Frustration

Did I jinx myself my mentioning my great start of 4.7 pounds in 14 days?

It feels like it, because I have hit a huge set back: in two days I went back up 2.2 pounds!

This morning I was back down again a mere 0.1. The running total is down just 2.6.

No, I haven't gone on a junk-food binge.

No, I haven't stopped exercising. In fact, I've done 30 minutes on the elliptical plus my allotment of jumping jacks.

So what can this be? Water retention? Constipation? Nasty Aunt Flo lurking in the shadows?

I'm hoping the next few days will bring good news.

Progress report: two weeks in, 4.7 pounds down

In the last few years I've discovered that I now gain weight very easily. It slips on smoothly, like a comfy pair of slippers.

Losing weight, eh, not so much. I lose a few, gain a few, back and forth. It’s never a straight line down. And it never stays down for long. As soon as I let down my guard, it creeps back up again. And then there's that scary big 200 looming in the not-too-distance.

I’ve decided that it’s time to change all that.

Since January 1^st I’ve lost 4.7 pounds.

Those pounds were frustratingly hard to lose: over those two weeks, I was down 3.8, up 1.3, down 1.8, up .8 and down 1.2.

I write down my weight every morning, then I plot it on a graph. But as I plot it I can see that even if it’s not a straight line down, it will be overall down.

As of New Year's Day, I really changed what I eat. Lots more fresh fruit and veggies, lean meats, reduced carbs/starches, and very little sweets (except that tube of cookie dough in the fridge leftover from NYE).

I stopped buying all the junk food that the kids usually request. Instead, apples, oranges, bananas, cantaloupes, and honeydews fill the crisper in the fridge; ready-to-eat containers of pineapple, peaches, and pink grapefruit now live on the shelf above, making friends with the lite yogurt.

In fact, there was more fruit than room for it in the crisper. But then I learned everyone likes their apples "warm" (not cold from the fridge). So the apples stay out in a basket on the table.

Gadget Guy and the Pink Ballerina are on board the eat-healthy bandwagon. Pink Ballerina said that she "really, really wanted some ice cream" the other night, but understood that "we're eating just healthy food now." Princess Imagination is fine with just apples and frozen fruit pops. Bumblebee usually eats a serving (or more) of everything that’s available. Since all that's available is fresh fruit and yogurt, that's all he's been eating. (Mental note: if you want your kids to stop eating junk food, stop buying junk food.)

But changing my diet is not enough. I have been exercising. I can't always get the classes at the gym, so I have been creative. For the last two Saturdays, I had to squeeze in a quick workout: take kids to Tae Kwon Do, walk down to gym, push hard for 30 minutes on elliptical trainer, grab a quick shower, throw on fresh clothes, walk back to TKD, pick up kids, drive home and serve lunch! On school days, I can stay on the elliptical for 45 to 60 minutes. Too many days, someone is home sick, or something else gets in the way. On those days, I do 20 to 30 Jumping Jacks an hour every hour.

Well, it's a start. Happy New Year!!

The Mominator

An inspiration

A few months ago, I started noticing Sweetheart jogging around the neighborhood while I was driving my girls to/from school. I haven't seen much of Sweetheart since her daughter and my Bumblebee graduated from 8th grade together.

I saw her in the grocery store this week and it was nice to catch up with her after a long time.
--Sweetheart, you look fantastic. What's your secret?
--I lost 90 pounds.
--Wow! Amazing! Wait, you didn't have 90 pounds to lose.
--You never saw me naked.

OK then.

Of course, maybe she got much bigger since I'd last seen her and before she lost the 90 pounds. I hadn't seen her really for 3 years at least, and she went through a divorce during that time.

Still, good for her.

Well, I have seen *me* naked, and it's not pretty. I'm carrying around 55 extra pounds. It's scary because the big 200 is getting closer and closer on the scales. I'm not there yet, but I also thought that at 150, and 160, and 170.

I've been doing Yoga twice a week for a while. But I haven't been consistent. I'm not going to lose 55 pounds just by doing Yoga. I've got to start sweating. Serious sweating. And I've got to figure out the how and why of that one.

