My daughter-in-heart made dinner last night. Pork chops and mixed veggies. Very yummy and healthy. No desserts, and I'm glad. If I get an urge for dessert, yogurt helps that craving. Then for breakfaast today, I had cream of wheat with some stevia. Through all of the surgery and hospital stay and now that it's over and I'm in Iowa, I have not given in to the temptation to deal with stress by self-medicating with junk food. This is one of the first major tests I've had in a long time, so I'm pleased I'm standing firm. It's not a huge struggle to do the right thing. As I mentioned a few days ago, it's actually kind of therapeutic and empowering. When everything else is out of control, what I do for myself is one of the few things I actually can control.

Dad and I were going to go walking at the hospital each day -- temperature controlled, no pollen, bathrooms, places to sit, medical care if he needed it -- but he isn't feeling well. He still has fluid in his lungs, has some intestinal distress, and now has a sore throat. I took him to the doctor yesterday. Mom, too, since she developed a nasty UTI during all this medical stuff with Dad the past couple of weeks. I got my walk in as I wheeled Dad from the clinic to xray and the lab and back to the clinic, down to the cafeteria for some lunch while we waited, back to the clinic. I'm still looking forward to our walking together and helping him on the road to better fitness. I remember when he was a young man, vital and strong. I know he never will be again. He is an old man, 81 and right now he's frail. But he's also a fighter, and I'm eager to help him in that fight. Until he can get well enough for us to get out to the hospital to walk, he at least is walking a small circuit here at the house. He knows every step helps, and he's determined to do what he can do each day, even if it's only a little bit. I love you, Dad!

Today's Tip:
If an 81 year old man is fighting for his fitness, what's stopping you? Every step helps. Even if you're not as young and vital as you once were, even when you don't feel well, even if you're not ready or not able to run a marathon, every step helps. Do what you can today. Doing that each day will add up to better tomorrows.

Bringing Others Into the Fold Week 26, Day 1

I'm so excited! Mom and Dad are watching Biggest Loser with me tonight. And they are inspired. Because of the events of this last week Dad has decided that he needs to increase his fitness. We've watched the Biggest Loser contestants tonight walking. As Dad started getting better at the hospital, they had him up and walking the hallways, and he wants to do more walking when he gets home. But he's afraid to just go walking around the neighborhood. For one thing, he's still not completely recovered, and for another, he has really bad allergies. I'm taking Mom and Dad back to Iowa tomorrow, and I'll be staying with them for a couple of weeks. They live in a small town with not a lot of indoor places to walk, but their local hospital has the right air quality and plenty of medical help if he has trouble. So Dad thinks it's a great plan for the two of us to go out to the hospital each day I'm there and walk -- to increase his fitness and to keep my weight loss on track. No pollen, plenty of places to sit if he needs to rest, bathrooms, and we can do it together. Perfect! I can hardly wait! Dad and I haven't been walking together since I was a teenager. It's about time we go for a walk again!

I'm packing up tonight, trying to figure what I'm going to need for two weeks away. I guess by the time I get home, it will have been about a month since I've had anything resembling what had been my normal life. When I was younger, I dreaded long periods of time without "normal". But as I have aged, I have learned to embrace them. These times provide a natural opportunity to reevaluate and make changes or improvements in my life, becoming a better me. I'm eager to see how all this shakes out and who I become. What an exciting time in my life!

Today's Tip:
One of the things my friends kept telling me this past week is to take time to take care of myself as I took care of Mom and Dad. It was very wise advice. One of the ways I did that was by making healthy food choices. Not in a stressful "OMG, I gotta do it!" way, but in a consciously purposeful way. It was one of the few things I had control over, and I found it very therapeutic. In years past not taking care of myself got me fat and took a toll on my health. In contrast, I have just come through a very difficult week feeling physically well. It's a much better way to live. Take time to take care of yourself. It really IS important.

The Week That Lasted a Month Week 25, Day 7

I know I usually weigh in on Tuesday mornings, but since I took a week off from worrying about weight loss, this blog, and normal life in general, I weighed myself early. I am now at 210. A mere 11 pounds from being UNDER 200 for the first time in a veeeery long time. I will NOT make my 50 by 50 Challenge and hit 184 pounds by my 50th birthday on March 27. And I'm okay with that. I have worked hard, and I will be solidly under 200 by then. I have done my best, and that's all anybody can ever ask of me. Considering I began this journey in September at 259, being under 200 by March 27 isn't too bad. I'll take it!

