Learning Guitar...

A couple of years ago, I purchased a fairly decent acoustic dreadnought guitar.  I had tried to learn guitar before, but living under the shadow of my child-prodigy brother who had taken all of Old Dominion University's music theory classes by the time he was out of third grade and who was probably born with a guitar in his hand, I got discouraged and learned clarinet and percussion instead.

For whatever reason, with the purchase of this guitar, I started playing it every day.  I learned a few things, a cool picking pattern, some pretty chord progressions, but I couldn't really sit down and play.   Then my beloved husband surprised me with guitar lessons.  I've been doing that now for about three months.  It's surprising what a little "direction" can do when you are trying to learn something new.

Next, for my birthday this past April, my husband gifted me with an electric guitar (Cort G200... strat type body, very nice) and two amps (Line 6 Spider IV 15a and Fender Frontman 25a).  It's also amazing how much longer one can practice when not having to reach so far around the guitar... I am um, generously endowed, which can complicate guitar playing quite a bit if the body of the guitar is deep.  It shortens my reach by about eight inches (you lady guitar players out there know what I am talking about.  The electric guitar has a much thinner body.  I'm in heaven.   I also can play "backing tracks" on my ipod through the amps while I practice.  It's much more fun to practice soloing around a scale with some percussion and bass in the background.  Much more fun than a metronome for keeping tempo too.

At 46 years old, I'll never be a guitar hero.  I'm not a teenage boy who can lock myself in my room for seven hours a day to play.   I'm lucky if  I get ten uninterrupted minutes in a row to practice.  I have to steal a few minutes in the morning while my 7yo eats breakfast, a few in the evening while dinner is simmering/baking/boiling, and a few more before bed, after I've got kiddo to sleep, and Mom's diaper changed, meds done, etc...   But you know what.  I'm having fun.  I'm making progress.  And my new electric guitar is so ... Shiny!!!

Nine Months Later... the new me, slowly emerging!

I've been on Medifast since October 6th, 2011. That's 236 days as of this blog post.  This morning I weighed in at 205lbs.  My starting weight was 248.  I could have done better had I stuck 100% to plan, but there have been times in the past eight months that I've not followed as closely as I should.   I tend to fall off-plan on weekends.  During the week it's easy.  I don't bring money to work.  I just bring my 5 packets. I either eat those, or I don't eat.   I keep a 3 liter bottle of water on my desk. By the end of the work day, I make sure I've made it gone.

 This was at my wedding last year, May 28th, 2011.  I think I was actually much more than 248, but I wasn't weighing myself.

 On the left is me at 248lbs, around the time I started Medifast.  On the right is me at 215lbs.

And me hovering just above 200lbs.  I think I'm 203lbs here.

Friday I was down to 201lbs.  Just a good poo from "one-der-land" (i.e. under 200lbs for the first time in >20 years).  But, it was our anniversary.  And it was Memorial day weekend.  Now I buckle down.  I'd like to be in transition before the end of the summer...

Almost One Week on Medifast: 4lbs gone.

Tomorrow will mark one week on Medifast.  Ok, four pounds is not an earth-shattering weight loss, but at least the scale is moving in the right direction.   I think my loss would be greater, but Sunday I had two "lean and green meals and skipped one medifat meal, so went over on calories.  Sunday is traditionally our day to sit down to a big sunday brunch as a family.   I was good, I did not have any pancakes or orange juice.  I did cook a spinach and mushroom omelette, and probably indulged in to many strips of the yummy smoked bacon, then also had a taco salad (just taco meat, shredded lettuce, tomato and olives, with taco sauce) for dinner.  

I could have made both the morning meal and the evening meal about half the size and just considered it splitting my lean and green... which is what I will do next Sunday.  

I've been really hungry late in the afternoon... probably need to split my meals so I'm eating every hour or so  instead of every 2-3 hours... at least until I get used to the restriction.

I'm going to do this. I am doing this.  I will tweak and adjust as necessary.  Four pounds is four pounds.  That would be 16 pounds a month.  That works out to a hundred pound loss in slightly more than six months.  I can live with that.  Even if it takes a year or two years, I'm not going to give up.

