A Hippo with a Headband: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Just Another Reason...

to lose weight.

My liver enzymes are high. It was expected for them to be high before my gallbladder was removed, but not after. Two of my three elevated enzymes were back to normal, but that odd ball out is causing my doctor concern. He has ordered a Hepatitis panel to rule those out. Did you know you can get Hep. from a restaurant if someone served you food without washing their hands? I knew that before but had forgotten. Anywho, they are going to test me for all three and the results will be back in 2 weeks. Until then I wait... a little nervously.

The reason for losing more weight comes in if those tests are negative. The most common reason for mild to moderate ATL enzymes is "fatty liver". Fatty liver is most commonly brought on by excessive alcohol use. Since I have only had 10 drinks in my whole life (not counting sips of wine at Christmas when I was younger)... it has to be caused by one of the other two reasons: Diabetes and Obesity. I do not have diabetes so that only leaves my fat patooty!

The Dr asked if I was losing weight and I said "Well yes, but that's my fault." He said good and asked how much I began at. I told him I was 270 when I had the baby, 235 when I began counting my fat lost, and just weighed in at 212 on Saturday. He was pleased. He also gave me some good news.

I am cleared for mild work out! I can't bike yet because a fall would be dangerous until 4 weeks out. I also can't do any ab work so no Ab Lounge.... but I can get on my elliptical! Woot woot! Time to start easing back into a routine. It's gonna be hard to remind myself to take it easy. I tend to want to work out until I almost pass out because it's rare that I get the feeling and energy to work out at the same time. I have to time myself to make sure I don't injure myself though. I think 15 mins a day is a good start. Time to get movin' and lose those last 13 lbs!

Celebration party here we come!

Thank you all who are posting my button! I am so honored and grateful for your support!

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Motivation Monday June 28

Motivation Monday

brought to you by Me!

Welcome to Motivation Monday! I will be chronicling my journey back to a healthy body, mind, and spirit. Each week I will discuss how the previous week was and set some goals for the next week. I will also be listing my progress. If you would like to see past progress you can look in my archives for other Motivation Monday and Get Moovin' Monday posts. If you would like to get motivated with me please link up your post using the link form below. Your post can be in any format you want. Whether you are trying to get healthier physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually or if you just have a task you need some motivation to complete...please link up so we can help support each other. I would love to hear about your progress and help keep you motivated!

My Week

Well, I am healing up pretty well. I am able to add cheese back into my diet but I overdid it a little yesterday with Mac & Cheese. I ended up being sick for 2 hours and eating saltines for dinner instead of the baked chicken and cheese rice that I had cooked. I learned my lesson with that one. Otherwise I have been doing well.

My Progress

I am so happy with my numbers this week. I was a bit dehydrated from being sick the day before, but I have fixed that now. I am so happy that I am throwing a party soon! As soon as I get under 200 lbs I'll be throwing a party in celebration! I'm even rounding up some giveaways to make a huge bash out of it. Here is the button in case you want to help spread the word. You can see the whole post here.

My Numbers {From Last Saturday's Weigh In}
{Green is Improvement, Red is Bad, Mmkay?, Blue is Stayed the Same}

Weight - 212.4
BMI % -49.8
Water % - 37.9
Muscle Mass % - 33.5

How did you do this week?
If you would like to link up, you can do it on any of the sites with this linky tool. Linking to one will link you to all of them. It's that easy! If you'd like to have the blog hop linky on your post like mine, just press "Get the Code Here" and copy/paste it into your post.

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Saturday, June 26, 2010

Get Ready to Party!

You're Invited!!!

I weighed in today and wouldn't you know it? I am only 13lbs away from being UNDER 200lbs! At the rate I've been losing, I think I will be throwing my party by August! I hope you'll come and party with me. If you would like, you can grab my party button from my sidebar {or at the bottom of this post} to help spread the word! It will encourage me to keep working toward my goal if I know people are raring and waiting for my Under 200 Pounds Party! {Hmmm I should think up a better name for it... lol}

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Friday, June 25, 2010

How I Got This Way

First, let me give a big warm welcome hug to all my new readers! I hope you feel comfortable commenting often. I adore hearing your input! I was thinking today... how did I get this way?

