Weigh-in at Docs & Work-out with Drew

Ok kids-- it is the moment I have been waiting for-- and somewhat dreading-- the weigh-in and blood pressure check at my doc's today.

Jeff, my DH, weighed himself at the gym on Sunday and put on ten pounds. I don't think that is a true "fat" gain. He had been eating much less carbs, like me, but has been cheating wildly for two weeks. When I eat that many carbs, I immdiately pile on a bunch of "bloaty" weight that comes right back off once I return to the right kind of eating.

So DH gaining THAT much, even bloaty carb weight that is temporary-- made me nervous about my weigh-in today. I told you all that I wanted to be under 300 for the new year-- with all of the Hot 100 commitments-- this was the main thing I hoped to achieve.

By now you're probably saying, "Alright already, give us the dang numbers." Ok, I lost 9 pounds since my last visit in November, making my weight 298 -- so YIPPPPEEEEEE, I made it! I will start the year 2010 under 300 pounds and I am beyond thrilled!

My last weigh-in was a few days before Thanksgiving. So even with lousy holiday eating and being half-ass with my exercise for almost two weeks, I STILL lost 9 pounds in four weeks. Not bad.

We checked my blood pressure and went over the blood work from my last visit. Last time, my blood pressure was 158/88, this time it was 142/74-- that's with a drug called Avalide that my Doc thinks I should be able to wean off of as my weight comes down.

My total cholesterol was 174; my HDL (good cholesterol) was 45. My doc would like to see that improve even more (as he likes to see the HDL at at least 50) but thinks it will get there over time by itself, so long as I keep exercising and eating the way I do-- Salmon 3-4 times a week and flax with the oatmeal must have SOME benefit!

My triglycerides were 113 and anything under 150 is supposed to be good. My fasting blood sugar was 96. Doc said he would have liked to see that lower because of diabetis in the family. He told me to watch the sugar and carbs-- which, I do.

One potential issue is that my bloodwork showed a sluggish thyroid. He retested it today and if that blood work comes back sluggish too, he might consider giving me thyroid meds. My mother had to have this and lost 50 pounds the minute she started taking it.

I both want and don't want to have to take meds for that, if you know what I mean? It would be cool to take a pill every morning and effortlessly peel off more weight than what I've been losing. On the other hand, I've been averaging 6 inches of weight loss per month without any pills. And I wouldn't want worry about a sudden massive weight gain if I had to go off the pills.

He wants me to have a mamogram and a colonoscopy before I go back for my next check up, which will be February 23rd. Changing my Doc was one of the smartest things I did this year. I love the guy!

I was hoping for more than a nine pound loss, but I am under 300, finally, and that's what I wanted more than anything as a Chrsitmas present to myself.

After the doc's I went to meet my son Andrew at his gym and try some new exercises with him. He is actually my step-son, but Jeff and I both hate that term, so I just call him my son.

Anyway, he has battled with weight too and in the process got certified as a personal trainer. He is in college now, doing his own work outs, plus working with clients. Andrew is one of the reasons that I am able to push myself as I do. We tend to NOT want to do that. Having someone around to remind you of how strong you are really does help.

Our gym won't allow you to bring in your own personal trainer, so I visited Drew's gym. I wanted to try some things where it helps to have a "spotter" and I wanted to try some things that I haven't tried before-- like using the smith machine.

So he helped me through bench presses, squats with the smith machine, dead lifts, bent-over bar bell rows, calf raises, preacher curls, Lat pull down and a few others.

I squated with 85 pounds on the smith machine, did preacher curls with 20 pounds, lat pull downs with 130 pounds and can leg press 300-- which is MORE than I weigh now-- FINALLY! I can do seated calf raises with 125 pounds.

Anyway, he has a month off from college so I'll probably go back at the end of January to see if I can bench press and dead lift more. I will practice on my own.

Hope you're having a great day!

xoxoxox