Just call me Strawberry Shortcake

On Easter Sunday, we headed over to my parent's house for dinner and the annual egg hunt.
My parents live on a large piece of land. Much of it is wooded and they have planted every plant known to man.
So it was not unusual to me when I came across a strawberry patch my mom had planted over by my dad's garage. And if you know me, I love a good strawberry. So I couldn't wait to eat a few of them as soon as I spotted them.
They were very small, but already red. Perfect for eating. I ate 4 and went on about my business.
About an hour later, we all hunted eggs and we were sitting around my parents on the front porch talking. I mentioned to my mom that I thought it was a neat idea she had planted strawberries and that I had found some already red ones and eaten them.
Much to my surprise (and her's) she informed me she didn't know what strawberries I was talking about. I told her that they were the one's she had so neatly put over by the garage.
Apparently, she didn't put them there.
Nature did. Wild strawberries. Or they might not even be strawberries actually. Since when I broke one open to show them they didn't look like strawberries.
Hmm.
If you google wild strawberries, it says they are edible.
Maybe.
But I do seem to be a little itchy and my stomach seems to be a little unsettled.
That might just be the quantity of food I consumed today.
But it is my hope that you, the reader of this blog, will not have the pleasure of telling all your friends about the girl you know who died from eating wild strawberries.
Just sayin'.

Exploding ankles

In my last post I shared all about my recent digestive health issues.
In this post, I will tell you about how my doctor almost killed me trying to fix said issues.
She gave me 2 antibiotics. Two very strong antibiotics.
And they basically killed every good bacteira in my body.
And it seems as though I am also allergic to at least one of them.
So where do I stand?
My ankles and hands and face and midsection are swollen. Think stay-puff-marshmallow-man.
I'm itching to death and my guts hurt worse.
Fabulous.
So on the recommendation of the pharmacist since I couldn't get the doctor after hours, I have abandoned all medicines.
And of course I now have to go for an appointment to come up with another plan of attack.
Great.
But I guess I'm just thankful I have a doctor and insurance and the luxury of having healthcare.
And I feel certain I will know at some point what my problem is.
Right now it's all just a pain in the butt- literally.

Over Sharing

I've been a little ill.
By ill I mean physically ill, not mentally like some of you might assume.
I have gut rot.
Yep-gut rot.
That's what I call it when my insides turn on me.
And for those of you that don't know, mine turned on me 2.5 years ago and started with my gall bladder. Now it is all encompassing. My entire GI tract hates me.
And soon I will be completing a series of tests to find out what the heck is happening in there.
And for those of you who know anything about tests and the GI tract, you know that these will not be fun tests. You know, flashlight up the butt type tests.
And did I mention I've already collected poop in special containers for analysis?
I know you are envious!
So maybe say a prayer or two for me over the next few weeks.
And in the meantime, I'll go take my 2 antibiotics, acid medicine, anti-nausea medicine and some Imodium.

8 bags of sugar later

I did it.

I've lost 40 lbs. The equivalence of 8 bags of sugar. Or a large bag of cat food. Or a 4 year old.

I am so very excited to finally be a nice weight. A healthy weight. A weight that allows me to find cute clothes in my size.

It has been painful at times sticking to my diet. But not nearly as painful as it was having high blood pressure, migraines, breathing heavy and being super unhealthy.

It has all been worth it. The eating of salads, skipping desserts and staying away from the ice cream place. And the crazy thing is, I've totally gotten used to my new eating ways and really I'm not missing out on much. In fact, I can't physically eat like I used to. Which is a good thing.

I'm also embracing the fact that I am moving around so much better with 40 lbs less to carry around. I am truly a new me.

So now to the hard part- maintenance. I know I can do it. It's different this time. I want to keep it off. I have to keep it off. And I will.

Thanks for your encouragement throughout this process. It's only with the kind words of others that I have made this happen.

Thanks for the Love and I have less butt

As it turns out, I still have readers! Thanks to every one for showing me some love on the blog yesterday. I appreciate knowing that if I write a little post someone will give it a read. And with that I'll tell you about my weight loss lately. I haven't done an update in a while on weight, but I'm proud to announce that I have a little more than a pound left until I am at my goal. 1 little pound. And the problem is I am pretty happy where I am. So the little bit of extra effort I need to put in to get the last pound off is lacking. I'm just happy where I am. Thrilled with the new me. Especially since I thought I would never get the weight off and I have. It's hard for me to accept. The smaller me. Because I was successful at something. And I don't like to give myself credit. But I sure am happy with the new me. The one who's butt is not nearly as big as it used to be. I know that because a woman at church told me so. Funny the things that come out of people's mouths. Especially at church.

Umm wow

I am fully immersed in a start up business right now. You know, making sure people have health insurance, making sure people getting paid. Learning new software, helping get an office put together. It is pretty overwhelming but also pretty challenging and awesome too. I know pretty soon that things will settle down and it will be business as usual. Right now it's just a little chaotic. And with that I have very little time to blog. But I wonder if anyone even reads my stuff any more. It's not as good as it used to be I know. And certainly not as frequent. But do you read it? If you still do, tell me. I'd really like to know. Because I want to blog. but I don't want to write to a phantom audience. So show me some love or not. And in the mean time, what have you been doing lately?