Sweater Dress and Injuries

Hello Friends!  Sorry for the lapse in blogging - I've been enjoying my Christmas break - for the most part.  These first two pictures are of a 5K we did on December 14th.  I had my best time:  44:13 -which put me at a 14:16 minute mile.  It was a good race and I felt good.  I wish that had lasted....how is THAT for foreshadowing?


I didn't fare very well on my eating the last week of school.  There were soooo many treats and the kids kept bringing me chocolate!!  Crap!  The ABSOLUTE funniest thing that happened was that I bought a girdle so that I could fit into a very snug pair of size 18 jeans.  I actually bought it to wear my sweater dress but it worked like magic so I tried it with jeans on our last jeans day of the year.  One of my students said, "Mrs. M..., you have lost a lot of weight!"  I thanked him and acknowledged that I "have been working on it".  Then he said, "No....like since YESTERDAY!  Thirty pounds!"  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


I went in to see Carol at True Results and I was able to get a .2 fill.  It has made a big difference and it has put me much closer to where I feel I need to be.  I go in this Wednesday for a barium scan.  I still feel like I could handle a little in my band but I will see what the scan shows and what Carol says.  :)  I don't want to get a pooch above my band.  I think my biggest problem is still eating too fast.  I talked to Carol about my hip pain that has been becoming more and more of a problem and it is not only interfering with my ability to exercise, it is hurting my ability to walk!  She said to take a week off and if it still bothered me to go see my primary.

I took my week off and then I started to notice a rash on my jawline.  It got worse and I asked a friend of mine to see what she thought and she said go see someone SOON.  This is a picture of what I discovered was a MRSA infection that I more than likely got from the gym!  Pretty huh?  DANG IT!

So on Christmas Eve morning I went to the doctor and got a shot of antibiotic, a liquid prescription for an antibiotic, a follow up appointment the day after Christmas, and a warning to go to the ER if it got any worse.  Thank goodness it didn't get any worse, otherwise it would have had to be drained.  As it was, I spent much of my break with a band aid on my face.

It is finally fading away now with no surgical draining and no one else has received this gift of joy from me.  It was kind of scary. 

I went back to exercising while my infection was healing.  My husband drove by and saw me out walking.  The picture on the left was unexpected, the picture on the right was after I sucked in my tummy.  Tee hee hee.  He bought me some new workout clothes and I LOVE this Nike jacket.  It's so warm and it was little holes for your thumbs so your hands stay warm.  I can't wait to do our next race in it.

 The pictures above were the last day I was able to exercise hard because of my hip pain.  The picture below was the last time I exercised period.  We went hiking in Pedernales Falls State Park.  It was beautiful.  I walked down some stone stairs and I felt a pop in my hip.  It was painful but I struggled down the rest of the way and we took some pictures. 

. After this my husband took the kids up to a higher point in the falls.  I tried to follow but I was in pain and decided not to risk it.  At one point on the way back I felt a stabbing pain in my hip.  I almost fell down it hurt so much.  Then it happened again and I was scared because I was by myself and had a way to go before I was back at the car.  I imagined a helicopter having to airlift me out or strangers having to (gasp) CARRY me!  Hello terrifying to a fat person!!  I eventually worked my way out of the falls area and back to the car.  I had difficulty walking at all after that.  I went to the doctor Monday afternoon and I have bursitis in my hip.  Bursitis is an inflammation of the fluid filled sacks around a joint such as a hip, knee, and shoulder.  This is often caused by a sudden increase in activity....hello bursitis!  I got an incredibly painful shot of cortisone in my hip joint and I started physical therapy for 2x a week for three weeks.  The good news is that it's not serious and I should be doing great again soon.  The bad news is that I have to take time off at a crucial period of weight loss!  I got down to 220.5!!!!  I gained about four from there and have been heading back down since then.  I am SO close to the teens!  I had planned on doing two a days at the gym over break.  That plan fizzled between the infection on my face and the injury.  ugh.  I'm trying hard not to be derailed. I have a 5K next weekend that I would like to walk in (however slowly). 

In some good news...I got the sweater dress and boots look I was going for this year!  Check me out...and yes...there is a girdle in there to hold all my jiggly parts. 

Lately I have been STARING at my pictures.   I am not kidding.  I stare at them.  I have also been staring in the mirror.  I can't believe that the person I see is REALLY me.  It's really me.  It amazes and shocks me.  I am really starting to become proud of what I look like and and how I feel about myself in a way I've never known.  I've always had anti-anorexia (always feeling better about how I look than I really should), but I always focused on one aspect like my eyes or teeth or something.  Now I just feel good overall.

I know I am not there yet and I still have plenty of "fat moments" where I remember how far I still have to go...but now I can actually SEE some progress and it's like I have the vision of the ending line.  More importantly, I can FEEL it.  I bought another size 18 jeans this week.  I tried on three pairs and they all fit really well.  It made me super happy to be down another size without a huge muffin top and a girdle is not required. 

I hope to be in the teens the next time I blog!  Just to give you some perspective on what I used to look like, here are some throw back pics:

Love to all!  Thanks for reading!