~~~~12's~~~~

I am on cloud 9 right now. I went to a thrift store today to get a few sweaters cause it is getting cold here. They had thier pants on sale for $2.99 a pair. I have been wearing 14's. They only had 1 pair of 14's that I liked but they had 2 pairs of size 12's that I liked. I figured I couldn't beat the price and I would be able to wear the 12's in a month or two. I tried them all on when I got home and the 12's FIT. The 14's are a little baggy and the 12's fit perfect. When I started losing weight I was wearing size 28 pants. My goal size was 12. I can't believe I am sitting here wearing 12's. In 14 months I went from size 28 down to size 12!!! I am changing my goal size to 8's as of today. If I can get to a 12, I can get to an 8!!!

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Weight last week: 175
Weight this week: 171

Lost this week: 4 lbs

Total lost so far: 133.5 lbs

Left to lose: 22 lbs

I had a really good OP week. Last weeks gain made me take a long hard look at my eating and get back on track. I was nicely rewarded with a 4 lb loss this week. My hope is to be in the 160's sometime in the next 2 weeks. I can do it!

Vascular Surgeon Report

I went to the Vascular Surgeon yesterday. The Surgeon did another Carotid Ultrasound. He said that I have something called tortuous carotid arteries. That is just the medical term for curvy carotid artery veins. Evidently I was born that way. It makes it hard for them to get a clear view of the artery on an ultrasound. He said that I have some thickening in one place in my carotid but he doesn't feel like it is a problem at this point. I have to go back every 6 months for a carotid ultrasound. At some point I will have to have surgery to straighten out my artery and remove the thickening but the surgeon said that it wont be anytime soon. We still don't know what is causing the heart palpitations and chest pain. I have a followup with the Cardiologist on Nov 12. I have been cleared to exercise again and things are looking up!

Wake up call!

Weight last week: 173
Weight this week: 175

Lost this week: 0
Gain this week: 2 lbs

Total lost so far: 129.5 lbs

Left to lose: 26 lbs

This is the first week I have had a gain since I started losing weight. Week 61 of my weight loss journey and I gained 2 lbs. I know that it will come back off and I am doing ok with it. I deserved this gain. I am owning it and moving forward. I have been stress eating for 3 weeks and am surprised that I have only gained 2 lbs from it. In all fairness I was up 8 lbs between Tues and Sun. As of Sunday I am back on track and the weight is going back down. I think this was the wake up call that I needed to get back on track. I can do this!

It has been almost a month since I updated

Where does the time go? My time has been spent at ER's and Doctor offices for the last month. A few weeks ago I started having heart fluttering and chest pain. Through every test imaginable I think we have finally narrowed it down to what is wrong with me. I went yesterday and had my stress echo test. Everything checked out a-ok with it. Of course, I have always heard that there is a calm before the storm. When I got home there was a message for me to call my cardiologist for the results of some of the other tests I have had done. It was to late to call them back but I knew that there was something wrong because I signed a wavier saying they could leave test results on the answering machine if they came back normal. I finally called them this morning and they had my carotid artery ultra-scan results. They say that I have a blockage in my left carotid artery. I am not sure how bad the blockage is. I have an appointment on Nov 3rd with a Vascular Surgeon to have more tests done and to discuss surgical options. I am scared beyond belief. My granddaddy died from complications from surgery to remove a blockage in his left carotid artery. I know that there are differences in his case and mine but it still scares the crap out of me. I haven't cried yet but I did come close. As the day goes on I feel more hopeless and more like I need a good cry. Please pray for me but more than that pray for my kids. Mikey and Ella are my world and damn it, I don't want thier mommy to be taken away from them while they are so young. (See, I told you I felt pretty hopeless.)

On the weight loss front I am still pushing through. I am down to 173.5 lbs. I am not sure how much I have lost in the last month as I don't remember how much I weighed the last time I posted. I think I am averaging about 5lbs a month now. Not a whole lot but it is headed in the right direction and it will add up eventually. Now we just have to see if I will live long enough to reach my weight loss and life goals. Wish me luck.

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,

"No more monkeys, Jumping on the bed."

Really though, I went to the doctor on Monday. I talked to the doctor for a few mins about what had been going on with my breathing, and he decided to do an EKG. The nurse told me to take my shirt and bra off and cover up with a paper the size of a place-mat. That was pretty funny in and of itself. Then, the nurse came in and grabbed my place-mat sized paper and left me laying on the table totally exposed. Not a big deal except my boobs look like tube socks with tennis balls in them. She then sticks little sensor things all over my chest and tells me that it would be worse if I were a man with a hairy chest. She tells me that it would be worse because the glue off of the sensors gets stuck in thier chest hair. Sorry, but I don't think that would be a bit worse then laying there with my mile long boobs flopped out. When the EKG was done the doctor came back and said that everything looked fine with it. He believes that I just have exercise induced asthma. I am wondering if that is true or if it was just an easy answer. He gave me a script for an inhaler. I have to use it 30 mins prior to exercise for a month and see if that helps. I pray that it does. If it doesn't help I will have to get other tests done. He gave me orders for a chest x ray but I just can't afford to get it done right now. If the inhaler doesn't improve things I will have to find the money and get the chest x ray done. Thanks to everyone that was/is praying for me. It means a lot to know that people are sending up prayers for me. I will update how things go with the inhaler.

Going to the Doctor on Monday

So I am a little freaked right now. I have been thinking for a while that I needed to go to the doctor for some breathing issues that I have when I exercise. When I first started losing weight (304.5 lbs) I could barely breath while exercising. I thought that if I lost weight I would be able to breath better. It isn't that I can't breath in every day life but when I try to exercise I feel like I am going to suffocate. I got a new sports bra thinking that maybe my boobs flopping around when I was trying to exercise was causing part of the problem. It helped a little but not enough. I don't breath through my nose because I can't. I have been told in the past that my adenoids are huge and that may play a part in why I can't breath through my nose, I don't know. I guess I need to face the facts. My dad has heart disease, my granddaddy had heart disease and one of my aunts had heart disease. I am worried that I might have a blockage or something in my heart. I have been kicking around the idea of going to the doctor about this for about a year. This week a lady that is my age and has a daughter my Ella's age had a heart attack. She is slightly overweight and smokes but she is only 32! That isn't old enough for crap like this. She had to have a stint put in and she will be fine, but it still scares me. It scared me into making the call and setting up an appointment. I don't know what the doctor will find if anything but I am scared. I am to young to have heart problems. I know that I have been obese most of my life but I am changing that now. I am to young for this. My kids are to young to not have a mom. Pray for me. Pray that every thing checks out ok. I have lost 123.5 lbs and come to far for this to stop me know.

It's been a couple of weeks. 1 year & 121.5 lbs down!

I am not sure how the last few weeks got away from me without me posting an update. I have been doing pretty well on the weight loss front. On Aug 26th I was down to 184.5 lbs. On Sept 2nd I was down to 183 lbs! Sept 2nd marked 1 year since we started losing weight and getting healthy. I feel like those good habits are second nature to me now. I beat the first year, I can beat the next 35 lbs! Here are two pictures to show my progress.



In 1 year I have lost 121.5 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 1 year Jon has lost 85 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We ROCK!!!