Wednesday, September 26, 2018

I AM BACK! I LOST OVER 100 lbs - AN ENTIRE PERSON LIGHTER!!! Come SEE!!!!


Hello!!!!!! HERE I AM at 120 lbs!!! 102lbs GONE!!! Yes, I got UP to 220 lbs, NO SURGERY!!! This is as of September 17, 2017!
It NEVER occurred to me to take 'BEFORE' photos because I could NOT take them and even look at my ugly FAT body! I felt SO horrible about myself and hating what I looked like, I could not STAND ANY photos of how I looked!
With this RARE neurological muscle disease I have, Stiff Person Syndrome, it makes 'movement' for me almost impossible! I never stuffed my face, I just could NOT move without getting muscle spasms! I GAINED WEIGHT - OVER 100 lbs! Holy macro!!! However, once gained, SURELY IT NEEDS TO COME OFF!!!
But . . . 'HOW' can I possibly do this? Here I am with this rare muscle disease that causes my muscles to go rigid and stiff, then spasm out of control! HOW the heck was I going to do this, I continued to ask myself this question over and over because almost EVERYTHING I do causes muscle spasms to happen to me! Frustrated, I had NO CLUE???
Until . . . my husband's employer sent around a questionnaire to ALL of the employees and their families asking them 'what type of social events would you like us to offer you?'
WOW! They offered several suggestions, but WE, my husband and I, thought of something we thought was original and NOT on the form, so we marked the "Other" box and filled it in with: A membership to our local YMCA!
Little did we know that not only did WE think of this, but so did almost ALL of the other employees and their families! WOW! THIS IS SO COOL! YES!! Other people wanted this SAME thing that we did! THAT IS WHAT WE ALL GOT!
I had visions in my head of swimming in the pool! I knew working out in the water is some of the BEST physical therapy I can possibly get/do, and boy did I ever want that pool BADLY! I had tried it YEARS ago, but at that time the YMCA was not a handicap accessible building being built in 1920 something, but now, now it's a beautiful brand NEW building more than accessible!
Regardless of whether or not this was going to be a possibility or not, WE WERE going to do it! This was going to be the perfect answer for the BOTH of us! Myself, sedentary due to the disease I suffer from, I HAD to find an answer AND a way to STOP ANY FURTHER WEIGHT GAIN! Little did I know what was about to happen!

I started in September 2016, I stopped blogging because I was SO fatigued I could NOT stay awake long enough to read! WOW, the fatigue was and still is overwhelming at times! I needed naps and I still do. I just could not stay awake to be able to read. It's 'slightly' better, I just have to REALLY stick to a schedule!!
I started out with Arthritis classes, everything went along fine, but I started getting in trouble for swimming and just letting the water take me! Oops!!! Next thing I know I stubbed my baby toe here at home. Ouch! I could no longer do the arthritis classes because I could not balance like we had to do in the classes. I moved over to the lap pool, and I started playing in the water and swimming in the deeper water. The water DID take me away! I LOVED it!!
Yes, it hurt at first. I had to figure out how to swim with this muscle disease. I started getting it down! Slowly, already knowing how to swim, I learned how to incorporate swimming laps into that! Sure, I'm slow, but who cares?! I'm doing it!! I'm in heaven!!!! All I do now is swim laps, still! I have much improved, too, thankfully! Lol!! I have always loved swimming, and this is the BEST exercise for someone with the kind of muscle disease I have as swimming exercises EVERY muscle in your body! I did try the machines in the gym, but nope! Those are a huge FAIL! They induce muscle spasms in my body. That's okay! I much prefer swimming!
It took me until April/May of 2017 to FINALLY lose most of my weight, and by June I dropped the rest of the way down to 120 lbs! I ONLY ate salad for my dinners with chicken for protein. I saw my Dr and she was flabbergasted!! I was pretty darned happy! She insisted I add the Slim Fast or ANY high protein supplement to my diet. She had NO CLUE I even started on this weight loss journey! I probably should have checked with her first like everyone tells you to do, but I did just see her, and everything seemed fine! Cool! So, imagine her smile when she saw me!! That made me VERY happy! (I want to interject here to PLEASE see your physician BEFORE you start ANY weight loss venture! I already DO see many doctors for this muscle disease, and was already told I need to lose weight as I was considered obese, of course! They were worried I could develop Diabetes, especially given this disease I have often includes diabetes with it, and I did go through a short period when I first got SPS with being on the borderline of being diabetic. I had to check my blood sugars with the machine, etc., and I also had to keep going into the office having that checked as well as other testing. Thankfully my body adjusted and I fought diabetes OFF! YEAH!!!!)
I also shocked my Neurologist and other doctors with my weight loss as well! I made them do double-takes when they just saw me in the waiting room! I LOVED that!! I still do! My Neurologist told me "HE" was going to take up swimming! Lol!!! So did my other doctors, especially one I have been seeing for at least the last 20 years!
Perfect! I am now the thinnest I have EVER been I my entire lifetime! I am pretty darned happy!!! I am ecstatic!!! In addition, my body also 'looks' athletic now as well!
I went from a 3XL down to a small in pants and a medium in tops! WOW!! I think this is unbelievably wonderful!!!!! This took me a good 10 months to do, LESS time than I EVER thought, but it took HUGE amounts of self-control and dedication!
Now it's one year later, September 26, 2017, I have completed two full years of weight loss, rebuilding muscle while swimming and keeping the weight OFF as I start my third year of healthy living! I am STILL successfully holding my weight at 120! SUCCESS!! I swim 4X a week still, I look forward to every day in that pool as the water takes away the pain I have in my back from the damage done to my spine by the muscle spasms. Water is miraculous! I SWEAR by it! Better than ANY pain medications!!!
One not so good thing is I have put off is surgery, for years now on my spine, and I can no longer do that anymore, so within a few months I will be having that huge surgery. I will GREATLY miss swimming until I can get back in that pool again!! Swimming will be my Physical Therapy! I won't have it ANY other way!
At 80% muscle mass, below 28% body fat, hydrated at about 50%, I should be a perfect candidate and in the BEST shape possible for surgery!
I HAVE to sit still a little more (a challenge with weight again!) and surgery WILL knock me OFF my feet for a good while, sadly, however, that means one GREAT thing! BACK to blogging about books! It won't be a lot of books, but just watch! You'll get a notification when I do post reviews if you follow me!
I have to start, so here goes!
ANY QUESTIONS? ASK AWAY IN THE COMMENTS!! I'll help ALL I can, especially if YOU are struggling with weight I'll share what I did, or try to!
THANKS FOR READING THIS!

                       Laurie, September 26, 2018


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