I am pleased to check in with you guys and let you know that I am actually still on track! I think it's going to stick this time :) I just needed a little spring time and motivation (and hope of getting off medicines!). I started on April 1 and have exercised EVERY SINGLE DAY except one since! That is 12 out of 13 days in a row...pretty stoked about this!
I have been alternating between my elliptical and walking outside. The dreaded elliptical is actually getting easier...I have stayed on it as many as thirty minutes. Considering when I first started, I was STRUGGLING after 5 minutes, I'm quite impressed with my 30 minutes. The other days, I have been walking outside. Some days, mom walks with me and others I hit the trail by myself. The nice thing about where I live is that I can walk across the street into the park and start down the West Cambridge Trail. I walk that way to the back entrance to the Lander track and then either one lap or two around the track and then back home. Saturday morning i walked 3 miles! I feel like I am slowly getting back to pre-cancer Jodi...you have NO IDEA what a wonderful wonderful feeling that is. It has been a very long time....and a long long road to get there.
Today, I had a ridiculous walk. Tiffani came to visit this weekend and once she left, I made myself go for a walk. I had not decided if I was going one lap or two around the track. As I was about 3/4 of the way around the track, this man came up and told me they would be locking up in about 10 minutes. I was not aware that they closed at 5 on Sundays! I pointed at the back gate and told him I would be leaving from that gate. By the time I got over there, the freaking gate was locked! I asked a man who was taking out trash if I could get out that way and of course he said no. He asked if I was parked out there and I told him no, that I walked to the track and I lived over that way. He told me to walk up towards the front of the complex, right past the fence, and there was a little pathway behind this lady's house that would put me out back where I needed to be. OH MY LORD. I should have just walked out the front gate and down Montague to get back to my house! Once I turned the corner down this "pathway", the area that I had to walk was about a foot and a half wide between 2 fences. What a disaster...I lost my hat twice, my headphones came unplugged 3 times from my ipod from getting hung on branches and I have a scrape on my arm ad 2 on my leg. I had been walking at such a great pace and that just killed it. I was so ill by the time I got out...and I STILL had to walk back home!
Anyway...I thought you guys might get a kick out of my fiasco...I'm sure it was MUCH funnier to watch that read about ;)
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
I'm Back!
Well...I'm back! I know...I know...this isn't going to happen until I get my act together. I feel like I am coming out from under this funk that I have been dealing with the last could of months. Between all this medicine I have to take every day that makes me feel blah and the cold weather that makes me blah...I have just been blah!
But now it's spring! That is really helping :) I don't want to come straight home from work and put on pjs and do nothing (most days anyway)...I am totally trying to get it together finally. I am starting a challenge tomorrow...1800MinuteChallenge. I read a blog called Living in Yellow and she and a couple other bloggers have started this challenge...from April 1 to May 31, I am going to exercise 1800 minutes...that works out to 30 minutes a day. I got a little headstart today (because I am OCD and I have to start new things on a Monday, not a Tuesday). I walked for 14 minutes outside (slathered in sunscreen...stepped in a mudhole and almost had to deal with a dog...it didn't really go very smoothly, but I did it!) and then came home and did 10 minutes on my elliptical...yay me! I am hiding my scale...I was weighed at the doctor this morning and I have another checkup in a month...I am just focusing on eating well and exercising and not stressing about the weight.
I had a checkup at my Greenville doctor today. I have been a bit anxious about this checkup...the last week or so I have been SO TIRED every day and there's been a little blood in my tissue after blowing my nose in the mornings. This may not seem like much to most people, but remember when I was first diagnosed, I had a rash and my gums bled when I brushed my teeth, so I have been a touch stressed about that! Dr. Fanning completely made my day today. After feeling anxious last week and getting perfect blood work results today, she told me that research has really been showing that 3 years is the new 5 years with post-transplant acute leukemia patients...meaning that in 4 months, the possibility of relapse is just about zero. I just about started crying in her office, but I held it together. What a FANTASTIC thing to hear! She also helped me realize that it's not the end of the world that I am still on steroids...most people post transplant stay on some sort of medicine for the rest of their lives...and I am on track to get rid of a lot of my meds in the near future. So anyway...that made me feel much much better.
