Redirecting My Focus on Health and Fitness

neilarey

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DAREBEE Team
Shieldmaiden from Greece
Posts: 728
"Trust The Awesomeness"
Happy Birthday!!!

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OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
I'm back temporarily... I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but other than that, doin' great! The doctors wanna see me again for a second procedure after I've healed. They want me to lose weight during that time. Anyway, not doing much in the fitness department yet, but my current weight is around 265lbs... No clue how I'm gonna bring it under 250 within a month, but that's what they want...
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Well, I'm still not doing much, but I'm healing nicely. Starvation diet has me halfway to my doctor's goal for me. No, I do not recommend it! I am only going through such great lengths because I need to lose the excess weight rapidly for medical reasons, and as I lose the weight, I can understand why. I'm finding a LOT more trouble spots in my body that my fat was hiding. Anyway, I now weigh nearly 255lbs, and while I will still be maintaining a strict calorie deficit, now that I'm close enough to my goal to have the confidence that I will meet it by the allotted time frame, I will increase my calorie intake a little more... can't wait to start moving again! I miss being able to go out on my evening walks, but walking hurts like hell... Still, they say I don't have cancer, and I'm not gonna die... It's just affecting my quality of life. :sadness:
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Update: Since increasing my calorie intake, I've remained stagnant at around 255lbs, but I'm confident that I'll be alright. Due to a recent occurrence, two of my appointments are bumped up, while the specialist that I was trying to lose weight for doesn't want to see me til August instead of July, but that just gives me more time to lose even more weight... I can't wait til I'm able to walk again... In the meantime, I'm working on maintaining mobility... I am concerned that I keep drifting in and out of consciousness, though... Of course, that's why two of my appointments have been moved up. HAHAHA! I swear, if I didn't know I was gonna live, I'd think that I'm dying. One thing's clear: There's no better motivator to live, laugh, and love to the fullest! And yes, I still find those "live, laugh, love" signs cliche... HAHAHA!
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Why have them as signs? With the way you fight, you're worthy of three handaxes, each one with one of those three words engraved!
Should I grip one of those axes in my teeth like Zoro? :LOL:

Thanks for the encouragement... I know a lot of people have things far worse than I do. Whatever happens, I hope to live a life of least regret and hold nothing back anymore. Life's too short for pomp and circumstance, and the good times are too few and far between to sit on them doing nothing.
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Update: Got another appointment this week. Another doctor who's looking for cancer and ONLY cancer... Last time, I was told that it looks like I don't have cancer, only some lipomas, and I was completely frustrated... I told her that the lipomas are the problem, and that's what we're supposed to be looking at, and she shrugged it off... because it wasn't cancer... I get to go in for another test, where they're gonna be looking for cancer, and explain that we're NOT looking for cancer, but for lipomas... So, that'll be fun and frustrating to experience... Just because it's not cancer doesn't mean it's not an excruciatingly painful growth... or a large quantity of growths, in my case.

I also gained weight last week... closer to 260lbs again. Looking like I need to adjust my calories again... either that or try walking more, which is hard to do at the moment. I suppose, I'll do a little bit of both. :LOL:
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
My update's a bit delayed, but better now than never, I guess. Things are moving along medically, and while it's a bit uncomfortable, I've decided to get moving again anyway. I'm not able to walk much, but I'm more focused on being physically active around the home right now. Medically, things are moving at a slow pace, but they are moving. I won't go into detail...

So, with an increase in physical activities around the home and a few very brief walks around the property every day, coupled with my most recent dietary adjustments, I am proud to announce that my weight gain has ceased, and I am plateaued at around 260lbs, no gains or losses. I am looking forward to working towards getting myself under 250lbs. :LOL:

That's all I have to say for now. I don't know if I will be doing another update this coming Monday (as I skipped this past one), but it's my goal to update weekly. Go put a smile on someone's face. Lates!
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Pizza night is fun, but not good for weight loss... HAHAHA! I gained a couple lbs last night. I feel like I need to double my green intake and cut my dinners in half. So, that's what I'm gonna work towards this week when I'm not on a liquid fast. I'm a bit closer to 265 this week after last night's meal. So, hopefully, I can work that off at the beach today (a promise to my youngest child). Later this week, I'm going in for a minor surgery. Nothing major... just a little delumpification. :u::LOL: After this, I'll just have to wait til my next appointment in August to get some lesions (and hopefully lipomas) removed. So far, nothing has been done concerning my lipomas... They're too focused on anything that resembles cancer and the rest is a "meh... you'll live" moment. I don't know 'bout y'all, but I'd rather NOT spend the next 30-40 years in immobilizing pain only to die on an operating table because I was falling apart in every whit (yes, I know, I'm paranoid about my genetic disposition)...

