Weigh IN! (Kori)

So.......drum roll.......I have lost 12 POUNDS!!!!! I began on Thursday the 22nd, the day after my diagnosis. I am very proud of myself. I have also been able to keep my blood sugars in a healthy range, although they are still high in the morning. Thanks to some research from Den, may have the answer. Will discuss it all with my provider.

Also, I work for a large medical facility and they have a group starting up after the first of the year called "Lose to Win" It's in the same building I work in and several of my co-workers are going to do it with me as well as my husband.

I have to say the support I am getting from all of my friends is priceless. One of my male co-workers brought in moose stew yesterday and he did not add potatoes or sodium, just for me. My boss moved the big bowl of candy she always leaves out and our admin assistant is going to look for healthier snack options to keep on our floor. Den, Sam and my kids have been wondeful and I am grateful for the time Den is able to put into this because I work full time, not that she doesn't :) but working from home affords a bit more freedom.

Another reason I am grateful to my husband is for the beautiful ring he bought me the night we found out I had diabetes. It is a reminder that I am strong and I am loved and I have many good reasons to fight for my health.

So, a big shout out to the Texas Slaters who are pulling together and doing a wonderful job supporting each other. To the Alaskan Slaters, keep up the great work. My oldest daughter ReBecca has been vegan for almost 3 months and has lost 15 pounds during that time. My youngest daughter Hailee has been vegetarian for many years, is now vegan and has lost 15 pounds during that time as well. Abby, my middle daughter has maintined her weight loss that she had a couple of years ago and is now ready to tackle that last 20 or so pounds that have been plaguing her. Sam has lost 8 pounds since the 22nd!

Keep up the great work everyone!

WEEK 1: Weigh Day and Updates (Den)

WEIGHT LOSS:  What a week! I’ve got an 8 pound loss to post! 3 more pounds and I’m back where I left off a couple of months ago. So excited! I don’t think I’ll really feel like I’ve started dieting until I get those 3 pounds off and start working on “NEW” weight loss. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of weight still, but I feel like I just did all this hard work in the Fall, then fell off the wagon and bounced right back up. But I have a lot of inspiration this time, and I’m ready to do this thing!

EXERCISE:  My 10 year old son, Colton, lost a total of 5 pounds for his first week. YAY COLTON!!  It’s not a weight loss competition, but it is an exercise competition. HE won this week. Beat me by 5 minutes! We write our exercise time in minutes…no matter what exercise we do, or how intense we do it…it’s an honor-system thing. As long as the person’s heart rate is up and the person is working hard, then that counts as exercise minutes. So, Colton can run stairs faster than me, but we are working just as hard to get up and down. His 5 minutes may be 20 stairs to my 10 stairs, but both of us get 5 minutes on the board. Todd is joining the fun, too. He just started yesterday.

REWARDS: I also decided to lose in 10 pound increments, and reward each mark with a special treat. For my first reward, I’m buying an annual state parks pass! Every week we can hit a park for free, and there are several in this area, one that is just a very short drive from us. I think my next treat is going to be a heart-rate monitoring watch, so when we go walking, I’m making sure that my heart rate is up to 140 mark.

FOOD: Doing great…been VEGAN all week. Made an awesome vegan chili last night with apples, tomatillos, poblanos, jalapenos, white beans, and potatoes. Incredible flavor! The only negative that I have to report on the eating side is that I forgot to eat sometimes. I said I would eat 6 times a day, but I’ve been at 4 or 5, so I’m trying to force an increase. Todd’s fasting blood sugar was 110 this morning, so I really do have to get this family under control or we are all going to have troubles. I feel like I have to be strong for them, so I am really trying to get them involved in this effort.

A new beginning (Kori)

October 2010

I feel like I am starting over. I am learning about my body, how it reacts to different foods and exercise. I am really trying to listen. Sometimes it betrays me and it becomes a battle of wills between the me that wants to be healthier and the me that wants to eat that piece (or many pieces) of chocolate.

