Week 7: Count your blessings

Well, the good news is that my bad days are not as bad and my good days are even better. The not so good news is that my swelling in my legs has gotten worse. They are "pitting" more now and so when you press on my leg it makes a big funny dent that stays for a while. Not liking that at all. Which also means my weight is still fluctuating up and down. Frustrating! Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving Holiday with Brycen's family. I am hoping to call the doctor this week and see what to do about all my swelling hopefully get that taken care of. Hope you all had a great Holiday! Bring on the Christmas music!!

Week 6: Getting back to Normal!

So this was a good week for me. My swelling has gone down a little bit and so has my weight! Back down to 294; which is just one pound away from where I was before my surgery. I am still a bit swollen but the water retention seems to be lessening, so hopefully that will be all done in the next week or so. I finished my internship hours which is taking a lot of stress off and helping me to relax. I was able to do 2 days of workouts this week and remember more water, which really helped! I am feeling so much better than I have in a long time, and am hoping for more workouts this week. I am really wanting to see weight loss this week and think I can if I really focus on trying to eat healthy and get my exercise in. I know we have Thanksgiving this week, but I think I can enjoy it AND keep my weight where it needs to be. I also was able to do a sleep study last night to see if I have sleep apnea and see how to take care of it. We'll get the results in the next 2 weeks or so. Anyway, I am looking forward to some family time w/Brycen's family this week and feeling more like normal! Thank you all again for your love and support!

Into Week 5: Stepping Up

Have you ever worked at something and have the results not turn out the way you planned? Well, that's how this last week was for me. It's been quite the week. With the election, school, sick husband, sick baby, swollen legs, painful bruising, recovering heart and coming down with a cold myself, I have felt a fair amount of stress. There were a few days of some stress eating, which I was able to have and still keep it under control without eating too much. It was a small effort, but more than I have done in the past. Yet, from the swelling and water retention from my heart procedure and still not being able to exercise, I went back up 7 pounds. That is so frustrating! I feel like my body is betraying me. Even though it is hard to report this to you all this week, I do feel at peace knowing that I made an effort. I didn't let the overeating rule me. And I am not giving up.
The great news this week is that my heart seems to be responding well to the procedure now and I have been in a normal rhythm for 2 days now. I don't know how to describe how it feels, other than I feel more like myself again. I have more energy, I can climb the stairs without gasping for air, and I feel more clear minded. I am so happy about it! I go in this coming Saturday to do a sleep study to get some help with my sleep apnea. I am hoping that goes well and I can get the things I need to help that. The doctors think that the sleep apnea is a major contributor to my heart problems, so if it can be treated then my heart will should continue to do better.
I am moving forward into this week with a "Step it up" attitude. Last week was hard, yes. Now I have a new week before me. Despite a threatening cold, I am feeling so much better than I have in months.

So to step it up this week I will focus on 2 areas: WATER and EXERCISE.
Drinking the water my body needs will help with the swelling and water retention, and finally being able to get up and exercise will feel so good!

Thank you all for standing by me through this setback. I was wanting to ask all you readers if you had time this week to send me some of your favorite "encouragement quotes". Quotes or sayings that encourage you and help you have more determination and focus. I sure could use some of those right now!!

Moving Forward with Faith,
Tanya

Week 4 starting- Heart procedure

    Well it was a good week. As some of you may know and most probably don't, after I had Lucas last year my heart began to go into Atrial Fibrillation. That is where my heart wasn't beating properly. We tried different medications and a cardioversion (which shocks the heart back to rhythm) but after 20 months my heart still wasn't beating properly. So, on Halloween a few days ago, I went to the hospital to have a procedure called catheter ablation which can hopefully cure my condition. In simple terms the doctor stuck a tube in my leg that led through an artery up to my heart, looked at my heart, then burned/scarred the parts of my heart that were causing the improper beating.
      The doctor said that he had to do a fair amount of ablation to get all the problem spots, but he thinks he got them all and hopefully within the next 3 months the scarring will help my heart to be healed and it will continue to beat properly. So, I have been recovering from that the past few days.
      As far as taking care of my health, this week I really have been aware and careful of what I eat. I have eaten more salads, more veggies and fruit, more whole grains. And I have been very good at portion control this week. Exercise was very limited as my procedure has had me recovery and not able to do too much activity. Yet, I have done what I could when I could. I am very happy with the efforts I have made this week.
     As far as my weight this week, it has been really wacky because of my procedure. It caused me to swell and retain a lot of fluids and I gained 18 pounds, which I have now lost and am back down to my 293, which keeps the total weight loss at 10 pounds. So this week stayed the same. Yet, I still feel a bit swollen and with the way I was eating this week I am sure next week will bring better results on the scale. And the scale isn't the most important part of this goal, it's healthy living. This past week I have done the best out of all the weeks to take care of my health and so I am really happy and pleased with the progress I am making. Thank you to all who have been thinking of and praying for me, those thoughts and prayers are felt. We have had so many people bring meals, cards, and well wishes. Thank you!
   Hope you all are well and enjoying November so far!