Working and eating....

So I finally was able to get off my butt Thursday night and make candles.  I hadn't done any crafting (other than making 2 quilting blocks) since before Thanksgiving!  I've had so many bad days since then and just haven't had the drive on the good days to do "productive" things.  I will say, I've managed to clean the bathroom a few times since then - thank goodness! - otherwise not so much.  Although I can't say that entirely because I had been better about cooking for myself and doing some light exercise until the medication change.  Now I'm mostly back to relying on the fiance for cooking and watching a lot of tv.

The doctor prescribed me a pill to help me sleep.  I took it for the first time Superbowl Sunday (it was a sad day in New England!) and I slept for 22 out of 25 hours then slept another 5 on top of that over the course of 38 hours (no I wasn't that depressed about the Pats loss).  It was unbelievable!  It was 48 hours before I was completely able to shake the sleep coma off.  I tried taking it again last night and slept 5 hours, got up, made candles for 3 hours, went to bed at 7:30a and slept till 1:30p.  So I don't know what this pill is or is not doing. 

I'm still, for the most part, eating better.  I'm really trying hard to get rid of as much junk food as possible and find whole food substitutions for the junk I can't live without ;-)  Chips are my downfall!  Especially nachos. So I make my own pita chips and tortilla chips by just taking whole pitas or tortillas and baking them in the oven coated with a little oil and a sprinkle of salt.  By doing just 1 at a time I prevent myself from totally bingeing on them, which I am so apt to do and they also are not as addictive as the kinds that come in a bag.  I also experiment with adding spices - I added chilli powder and lime juice last time to my tortillas and they were delicious.  Next time, I would like to try putting some cinnamon sugar on the pitas.  All in all, I'm getting in my veggies, but still struggle with eating fruit.  I'm allergic to some of it and just don't care for a lot of it.  I am trying though.

Last week, however, I was not a good girl and kept having crazy cravings for fast food and large quantities of chips.  I absolutely could not control my cravings and kept binging every night.  I ended up gaining 7lbs out of the 15lbs I lost!  I have been good the last few days although I'm still going over my calories everyday: not by a lot but around 100 calories or so.  I am hoping I will be able to get that back down again.  I am back down nearly 3 lbs but that still leaves me with a little over 4 to lose.  Maybe I'll do some Wii dancing to burn off that extra 100 calories while I'm awake and thinking of it!

To a better day tomorrow :-)

Feeling neglected?

So I've been neglecting this blog.  Right after the holidays I visited my lyme doctor and he changed my meds which means I'm hexing, flaring, having a reaction....whatever you would like to call it.  For the last couple weeks I've neglected everything so it's no surprise.  My to-do list is getting rather long.

The one thing I've been trying to NOT neglect is my health.  I've been trying to eat right, lose some weight and exercise whenever possible.  The exercise thing is a challenge since when I do feel well enough to do it, I usually pay for it later by not being able to walk, but it gets done.  I don't know if it's better to push myself or continue to just lay on the couch....there is no happy medium.  Laying on the couch seems like a bad idea.  I'm afraid I will just get worse and worse and weaker and weaker.

I've been watching what I eat since the middle of December and I'm down 15lbs so that is looking up!  Gaining all the weight after getting sick can't possibly be helping especially having diabetes and early onset heart disease runs in my family (my dad had his first angioplasty at 38 and I'm currently 32).

However, last Wednesday I did happen to feel well and decided in celebration of my birthday I would get a tattoo.  It says "Believe" and is a reminder to believe in myself and believe I will get better!  Hopefully I can truly take that message to heart!

Happy (belated) New Year!

Well, I have neglected my blog for a week or so.  I have been busy being healthy.  It takes up way more time than I want it to!

So I am using a great site: myfitnesspal.com.  It is a free site for those looking for weight loss help.  I joined in August 2010 and used it for a weeks and then gave up.  Then I started using it again for about a day and gave up again, but alas, I started using it again about a month ago and I've stuck to it since.  It's great.  It has a food tracker tool to count calories or carbs or whatever else you are interested in tracking to lose weight.  There are also forums for support and you can make "friends" who encourage you to eat right, work out and give advice.  I think if you are truly committed to losing weight this site will definitely help.  So far I'm officially down 4 pounds, but I had lost 3 pounds from the summer until December so 7 pounds down and a lot more than I'm willing to admit, to go ;-)

I eliminated (nearly) all the processed foods from my diet -- you will never get me to start making my own tortillas, but the large majority of my foods are beans and vegetables.  I've also brought my meat intake to 1-2 meals/week.  I think eating in this way is helping my lyme.  I do feel like I have a bit more energy: yesterday I was able (and motivated to) go for a walk.  That hasn't happened for a while.  We'll see what today brings.  I've also slept a bit better the last few days (although not so much last night).  I've suffered from insomnia my entire life, but the last year has been particularly bad.  I won't fall asleep until 5a and sleep until 1p or I will only sleep in short 2-4hour bursts.  It is really hard to function normally and feel well when you are unable to sleep.  I have a c-pap for sleep apnea that does not help and sleeping pills that are supposed to knock you out the second you take them, but neither has worked for me.

I'm hoping this whole lifestyle change (it's not a diet!!) will work for me and speed up my recovery.