The First Rule About Fat Club Is...........

It is the week after Christmas and we are fast approaching the new year. I have yet to hear fom my Doctor, so I suppose I will have to take iniative and call him.No matter what, January 4th is kick off time so I am still enjoying Holiday treats and meals but find myself thinking a salad would be good right about now.

One thing I have found through my quest for the holy grail of health is about 90% of the time ,I actually enjoy eating healthy. I like low fat yogurt with a sunflower seeds on top,oatmeal,salad,lean meat and fruit,green tea and water can be pretty good and your body and mind seem to function must better.I have trained my mind ,tastebuds and tummy to not gorge, to stop before feeling too full,chew slower, put my fork down between meals,distract myself when I know I am really not hungry.I know what you are thinking...then why are you fat? Same question I ask myself frequently, especially if you ever watch shows about obese people and it highlights what they consume in a day or week . I am always astounded at the huge amounts of fat and sugar and bread and find myself shouting at the TV , no fair , I don't eat like that! No wonder from the time they cut their calories the pounds fall off.

Now exercise is a horse of a different color. Between the sleep apnea and some health ailments I deal with ,finding the energy to invest in working out can be difficult. I know it will make a difference though and once I get back to it on a regular basis it will be easier.

Not to long ago a friend of mine was getting frustrated about all the thoughtless comments she receives when she and her rather large family of six children go out. I realized I am guilty of making some of those comments myself, so it made me think of thoughtless comments people may make to fat people....

1.You have a great personality.
2.She has a such a pretty face.
3.You're going to eat that?
4.You don't carry youself like an overweight person.
5.You just need to exercise and eat less!

Now, number 5 is definitely the most irritating and it usually comes from someone who has never had weight issues or only had to take off 5 to 20 pounds.Those are the people you want to walk a mile in your shoes just for a day! While it seems so simple, lets think about this for a second, if it were that easy, very few people would have a weight problem.

Oh, I left one off, people who tell you about the latest diet when you did not ask ,or when you are asked, have you ever tried?.........Fill in the blank,Weight Watchers,Atkins,South Beach, Mayo Clinic,Counting Calories, the list is endless and makes you want to reply, Dude I am fat, not clueless,of course I have tried almost everything known to man!

Insomnia Is Thy Name

It is 5:16 here on a very blustery morning and I am awake yet again. I guess you could say last night was a good night's sleep in my book ,because I probably logged a total of about three and a half hour of zzz's.

They say sleep is key to so many things going on in your body,mental health,immune system, metabolism. On the flipside extra pounds can cause you to snore and lose sleep. Lose weight to sleep better,sleep better to lose weight.Houston we have a problem!

I am awaiting results from a recent sleep apnea test. In laymans terms sleep apnea is when you stop breathing in your sleep, one cause can be extra weight and a thick neck. You don't have to be overweight to suffer from it, but it is the cause in many cases. You could sleep for two hours or ten but never feel rested. Falling asleep at the drop of a hat at various times of the day is not unusual nor are conditions like fibromyalgia or sore joints and muscles. Our cells repair at night during sleep, so if you haven't caught on yet it can be a vicious cycle. If the test I took shows cetain results they will give me a machine called a c-pap to help me breathe and sleep better.Honestly , it's been years since I have had a full nights sleep, for an adult that is at least seven hours.

I have heard of people who have weight issues who start to take off pounds right away, once they start sleeping with a c-pap machine. They have more energy to stay on top of things and to exercise.

It is funny the things you start to grasp at when your weight spirals out of control. Could it be thyroid? Medications? Genetics? You watch every discovery channel special about people with some rare condition that couldn't lose weight until they were treated and then the weight just started falling off.You talk yourself into every symptom, convinced the responsibility for this problem can not solely be yours.

It's 5:46 and I am starting to fall asleep at the keyboard....Ahh come sweet sleep....... at least for an hour!zzzzzz

The Chick In The Mirror

It's post Christmas week and I am feeling it. I go from not drinking most of the year to a few glasses of wine a day for about 3 days. Trying to avoid sweets goes to seeking them out like a bloodhound,enough butter to cover the rest of the year and hot chocolate that could rival Willy Wonkas fountain! So is it any wonder in all this debauchery I would wind up feeling a bit like a swollen tick?

We all know too well about resolutions made and unkept, but this year I have no choice but to be resolute in my resolutions and lose weight. No, I didn't say get thin or shape up, I must medically for the sake of my life and family, lose weight!

Do you ever look at your reflection and not recognize who you see? Just who is the chick in the mirror and what did she do with the face of my youth to make this distorted face with the extra chins and age spots?

I was the one who vowed to myself growing up I would NEVER look like some of these middle age Mamas who let themselves go and did not dress fashionably. Yet that is exactly where I feel I am today. [Ok Lord I think I have learned my lesson] I get it,don't judge. First of all being fashionable can be difficult without loads of money to spend in the exclusive plus size shops and second of all I have been fighting at every turn gaining weight and have steadily gained for the past 18 years.

You name it, I have tried it, usually with minimal success or if it has promise, it is not a way in which you can live forever. Every doctor's appointment I go to,and believe me that is quite a few ,I ask their opinion ,usually to get vague answers or something I have already tried. If will power was all that was needed ,I would be quite thin at this point. I have even tried prescibed diet pills that worked for a few months along with a strict diet only to find my health on the worse end and myself $800 out.

So here I was at my last appointment with a new doctor asking the same question What do you think is the best way to get this weight off? He actually heard me. "Well first we start with blood tests to make sure everything is working properly and then if all is well we will start with a low carb low fat diet and if after a year you have tried diligently and added exercise and not lost a reasonable amount, we will talk" ...and then came the name in which we do not speak.... Gastric Bypass! "Some people simply can not take off the weight" was his reply. Well amen to that brother!However knowing what I know about GB, this was really not a comfort for two reasons.The first is plain and simple, you could die in surgery and have terrible side effects later and the second that I will absolutely do it anyway if it is deemed necessary.

Anyone with weight issues knows what it does to your self esteem and how you choose to tackle life issues whether it be 20lbs or 125lbs. You can pep yourself up sometimes and put on a brave face but the issue is something you can never escape from for one solitary second it is literally always with you.

So here I find myself again enjoying "Last" holiday meals and goodies and not counting calories knowing that the elliptical machine is calling my name and we are at the last time out that could make or break the game.