After today, I'll be doing a liquid fast to last until after my scheduled appointment (purely to make things easier for the surgery), which will be followed by rest. So, no real fitness goals until the following week... Only dietary ones (if you can call it that). In a couple of weeks, I'll be going back on my unhealthily intense temporary diet (the one I got off of when my entire reason for doing it was pushed back til August)... I'm not looking forward to starving myself and long-term liquid fasting, but I'll control my calorie deficit a little better this time around so it's not so intense. Again, I don't recommend this to anyone... I'm doing it for medical purposes to help the doctors get a better view of some of the lipomas that would otherwise be harder to see because of my thicc chonk.

Edit: About the lesions... They're benign... I'm cancer-free. I know that when I talk about lesions people get concerned...
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Well, my surgery last week didn't happen. I've been rescheduled for next month... So, everything's gonna happen in August (I hope). My body cannot handle this yo-yoing around all these schedule changes.

Anyway... I am doing some intermittent fasting between breakfast and dinner in the meantime. If I get hungry in between, I snack on up to two salads a day. I start my day with vitamins and some water with a little apple cider vinegar... Tip about that: Don't drink acv or lemon water within 20-30 minutes of eating. The acidity weakens your teeth. Then, I eat 2 muffins, 2 boiled eggs, and a clementine. Throughout the day, if I'm hungry, I have up to two salads ready for consumption to carry me through til dinnertime, which my houseguest has offered to make. So, I really don't need to cook AT ALL right now. I also allow myself 2 cups of herbal tea and an occasional electrolyte beverage.

For fitness, aside from regularly maintaining flexibility and mobility through a few exercises in the morning, at night, and as needed throughout the day, I've been walking regularly. They're not long walks, but it's great to be walking again. So, no complaints. :D

Ah, about my breakfast... #5 and #6 have learned to LOVE to cook... #6 loves deep fried goodness and breakfast foods, but #5 has very little natural talent in the kitchen... save boiling, cold cereal, and PBJs. So, every week, #6 has been baking MASSIVE batches of muffins, and every few days #5 has been boiling eggs.

I had a great opportunity to talk to #5 about natural talent and talents obtained through hard work and perseverance because of her struggles in culinary arts. I was able to use #1 as a guide to help her understand her situation, too. #1 is currently going to culinary school. Of all of the members of my family, she is the most abstract thinker, with a flair for creative expression and arts of every kind.... except culinary art... Combine her alchemic tendencies with her level of natural talent for culinary arts, and you will be poisoned (not joking, it's happened more than once). However, she loves to cook, and she wants to be good at it. So, she went to culinary school. She has failed every test ever given multiple times, but eventually passes. She never gives up, but continues to persevere to accomplish her goals. She is a prime example of what it means to acquire talents through hard work and perseverance, and she has inspired her youngest siblings. Needless to say, I'm quite proud of her. :D
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Nothing much to report... Finished my pre-op appointment. Surgery tomorrow. I've been pretty active the past week, but all of my efforts are to no avail... I haven't been able to lose any weight... In fact, I've been gaining again and am close to 270lbs... It would have been nice to be 15lbs lighter this month, but I haven't exactly been consistent with my diet... I've been on a yo-yo that follows my doctor's scheduling whims... I think my body's just simply done trying to compensate for all those changes... HAHAHA! Just a little longer, and I'll have some normalcy once again. In the meantime, still doing daily walks and mobility exercises.

Stay safe, East Side!
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Surgery went well... I'm 15lbs even more unmotivated to lose weight post-surgery, but I'm sure it's mostly just "water weight" and the fact that narcotics somehow magically give me the munchies had nothing to do with it... HAHAHA! I'm supposed to avoid certain movements for a while. So, next week's focus is returning to a regular diet and getting feeling back to my epidermis... I have no clue why I can't feel my skin in some places, but it's been trippy...

