Successful Week!

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting Tuesday afternoon and I was down 1.2 pounds!  Considering I didn't have that great of a week, I was VERY happy with that result.  I still haven't been able to fit in exercise due to EXTREMELY low energy levels.  Monday has the worst day thus far, which I will explain below:

I wake up to see that we have some very dangerous weather heading towards us, but they haven't cancelled school (I'm a teacher).  I continue watching the radar all morning, with a bad feeling in my gut.  When my kiddos went to there enrichment class, I went to my meeting out in the modular behind the school and, unfortunately, left my phone in my classroom.  In the middle of the meeting, one of the administrators comes in the modular and tells us we need to get into the main building immediately as we'd been issued a tornado warning for our immediate area. My co-teacher and I run across to the other building to try to find our class, but no one knew where they were.  Within minutes, the sky was PITCH black.  It looked like midnight, but it was only 10:30 a.m.  We get everyone in the school down into the downstairs hallway, with the kids hunched over in "tornado drill" position.  This is in southern Louisiana, so we are definitely not used to this.  By about 10:50, it was even darker outside and the wind had really picked up.  Around 11, it looked green outside (I was standing up and able to see through the doors of library to the library windows).  I have NEVER experienced anything like this, even during previous tornado warnings (which I guess means that there really weren't any tornadoes around me during those times).  We also lost power around this time.  We stayed crouched in the hallway for another 30 minutes before the all clear was given.  We returned to our classrooms and opened the windows to let in some light.  It actually didn't look that bad outside my classroom - just a few branches blown down and overflowing ditches, but this is how it always looks after severe thunderstorms have rolled through.  We then find out there was in fact a tornado that touched down a block away from the school.  The only damage, besides trees, seemed to be to a gate at the front of the street.  The rest of the day was soooo chaotic, as we couldn't officially call dismissal until the flooding receded.  Parents started showing up, and staff members were running around the school finding the kids and escorting them down to the office.  Official dismissal ended up being 2:15 p.m.  Luckily, everyone was safe.  Hoping we don't have another day like this for a very long time.

Now back to today.  As I was typing this, I hear a gushing sound coming from my laundry room.  My washing machine decided to EXPLODE!  Well, not quite explode, but the drain pipe backed up and was gushing water all over the laundry room.  Thank God I was sitting in the living room, because I never would have heard it from the bedroom.  My husband cleaned up and poured some drain cleaner down the pipe.  Hopefully this will clear it up! 

Trying my BEST not to succumb to stress eating.  I will instead come hear and type my feelings, worries, happiness, etc.  Speaking of happiness, my husband and I are going on our first cruise in 44 days!!!  I need to stay focused on that and losing a little more weight before then.

Exhausted!

I haven't been able to push myself to exercise yet.  I've been so exhausted from just trying to keep up with my house (which isn't going so well) and from taking care of my cat (he's 15 and is currently sick).  On top of that, we've had issues with our kitchen this week and I haven't been able to cook.  This has led to us eating out daily.  NOT good for the waistline at all.  I'm not looking forward to weighing in at my Weight Watchers meeting this Tuesday. 

I also have my one-month follow up appointment with my rheumatologist this Wednesday.  He's going to ask me if I've been wearing my braces everyday (I try to!) and how the medicine he gave me is doing to help with the restless leg syndrome (it's not helping at all!).  I'm really hoping he'll have some type of suggestion for how I can get more energy to get through the day.  I've been struggling with this for years now, with each year getting worse.  The best I've felt in a LONG time was my wedding week in Tennessee.  My orthopedic doctor had given me a steroid shot and given me the Methylprednisolone dose pack.  Unfortunately, that's not something I can keep using. 

I'll just keep praying that this week will be better.  That I'll have energy to at least exercise ONCE, and that I'll be able to use my kitchen to actually fix some healthy meals. 

Back at it AGAIN!!

Well, I've been gone for a while due to unexplained medical issues.  I finally found a doctor that was able to figure me out.  I've been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Type III and Restless Leg Syndrome, on top of the Hashimoto's Autoimmune Disease that I already knew about.  Ehlers-Danlos Syndrom (EDS) is a genetic condition that affects the body's connective tissue, which is the glue that holds us together.  Basically everything in my is very stretchy.  This is why my joints have always been very hypermobile, which really helped with cheerleading in high school. Unfortunately, now it causes me pretty bad pain.  I'm currently required to wear braces on both knees, both ankles, and both wrists to try to prevent further damage.  The Restless Leg Syndrom (RLS) is also causing some significant issues.  When I stand or move around a lot, my heart rate gets very high.  This, combined with the pain and lack of sleep, leaves me completely exhausted everyday.  Add a full-time job into the mix, and, well, needless to say, exercise is very difficult at the moment. I'm going to take it slow and try to do as much as possible without causing further injury. 

Onto my new plan!  I recently joined Weight Watchers through my insurance plan.  I get 6 months of meetings for free!!!  I also wear a Fitbit Charge HR everyday, which automatically adds points for exercise to my WW account (and as an added bonus helps me to monitor my heart rate throughout the day).  I also plan on visiting my favorite weight loss site, 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet, EVERY DAY! The last time I lost a significant amount of weight, I faithfully went to this site each day and was an active participant.  It really does help.  I will also do my best to post here at least once every 2-3 days.  The less I way, the better it is for my poor, unstable joints.  I also have a cruise coming up in June.  It's a first for both me and my husband!!!!!!!