The plan for tomorrow is to walk around the park with Katherine to kick off this challenge...wish us luck!
Have a great day!!
But now it's spring! That is really helping :) I don't want to come straight home from work and put on pjs and do nothing (most days anyway)...I am totally trying to get it together finally. I am starting a challenge tomorrow...1800MinuteChallenge. I read a blog called Living in Yellow and she and a couple other bloggers have started this challenge...from April 1 to May 31, I am going to exercise 1800 minutes...that works out to 30 minutes a day. I got a little headstart today (because I am OCD and I have to start new things on a Monday, not a Tuesday). I walked for 14 minutes outside (slathered in sunscreen...stepped in a mudhole and almost had to deal with a dog...it didn't really go very smoothly, but I did it!) and then came home and did 10 minutes on my elliptical...yay me! I am hiding my scale...I was weighed at the doctor this morning and I have another checkup in a month...I am just focusing on eating well and exercising and not stressing about the weight.
The plan for tomorrow is to walk around the park with Katherine to kick off this challenge...wish us luck!
Have a great day!!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Motivation...
Motivation is a funny thing. I have felt motivated to get this weight loss journey started before, but just the smallest thing could throw me off course...change in medicine, bad day at work, not enough sleep, etc. I have always been able to talk myself out of staying on course, but I am really working on it now! Today would have been a great day to skip the gym and pick up food on the way home...it was just an annoying day today and then it had started to snow right when I left work (I am one of the few people in the world that just doesn't love snow!)
I sucked it up and made myself go to the gym...I knew I would feel better afterwards (and I do!) I even came home and cooked supper instead of picking something yummy up. I have worked out every day except Sunday since last Monday. i hear you form a new habit in 21 days, so hopefully I am 1/3 of the way there! Before I got sick, I so enjoyed exercising, I went to the gym before and after work! I felt cruddy when I didn't go to the gym. I can't wait to get back to that point...not there yet!
So anyway...I know that I can do this, but today was one of the tougher days to maintain motivation. I powered through it, and hopefully tomorrow will be better :)
Thanks for reading :) Have a great night!
I sucked it up and made myself go to the gym...I knew I would feel better afterwards (and I do!) I even came home and cooked supper instead of picking something yummy up. I have worked out every day except Sunday since last Monday. i hear you form a new habit in 21 days, so hopefully I am 1/3 of the way there! Before I got sick, I so enjoyed exercising, I went to the gym before and after work! I felt cruddy when I didn't go to the gym. I can't wait to get back to that point...not there yet!
Thanks for reading :) Have a great night!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Let's talk food...
Food. It's the hardest part of a lifestyle change (I really dislike the word diet). Before I got sick, I was on a roll. I was eating the healthiest I ever had in my life. While I was having chemo and my transplant, most days I could eat anything I wanted (when I wasn't nauseated) and I didn't gain any weight. It was like the most awesome side effect ever ;) My body shifted though...all the muscle I had built up in my workouts just disappeared. Between the chemo and steroids, I lost all of my strength. Do you know how frustrating it is to have people tell you "Oh your muscles will come back..." Umm no...they won't (and haven't) just ome back...it took a LOT of work to get them in the first place, so it will take a lot of work again!
Anyway...I got off track. I do not love very many veggies. I am working very hard to change that, but it's not easy. Maybe I need to try smoothies or something to incorporate more. Fruit is much easier for me...I have SUCH a sweet tooth! Another thing I have to work on is leftovers...I don't love them, but I am trying hard to eat them. I am not one to cook something on Sunday and it the same thing every night. For some reason, I can eat the same breakfast and lunch every day and it doesn't bother me, but I have to switch up supper and do different things.
As of right now, I have a small bowl of Special K either Cinnamon Pecan or Vanilla Almond cereal and orange juice for breakfast, a banana midmorning and a salad at lunch time. I try to stick with romaine lettuce and green/red leaf lettuce (I hear the darker the leaves, the better for you they are), croutons, red onion, just a touch of cheese and salad dressing. This is what I am hooked on these days...it's REALLY good!