As some of you already know, I just had my gallbladder removed. Every time I saw a Dr. he or she would comfort me and assure me that as soon as it was removed, and my digestive tract was back to normal, that I could eat all those things they figured I loved. They would cite cookies, brownies, fried foods, fast food. All I am looking forward to is cheese! I miss cheese... I almost felt angry that they would assume I crave those other foods, but then when I looked in the mirror... well I had to think about it from their perspective. To them, I am obese. They don't know why. Most obese people are that way for two reasons, illness or eating/exercising habits. They had read my medical record and knew I didn't have a thyroid problem or something of the like, so of course they assumed I ate too much and led a sedentary lifestyle. I am sure I assumed that about someone on the street before, and it's a sound assumption, so I decided I shouldn't be insulted.

The fact of the matter is, I am not overweight because of over eating, lack of exercise, illness, or even family influence. I was 140lbs and a model a mere seven years ago in high school. Shortly before graduating high school and gaining my freshman 15 in college I began taking Depo Provera. It is a birth control that I needed to take to keep myself from bleeding out each month. Depo completely stops periods in most women and it did stop me from hemorrhaging. Unfortunately is does make you gain weight, 2-3lbs a year they warn. I gained 60lbs my first year. Other women have similar results. I had gained a total of 80lbs on Depo Provera. It also keeps you from losing weight. I worked out daily and maintained weight. When I lapsed in my exercise, I gained. Then I discovered a few months before our wedding, in May of 08 {a couple days before my birthday} that I had a tumor growing on my left ovary. Great birthday present huh? Congrats on your upcoming wedding but you may not be able to give your husband a child... I had surgery to remove it and thankfully my uterus and right ovary were unaffected. It was a good possibility that Depo was the culprit so DH and I decided I would go off all chemical birth control lest I lose my remaining ovary before we had children.

Since going off the Depo I lost weight and lost it fast. Because my resting heart rate was so high, I found that I lost weight doing every day activities. I also got pregnant much faster than my Drs and I thought I would... and of course started gaining again. I gained a total of 50lbs during my pregnancy, 40 of which was water weight from preeclampsia. I also developed gestational diabetes. I realized then that I need to lose this weight or I'll end up with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, soon. So far I have lost 40lbs of water weight and 15lbs of fat since giving birth 6 months ago.

With the support of my loving husband and my sweet readers, I can do this! My ultimate goal is 150lbs. Contrary to my wonderful husband's opinion, I am not a girl anymore {he said one night, to that statement, "Honey, you'll always be a girl" and no he's not seen the movie Be Cool lol} so I think 140lbs would be a bit too much to lose. I have mommy hips now {not that my 36in hips were ever narrow lol} so I think a little heavier than suggested will be a healthy weight for me. My other goal is to be around 25 BMI since healthy weight varies between body types. So there you have it: Why I am here and where I plan to be in a year or two.

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Friday Fun!

It's time for Friday Fun! Please hop on over to my dear host(esse)s' blogs and give them some love!

If you are new here, Welcome! I am Jeannette.

Here at A Hippo With A Headband you will find a chronicle of my journey to a healthier me. At my heaviest, while pregnant I was 270lbs and suffered from gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. I had been losing weight slowly before I became pregnant, but now I know what lays ahead of me if I don't step up my game! I am seeking to be healthy for myself, my husband, and our children {we plan to have a couple more one day :0P}.

Under my header you can see my weekly weight loss progress. If you look at my sidebar, you can find my inspirations and a scrolling marque of my weight loss in photos. In the footer is a chart showing my progress overtime {running data from the ticker above}.

Today I weighed in at 214lbs! My lowest weight since 1 1/2 years ago!

