First Week Drama

It's been a crazy week. So I guess I'll tell you about it! LOL

I finished BAC, started 6 Week Body Makeover, started with the college choir for the new semester, got a nasty cold, and started AAC. Hmm. Doesn't sound like much.

My cold is now in retreat, but for several days, it felt like the weight of a geiser getting set to go off inside my head. I'm so grateful we live in the age of cold medicine. We may not be able to "get rid" of a cold, but we can sure treat the symptoms!

Boring you with BAC isn't necessary because I already did that! Hehehe! Today, my cold finally allowed me to hear and concentrate well enough that I started on Advanced Acute Care reports. Just the instructions for unit A was an eye opener! So many details and instructions to remember and incorporate. I just hope that I can remember them all and do them right.

During the time that my cold was in high gear, I kept up with the forum and tried to maintain an upbeat and encouraging demeanor. I think I succeeded for the most part, even as I sneezed and coughed my way through the posts. Thank God my sense of humor remained intact!

Then, I added the forum for the 6 Week Body Makeover. That was an exercise in frustration to start with. They were having technical difficulties I didn't know about. After several days, I'm becoming familiar with it and getting to know the people there. I love wandering around the threads. I feel like an eavesdropper right now though because I'm not posting very often. I am getting to know everyone and where everything is.

I am learning a lot from the comments and advice given by others on the forum. That's what it's there for, and the encouragement I've received has already made me feel welcome. I'm learning about food and what portions and combinations make the best results when trying to lose.

Let's just say that eating 5 to 6 times a day is NOT easy. That breaks down to a small meal of, for me, carb and protein every 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Preparing meals in advance becomes pretty crucial in making sure that the 3 hour window isn't exceeded. I'm used to eating carbs. I mean bread, cereal, snack food. It's all carbs. Eating only a couple times a day is what I'm used to. This is a HUGE change for me.

I'm a lazy chef. Pull it from the cupboard, throw it in the microwave, and I'm a happy girl 1-1/2 minutes later. Not anymore! Without having pre-made meals ready, I figured out that I'm spending close to 3 hours just making all the meals I'm supposed to eat. No thanks! Cook it, freeze it, nuke it, eat it!

I also started swimming laps and toning exercises this week. Also not so much fun when your head wants to burst, but I did it. I only went to the pool once because I didn't want to get anyone there sick. It seems that 90% of the people that show up for "exercise" at the pool are of the blue-rinse brigade. I've got no problem mingling with geriatrics. I do have an issue with sending them to the hospital with pneumonia! Now wasn't that kind of me?

The recommended exercise for the program is walking with a target heart rate being maintained for 60 minutes. I'm nowhere near a point where my joints will tolerate the pounding this would entail. Nor do my lungs appreciate the extra effort. However, I am going to use the pool to swim laps. I had fun doing so and am ready to return with all engines burning! I've also picked up a couple of LOW impact aerobics DVDs to help me at home if I can't get to the pool. Walking will happen after I get some of this weight off. I do not plan on hurting myself. I'm a wimp and tend to just lie around the house moaning and complaining when injured. Nope, not happening!

Every weight loss plan out there pushes water. This one actually tells you why. It's not just that your muscles and cells are made up of water and function better when hydrated. Nope, that's not it. When you starve your cells of its nutrients they grab hold and RETAIN them for as long as they can. That's why people talk about water retention and weight gain. If you're NOT eating good food and drinking a lot of water then your cells become convinced they're in starvation mode and won't let go of them. When you feed them often and hydrate them well, the cells just sigh and think they've hit the jackpot!

Water also is how waste is eliminated. Duh! Right? Well, your kidneys function to remove the waste produced through metabolizing food. If your kidneys aren't flushing regularly then the liver has to take over the work, putting strain on both and setting yourself up for all sorts of unpleasant aches and illness and infections. I'm drinking over 100 ounces of water a day. Six 8 ounce glasses? Puhleeze! Needless to say, the bathroom and I are getting more acquainted, but they keep telling me this too will pass. Is that a pun?

Anyway, I'm already down 10 pounds and 10-1/2 inches. I have more energy and my left kidney no longer hurts. All this while dealing with a cold. I'm liking where this is headed!

To add a little icing to my cake, so to speak, I also started back with LCSC Concert Choir. It's a college-based choir where the community is welcome to come and rehearse and be part of everything. It's semester oriented so all breaks coincide with the school. I was part of it last semester and really enjoyed getting to know people while singing. The choir meets for 2 hours on Tuesday evenings. We met last Tuesday, were given 8 songs and told 4 of them were being performed THIS Monday. No, that's not a typo! Four songs in a week, with a performance. Outside performance no less. There were quite a few questions to the director, asking if he was serious, crazy, or just plain deluded. None the less, tomorrow we perform in front of people after practicing 4 songs a total of 2 hours.

Now I KNOW I'm an optimist! LOL