The Last Two Days...AWFUL!!!!!

This is going to be short. Yesterday I decided to complain to AT&T about the speed of my Internet.  In less than 30 minutes the Agent I was talking to, set me up for U-Verse Internet and disconnected my home phone which cut my Internet!!!!

I promptly called back desperately trying to get it restored.  I spent 6 hours on the phone talking to agent to agent to departments trying to get it all back and they could not do it even getting management involved.  The best they could do was move my installation date up to Monday afternoon which will cause me to have to cancel my dental appointment.

That isn't it, there's more!

I have to say here, that I did get my computer back from the Geek Squad. I can't tell you the frustration after not having it for nearly a month and not being able to use it. I can't even describe the anger that I had. The good news is I didn't binge and I did not get off my new eating plan.

This morning I woke up and I decided to use my cell phone as a hotspot I got on the web and mess around on Facebook and other sites that I like to visit. Mark had decided to take one of the broken Media chairs to Lazy Boy. Just before he left Mike called and I told him about what happened with AT&T and he brought to my attention that without a phone are home security system was not being monitored. I just flipped out!

I then tried calling AT&T to see if there was anything they could do. OF COURSE NOT!!!!!   I then got so angry that I started calling places like Verizon, Comcast and our security monitoring company.

I also need to insert here that today is our 28th wedding anniversary. 28 years ago our wedding also fell on a Saturday and it was our hope to have a very special day together. Can you see that it wasn't going to happen? I can tell you that we even didn't go out to dinner tonight. No celebration today and I can't tell you how that gripes my butt.

So, when I talked to our security monitoring company, they could offer as Internet along with monitoring of our house without a phone line. They were even able to offer us a bundle package. While I was talking to the agent she was even able to get an installment time for Tuesday. So, about 30 minutes to an hour later she calls back and for some reason the installation department call her back and said they could not squeeze me in on Tuesday. The earliest they could get to me is... July 11!!! I can't tell you how I lost it. The poor girl new it was our anniversary and it really upset her when I started crying and she begged me just stop and to enjoy my day and I just couldn't. So what she promised me is that on Monday morning as soon as she gets in she will talk to her manager and get her manager to speak to the Installation Manager to get my installation escalated under the circumstances I have been a long term security customer and right now I don't have the ability to have the home monitored. That's my only hope at this point.

So Here I am again this time dictating on my samsung galaxy s5 on my data package to my phone which is unlimited. I have very limited data on my hotspot so I need to save it for things I need to do on my computer.

On Friday I did have a great time having lunch and catching up with Doreen. Its always good to see her. I was able to find something on the menu that would work for my new eating plan.

So where does this leave us until I get internet service back? I will try to post on this blog that I can tell you this isn't the easiest thing to do and maybe I'll get used to it. So keep checking back and I will try my best to keep you updated.

We're going to try tomorrow the start fresh and celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary. Our dinner plans and reservations are at a place we have never gone and it will work perfectly for me. The name of the restaurant is Fogo De Chao.

I did cry a lot today because I had been looking forward to this celebration and now my eyes are foggy, dry and they hurt.  It is almost 11:00 here so I'm going to end this and try to calm down some more so I can sleep.

Excuse the typos!  Love ya!

Good News and Today...Busy and Tired!

The Dr.'s scale showed a bigger loss than mine.  Her's said that I've lost 17.5 lbs.  Mine says 13.2.  I think that I will stick to my scale because it is digital and it is the scale that weighed me the same as the expensive ones used at Weight Watchers.  Her's was one of the regular Dr. scales on carpet.  Anyway I have lost a lot in 9 days and the Dr. was so happy!  I did find out that I have been doing exactly what she expected me to do.  No bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners except Ste-via and no oil except Olive Oil so that also means no butter.  Trust me it can be done and I've been o.k. other than the withdrawals.  She also has me eating low glycemic and maybe this weekend I will do a post with nothing but the information sheets that she gave me if you think that you would like to follow it.