Accept and Support

I don't remember ever not being able to read.  Just as I don't ever remember not being able to swim. Because of that, I have a hard time coming to grips with my daughter's struggle in the reading/language department.

This mornig I had a meeting with the Speech and Language Pathologist at K's school.  They've been doing observations of her speech and language in the classroom, with my permission, and she has some things we need to work on.  My K is a beautiful, funny, smart girl, but has some challenges with sequencing (important for a) relate the day's events, for example, and b) following a series of instructions.  She also has some sound errors and "immature" syntax.   These may not be the correct technical terms, but I'm not an SLP either.  These challenges are affecting her progress in first grade and also her social development.  It breaks my heart.

I love my daughter with all my heart and soul.  That she is not perfect is a bit of a blow... but it does not diminish her one little bit... she's a great kid and I'm going to do everything I can to help her thrive and succeed.

Drastic Measures for a Serious Issue: starting Medifast soon.

I have never been 'small', at least not since puberty. In elementary school, I played basketball and soccer.  In highschool, I played field hockey, soccer and softball. I did hard physical work at the Virginia Zoological Park (It was the Lafayette Zoological Park at the time) several days a week.  I rode my bicycle everywhere. I spent summers volunteering with the Student Conservation Association in Vermont and Ohio clearing trails, cutting wood, etc.  I was no slouch.  Yet I weighed 150lbs when I graduate highschool.
I've come to learn over the years that this is due to insulin resistance... expressed in myself as polycystic ovarian syndrome.  In English: I've been overweight, hairy, prone to acne and have experience severe 'female' problems. Google "PCOS" for more information about that syndrome.  I may discuss it some more in later posts, but not right now. It meant that when I wanted to get pregnant, I had to undergo many medical interventions to conceive.
Now, at 45, it means that I'm continuing to gain weight, and that is causing me other medical issues. My lower back is killing me, especially if I have to walk more than half a mile. My knees are crap. My blood pressure is creeping upward.  Carpal tunnel syndrome. My feet hurt. 
My weight and consequent health issues are starting to really interfere with my life... I love scuba diving, but dread the struggle to put on a 3mm wetsuit and haul a tank/bcd to the water.  We fly kites (I mean seriously fly kites... 13ft wide kites, 81 square foot kites, kites that require house anchors to tie them down...).  Just packing up our kites at the end of a 'fun fly' is murder for me, walking back and forth, bending over, lifting and tossing kite bags. I can't join my daughter in physical play, though I would love to teach her basketball, soccer, tennis...
Clothes that used to fit me well, now, well don't. It's hard to find shirts that are not too short, such that they show my tummy when I lift my arms. It's just plain hard to find clothes that fit well and feel good.
So I am doing something somewhat drastic.  I'm going to go on the Medifast plan. I have two friends who have been successful with it.  The plan is lower carbohydrate, which is appropriate for me with my metabolic issues... The Medifast plan is somewhat restrictive calorically, but with the protein, fat and fiber profile of the plan, one stays in apetite-killing ketosis.  I've ordered two months worth of Medifast food.  I figure I'll have an idea by six weeks whether this will work for me or not.  That will give me two weeks to order more food before I run out if I want to continue beyond 8 weeks.   I need to lose something over 100lbs. 
I've mentioned to my husband that I want to do something, that I'm tired of always being in pain. He is a wonderful, supportive man, whom I love with all my heart.  I know he will think me a bit silly for spending money to do it... afterall, he's never needed to buy anything to lose weight... but I know he'll support me anyway.
My back makes it difficult to do a whole lot of exercise right now. I'll walk as much as the back will allow. Once I lose about 50 pounds though I think I'll be able to get a bit more agressive with the exercise.
Of course one disadvantage to losing a whole lot of weight is that my wetsuit that I had to have custom-made for around $500, because I'm too fat for anything off the rack, will not fit me any more.  I'll be happy to pay to have it altered, and/or buy a wetsuit off-the-rack!