The Family That Loses Together....

If you are a regular reader, you know I have been on this Weight Loss Journey for 18 months.  I have lost 110 lbs as of this morning's weigh in.  My family and friends have been incredibly supportive and motivating, especially my sister, Kari, and her husband, Josh.  Josh called me last weekend and had a great idea for us all to do this together.  By all, I mean him, my sister, my husband Roger and I.  Saturday we met at their house, I shared my knowledge, took measurements and got them all started on My Fitness Pal to begin tracking their calories.

I will let them introduce themselves:

My name is Joshua Bryant. I am 33 years old with three very active boys all under the age of 5. With a very busy and hectic lifestyle I've never put a big emphasis on my own health. I've always tried to put the health of my kids and my wife before me. As I now look at myself, I am starting to realize that I can't keep up with my children, I am always tired, and my body feels like it is falling part.  I decided to start this journey down the path of a healthier lifestyle.  Not to deprive myself of food, but to be more conscious of the food that I put in my body.  My goal for this journey is to lose about 50 pound. To get down to a healthy weight of 150.  I want to be able to run with out being out of breath within 2 minutes. To be able to enjoy my children as they grow up and to enjoy my grandchildren as they come along and to overall become a healthy and vibrant person once again.

Hello!  I am Kari (Josh's wife and Kristy's sister).  I stay at home with our 3 crazy young boys.  I also have a craft business I run from our home...oh and an accounting job I do one day a week.  To say my days are busy and hectic is a complete understatement!  Out of the four of us, I am probably the most apprehensive about this journey.  I understand the importance to get and stay healthy but struggle with finding the time and energy to make it a success.  This is why doing this as a family is so important. My goal is to be comfortable in my body, whatever weight that may be.

Hi.  My name is Roger.  Kristy and I have been married just over 11 years.  I've always been a big guy but fairly active.  My wife is a great cook and after we married, we just stopped paying attention to how much we were eating.  I have a physically demanding job, keeping me on my feet for 8 to 10 hours a day.  My goal is to be able to do my job the best I can, curb my sugar addiction and catch up with my wife.

Diabetic Journal Week 6

Monday February 16th, 2015:
What a weekend!  Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day, I know I did.  Saturday Roger and I headed to his work and he taught me how to torch and weld.  Together we created an art piece for our 10th Anniversary.  It was a really special moment.  We have been really disconnected lately.  I guess that sometimes happens when you have been married a while.  You get into a rut and just take your partner for granted.  We both decided we needed to make more of an effort and it has really changed both of our attitudes and moods.

I am finding it easier and easier to make good choices.  I am also finding that my tastes are changing.  Sunday we went out to breakfast like we always do.  I had steak, eggs, tomato slices and toast.  Then, we headed up to my sister's to see my nephews.  We didn't get to see her but spent about 3 hours with the boys and Josh.  They always make me happier.  My Dad even stopped by.  We don't see each other very much because we live a few hours apart.

After we left there house though, I was so hungry.  Roger wanted Jack In The Box so we stopped.  I got a grilled chicken sandwich with no sauces and without even thinking ordered a large fry and large Iced Tea.  I guess old habits don't ever completely die.  I ended up eating maybe 5 fries.  They just didn't taste the same.  So I ate my sandwich and was satisfied with it.  Before, a single sandwich would have never done that.  That night we went out with some friends for Chinese.  I ordered something called Three Ingredients.  It was scallops, shrimp and chicken with the normal Chinese vegetables.  It was really good.  I could have ate the entire plate but forced myself to stop and take the rest home.

Wednesday February 18th, 2015:
The weather in Washington has been so beautiful.  It seems like Spring is coming early.  Not sure what that means for our Summer but I will take it for now.  I have been doing sitting exercises at my desk this week.  While it may not seem like much, it is a lot more than I was doing.  I found a video series on YouTube called Launchpad from LiveExercise.  I am hoping that while having to sit all day, it will at least get me moving.  I did find a couple parts harder that others.  It at least got my heart beating a little faster and got me breathing.