What I learned this past week:

1) I am blessed with the best friends anyone could ever hope for. Dad had his surgery on March 1, this past Monday. Though the surgery went fine, complications set in and we came far too close far too many times to losing him. Nearly instantaneously friends --some I've never met, some I haven't seen for more than 30 years-- dropped to their knees and prayed. And they didn't stop. They haven't stopped even now. Dad is home from the hospital, but he has recovery yet to go. And Mom is exhausted. So more prayer is needed, and these dear friends of mine are still at it and will be until we cross the finish line. And good heavens, some even have been with me every step of the way via Facebook and text messages on the cell phone nearly 24/7. I hope God has set aside a special place in Heaven for them to reward them for the blessing they are to me. I can certainly never, ever thank them enough.

2) I tend to be underestimated. My dear cousin-in-law was certain things with my dad were not as bad as I was making them sound, that I was overreacting and not understanding the situation. But I have spent considerable time in the hospital, having scoliosis and severe asthma myself and a son with special needs who has been to over 20 doctors, had 10 operations, and years of physical therapy. I am no stranger to the medical community, and I was not intimidated by the medical surroundings this past week. If anything it was the opposite -- I knew enough to be more scared than most people would have been, I knew how serious things really were. I was underestimated. It's not the first time. Throughout my life people have underestimated me. But that's not the worst of it. The really bad thing is that I have tended throughout my life to underestimate myself. I'm afraid I won't measure up. I'm afraid I will fail. I'm just plain afraid. And I think that has contributed to why I am fat. This week was a reminder that I am strong and capable. Not because I am Wonder Woman or anything special at all. In fact, I am quite weak on my own. But I am strong and capable because I have a God who loves me and because I have family and friends who hold me aloft when my knees begin to buckle. It was that way when my son was going through his many medical issues, and it was that way again this past week. No one should underestimate me when I have my God, myself, and my family and friends to carry me through ANY situation--we're an awesome team. And so I need to quit underestimating myself.

3) Weight loss really can be a lifestyle change instead of just a diet. I was in one of the least natural settings this past week, and I still made sensible choices regarding my eating and fitness. I feel like I did great this week. I felt empowered. I felt in control. I looked at the available choices, and I made selections that were good. It seemed like it was the only thing I did have control over. Rather than being restrictive like a diet would have been, this was liberating and therapeutic.

4) You never know what is ahead in life, so it's better to get in shape NOW. When I began A New Suit in September, I had no idea Dad's surgery was coming up. But thank God I had been walking and doing the weight work with my arms and getting generally in better health. If not, I would never have been able to handle this past week. I would never have been able to wheel Mom around in her walker thingie with a seat (hard to describe, but it's a walker with a chair and wheels, and she weighs 120 pounds -- and I pushed it with her in it as we went from waiting room to Dad's room on Monday, and then made the occasional trip to the cafeteria). I would never have been able to carry my tote bag with my bottles of water, my pillow, my purse, and my personal care items. I slept wherever there was space -- sometimes in the main lobby on two chairs pushed together (which I couldn't have fit on 50 pounds ago), sometimes in a side waiting room on a couch, sometimes in a room upstairs in a chair, and I always had to have my things with me. I could never had carried all that before I began this journey. I could never have walked all over the hospital as I looked for a place to sleep, trekked from Dad's room to the cafeteria, ran errands for Mom, went back and forth multiple times a night from whatever waiting room I was sleeping in to Dad's room during the worst of his complications. I'm so glad I had been "in training" for this for those months ahead of time. I don't know what else lies ahead in my life; I'm going to keep working on this fitness journey so I can always be ready for both the good times and the challenges.

5) Life is too precious to piss away. Dad struggled this week to come back from some perilous situations. And he has made it through this storm. Being morbidly obese is certainly a perilous situation, too. But far too many times people don't take it as seriously. But it will kill you just as certainly as anything my dad faced. Maybe just a bit slower. But it WILL kill you. I do NOT have a death wish. I will keep on this journey for the rest of my life, for the BEST of my life. And I'm not going to procrastinate because time is tick-tocking away. It seems like my parents were my age only yesterday. And now they are old and some days quite frail. I want to get fit and vibrant and stay that way as long as I can. How about you?