Here are some posts to get you started:
My Stats and Goals {The First Post}
My Weight In Pictures
Some Nice Improvements

If you are an old friend, welcome back love! I am so glad to see you again. Are you ready to jazzersize? Or you know... whatever. Just get movin'! Maybe zumba, yoga, carry a 19lb baby around? Anything to get that blood pumpin' and your body sweatin'!

Now put on those headbands and let's get started!

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

What the Hell Is That?!

...and how do I get rid of it?

Red Marks = My Butt - critical need to lose weight!
Orange Marks = Back fat - medium need to lose weight.
Yellow Mark = My neck "hump" - I think maybe it's just my posture and stress knots since I have had that since I was 150lbs... but it is a little annoying. Dr says my spine is fine and it's not dangerous.
Green Marks = My feet - I lost all my foot fat when I lost my water weight, go me!

What the heck do you call the fat sitting on top of your butt and hips?
I call the hip area love handles but is it the same all along your butt and back? I need to lose that fat first! I am losing weight overall which is great, but I would like to focus on toning that area first, followed by my back fat, and then under arms. I just don't know what to call it to search for suitable exercises. I know that when you have belly fat and you do too many sit-ups your stomach looks bigger for some time because you are growing muscle under the fat. I don't want that to be the case here. It makes my skirts all fit funky! They are all hiked up in the back so I can't wear them lest my butt hang out the bottom. Eek!

The exercises I have found so far are:

Lunges

Squats

Hip Extentions

Stair Stepping/Step

Ideas and suggestions would be great! Thanks y'all!

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Motivation Monday

Motivation Monday

brought to you by Me!

My Week

This week was rough. As some of you know, I had my gallbladder removal surgery last Monday. I have been taking it easy and healing. I am doing well. I feel like the old me but I still can't lift Little Bit {because he is 19lbs and my limit is 15 lol} or eat a normal diet. In a couple weeks I'll be back to who I was two months ago. I almost had an attack a few nights ago after having coke and sourdough bread so I am cutting those two things from my diet, at least for a month. It was scary and painful!

My Progress

ALL GREEN! I am so happy with my numbers this week. Now, I don't know exactly how much the gallbladder weighs... but I don't think it is 3lbs so... whoopee! I lost 3lbs this week AND I am under 50% body fat for the first time! I still have a week of no-low fat diet so I am sure I can keep it this way. I just hope I don't gain it all back when I can finally have the Mac & Cheese I've been craving for a month...

My Numbers {From Last Saturday's Weigh In}
{Green is Improvement, Red is Bad, Mmkay?, Blue is Stayed the Same}

Weight - 213
BMI % -49.9
Water % - 37.6
Muscle Mass % - 33.8

How did you do this week?
If you would like to link up, you can do it on any of the sites with this linky tool. Linking to one will link you to all of them. It's that easy! If you'd like to have the blog hop linky on your post like mine, just press "Get the Code Here" and copy/paste it into your post.

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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Friday Fun!

I'm late, I'm late to a very important date!!! Okay, so I know it is technically Saturday... but I am just starting on my Friday Follow Fun this week so please excuse my tardiness. Plus Imma play the "just got out of surgery" card and say that's why I'm late {even though you can plainly see from my other blogs that I was posting yesterday... teehee}.

Anywhoodle! It's time for Friday Fun! Please hop on over to my dear hostesses' blogs and give them some love!

If you are new here, Welcome! I am Jeannette.

Now put on those headbands and let's get started!

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Friday, June 4, 2010

Some Nice Improvements!

Here are two pictures taken about two months apart.

{I swear I am wearing panties in the second one... note to self : Pink undies match your skin!}

Can you see the subtle difference? My legs go together, my arms lay flat, my tummy looks a little tighter, and my face is thinner! Woot!

Here is a close up of my face from when I began losing weight and now.
{And of my new haircut...teehee}

Now think what I could do if I could get myself to start P90X! I just can't seem to make myself do it everyday... but I guess doing it once a week is better than not doing it all because I might miss some days huh? *HAPPY DANCE!*

P.s. My weigh in was nice tonight too. I'm going to repeat it tomorrow since Sat. morning is my norm for the last few months... but I just had to know tonight!