I showed her the True Lemon drink additive like Crystal Light that I have been using that does have 1 gram of sugar in it. She said that it was fine. I also got approval to use My Fit Foods Protein Supplement Mix which I really do like that is sweetened with Ste-via.  I told her that I had gotten my Diet Coke Zero down to 1 a day at dinner and I was going to try really hard to give it up this weekend.  I told her that I just enjoy it with my dinner.  She asked me when I had it did it make me hungry in the evening and have cravings and I told her "No."  She told me that I could have 1 a day as long as it didn't cause cravings or increase my hunger.

She did look over the 9 days that I tracked on My Fitness Pal and was very impressed with how I was eating.  She told me that I did not have to track any more. She agreed that tracking is not good for people who have Eating Disorders because it makes too much focus on food.  I also told her that I got so focused on calories that I stopped eating mindfully and she did get a little excited about that and told me "No, you must continue eating mindfully!  It is important to just eat enough to satisfy and not be stuffed or full."  I told her that I would start doing that and with no tracking and weighing and measuring some things that I would focus more on that.  She doesn't want me to weigh and measure anything.  She said if you eat like you have been mindfully you will still have good weight loss each time we see each other.  So for the next two weeks I'll eat like I have, forget that my nutrition shows that my fat is 50% of what I'm eating but she said it is perfectly fine because it is healthy fats.  Olive Oil and Avocados plus the trace amounts in the other things.  This is real different from anything I have ever done.

I did talk to her about our anniversary being this weekend and how I have been craving a potato.  I asked her if I could have a few bites of potato this weekend and she said yes.  She said to me "Laura, this is not a diet but a lifestyle.  I didn't take away things to make you miserable but I had to so that you would become sensitive as to how carbs affect you a little at a time."  She went on to tell me that if the potato made me want to have potatoes the next day and/or I felt bad after eating them such as a drop in my blood sugar that we would have to say good-bye to potatoes.  She  said if I eat them without any affect to how my body reacts or how I feel then "on occasion" I could enjoy a few bites of potatoes.  The same with Ezekiel bread.  I can try it doing the same way.  If it works for me then I can't have it every day but every once in a while.  So these are the two foods that we are going to test the next 2 weeks and go from there.  She really knows her stuff.  I really do like her.  So let's see what happens over the next two weeks making these changes.  I'm so pleased with her approach and knowledge I really wish that I could have found her years ago!

Today we took Ernie in to see the Specialist and my baby has a nodule on his liver.  It is only 9 mm and is smooth and not rough edged so that is good news so far.  They are doing some extensive blood work on him including some of it going to Texas A&M to their Veterinary Clinic.  They did start him on an antibiotic to see if it would help the liver counts due to inflammation.  He will have to go back in 2 weeks when he finishes them for a repeat of blood work.  Depending on this first batch of blood work they may want to do an aspiration of his liver in the near future but they didn't feel it is necessary at this point.

They did tell us that our Vet uses a Equestrian blood machine which is used for horses.  They can give you some false readings.  The are retesting him on a small animal machine which will be more accurate.  The Specialist wasn't so concerned that his ACL count was up but at one point his Hemocrit level was high and that says more about the liver than the ACL.  We really did like this Specialist it was more like talking to a Dr. than a Vet!  His pancreas, adrenal glands, gall bladder all look good.  The liver looks good with the exception of this nodule.  His left kidney is showing some age but his right kidney is perfect.  So if we can figure out this liver problem then our Ernie is in pretty good shape for a 10 year old little boy.  Don't faint be we spent nearly $1,100 today!  YIKES!

My ankles and knees hurt from all the walking, riding in the car and all that stuff.  I also saw pictures today on Facebook showing that Downsize construction is progressing and will open next month.  I can't wait to get started there.  I know that is going to help my transformation along with this Eating Specialist and the work that I have done with the Eating Disorder Team.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have lunch with Doreen.  That is if I can walk!

Wish me luck!

