A year of deprivation

Giant marigolds. I had bought some old seed packets, 10 for a dollar, and planted them in two pots. The marigolds were very slow to grow but they are now huge and finally opening up

The poppies were first to show way back in May. I collected the seed heads for next year to save but I planted a few. This is the second crop of them

giant balls of hydrangeas outside my bedroom window

A year ago I barely squeezed into a pair of jeans that not long before that were loose on my way to Allie's third birthday party. The waistband left deep grooves in my waist. I hated the feeling and the way I looked. I used to be thin. I used to do marathons and triathlons at a good clip. How much did I weigh? I didn't know because I didn't want to know. I knew the number would depress me but I couldn't be an ostrich any longer. Holy crap! when I first stepped on that scale on Oct 3 2016. That was almost 79 pounds ago. No eating white starch anymore; no desserts, drinking would be limited to a glass of wine and only if I were with friends, eat lots of salads and vegetables. If I were hungry, I'd eat an apple. And for the first month or so, I felt hungry a lot of the time. I was feeling very sorry for myself but the weight was coming off. I was shooting for 60 pounds in 6 months which would put me at a medically healthy weight, a size 10 or so. It took 9 months to get to 70 pounds off. Over the past few months, I have been exercising quite a bit and lost another 10 pounds. I am now somewhere around a size 4 or 6 and have a BMI of 20.5. Can I keep it down there? I keep thinking of this as a giant spring that I've been pulling back and back with increasing difficulty. If I were to let go for a second, it will all come back. As time goes on, I am more confident that I can control that.

I suppose more apt photos would be before and after. Most of my before photos have me semi concealed behind other people though a few people had captured full body photos of me and posted them on Facebook. Argh.  But today I will just post pretty flower pictures before the frost comes and gets them. Not today. It will be 80. My last hummingbird has left.

I had told Steve that the blood tests now show I am mildly hyperthyroid. He said it was no wonder it was so easy for me to lose all that weight.

Just because I lost it doesn't make it easy. It reminded me of long ago when I was asked to make a certain molecule but was told it would be very difficult to make. When I quickly made it, my boss then said, well I guess it wasn't all that hard to do.

And the hyperthyroidism is fairly recent and I have no symptoms of it. No increased heartbeat or palpitations. I made adjustments in the dose so I will be normal very soon.

Am I healthier now? A bit. I was able to stop taking Prilosec after a few months. My total cholesterol is the same but most of it is the 'good' kind (HDL). The triglycerides have dropped. Blood sugar is the same. I never seemed at risk for diabetes.  Blood pressure is low/normal.My blood counts are normal though my iron is on the low side. Exercising is easier. I didn't have to walk any of those hills up north. Some of them were quite steep too. I notice with the iOS 11 update, it records all my heart rate data not just an average so I can now see how high it got with some of those hills. I had looked at my wrist at the top of one of them while I was huffing and puffing, 140 bpm. Not much.

It makes me a bit sad boxing some of my big girl clothes away. Some of the clothes I spent a lot on. I've been buying stuff in resale shops as I lose weight and now stabilize. Some of the stuff I barely got to wear. I bought some capris for our Arizona trip. By the time it was warm enough in Michigan to wear them, they were much too big. Maybe after a few months, I will by some nice things in nice stores.

Steve finally got a prescription for the more effective (hopefully) Lyrica but the pharmacy is out of it until tomorrow. The doctor admitted that it will be better than gabapentin but gabapentin is so much cheaper, that's what they prescribe. One slight benefit of being a former worker at our company is that we get their drugs for free. I never seem to have medical problems that they have drugs for but Steve has been a big user.

As for the new Apple phone update. It will be easier to store all my photos for free. Downside: the Blogger app will no longer work.

Come on Google, fix the Blogger app. Please.