9th Month Check-in

 Last month it was fun to come and write up a post and share that I had lost 7 pounds over the last month and i sure wish I had the same report for today, but sadly I don't. It's been a tough month for me. Honestly every single month of the last 9 months has been challenging one way or another. But as you know this month I found out about all of the issues with my back and have started extensive treatments to try to get everything fixed. The back issues - causing my right leg to have the numb feeling from the hip to the knee has caused me to have change from my normal sleeping position and start sleeping on my back. This has caused a lot of issues with leakage issues with my c-pap mask and even though I have tried several different masks I just can't get that issue under control. This is causing me not to get the best sleep with affects so much. 

So here is the good news- On Friday I officially reached my 56 by my 56th birthday goal- 2 months early!! I am thrilled with that especially since my next goal requires me to lost 13 more pounds by December 31st! So how much total did I lost over the last month? A whooping 2 pounds!! Honestly, I have been frustrated about this as you can probably understand especially since i am still working my program. I am not deviating off my decision to remove harmful things from my diet. I am not pigging out on "comfort food" nope. I just keep plugging away, doing the best I can. I have had to stop doing the 30-minute weight workouts and aerobic workouts that I had been doing till I am further along in treatment. And with all my extra appointments I have not been able to get in as many walks, but I am doing my best to get at least 3 - 2-3 mile walks in each week. 

So what have I learned over the last month? That higher stress does indeed affect weight loss. I already knew that high stress weakens the immune system. Believe me I really am trying to deal with the stress better and not allow it to stop my progress. And I am hoping I can get a better handle on everything soon. 

God has been faithful to send encouragement whether it be a great devotional or encouraging youtube videos that speak to where I am. I will be sharing one of these soon just i case it can encourage someone else as well. I continue to put my faith in Him. He would not have put this desire to get healthy and lose weight if He had no intentions of helping me get there. There are just other lessons and such that I need to learn along this journey. 

"Quit acting like you can order a replacement body on Amazon." 

Just a little meme I saw on Facebook recently, but certainly something for us to think about. And just one more:

"Progress starts when you stop negotiating with your excuses."