Today's Focus - so far sooo good.

It's been close to two months now that I've been taking my vitamins and watching what and how I eat so I'm supposed to asses what I feel like. Well as you would expect I am feeling much better. I've gone from my top weight of 245 lbs to 227 ( 1 week consistently below 230 ) lbs. so that in itself is a bonus.

I have now spent over a week without large areas of hives itching so I am impressed about that. Something is working. I still haven't pinned down the actual cause or had any AHA moments yet. I still have a few  bouts of hives so I know they haven't gone away but they have been greatly reduced. So much so I've made an appointment to see my doctor and maybe reduce or get off some of this medication that they are concerned about. Anything I don't have to take by the way of prescription medication is the way to go I think.

Today's focus is on this weeks snack food for lunches. I am tweaking a oatmeal cookie recipe that uses applesauce instead of tons of sugar and butter. My first batch  seemed way too sweet so I am hopeful that I can reduce the sugar content even further. They were sooo gooood! We'll see how it goes. If I can put a healthy snack in  my lunchbox instead of potato chips then I am that much further ahead.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

What's Ahead

I was driving in the rain today (yes it is still raining ) and I noticed that quite a number of drivers fail to use signal lights to tell others their intent.

How can you expect to arrive at your destination safely without these simple indications?

The same with online postings. Are you signaling in your posts your intent; your destination?

Just something to think about.  What are your thoughts?

Top 5 Wants ( Not NEEDS)!

OK. I was sitting thinking in the rain again. Rain. Rain. Rain. Will it ever be summer? I was thinking of a Top Five list to get me motivated ... and maybe when the rain stops I'll start work on the backyard shed.

!: A Bullbar for the front of the Escape - chrome of course.

2: A covered porch addition to the back deck

3: A new GPS for the truck. One that does more than my antique one.

4: A new computer upgrade.

5: A Spaberry for the covered deck :)

But the shed has to go up first... and that's an ongoing 4 year trial in itself. ( another long story)

Reversing The Trend

WOW! I've been hovering around 230 lbs. for a week now and finally broke through the barrier and dropped to 228.  I'm on the way to my goal of less than 200 lbs. We'll see. This low glycemic regime seems to be working, with only a few falls off the wagon. I'm at the point now that fountain pop makes my stomach flip. Pop is out.

I'm sure it is the Vitamins... I feel such a difference taking vitamins that work compared to vitamins that don't. You can actually see the difference in my fingernails. I have more energy and heal faster but everyone says that I suppose. It is different when you can see it though.

 The hives mess has lessened this week as well but it's cyclical so I have  been tempted with week long stretches  of itch free periods before only to have it come back full force. I'll bide my time and enjoy the itch free for now and just worry about the mosquitoes. :)

Clean Sweep

I cleaned off my desk today. !0 years of clutter and dust bunnies. I found some vacation videos and pictures, a packet of dried Sourdough Mix and some much needed desk space. I activated the sourdough starter right away so I can have sourdough pancakes tomorrow. Yum.

One Month In

So I started this venture for two reasons. I thought they were related but time will tell.

1: My Itchy Medical Condition: I've developed a condition called hives with randomly blotched itchy spots all over my body. They seem to come and go at anytime. Some last hours, others last days. I've been to my family doctor and she's sent me to specialists on allergies and skin ailments and no relief has come to my problem. It's been over a year now and still no cure to the problem.It seems the best they can offer is that it is not an allergy and that it is something I'll have to grow out of. So I have been slowly removing things I think would be a problem and see if anything changes. I'm on month 14 with little results and some days I'm so swollen and itchy I can't go to work. NOT GOOD.

2: Reducing my weight. I've been sitting at 232 pounds for the past few years and with all the medications I've been taking to help reduce my hives I've slowly been adding on the pounds. When I topped 245 I said enough is enough and started looking for alternatives.

I've tried many fad diets second hand that worked to a point but always rebounded once you stopped the exact program ( Which usually involved spending money on their time limited products). They all had one thing in common but the results were also the same. I even went to a nutritionist and she said I was eating the right way, except for two things. She suggested I reduce portion sizes and cut down on the junk food.

Until I went to a Health and Wellness Seminar locally did I see something that made things start to click. Insulin Resistance and the low glycemic diet. Insulin resistance was the reason the pounds were starting to slowly pile up in spite of the changes I had made to my diet.

It only took one week on a low glycemic diet and I lost 10 pounds. That was 10 pounds without changing anything but the of timing my of my meals than changing what I ate. So I'm dropping the pounds but I am still itchy.. That trial continues.