Hi all. No real news to report, except apparently I am shrinking. Several years ago, when my mom passed away from an abdominal aneurysm it became important to me to start preserving my health so that when I was in my 70s I would still be active and in good health. My mom's health had deteriorated due to a lifetime of smoking and subsequent heart issues and emphysema. Couple that with small veins due to her petite size and the surgical procedures available to treat her aneurysm weren't an option for her. That broke my heart but also galvanized me to not land in the same boat. So I joined a gym along with Bruce and started working out. I cut down soda to one a day as my '06 New Year's resolution and started drinking more water. Those two things alone and I lost a clothing size within a few months. Very cool.
Jump ahead to 2008, when cancer made it's first appearance in my life. Once I was done with treatment, I made more lifestyle changes related to preventing the cancer from coming back. I ate only whole grains (well mostly), increased my fruits and veggies to 7-10 servings a day, avoided processed food, and took up running. Lo and behold another clothing size melted away and stayed away. Very very cool.
So now here we are in 2012, with cancer showing it's face again, and I've lost another 10-12 pounds. The extra "baby-15" I've been toting around is finally gone! And it seems to be staying off. Which is good since my "babies" are 17 and 21! Some of it was surgically removed so I have to acknowledge that, but I didn't have much going on there to begin with so it couldn't have been more than 2-3 pounds. But now, by doing the same as above with a renewed fervor AND eliminating most sugar from my diet (no candy, cakes, brownies, cookies, etc) I am weighing in at 126 or so, which I don't think I've weighed that since middle school! I am buying shorts in a size 4 as my current shorts wardrobe is mostly too big. I have never been a size 4...think I skipped right over that from being a "Lemon Frog" (ha ha does anyone remember that??) in middle school to a size 9/11 in high school. Granted they have adjusted the sizes over the years so what was a size 11 is more like a 9 now and so on.....but still.....I am shrinking!
Over the last few years, I think I have lost just under 25 pounds which is pretty cool. Except now health care workers comment on how "little" I am. In the hospital, the nurse decided my gown was too big and went and got me a child's gown! Which, I must admit, mostly fit except I couldn't close it in the back! Yesterday, the massage therapist commented "You are so little on the table." I know these are compliments, it's just weird being told you are little when you don't feel little! While I am very happy with the weight loss, I don't really want to lose anymore, and I'd be happy to settle in at 125-130 which would be a very healthy weight for my height. It's also not a diet I'd recommend: the death of a parent/cancer/chemo/cancer again/chemo again/surgery/radiation/no sugar diet. Don't really see a book deal or an appearance on Dr. Oz coming out of that one!
PS...does anyone have a cookie? Oh dang...that's right...no cookies for me, for now at least ;)
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