Anyway...I got off track. I do not love very many veggies. I am working very hard to change that, but it's not easy. Maybe I need to try smoothies or something to incorporate more. Fruit is much easier for me...I have SUCH a sweet tooth! Another thing I have to work on is leftovers...I don't love them, but I am trying hard to eat them. I am not one to cook something on Sunday and it the same thing every night. For some reason, I can eat the same breakfast and lunch every day and it doesn't bother me, but I have to switch up supper and do different things.
As of right now, I have a small bowl of Special K either Cinnamon Pecan or Vanilla Almond cereal and orange juice for breakfast, a banana midmorning and a salad at lunch time. I try to stick with romaine lettuce and green/red leaf lettuce (I hear the darker the leaves, the better for you they are), croutons, red onion, just a touch of cheese and salad dressing. This is what I am hooked on these days...it's REALLY good!
Add a few grapes and some jello with lite cool whip and that's lunch :) I usually have an apple or orange mid afternoon (I found little honey crisp apples at the grocery store that are delicious!) Supper is the challenging meal for me. I am usually starving by the time I get home after the gym after work, so I don't want to wait too long for supper to cook. Another challenge I face is cooking for just one person. It's tricky to not end up with a ton of leftovers. I have no desire to give up meat at this point, so I usually have some sort of chicken, pork, or seafood and one or two veggies. I am trying to cut out pasta and potatoes for the most part. I love them more than just about anything, so it's definitely not easy!
The very bad habit mom and I got into while we were in Houston was dessert. We had some sort of yummy dessert every night! I have a terrible sweet tooth that is hard to ignore. When I came home from Houston, I sort of felt like everything I had gone through, I had earned the right to eat dessert every night :) Which is very much the truth, but i just have to keep it in moderation. This is what I am having these days... chocolate grahamwiches. They are delicious! And only 112 calories :) In addition to the food changes, I have cut out all soft drinks...I have orange juice in the morning with breakfast and then I drink almost a gallon of water every day.
The most important meal of the week for me is my cheat meal! I would go nuts if I didn't chat every now and then :) The important thing to remember is to not get sucked into the cheat mode!
Ok...I have rambled on long enough for tonight. I hope you have a great week! I'll beback soon with a weight loss update :)
~Jodi
Friday, January 24, 2014
Here we go...again!
You guys will just have to excuse this plain boring blog...one day maybe I will have a fancy one, but for now...this is it! I just need a spot to chat :)
People tell me all the time that I should write a book about this long journey I have been on, but for now I think I will just stick with a blog. My life has just been one long saga in the quest to get healthy. I played softball in high school, but wasn't ever much of an exerciser. Then I got to college and I REALLY didn't take care of my body through all those rollercoaster years. The worst idea I EVER had was picking up a cigarette. I was in Paris...too bad it didn't stay in Paris! Oh well...nothing I can do about that now...no sense in having regrets! They just take up too much valuable space, in my opinion. I wouldn't be the person I am today (who I kinda like!) if it weren't for the choices (stupid or not so stupid) I've made throughout my life. After my rough early 20s (even with cancer involved, my 3s are WAY better than my 20s!!), I started getting my life together. Mom and dad helped me buy The Beaded Tiger...I finally had a purpose in life.
Step 1 of getting healthy: no more cigarettes! I had my last one on September 7, 2007. At that point, I thought that was the hardest thing I would ever do (I was sadly mistaken!). I took Chantix to help me, and it made me a little nuts, but it definitely help! I don't even think about the anniversary of my quit date anymore...which is a good sign that it is way in the past.
Quitting smoking is AWESOME but boy did I gain some weight when I quit! In March of 2010, something finally clicked and I drove to the gym that I had joined 2 months before and walked through the door. From March to December, I worked my ass off (literally!) and lost 120 lbs. I was the healthiest I have ever been...for about 2 months anyway! I was walking 4-5 miles a day and doing all kinds of weights and TRX and crazy stuff that wears me out just thinking about it now. I had about 50 pounds left to reach my goal weight, but I felt FANTASTIC! Check this out...it still trips me out to look at before and after pictures:
See what I mean?? Nuts! I enjoyed this sassy version of myself for about 2 months before I noticed a rash on my legs...and that little rash totally changed my life! If you are reading this, you probably know about my cancer/stem cell transplant journey, but if you want to play catch up, you can go play catch up on my Caring Bridge journals from my Houston days here.