Bad Morning/Fantastic Afternoon

Note:  I woke up at 4:00 this morning in A. Fib.  I felt bad for a while this morning.  I met with the Weight Management Dr. this after with all kinds of good news.  When I have A. Fib it just exhausts me.  Forgive me for not writing tonight.  In the morning we have to take my sweet Ernie to see a Board Certified Veterinarian Internist about his elevated liver counts.  I'm so worried about my little boy.  Please send prayers for him and me.  We are so close and I can't stand the thought something be seriously wrong with my baby.  I will write about today when I get him home.  I promise!!!

Thanks for understanding!  Night! Night!

Hard Day!

My day started out great.  I had a good session with Anna and when I got home I defrosted chicken to cook for my salads.  I did talk to Stacey a couple of times this morning and things seem to be moving a long for her which made me happy.

I did find the omelet I made this morning, as delicious as it was with ham and cheese had sugar in it.  I'll be so glad when I can shop again.  Bless Mark's heart, he keeps forgetting to check for sugar in things.  It is in nearly everything!

As I was making lunch Stacey called from T-Mobile and she was having a hard time transferring her phone to our family plan.  I thought I got everything handled the other day but apparently I didn't.  Long story short I spent over 2 hours on the phone being transferred all around.  I think we got everything done!  Fingers crossed!

As I sat waiting for Mark to get home media chair #2 broke from my weight.  I've been crying off and on all night long asking myself how did I get back here, questioning myself if I can do this again or not.  I tried to watch Extreme Make-Over Weight Loss Edition and it just made we cry more.  I feel so hopeless.  This weight robs us so much!  I hate it!  I'm sick of it!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Life Happens!

I have had to spend some time helping our daughter.  She is going through so much right now and I feel like I need to be there for her!  If you will keep Stacey and Eyan in your prayers I would appreciate it!

Saturday night Mark had his 2nd sleep study and when I picked him up on Sunday morning we went to breakfast at I-Hop!  Yes I said I-Hop!  You may be asking what am I doing giving into going to such a place!  I took my Truvia for my coffee and I figured I could eat a omelet and things would be o.k.  WRONG!  Did you know that they put their buttermilk pancake batter in their omelets?  I happened to notice this on their menu.  I thought that I was screwed.  I asked the waitress if she could make sure that they did not add that pancake batter to my omelet and she said that she would.  Yea!  Mark ate the pancakes that came with it but I will have to admit that it really bothered me. I wanted them!  I had a ham and cheese omelet with jalapeno jack cheese.  I didn't add any veggies. I just wanted meat and cheese.  It was good and I could tell that they didn't add the batter to it because you could tell that they had a hard time turning it.  I did enjoy eating out but dang I wanted those pancakes!

When we got home Mark ran some errands and I watched some TV and talked briefly to Stacey.  For lunch that afternoon I had the new Strawberry Chicken Salad from Wendy's and I put my own oil and vinegar on it.  It was so good but I will say they way over do it on the lettuce!  The dressing sounded like it was going to be o.k. because it was an apple oil and vinegar.  It had sugar in the ingredients so I pitched it in the trash.

Mark did not sleep very well at all at the sleep center.  He slept most of the afternoon and I fell asleep as well.  We had chef food as well that night and we did watch Rising Star and used my phone to vote for people. That was a lot of fun!  We did call it a early night because we both were tired.

This morning I woke up feeling really good and I was so glad.  I have really had to battle not feeling well, craving sugar and carbs but I have fought and it is all easing up.  It has been worth the flight because I weighed this morning and I was down to 390.2 lbs.  I started at 397.6 lbs.  I was so happy!  I also have not taken any fluid pills this week so I bet I have lost more.  I plan to take a very light fluid pill as my legs are stinging a little.

I really want to get off of the fluid pills and I think that I can.  My sodium level on this way of eating is around 12-1300 and that is great!  We ate Italian food last Sunday so I know that is what I'm feeling in my legs.  Won't that be great to rid myself of 2 meds?  I hope this works out.  At least maybe I will only have to take the lightest one every great once in a while.  Oh God!  I want this so bad!

I was on the phone all day between my 2 best friends and Stacey.  I did have to go out and get some banking done for her so she will be ready to meet with her attorney later this week. Tonight we enjoyed some more Chef food and I watched The Bachelor and we are about ready to go to bed.

