Well it has been 8 months since I blogged last and a lot has changed in my life.  Last time I blogged I gained a little weight and I was motivated to lose again.  Kyle and I had just gotten married and the wedding stress was over.  Little did I know what would happen in the next few months.  I have been having pain in my upper back for months.  It would come on as attacks but I just thought I was lactose intolerant.  Well in May the attack lasted 4 days and I became jaundice.  My doctor wouldn't even see me and told me to go directly to the ER.  I had no clue I would be in the hospital for FIVE DAYS!!  I had gallstones and a very sick gallbladder.  I had an endoscopic procedure and then surgery to remove my gallbladder.  It was awful.   I hated every moment.  It was everything I hated.  But, it's over and thankfully the pain won't come back!

Just two months later I'm back in the hospital because of other personal reasons.  It was a very stressful time.  I was having to go to the doctor every week to have blood work and eventually go back to the hospital again.  On top of all this, the doctors at the hospital diagnosed me with hypothyroidism.  It's just been a lot to deal with.

Oh and did I mention that among all of this, Kyle and I also bought our first home together.  This is definitely a great thing but it just added to the stress. Now we are settled in our house and I have gained quite a bit of weight.  I never thought I'd see 200 again and I've exceeded it.  I feel like my last few blogs have been about how I'm done gaining weight and wanting to get back into game.  I have gained weight after each blog.  Which is why I've been waiting to write this one.  Well I think it's safe to say I'm back!

I had to cancel Weight Watchers back in July because of my condition but I had been thinking about rejoining again.  I just couldn't find a good meeting.  Truly, I started gaining once the original Monday meetings started.  I needed Kerri back.  I had thought about emailing Kerri to see if she still had her Tuesday afternoon meetings at Team Disney cause that would be the best timing for me.  Just 4 days later I'm on Facebook and Kerri posted that she's now having a Tuesday meeting at 12:15 at the Hunter's Creek center.  It was a sign.  So meant to be.  I instantly went online and rejoined.  I went to Kerri's meeting that Tuesday and it was me and one other girl.  It was the first meeting at this time.  It was so great to be back.  I went home and cleaned out all of the bad stuff from my kitchen.  I was so motivated but I wasn't sure if it would last.

Well it's been 2.5 weeks and I'm already down 6.8 pounds!!!  I feel like I did when I first lost.  It's not difficult and I feel like I just got back on track.  In the beginning it took some getting used to measuring and counting points but now it's so easy again.  I've even gotten back in to a regular running routine.  Runner's World is doing a "running streak" to challenge runners to run at least one mile everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.

So I'm happy to be back!!  :)

Back in the Saddle Again

I'm done gaining weight back so I finally made it back to a WW meeting for the first time since February. I still miss my original Monday night meeting but I need to find another meeting that can be my constant. So I went to check out a meeting earlier this week. To protect the innocent I will not say any times but let me tell you... this was NOT my meeting! Wow! Let me start from the beginning. Walking in to the WW center felt weird because it had been so long. Obviously I was nervous to face the scale because I know what it's going to say and I'm not happy with it. I used to walk in and have it feel like a second home cause I would know so many people inside but this time I didn't know anyone. I walked up to the receptionist and I warned her that it's been awhile for me but I'm back. And I also warned her I know the scale's up so don't be alarmed. I was right. My lowest weight was in Oct. and it was 167. When I stepped on the scale this week it was 190. Yikes! I knew it would be that high but it's still tough to see. One of the biggest driving forces for me to go back to WW was, I never want to go back to the 200's again. So I went in just in time. After weighing in and being welcomed back, a woman walks around the corner. I say hello to her because I remember her as a member from my old meetings. I remember her talking alot and she kinda annoyed me. Well, guess who the meeting leader is... I decided to stay cause I certainly needed the meeting and maybe she'd be a great leader! I walked in to the meeting room and I rounded out the group to 5 people. I'm used to it being SRO in Kerri's meeting so this was a shock to me. 3 more people came in at the last minute but it was still weird having such a small group. The leader begins the meeting and is telling us a story about her sister complaining that she gained weight on vacation. She had us write down the advice we would give if our sister came to us with the same complaint. Her directions were really vague at first so everyone was confused. Then we just kinda moved on, it was weird. Later she was talking about how there are 'ups and downs' and she told us "like for example, today this woman came in to weigh in and she was so sunburnt! Burnt to a crisp. She had to step on the scale like this," and she mimed cautiously stepping on a scale. Then said "so there's always going to be ups and downs. It's important to eat lots of colors in your meals..." I was so confused! What does the sunburnt lady have to do with 'ups and downs'?! Then she started talking about how she was reading a blog and she just doesn't get it why people would want to blog. Big lesson for her to learn... you never know who you're talking to! Watch what you say. (The 2 ladies sitting behind me need to learn the same lesson. Before the meeting they were talking about vegetarians and they said "you need to be careful of that soy stuff." then they continued to share food ideas like low point bars and cookies. People crack me up.) Anyways so my leader is talking about reading this blog on the WW site and she said the blogger kept talking about this thing called P Interest. She asked if we've ever heard of it. Saying it out loud, I didn't know what she was talking about. Then someone in the back said "Pinterest". Then the other 5 old women tried to explain what Pinterest is to the leader. Everyone was confused and I just sat there quietly cause it was so annoying. Now let me say, it is not a requirement for my WW leader to know what Pinterest is or to love bloggers but, I can't connect with people that are so behind. So that is not my meeting. I will keep searching though. Hopefully I will find another great meeting that will keep me committed to reaching my goal.

