Back at this in 2023

 Let's try this again...

I'm going to go back and do a quick re-cap of April - December 2022 at some point, but I just want to get it out there now where things stand mid-way through January 2023.

After my last post in early April 2022 I got COVID - Not badly at all thankfully, but it really stalled my weight loss so by the time I went for my physical in mid-July I was still the same weight - low 260s (which was still better than the 272 I 1st saw on 2/19/22 and the doctor saw in mid-March).

The good news is now I am about 241. So a loss of 31 pounds since February/March 2022. The bad news is:

1) I've been gaining/losing the same 3-4 lbs since the beginning of November

2) After losing 30 lbs, I've been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Go figure! So for the 1st time in my life I am on medications for something weight related. But I've been under a lot of stress (work, raising teenagers) but I could also have to be on the medication forever like my mom who is 84 and a twig. I don't know if it is weight related, it could be brought on my menopause/perimenopause (I haven't hit the year yet - I've got chunks of 4-5-almost 6 months without) but either way, it is a fact of life right now. And the doctor threw an anti-anxiety medication at me too, though I am not sure it is helping. 

This picture is from late September when I was about 250 and trying on clothes I would like to take with me to Europe this spring. It's hard to get excited about clothes when you look 20 months pregnant.

This is from December - back on my favorite rail trail, walking this time, not running. But running will come. But probably not until after my hernia surgery.

I saw the surgeon in October and he was thrilled with my progress and though perhaps I'd be able to have surgery before getting to a BMI of 80-85 because he could tell my stomach is hernia, not a lot of weight, so I am a good candidate for not having to wait so long. But because I will want to have a tummy tuck at the same time, I may still wait. A lot will have to do with how the hernia looks when I've lost another 20-30 pounds because right now it doesn't seem like it's changed at all - I've lost weight all around it.

I have an appointment with him in April, then will probably do another in October and see where I am. I also have a lot of things to consider about the timing and the possibility of being laid up for a long time - my daughter will graduate high school in June 2024 so there is a lot of events before than and after that that I was to be present for. And then when she does go away to college, I will lose my help in terms of another driver, as we will have a year + where she is gone before our son gets his license. But that is the least of my worries. 

But now it is time to get back to losing weight. I am so desperate to be 239, my pre-pandemic weight, which was still 7 lbs higher than my highest ever/non-pregnant weight. I was close on Thanksgiving Day, at 240.4 but between figuring out my medication (I don't think it is the actual medication that is preventing me, it's the stress of being on the medication) and the holidays, I've stalled. But time to kick it up a notch.

I've always said that I don't do well with time constraints (lose X by Y day) - It usually backfires in a dramatic fashion. So just 1 day at a time, trying to work towards 1.4 lbs a week. Sure I'd like to do more, but I also want to live my life and make this sustainable.

But this week I am really leaning it to do what I need to do to jump start me into the 230s for the first time since March 2020.