Thursday February 19th, 2015:
I've talked on this blog before about my Mom's awesome lasagna.  I've also talked about my husband's annoyance when I mess with a good recipe.  Well I have been craving it something fierce so I decided to change it up a little without telling him.  Instead of all ground beef, I mixed 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb ground pork.  I also switched out the regular full fat cream cheese for a low fat onion and chive cream cheese.  It was seriously good.  A serving was 671 calories, 38 grams of fat and 27 carbs.  While it's a little high on fat, it was well worth it.

It sort of feels weird to me to analyze everything I eat.  I used to eat whatever and whenever I wanted.  I have actually proven to myself how much willpower I have.  After eating one piece of lasagna last night, I really wanted more but I forced myself to sit for at least 30 minutes and if I still wanted more then I would have some.  Sure enough, after 30 minutes, I was good.  About 2 hours later I made myself some plain popcorn and had a yogurt.  The popcorn provides some great fiber while the yogurt satisfies my sweet tooth.  I found a 100 calorie Greek yogurt by Yoplait with less that 10 carbs.

Tonight for dinner I made T-Bone steaks with roasted broccoli and baked potatoes.  This was the first time I have had a baked potato in a very long time.  I chose the smallest one in the bag and ate it plain but 2 hours after dinner my blood sugar was 144.  The nutritionist I saw said that a regular blood sugar after eating should be less than 180 but it kind of freaked me out.  I haven't been that high in a while.  I have been consistently between 80 and 120.  How often do others check their blood sugar?  I have been checking once or twice a day.

Sunday February 22nd, 2015:
I am nursing a little hangover this morning but I had such a good time.  We went out with some friends in Elma to sing Karaoke.  It's been a while and I have really missed it.  We had our normal Sunday breakfast routine but I wasn't able to eat much.  Roger just kept giggling at me and saying "I told you so".  Later in the day, while watching the Daytona 500, I was able to eat some popcorn and then even later I made some Roasted Broccoli and I felt pretty good after that.  Drank about a half gallon of water and some herbal tea throughout the day so around 3 I was feeling pretty normal.  There is a big change in the snacking habits at our house.  Plain popcorn and broccoli were never around before.  It was cookies and chips or crackers.

Friday night after work I tried out a Yoga program that I had on the DVR.  It was much harder than I anticipated.  My balance is terrible.  I have been looking on Amazon for some Yoga videos for obese people.  Roger has back problems and I heard yoga can help you become more flexible so I am hoping we can try it together.  I did have him do my Launchpad exercise video with me and he was a good sport.  I am also looking at some resistance bands to make my chair work outs a little more challenging.

Tuesday February 24th, 2015
Today was a weak day.  I had a long day at work and on my way home, I stopped at Starbucks.  I had a free drink on my card so I ordered a Venti White Mocha Frappucino.  Ya know what though?  I took maybe 5 drinks from it and was done.  It was a combination of knowing I didn't want to feel sick after drinking it and not wanting to derail just because I had a bad day.  Win for Kristy!!

Diabetic Journal - Week 4 & 5

Wednesday February 4th, 2015:
Yesterday I went in for some routine blood tests.  My results were online this morning and I have lowered my A1C from 6.9 to 6.2 and raised my iron level from a 9 to a 22.  While the iron level is still low, it is a great improvement.  Small things like this give me great encouragement to keep at it.  I also did my first real work out yesterday.  It was nothing too strenuous but I felt really good after.

Monday February 9th, 2015:
Last week had some pretty drastic ups and downs.  While the first set of test results were good, the second set was not.  I am extremely vitamin deficient.  My levels of Vitamin D, B-12, Iron and Calcium are so low that I am going to be on prescriptions.  I will even need to take shots for the B-12 and Vitamin D.   I also have extremely high levels of protein in my urine which can mean many things but the main concern is Kidney Disease.  I will have to do a 24 hour collection.