I did have a strange eating day.  I did not eat breakfast but I did have two small snacks for cheese with almonds and that seemed to do me well. When I was out doing the banking I ran through Chick-Fil-A and tried their new grilled nuggets.  I got 12 of them since that is all that I was going to eat and let me tell you they were loaded with sodium.  Since watching my sodium I have really become sensitive to the taste of salt!

Tomorrow morning I have Anna and nothing much going on except being here for Stacey.  I do need to grill some chicken to have for my salads and/or cook up some of our frozen veggies. Wednesday I see the Weight Management Dr. again and on Thursday we are taking our little Ernie to see a Board Certified Vet.  His ACL (?) level in his liver is still high.  We have got to see what is going on with our little boy.  Pray for him and me as we are very close and I love him so much!  I'm scared to death for my little fur baby!  Friday I'm meeting Doreen for lunch.  I haven't seen her in a while.  I miss her reading the blog.  I don't know why she stopped.  Probably because I have been so inconsistent.  I appreciate those of you who have hung in there.

I know that I promised a new recipe but I will have to wait till I get the computer back and then I will post it. So hang in there!

If any of you are doing low-carbs I need some food ideas and recipe.  Please share if you can!

Thanks!

Arg!!!

So...yesterday my computer was taken back to the store because they thought they could fix it pretty quickly.  Today they called and told me they were going to overnight it to their service center and it would be 5-7 business days before it comes back.  Did you hear bad ugly words flying around this afternoon?  It was me!

Actually, yesterday was a somewhat better day on this new lifestyle.  I'm getting bored with it and that is scary, so I must spend some time trying to find some low-carb recipes.  I told the chef to bring us the same menu and last night I was wondering if I could do another 8 days.  I have to fight it through.

I haven't weighed yet, however I sure can feel in my body that this weight is flying off.  I'm tracking right now with My Fitness Pal and it is a pretty neat App.  Tons better than WW's E-Tools.  I'm just going to track until I see the Dr. on Wednesday.  I did weigh on Monday at 397.6 lbs.  So we will see.  I've been in the bathroom a lot yesterday as my body is either rebelling or purging!  The good news is that I have not taken a fluid pill all week and I feel like I don't need to...yet!  My Fitness Pal tells me that my sodium intake is under 1200 and that is really good!

The one thing that is really bugging me is it is showing that what I'm eating is over 50% fat!  That is flipping me out just a bit.  I know some is coming from meat and I'm eating 2 ounces of cheese a day, a half of a avocado and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  I wonder what the Dr. will have to say about that.  I am trying to lower it too!

The maids came today and I love it when they leave!  I love a clean house!  We had a quiet evening and went to bed early.

Today I got up early, I didn't sleep well last night at all!  In fact the last few nights have been rough and I miss my 6-7 hours.  Praying that tonight will be better.  I also woke up with stiffness in my neck, shoulders, arms and back.  I didn't feel like doing anything and I didn't.  I did stay with the eating plan and I didn't have to battle hunger today so that was good.

Mark had to work this morning and he did a Costco run this afternoon.  He had Part II to his sleep study tonight so I took him.  I'll have to get early to go back to pick him up.  Tomorrow I need to do some prepping for breakfast and lunch and Mark said he would help me.  We'll see.  He also bought a new 55" LED Samsung for the media room so he is anxious to put our 50" in the living room cabinet and get this new one set up.  Men and their toys!

I'm not going to post the recipe tonight.  I am typing with two fingers on this stupid little net book.  Maybe tomorrow I can get it done!  I also have some websites to share.  These ladies have really confirmed what I'm doing is the way to go.  Also my niece Ceslyn told me that there is a good story in one of the recent Time Magazine entitled "Butter".  I'm looking for it.  She said it straightened her back up from getting lax on her low-carb lifestyle.

Well, my hands are getting tired and I'm ready for bed...So that's all for now!

Frustrated!!!!