It Must Be My Scale That's Broken

Well I'm pretty frustrated. I have been eating so well! I've been craving terrible things and I've been avoiding them and finding better alternatives. After 2 weeks of eating really well... the scale's not budging. :( I haven't been working out that much, I know I can up that, but I didn't work out at all my first 4 months on WW and I lost a lot. I should say though, it's not just the scale, I'm not seeing it or feeling it on my body either.

I haven't lost hope though. I'm still so determined! I want to, no, HAVE TO lose this weight. I want to be healthy. Well, speaking of healthy, I feel much better the last 2 weeks. So I know that something inside of me is changing. Maybe it's because I've stopped eating animal products. I haven't eaten any meat or cheese since 3.15.2012. I've had very little dairy because it's very difficult to avoid completely.

I'm watching a documentary on obesity. Hopefully this will keep me inspired. It's called Killer at Large: Why Obesity... It's pretty good so far.

Playing Catch Up

I cannot believe how long it's been since I've blogged! Since my last post I have run 2 more half marathons, I ran my first full marathon, oh and I got married!!! :) There have been so many life changes that have happened in the last 5 months! It's been a very exciting time for me. The only unfortunate thing that's happened is I have lost control of my good eating habits and willingness to work out. I've gained about 23 pounds. :( One weird thing that happened though, all of a sudden my willpower came back during my honeymoon. Kyle said it's because I don't have a million things to think about anymore. Now I can just focus on my weight loss again.

So since returning from my honeymoon I went food shopping for tons of healthy foods. It's nice to eat healthy and have control of my eating again. I've had a killer headache for about 24 hours now though so I think my body's detoxing. I've been tracking my food again. Honestly, I haven't tracked in about 2-3 months. I've been terrible. So I'm back to tracking and being strong with candy and other temptations at work. It truly feels like old Eileen is back and I'm happy she is. :)

So while I was on the cruise most of the dinners I ordered were the vegetarian option. Not because I didn't want meat but because it's usually the healthiest option. Also, I've never loved meat. I'll eat it, like I enjoy lean chicken and ground beef, but that's about it. I don't like lunch meat, meat on a bone, ham, sausage, turkey, and if I think the meat is undercooked in any way, I won't eat it. So I'm not a huge carnivore. While we were in Disneyland I noticed myself ordering vegetarian options again. It made me start thinking. What if I did go vegetarian. It would help me when I'm eating out because for some reason people are more accepting when you say "I'm a vegetarian" than when you say "I'm a healthy eater".

I've been giving this some serious thought and haven't eaten any kind of meat since Thursday. Last night I was reading a blog this girl writes of healthy dessert recipes. The girl who writes the blog is vegan and most of her recipes are vegan too. Now when I hear the word vegan, I can't help but also think of the word "weirdo". No offense to anyone reading this. I'm just uneducated about this topic. Well I was reading quite a bit about it and it has me intrigued. Being vegan is pretty much being vegetarian except you also don't eat dairy (and eggs but I'll get to that in a bit). Since I'm lactose intolerant I should be watching my dairy intake as well. I get cocky sometimes and think I can eat dairy and then I'm reminded when I lying on my bed in imense pain. So dare I connsider being a vegan?? Does this mean I have to stop shaving my arm pits?? ;)

So being vegan means no eggs. That is difficult. So many things contain eggs that you don't realize. I know there are options around it but I'm not sure. For now, I'll stick with the no meat thing and work on the no dairy. It's a fun challenge and helps me be aware of what I'm eating. So I guess I'm a vegetarian now. It's kinda fun. :) I like looking for new recipes and reading about how/when people made the change to being a vegetarian/vegan. I've been cooking with polenta, soy crumbles, and lots of beans.

I'm excited to announce that race season is in full swing and the great news is my husband has signed up to run one with me. I'm signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon, the Tower of Terror 10-miler (that's the one Kyle's running with me), the Gingerbread Run 5K, and the Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I'm thinking of training for the Goofy next year. It sounds good right now but we'll see.