I unfortunately got this news about an hour before Roger and I left to go on a 3 day trip to the beach to celebrate our 10th Anniversary.  I tried to put it out of my mind but I thought about it a lot.  We did have a really good time though.  We got up close and personal with some deer, gambled, played at the arcade, took a walk, and went swimming.  The swimming thing was such a huge deal because Roger hadn't been able to go in water for the last 3 years or so while he dealt with a wound on his leg that just wouldn't heal.

I ate pretty well on vacation but did indulge in a doughnut when we left town.  It was the first sugary thing I had ate in 2 months.  It wasn't as good as I remembered.  We went to the grocery store on the first day so we could make sure I had some healthy snacking options.  I don't know about you, but when I am on vacation, I kinda want to splurge.  I was pretty proud of myself and even lost 2 lbs over the week.

Tuesday February 10th, 2015:
The struggle is real everyone.  I had such an intense sugar craving today.  The worst I have had since I started.  I went to Safeway to buy about 6 things that we needed and they have these clearance carts in the back of the store near the milk and eggs.  I got the milk and was headed towards the eggs when I zeroed in on them.  They were filled with the bags of mini candies like York mini patties which are my favorite.  I passed them, with my eyes glued, but then snapped out of my trance and realized I had forgotten the eggs.  I had to pass the carts 2 more times to get the eggs and head back the way I was.  Then, at the checkout counter, the king size candy bars were buy 2, get 2 free.  It literally took me white knuckling the cart not to grab them and throw them on the conveyor belt.  Once I was out of the store I sat in my car and just breathed really deep and patted myself on the back for not buying them.  How is that for a glimpse inside a food addicts mind?

Thursday February 12th, 2015:
Today is our Anniversary.  Roger and I have been married for 10 years.  It really doesn't seem like that long.  Like any marriage, we have had our struggles.  The first 2 years and the last 2 years have been pretty rough.  When they say marriage takes work, it really does.  For us, being a couple without kids, I think it is even harder.  We only have each other.  There are no kids to take the focus off one another.  It also causes us to get in a rut where we come home, eat dinner, watch TV and go to bed.  I think that's how we both gained so much weight.  We stopped doing things.  We are slowly working our way out of our rut though and I look forward to many more years together.

I got my test results back from my 24 hour urine catch and my protein levels were really high.  The doctor says that means my kidneys are damaged, most likely from the diabetes.  What happens is the elevated sugar levels damage the nerves in the organs.  The same thing can happen with high blood pressure.  The course of action is to take another prescription in hopes of not causing any more damage.  There is no way to reverse what has already happened.  The news really sent me into a depression spin.

Why is this happening?  What did I do wrong?  Why all at once?  They say you're never given more than you can handle so I guess I must be stronger than I think.  I stowed myself away in the bedroom last night and thought about all that is going on.  I kinda ruined our Anniversary plans by being in such a mood but I needed the time to process all of this.  I am not good at pretending to be happy.  Ask anyone who is around me a lot.  I wear my emotions on my sleeve.  My conclusion was that staying on the path I am on is the best way to handle this.  Losing weight will help with my diabetes and then everything can trickle from there.

Friday February 13th, 2015:
I woke up this morning in a much better mood.  I'm down another couple pounds and I just feel good.  The sunrise on the way to work was gorgeous.  I guess today I am just thankful.  I am thankful for my family, my friends, my job, and my life.  There are people much worse off than I am.  No more pity parties for me.  I am moving onward and upward.  Nothing can stop me!  Watch out world!

The 12 dates of Christmas

I don't know about you but around the holidays, our schedule gets so busy and hectic that we kinda forget to enjoy it.  I was cruising Pinterest, as I do daily, and came across a post for "The 12 Dates of Christmas".  I thought it was a great idea and came up with my own list.  We will start right after Thanksgiving.

When I introduced this to my husband, he wasn't too keen on the idea but he agreed to give it a try.  We shall see how many dates we actually get through.  Most of the "dates" are things that need to be done anyway, but I usually do them alone.  I am just hoping to get some quality time together, which is what is important anyway right?