Yet another doll conversation

Princess Imagination: She just went into the machine that makes you drop dead gorgeous.
Pink Ballerina: That was her identical twin.
Princess Imagination: Not any more.

Christmas Conversation

Firetruck Santa stopped by last night.
"Santa have you been working out? You've lost weight since last year!"
Yes, that would be our Princess Imagination.

Dear Math Teacher: Do not make my daughter cry

Today Princess Imagination took her out reading book in your math class.

Yes, that was a mistake in judgment. She’s worried about a book report that’s due soon.

You probably forgot that impulsivity is a symptom of her ADHD.

You should have said, “Princess Imagination, this is math class, not language arts. Put your book away.” Princess Imagination would have said, “Oh, right.” That could have been the end of this whole mess.

Instead, you took the book and hid it in your desk drawer. And you upset her. A lot.

Then you forgot to give the book back at the end of class. That was your mistake, not hers.

Then you weren’t in your classroom at the end of day, when she went looking for you to give her the book back. Her book report book! Now the book is in your desk, in your locked classroom. You panicked her and made her cry. She met me outside sobbing and hysterical.

Then when my older daughter tracked you down in the office, you gave her attitude. You complained about having to walk “all the way down the hall and unlock your classroom.”

You were the one who took the book. You were the one to forget to return it. You were the one not in your classroom at the end of day.

You’re very lucky my older daughter found you and not me. Mama Bear is very angry with you.

Pink Ballerina's dizziness update

After eight visits to five doctors (Pediatrician, Cardiologist, ENT/Otolaryngologist, Ophthalmologist, and Neurologist), several rounds of testing (blood, urine, sinus x-rays, EKG, echo-cardiogram, hearing, vision, VNG, and MRI), we still do not know the cause of Pink Ballerina's dizziness, headaches, and ringing in her ears.

The good news is that really bad causes have been eliminated. (I've decided not to speculate on what those really bad causes could have been.)

There are three theories (so far) for the cause of her dizziness:

1. Dehydration. We have been keeping her hydrated and it seems to have helped. Or it may be co-incidental.
2. Migraine-associated vertigo (MAV), which is vertigo associated with a migraine, either as a symptom of migraine or as a related but neurological disorder. Pink Ballerina has a history of migraines.
3. We don’t (or won’t) know the cause, but with a “tincture of time” it will go away. Our Pediatrician, Cardiologist, Ophthalmologist, and ENT all related stories of several patients who had similar symptoms of dizziness; and although no specific cause was found (and thus no specific treatment prescribed) they all seemed to get better after a few months.

We do know that Pink Ballerina’s hearing has declined since last year, and her vision has declined since last year.
She has gotten glasses and is now getting used to them. Our Ophthalmologist suggested that her vision decline may explain the some of the dizziness and headaches, but certainly not the ringing in her ears.

Pink Ballerina wore hearing aids last fall, and has a miserable experience with them. She said they were very uncomfortable, made some sounds too soft and others too loud, made her ears like they were plugged, and also, the receiver part of the hearing aids broke frequently. She gave her hearing aids another trial last week. She hates them just as much, if not more, than last year. (Getting Pink Ballerina to wear her hearing aids is a battle that will have to wait.)

The Doctors do agree the best all of us can do is:

1. continue the supports in school she already had in place for her hearing loss (preferential seating, making sure Pink Ballerina has your attention, etc.),
2. be patient as she adjusts to her glasses and re-programmed hearing aids,
3. continue to allow her to hydrate frequently,
4. keep a journal of her dizziness attacks (how often, how long, what triggers them, what makes them worse, what makes them better), and
5. ease her back into physical activity as her dizziness allows.

We had a follow-up the the Neurologist yesterday. Ballerina's MRI was normal. Yeah! Since the dizziness spells seem to be getting less severe, and/or Pink Ballerina seems to be learning to live with them, we are continuing with the stay hydrated and "tincture of time" treatments.

The Neurologist wants to schedule an EEG to rule out seizure disorders. Yikes! Wait, I'm not going to speculate on really bad causes.

Stay tuned,

The Mominator