Confessions of a Wayward Diet Goddess

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. Whoops! Lots of things have happened in that time, so let's see if I can remember them all!

First, in the thyroid department, I went back to my doctor in June because I still wasn't feeling right. She said that my last lab results were just outside of normal range, so she increased my meds to 150 mcg (from 125 mcg) and specified that I should take Synthroid and NOT the generic levothyroxine. I've been on it for about a month and I think I feel better. I go back later this month for my next labs, so we'll see how that is going.

I was taking an online algebra class this summer and I ended up dropping it. I just could not handle trying to teach myself algebra and staying up each night until midnight or later, doing homework. Blah! Not how I wanted to spend my summer. The problem was that this class was a prerequisite for the fall class I'm taking. So I had to call the Mathematics Department chair and endure a 10 minute lecture in order for him to waive this prereq for me. If I find myself flailing about in the fall class, I had to promise to go see him and he would put me back in the prereq class. I think I will do much better when I have an actual teacher standing in front of me explaining everything. But time will tell!

Let's see...what else? Oh yeah, my oldest son got his driver's license. Yes, the State of Illinois deemed he was worthy of operating a motor vehicle all on his own. Do you have any idea the worries that this has caused? Oh my. It's been interesting, needless to say.

The day after he got his license, my 16 yr old nephew was involved in a terrible crash that he was lucky enough to walk away from with only a couple of scratches. He was stopped for road construction when a semi slammed into him. The semi driver didn't notice the cars stopped and didn't slow down. The impact sent Brandon flipping over the truck in front of him. I've spoken to two of the other people involved and they told me that they saw his truck flying through the air. The truck in front of him had a propane tank in the bed and it launched into the back window of the vehicle in front of it, landing just inches from a 2 yr old boy in his car seat in the back. There were a total of 5 vehicles involved and NO ONE was hurt. It was truly a miracle.

On the weight loss front, nothing new to see. I'm still hovering between 240 - 245. It's frustrating, but what can you do? I turn in a food log to my trainer's wife, Jill, each week, and she cannot find much wrong with it. I work my butt off in the gym and my body refuses to acknowledge said work. I'm just hanging in there, hoping things will change soon.

I did have an eye-opening experience in the gym about a month ago. If you recall, I joined the gym last May because my town was doing an exercise program and that's what got me started. Thank God! Well, they started up the new one for this year and I learned just how far I had come with our first exercise class. Trainer Andy set up stations similar to those he had for our first class last year - push ups, crunches, step-ups, bicep curls, wall squats w/ball, etc. We did each station for a minute and moved to the next one.

Last year, I struggled with each station. I had to pause during each exercise. I could barely do girl push ups. The wall squats hurt my knees. I think I did maybe 10 crunches because I had to keep stopping. The bicep curls burned like wildfire with 8 lb weights. And so on.

This year, I didn't pause at all. I did 10 boy push ups and then went to girl push ups. Andy saw me and made me do more boy push ups. I did 15 total. Wall squats were no problem. I think I got 30 crunches in 1 minute, no pauses. I used 12 lb weights for my bicep curls and had no problems. And some of the stations, I made the exercise more difficult for myself to give me a challenge. And then I went into the weight room and did 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. No way would I have done "extra" work last year!

Since I last posted, I've also done the kettlebell workout twice. That's the one that made me hyperventilate. First time through, I did it in 23:36. Second time through, I did it in 20:15. Yesterday, I did it in 19:15 and I was also talking to two of the guys about nutrition while I did it. And then I did 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. And there was no hyperventilating.

One thing I'm struggling with is my continued membership in TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). The more I learn about nutrition and exercise, the less involved I care to be with ANY organized "weight loss" company/organization/group. That includes Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, etc. They are all so WRONG! They teach you nothing about proper nutrition and it drives me batty. TOPS encourages members to basically count calories. Weight Watchers teaches people to count and do math (POINTS system), and Jenny Craig/NutriSystem teaches people how to work the microwave.

Arrrgh! There's just so much inherently wrong with the weight loss approaches that are thrust in our faces. And it makes me nuts.

But that is a whole 'nother post for a whole 'nother day.

Posted by ~Diet Goddess~ at 10:10 AM |  

Labels: alex, college, eating, exercise, gym