May the healthier me win!!!

I will post a picture every three months to remind myself that time will keep flying by and I can either be healthier in three months or I can be doing the same thing I have been....nothing.

MyFitnessPal.com (Den)

I found this awesome site at MyFitnessPal.com. It’s free, and I can record my weight loss, meals, and exercise. It has a built-in nutrition counter, so I know all the details on my daily intake. There’s an online support forum, and I can add friends. I don’t see everything that they eat daily (unless they change the setting to allow that feature), but I do see their posts…usually that they filled out their food log for the day, posted weight loss, or recorded exercise. I have a couple of “friends” already, and I think it’s nice to have the extra support. Best of all, it’s available (though more limited) as an Android app, so my Kindle Fire supports it. I think it’s a great tool, and recommend it. My user ID is "denfks" if anyone wants to "friend" me. :)

The "BEFORE" Picture (Den)

Know what I really hate about this picture? It was taken when I was about 10 pounds lighter than I am now!!! So, my "before" picture isn't as bad as it really could be. I should quick take another picture! LOL! At first, when I saw this pic, I thought, "Oh, a terrible picture. He didn't give me enough time to suck in my gut or stick out my chin." Then I realized that I am posing for this picture, so yes...yes...I did have time! This was my best look that day. Well, everybody needs a "before" picture to inspire them, so I'm using this one.

The Diet Plan (Den)

There’s good news, and there’s bad news. I’m still down 7 pounds from my high weight mark (yay! I get to start my diet with a weight loss on the chart!), but I’m 11 pounds up from the last time I quit dieting back in November. But, more good news – gaining those 11 pounds so fast means they should be easier to lose, right? Some of it has to be water retention, so I should get a boost when I weigh next. Bad news – my scale battery has gone dead, and it wouldn’t even come on this morning! So, none of my numbers may be correct, because who knows if the silly scale still gives accurate readings on a low battery.

Bottom line, I am starting out assuming that I did not yo-yo all the way back up to where I was. I don’t want to get bogged down with that scale. Too often when I diet, I wind up getting on the scale every 10 minutes. Yes, I’m one of those people who poops big and jumps on the scale to see how much I lost. Notice, though, I didn’t go anywhere near the scale during the holidays!

I’ve made some decisions on how to proceed. I’m going back to the diet that I followed when I found out I had PCOS years ago. Tried and true, it produced results not just on the scale but on the bloodwork. I eat at least six times a day, every 2-3 hours, and each meal includes roughly 30 net carbs. I don’t count vegetables unless they are high starch like corn, peas, and carrots. This helps me level out my sugar intake, and it keeps me eating all the time. I also want 30 minutes of cardio at least 4 times a week.

I’m a vegetarian, but for this diet, I am trying to go vegan (basically, no dairy) during the weekdays. I’ve done six-week vegan fasts from time to time, so nothing new for me. Being vegan eliminates a lot of potentially risky foods, and when I’m with friends and say, “I’m vegan,” they are – curiously – less interested in offering me foods that don’t fit with my plan. Sadly, although friends mean well, they all know that “dieting” is a temporary, transitory thing. “A little bit won’t hurt you,” and “You have to do everything in moderation.” But when you are vegetarian or vegan, it’s a lifestyle and people will quite literally take food away from you! “That has chicken broth!” or “I made that with butter!” They help you diet without ever knowing that you are trying to lose weight. Bonus!

Time (Kori)

I have been reflecting on time. We don't ever seem to have enough time, so we don't take care of ourselves and we abuse our bodies all in the name of work, obligations, family or whatever takes our time. Then when faced with the reality of a health issue, the meaning of time changes from not having enough to wanting to add more, especially to the end of our lives. Suddenly everything comes into focus and you think of all the things you want to do.

I know this sounds dramatic and I am not a dramatic person. I know that Diabetes is not a death sentence but coupled with my weight, high cholesterol and high blood pressure it definitely makes me much higher risk for an early death.