I'm gonna wait another week to do workouts because the incision was made in my right side under the arm... I've been told not to use my right arm or bend forward... I broke both rules while medicated and my house looks amazing... I think the doctors needed to instruct my husband to break my legs and tie me to a gurney for the next two weeks... Here's hoping I'll be able to better listen to my body now that the "good stuff" is outta my system... Guys... I literally cried for the rain forest in a grocery store while looking at one of those "save the rain forest" chocolate bars... I feel that the lack of documentation of my high life exploits is a crime against humanity...
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
After a relatively consistent diet of two homemade muffins from #6, 2 boiled eggs from #5, and a clementine for breakfast, a mid-day probiotic snack, and two creamy rich omelettes served with a HUGE bowl of salad for dinner - combined with the simple fitness routine of mobility stretches twice daily and an hour long evening walk before bed - I am finally back down to around 270lbs... I hope to be a little closer to 265lbs by the end of this week...

I'm making a decent recovery and am much more mobile. Ready to move on to the next appointment... this time for my arm. HAHAHA! Sad fact: This upcoming appointment is the one that I tried so hard last month to lose weight for. All my efforts went down the drain when they pushed it back a month. Well, I may not be 250lbs, but at least I managed to bring myself back down from my drug-induced manic weight-gain. I'm gonna call that a win!
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Well, my weight's gone stagnant at around 270lbs, but so has my fitness. I had a nasty fall a little while ago... My fault, really... I ran through uneven terrain in 4-inch heels when I can barely hobble safely barefoot... Anyway, I landed on the side of my surgery, and everything's been slow goin' since. I broke my shoes sprained my ankle and wrist, and damaged my already lame hip in the process, too. Bright side, I'm mobile again. Other than that, not much more to report... Still eating about the same thing and movin' about the same way for the most part. Here's hopin' now that I can move more, I can resume my weight-loss journey.
:peace::LOL:
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
It's been a while since I've done a check-in. They'll become less reliable over time, but I'll do my best to celebrate the little things. Though, I don't think I'll be able to keep up with many Darebee workouts... I've been kinda holding on to the ideal that I can, but sometimes, life brings you to a point where just the little things are enough and everything else is "extra". Still, I find that my check-ins, even if they're not usually related to the workouts and other fitness challenges and programs outlined in Darebee, have been a source of strength and sanity. So, I think I'm gonna let go of my stubbornness and just mark the little, unrelated things here, even if it's unrelated, and hope for a day when I can get back on the horse. :D

With that in mind... This past day's little thing: The hair loss from my surgery in August has begun to subside. YAY!!!
I have only ONE goal after I wake up later today: Get my family to church. If I can just wake up without a fever and chills, I will consider it a good day!
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
I did not make it to church today, but I found a new little thing to celebrate. Today, I had an important council with my children about relationships, setting and honouring our own boundaries, and respecting the boundaries that others set for themselves. We spoke a lot about communication and emotional healing. Afterwards, we sang songs together. It's nice to have teens who appreciate moments like that. :heart:

I've been saying, "If I do nothing else, I can at least say that I've done this ONE thing," a lot lately. That's my one thing today.

Tomorrow, I hope to be able to run some necessary errands. However, I find that those pre-planned things that I want to do with my life are rarely the "one thing" that I end up celebrating. HAHAHA! :D
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
I got all of my errands run yesterday and today! I was also able to get around to repotting my clementine sprouts... Two of them might not make it, but I've got eight of them. So, I'm not overly concerned about my efforts going to waste... HAHAHA! So, if I did nothing else today, I potted eight baby trees! I hope to get the avocados potted soon... They're still sitting in water.

Tomorrow, I have more errands... this entire week is an errands week! I'm taking it as an opportunity to teach my kids about time management... I showed them what my average weekly schedule looks like in a spreadsheet. Then, we explored how to use a spreadsheet to plan their own routines to help them stay on track. This week's all about life skills at the homeschool academy! :D
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Today's one thing was eye exams... All annual check-ups are completed as of now. :D

#6 is still working on her Halloween costume, but she makes some amazing pieces... I'm thinking of introducing her to the Brand Wars with all the cardboard boxes she uses... She probably won't finish in time, but even so, I gotta remember to take a pic and share with everyone. She's got some amazing skills.
 

OJJJEM

Well-known member
Mother of Dragons Posts: 625
Evaluated my property this morning while the sun was still rising. It was difficult. I could barely walk for some reason... kept stumbling. Still, that's my lot in life for the moment. I felt I had a productive morning, though, because of it. Haven't been to the back of the pecan farm in a long time. That's my "one thing" for today.

Also, in case I forget: I took this a couple days ago... It's #6's costume... It's progressed a bit since then, but I haven't gotten a pic since this one... It's Springtrap from "Five Nights at Freddy's". Last year, she made an amazing skull with massive horns... Don't know if I ever shared that one, though... It came with a faux fur cloak.
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