Got my computer back, right?  Well...I have a few choice words about Geek Squad.  They are great for getting viruses off your computer but they suck at repairing them.  I took this thing in because I had some sticking keys, the power cord would fall out of the computer.  While they had it they replaced the keyboard, gave me a new power cord and replaced the mother board.  So they ship it back to the store and Mark goes and picks it up.  I try signing on to the internet and the certificates were invalid, I call the Geeks, come to find out the date set in the computer was in 2012.  Fixed that got on the Internet.  Yesterday morning I get a pop up stating that my Windows is not genuine!  What?  I called the Geeks and the agent asked if I had the product code which I don't because this computer doesn't have a disk drive and I did not get the original disks ASUS used to put the software on.  They told me I would have to take it to the store.  Called the store and I got this very rude woman who told me I would have to leave it and right now their backup is 7 days!  I blew my cork!  I called the Geeks back and got another agent who tried to help me and he said and showed me through my computer that I would have to pay $109 for a new key.  I blew my cork further!  I then got a on-line chat with a agent from ASUS thinking they could give me product code by the serial number.  No.  THE FLIPPING PRODUCT CODE IS ON A STICKER ON THE FREAKING POWER CORD THAT THEY REPLACED AND IS PROBABLY IN THE LOCAL DUMP!!!!! Sorry for yelling!  There was nothing they could do but told me about buying a Windows 7 recovery disk from Microsoft and using a external drive do a recovery to get a legit product key.  I'm surprised I didn't have the big one!  I called the Geeks back and went through a different department and finally got some so-called possible help.  This morning I have to call the store manager at Best Buy and tell him the story and see if they can find my original power cord with my product code or replace my computer with a new one!  I think I deserve a new one!  Rant over!

So if I go missing a few days you will know I'm back to no computer.  We'll see.

So Sunday I spent most of the day getting food in the house to start this new life style.  I about ruined my knees and ankles doing it.  I hate weighing nearly 400 lbs again!

Monday was hell as I had to cook breakfast with sore knees and ankles, prep things for salads for lunch including deboning a chicken.  I didn't eat lunch till nearly 4:00 and nearly in tears from the pain.  Thank God we had dinner prepared in the frig by the Chef!  My back also kills me standing after awhile.  I guess it is my big butt pulling on it!  I promise you I would not wish this weight on my worst enemy!  It is awful but I accept responsibility for it!

Tuesday I was going to go and see Anna, our daughter called early in the morning having problems and ran me late for my appointment.  Luckily Anna had an appointment the next day so I took it.  I spent most of the day in the bathroom!  It was either this body purging itself or it was one of my heart meds that we re-started.  I called the cardiologist only to find out he is out of town but calling in once a day for messages.  Also on Tuesday I was so hungry and had to fight like a crazy person not to eat protein all day.  I made it!

Wednesday I woke up and felt great!  Got to see Anna and we had a good session.  All about Mike...remember him?  He's someone who needs to get out of my life as he is driving me nuts!  I enjoyed my salad at lunch with mixed lettuce, red onion, fresh blueberries, chopped chicken, cheese, avocado and oil & vinegar dressing!  YUM!  I was OK all day till it got close to dinner time and the hunger hit but I made it!

Yesterday was the day from hell with the computer issues, I woke up with a bad headache and I was so hungry I was slightly nauseated!  All day long I felt like crap.  I just did not know what to do!  I posted on Facebook how I was feeling and I was shocked to find out how many friends I have eating low-carb/Paleo!  Apparently there is a 2 week adjustment and you start feeling good.  It must be the sugar withdrawal that is making it so bad as most low-carb people don't totally give up sugar and artificial sweeteners!  I made it yesterday and was so very proud of myself for hanging in there!

For today...I'm not going to say a word.  You'll have to check back tomorrow to see what my day is like in more detail as this new lifestyle unfolds!

See you tomorrow!  I have a recipe to share as well!

Sidenote:  I talk with the Best Buy store manager and he wants it brought in to see if they can fix it and if not he wants to overnight it back to the service center as a rush.  Get this 7-10 days once they receive it.  If the service center can't find it embedded in the computer then we will go from there.  So...As The Computer Turns!!!!!!