It has been 2 and a half years since my transplant and let me tell you I do not wish that on ANYBODY!! That is by far the hardest thing I have ever done and hope to ever do! The whole time I was having chemo and after my transplant, I was able to eat just about anything and I didn't gain any weight...it was awesome :) That changed a little while after the transplant unfortunately and I put a little of my weight back on. I was maintaining that for awhile and then I had to go back on steroids in August 2013. since then, I have gained 30 lbs...steroids are just awful! They do good things, but good lord do they have awful side effects. And when you take lots of them, you lose a little of your immune system, which causes you to be on other preventive medicines. So anyway...the past few months, I have just felt cruddy. My clothes don't fit, I'm tired, bogged down by medicines and just blah and I am tired of it! I am the only one who can fix it.
I hope you will follow my next journey...I have much more success when I know I have a good support system. I started back officially this past Monday and have lost 3.4 lbs this week! I know I won't keep up that pace, but it sure does help to jump start the motivation :) I will update as much as I can...with my exercise, recipes, and whatever else I may feel like telling you.
Thanks for reading!
Jodi :)
People tell me all the time that I should write a book about this long journey I have been on, but for now I think I will just stick with a blog. My life has just been one long saga in the quest to get healthy. I played softball in high school, but wasn't ever much of an exerciser. Then I got to college and I REALLY didn't take care of my body through all those rollercoaster years. The worst idea I EVER had was picking up a cigarette. I was in Paris...too bad it didn't stay in Paris! Oh well...nothing I can do about that now...no sense in having regrets! They just take up too much valuable space, in my opinion. I wouldn't be the person I am today (who I kinda like!) if it weren't for the choices (stupid or not so stupid) I've made throughout my life. After my rough early 20s (even with cancer involved, my 3s are WAY better than my 20s!!), I started getting my life together. Mom and dad helped me buy The Beaded Tiger...I finally had a purpose in life.
Step 1 of getting healthy: no more cigarettes! I had my last one on September 7, 2007. At that point, I thought that was the hardest thing I would ever do (I was sadly mistaken!). I took Chantix to help me, and it made me a little nuts, but it definitely help! I don't even think about the anniversary of my quit date anymore...which is a good sign that it is way in the past.
Quitting smoking is AWESOME but boy did I gain some weight when I quit! In March of 2010, something finally clicked and I drove to the gym that I had joined 2 months before and walked through the door. From March to December, I worked my ass off (literally!) and lost 120 lbs. I was the healthiest I have ever been...for about 2 months anyway! I was walking 4-5 miles a day and doing all kinds of weights and TRX and crazy stuff that wears me out just thinking about it now. I had about 50 pounds left to reach my goal weight, but I felt FANTASTIC! Check this out...it still trips me out to look at before and after pictures:
It has been 2 and a half years since my transplant and let me tell you I do not wish that on ANYBODY!! That is by far the hardest thing I have ever done and hope to ever do! The whole time I was having chemo and after my transplant, I was able to eat just about anything and I didn't gain any weight...it was awesome :) That changed a little while after the transplant unfortunately and I put a little of my weight back on. I was maintaining that for awhile and then I had to go back on steroids in August 2013. since then, I have gained 30 lbs...steroids are just awful! They do good things, but good lord do they have awful side effects. And when you take lots of them, you lose a little of your immune system, which causes you to be on other preventive medicines. So anyway...the past few months, I have just felt cruddy. My clothes don't fit, I'm tired, bogged down by medicines and just blah and I am tired of it! I am the only one who can fix it.
I hope you will follow my next journey...I have much more success when I know I have a good support system. I started back officially this past Monday and have lost 3.4 lbs this week! I know I won't keep up that pace, but it sure does help to jump start the motivation :) I will update as much as I can...with my exercise, recipes, and whatever else I may feel like telling you.
Thanks for reading!
Jodi :)
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