So......I have decided it is well past time that I recognize the need to take care of myself and to get healthy both for myself and my family. I need to take this diagnosis as a blessing and use it to keep myself motivated. I will control my blood sugars, I will lose weight, I will be more active. I will.................

The diagnosis (Kori)

I don't know why I was in shock when my doctor told me it was Type II Diabetes. I guess I really expected it to be Pre-diabetes, which somehow seems much less ominus and controllable. Type II does not go away although it can be well controlled. In the last year I have gone from being on no medication to one for cholesterol, high blood pressure, allergies, sleep and now I have to stab myself in the stomache with a medication that is supposed to help with the fact that I make way too much insulin. Oh yeah and the multiple stabbings of the fingers. At 42 years old, I am wayyyy to young for all of this.

What I find funny is that I had not told many people in my family that I was diagnosed and out of the blue, my best friend and sister in law, whom I have shared my weight loss struggles with over the 27 years we have known each other, called to say HI. Of course we spent a lot of time catching up and I told her my news.

Then, when she came up with the idea about this blog, I jumped at the chance to both stay better connected with her and get the support I desperately need as well as offer her the support I know she needs. This is not a new journey for us, both of us bonded over losing weight in high school and this has continued until today. We both have loving, supportive spouses and wonderful children but there is nothing like talking to an old friend who knows almost everyhing about you.

What I find even more amazing; I read Denice's first blog about ziplining. She and I have never discussed this but it is my goal as well. My husband and I made a goal of being in good enough shape on our 25th anniversary January 16, 2013 to go on vacation somewhere that we can zipline without being denied because of our weight.

So Den, this is to you and me, once again, facing this journey together. Thanks for making it happen.

Day One! (Den)

When I heard that my high-school best friend (and now sister-in-law) was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, first and foremost I was concerned for her; but, I was also scared for myself because the last time I went to the doctor, I was told that I have similar problems – high triglycerides, low good cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high insulin swings on my blood sugar test. That was about six years ago and I doubt there’s been any improvement in my numbers. So, her diagnosis would likely be my diagnosis if I had a good doctor and medical insurance. Kori has devoted herself to making life changes now, and I thought, “What better way to support my friend, than to try right alongside her efforts.” I came up with the idea to not only dedicate myself to improving my own health, but also to journaling the efforts on this blog. She and I will be right here, side by side (although separated by thousands of miles).

I don’t know how many posts will wind up being here on our site, but I’m hoping for quite a few! We both have a lot of weight to lose. On my end, I need to lose about 110 pounds to be on the high side of “normal.” That’s an awful lot of weight, but more importantly, I am looking forward to having more stamina. One of the things that I would dearly love is to go zip-lining with my son. When we checked on the nearby sky-zip-line, I discovered that I weighed too much to go. I was really disappointed and embarrassed! I’ll probably lose all my weight, jump on the zip-line and plunge to my death, but by gosh, I am going zip-lining when I get fit!

Today was my first day. I’ve done well for this one day, but it was an impromptu decision to join Kori, and so my pantry is not stocked well and I don’t have a concrete plan for myself. I’ll be giving it some thought over the next few days as to how I want to proceed. Yet, I know there is no miracle cure for us. It’s diet and exercise…no fads. I can’t diet the way that I did when I was sixteen – eat cabbage and soy sauce, run until I almost pass out, and then drink a quarter cup of vinegar. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

It’s nice to have some rejuvenated inspiration, but we all know that day one is not generally the worst day. It’s day two, day 21, day 153. Those are the days when Big Lou’s Pizza Parlor mysteriously appears on the traveling route, or the day that I decide eating the entire can of Pringles is a great idea because I can destroy the evidence before the rest of the family wants to horn-in on my chip binge! So, if you are reading…and Kori, I know that you are…here’s hoping that those days are few and far between for both of us. Here we go!!!