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Win, Lose, or Blog!

I have officially thrown my hat in the ring to participate in Win, Lose, or Blog! It's a new blog with a competition to lose the most body weight percentage, similar to the TV show "The Biggest Loser".

Here's what the creators have to say:

The first "season" of Win, Lose or Blog will begin Monday June 21st. We will be accepting applications to be a contestant until 11:59 PM on Thursday June 17th. Just fill out the entry form at the bottom of this post.

We will have one grand prize winner who will receive a whopper of a prize! We will have two runners-up who will also receive great prizes.

In addition to these prizes we will award one large prize to the biggest "non-contestant-loser." So if you don't get chosen to be a contestant this round, there's still motivation to participate.

And if that wasn't enough, two people will win prizes simply from commenting on posts! Every comment left on any post for the whole season counts as an entry, so follow the fun and share your thoughts! Every prize will be worth at least $40.

You can head on over now, help them spread the word and get started on your comment entries. You can also sign up to be a contestant! I hope you will.

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Something's Gotta Give!

I have a health update for y'all. When I was pregnant I suffered from extreme hip pain, more so than the average pregnant woman, because of my extra weight. Most overweight people become that way over the course of a lifetime, but some, like myself who gained due to medication, put on a lot of weight in a short period of time. I gained about 70lbs in the course of 2 years. As you can imagine this was a major shock for my joints. Carrying around the extra weight of a baby was no help in that matter.

Secondly I developed gestational diabetes. Although this is not dependent on weight since it is the pregnancy hormone suppressing insulin production, it is seen more in overweight and obese mothers to be. I only had to live a diabetic life for half a year, but let me tell you, YOU DO NOT want that life! Finally I ended up with pre-eclampsia which caused my very life to be in danger. After a blood pressure reading of 180/95 I was admitted to the hospital and induced 5 weeks early. My son was born healthy and full sized, thank the Lord, but I was not as lucky. My blood pressure tanked, and had my husband not caught it, I would have died during labor. I ended up with a c-section after my body couldn't handle the stress any longer and stopped responding.

I recovered from the delivery and things were looking pretty good. I began losing weight, a lot of weight! In fact, 2 weeks postpartum I had lost 40lbs in water weight alone! It had turned out that I only gain about 15lbs of fat during my pregnancy once you subtracted my son's weight and the water weight. I have since lost that 15lbs and am right at my pre-pregnancy size. Unfortunately, that size is still obese.

I was so excited! I had lost all that weight without cutting out sweets or exercising. I was simply carrying my, rather heavy, son around everywhere. Then one night I was rushed to the ER. I was having pain in my chest and between my shoulder blades that rivaled that of my two days of un-medicated labor. They diagnosed me as having gas and sent me on my happy way. A few nights later it happened again. This time I was writhing on the bathroom floor screaming out in pain. Having been practically laughed out of the hospital I toughed it out. I saw my Dr and we theorized that it might be my gallbladder. A normal American diet (high fat/grease) plus a recent pregnancy would seem to indicate it. The big tip off was that it seemed tomatoes were the culprit to my pain. She said if the pain returned I must go to the ER because my gallbladder could be infected and burst similar to appendicitis. Sure enough, after eating chicken fried rice one night the pain returned with a vengeance. We called an ambulance, I went to the ER, and this time the Dr ran some tests. Sure enough, my liver enzymes were elevated. Since I am not a drinker, my gallbladder is likely at fault. I will likely have it removed within the next month.

What does all that mean? It means that at the age of 25, having only been overweight for about 5 years, my body is already suffering great consequence for my food choices and lack of exercise. It means that if I continue on this path, I will die. It is time for a change! It is time to start eating right and exercising! What clearer message could God have sent me than excruciating pain? Would I continue to eat pizza and fried food if I didn't hurt every time but still knew what it was doing to my body? Sadly, yes. So this is my wake up call. Get healthy or die early. It is that simple, right here in black and white.