Hiya Blogland !! Happy Hump Day!! In case you're wondering what the above picture is--it's the "Fatberg" a 15 TON blog of congealed fat they blasted out of the London sewers.
I decided it was time to get really REAL and discuss fat. My fat. I'm gonna through out some numbers I've never made public before!
I'm sure y'all have noticed I'm not exactly a 6 foot tall, 100 lb, 20 year old supermodel. SURPRISE!! I'm really a 5'4", fat, 54 year old supermodel.
Let's get to the details and numbers. I ranged between 120-125 lbs through high school and my late teens/early 20's. And I thought I was FAT FAT FAT!! I was built rather straight up and down with some serious boobage. 36DDD, 30 waist, 35 hips. I was constantly starving myself trying to get "skinny". Totally and completely ridiculous.
Enter my 20's and going through all kinds of fertility treatments. hormones out of whack and I'm now weighing between 155-165 lbs. I became diabetic in 1998 and maintained excellent numbers and control and kept my weight about 170lbs. Which SUCKED but it was what it was.
In 2005 everything went ass up and I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis after being bedridden for several months. The suck-it multiplies!
I tried a medicine developed for Fibromyalgia called Lyrica. For some folks it's been a miracle. For others...not so much. I had no relief of the pain and managed to gain 47 FREAKING POUNDS in 6 weeks (weight gain is a side affect!) SUPER!! Now I weigh about 215lbs.
Add to the festivities--The American Diabetes Association now had all diabetics, regardless of their numbers/control being in the normal range, on a preventative plan where you took Metaformin (Diabetes med supposedly to protect your heart), Blood Pressure Meds (low dosage to protect your kidneys) and Crestor (cholestorel med to protect your arteries). Now--my blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar were all NORMAL but I'm taking this medicines to "protect" my heart."
I'm chugging along until the Great Faceplant of 2011. I fell at work and managed to break my nose, chip my left kneecap and severely sprain it, severely sprain my right shoulder, wrist, and elbow, and had hairline fracture in right wrist. I couldn't use crutches, walker or wheelchair due to having casts/sling on right arm. I was pretty much totally immobile for months. AND taking enough steroids to probably juice up the Olympic wrestling team!! I balloon up like a puffer fish!
SO......... This left me at 261.3 lbs on January 1, 2012. I was still fairly immobile but I decided to start really eating "clean" and at least 50% vegetarian. Still on all the diabetes and such meds. Here's a picture of me at about 250lbs. There is no photographic evidence of the 261 lb me!
I regained mobility slowly last year and found myself weighing 229.7 lbs on January 1, 2013.
The weight loss crept along and I got more mobile. I read "Reversing Diabetes" and "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. One thing he wrote struck me--that the meds I'm taking for the diabetes makes it more difficult to lose the weight. He advocates a vegan "Nutritarian" diet. I highly recommend his books for some great nutritional advice. I asked my new doctor on my June visit if I could cut the meds and try this. She said sure--as long as my numbers were good when I had bloodwork done the end of October she was fine with it.
SO--basically I'm 90% vegan. I eat at least 1lb raw veggies, 1 lb steamed/cooked veggies, 1 cup minimum beans, 3-4 raw fruits and 1 ounce nuts or seeds daily. I have 4 ozs per week salmon or chicken. Miss Gracie has me walking quite a bit and I'm adding more yoga stretches every week. I want to try hula-hooping for the abs soon! My blood sugar numbers are fabulous and as of August 7, 2013 I weigh 196 lbs!! That's a 65.3 lb FATBERG GONE!!!
Aside from the weight loss recently, I've found stopping the meds has allowed my overall fibro pain threshhold (the average daily level) to drop from a 7/10 to under a 5/10-which is FREAKIN' AMAZING. I haven't had this low a threshold in 3 years!! plus I'm noticing that the "flares" are shorter in duration and I'm recovering faster. It can only get better!!
I've had some great support these last couple of years. My dear friend Vickie ( we met in high school first day of my 10th grade year) is a fitness trainer/coach in San Diego. She's also a corrective physi- something that can develop exercise programs for disabilities/physical limitations. She does "long distance" coaching for a super reasonable price. One of her long distance clients lost close to 200lbs and is running marathons. She's been such a source of inspiration and encouragement and makes me "accountable"!! I'm trying to get her to start a blog as she would be FANTASTIC!!
Another incredible source of support has been Crystal of
The Queens Table. I went to high school with her husband. We first connected over art and creativeness. She has been on quite the health journey herself (74 lbs gone and beat cancer) She is my go-to reference for all things vegan. Her website is a treasure trove for anyone wanting to go vegan and clean up their food. She's the one who recommended Dr. Fuhrman's books. Her journey and story was the impetus to go vegan-you can't argue with results.
Whew--been quite wordy here today!! I'm linking up today with the always awesome Anne of Spygirl for this weeks
52 Pick-Me-Up Challenge: Tutti-Frutti. I pulled out my "salad" skirt again. It has lemon, lime, porange and pink grapefruit colors in it. The skirt is White Stag/thrifted. I put a thrifted lime Venezia Tshirt, thrifted orange belt, thifted orange Ralph Lauren cardigan, some thrifted citrusy bangles, Amerimark/retail white sandals and a pin I made from a clearance scrapbooking element. I think I'm very citrus-y and tropical and tutti-fruity.
Here's a close-up of the DIY brooches:
I'll be back tomorrow with my outfit for
Gracey at Fashion for Giants Literary Stylings Challenge!!
Everyone have a wonderful evening!!
TTFN
Tamera
