That Annual Dieting Resolution...

Did you make a "resolution" to lose weight this year? ~smiles~

I did. Maybe it wasn't so much a resolution as it was a goal to finish what I started a while ago, to lose these extra pounds and get into better shape. Part if it is my impending 40th birthday (in October), and part of it is a new-found excitement stirred by my husband's dieting and weight loss (I'm so proud of him! He lost 42 pounds!!).

I have been trying to take off this extra weight for some time now. I will lose some then gain it back when illness or injury strikes. Most of my weight is in my middle. I have actually quite skinny legs compared to the rest of me, resulting in a good many sprained ankles. Someone asked me via email why it seems like I have posted on the blog about sprained ankles more than most people should get...the reason is that my shapely ankles and calves are not able to support the rest of me healthily! (grin). Unlike many obese people (and even some skinny folk) I am even able to wear zip up boots that go to my knee or higher. Most of my overweight friends marvel at that.

This past November, I fell on my front steps, grabbed the handrail, and twisted my arm all the way behind my back. It really did hurt as badly as it sounds! (ouch!). I finally went to the doctor a few days later, and he took one look at my x-rays and said, "Wow, you must have a high tolerance for pain." (this is not something you want to hear when someone is looking at your x-rays!). An MRI later, we discovered the rotator cuff is not torn, but the bones and joints and all that are in bad shape, so I am meeting with a surgeon at the end of this month to see what that prognosis is. I'm hoping I won't need surgery, but the doctor is pretty sure I will.

All that to say, panic struck my heart in regards to my diet. Maybe that sounds silly, but I was worried what all of this will mean for my weight loss progress. I loathe losing 40 lbs over the course of a year, only to gain it back when I Am struck with pneumonia, bronchitis, a sprained ankle, or something else that keeps me from working out. I want to stay on track this time. I want to do it.

So, at the start of December, shortly having something injected in my shoulder to help with the pain (something which says "May cause weight gain" ---ah, super! just what I need!), I started to be even more strict with my dieting, and exercising in a way that didn't involve my shoulder. I also started researching anything about upping your metabolism online. I've lost 12 pounds through the holidays, which to me is a miracle. \o/

I finally had my new prescription filled only to read the package insert, "May cause unexplained weight gain." (banging head against the wall. this is how someone who doesn't eat McDonalds and loves salad becomes 75 lbs overweight!!!). So I haven't taken anything above extra strength Ibuprofen for the pain and swelling...and most days, with the help of hot rice socks, hot showers, and laying on several soft pillows, I haven't felt like I needed anything.

My goal is to lose about a pound a week on average, for a weight loss of 52 lbs by the end of the year. I think if I can meet that goal, I will at least no longer be "obese" by clinical standards, and I will be well on my way to losing even more next year, and hitting my target weight.