Much delayed update

The long overdue check in. Probably because there is not a whole lot to report. Allergies are making it very difficult to breathe. That means less activity so as to aggravate my lungs. Allergies inevitably turn into a head cold which means headaches and lots of coughing. It’s hard to stick to exercising when you are struggling to walk around at work. But being sick for me also means less eating. It’s no fun to eat something when you can’t even taste it. I know that’s probably why I stay sick for so long, but I just don’t feel like eating. I have not been as careful about what I eat either. I seem to have found myself busy again so dinners out are becoming common place again. That doesn’t make my scale nor my wallet happy. I still try to bring lunch to work, but have settled for the pre-processed food, though I do not eat anything that is not weightwatchers or healthy choice as the preservative/fat/salt content of anything else is so high I feel a heart attack coming on just reading the labels! So all in all, I have gone up and down for the last 2.5 weeks in weight, but over all remain pretty much exactly the same as before I got sick: 9 lbs down with a whopping 20 to go. I know I have several months, but I was hoping to be a little further along with the wedding in September.
I feel a deflated about the numbers not changing. I could have done more. I should have at least kept up on my sit ups and pushups; but again, that’s hard to do when you keep coughing…however it’s not impossible. I guess the positive way to looking at that is at least it was exercise in some form :-p. But I am on the mend and NEED to get my tush in gear. 5k challenge must be started in earnest this week. And I expect my few readers here to call me out on it if I don’t post at least some moderate success next Monday!

Another reason has cropped up to make sure to start an exercise program like the Couch to 5k program. I have very high cholesterol. My LDL has clocked in at 290 on its own. About 3x what is considered safe! And even with an HDL that is also very high, usually around 70, it’s not anywhere near enough to offset the dangerous level of LDL. Ok so that’s nothing new. What is new if the dose of Lipitor I am on. 40 mg per day is considered aggressive treatment. Not the 80 mg we could go, but high enough for me to have to be pretty in tuned with my body because of the risks associated with the dose. I don’t like altering the chemicals in my body artificially. I don’t even like taking allergy pills. But this was necessary since my LDL is caused by genetics and not the foods I eat and diet and exercise did nothing, and I mean didn’t even prevent it from going up, to help. So pills it is. I tried the generic Simvastatin. Failed. Which I hear is not surprising, but it takes a whole year before then can determine if it really is a failure. Next we move to actual Lipitor, $165.00 a month, ouch. [SOAP BOX: Pfizer should be ashamed of how much they STILL charge for this drug knowing it’s coming off patent. They actually paid off a company who was starting to formulate this drug so it could be available at a fraction of the price right after the patent expires next year. Therefore it will be at least 18 months after he patent expires before we will see any sort of generic, providing the patents isn’t extended AGAIN. Research my butt, it’s the $11.4 billion a year for the stock holders they are interested in. Getting off soap box now.]

Any who, I started off at 20 mg. Not aggressive enough. So we moved to 40mg. Now I have had the random minor side effects to the other drugs and doses; mainly the heartburn. I ate Tums and Pepsid like candy. The 20mg didn’t seem too bad. The 40mg is killer. The minor: very bad heartburn if I eat within 2 hours of taking the pill. And worst: the muscle pain and weakness and joint pain. This can be a serious sign that very bad things are happening. And to top it off, with my Vitamin D levels being so low, this is also the side effects if the mega doses I took didn’t work. I am playing a very delicate game of which one is causing this. Lipitor means the drugs are too strong, but we don’t want to dose off of them just yet because they are working so well (down to 190. Very high, but at least on the charts finally!). But it could also be the sign that my kidneys are in trouble (producing enzymes that break down muscle tissue). The diagnosis is to keep a very close eye on it. If it’s the Vitamin D not working, it can be a sign that the mega supplements weren’t enough and my calcium levels are still dangerously low. My body may still not be absorbing what it needs and the muscles and bones are breaking down. The diagnosis is to keep a very close eye on it. I don’t like the options presented to me. I can take all the Advil in the world, but it’s starting to affect even the simple things like walking up stairs. So the suggestion: try an exercise program that starts slow and build up to allow my muscles and bones to build strength slowly. This should alleviate the pain from the muscles being weak, but should prevent splints and breaking if it’s the lack of calcium causing it. I am not scheduled for more blood work for a few months, so unless something goes wrong, this is the only actual solution offered to me. And one that my health care provider strongly suggests. She was excited to hear I was setting the goal of running a 5k. She has suggested being very aware of how my body reacts and to take it nice and slow and not push it. So I have found yet another reason why this should be a very real priority in my life.

What I seem to lack though, is accountability. Being in constant physical pain is certainly a motivator. But it’s not a guarantee that the pain is going to go away. In fact, at first it will be worse. I know it has to be done, but I have no one to really kick me in the rear if I don’t actually do any of this. Sure LutheranGeek will be disappointed. But there is no one to yell at me for slacking. So I am giving anyone who reads this permission to call me out on the carpet if I start slacking. And you only need one phrase: you let me down. Because I promise I will have already made a million excuses as to why I didn’t do it. It will remind me none of them are good enough, especially if other people are challenging themselves and we agreed to do it together. So…Feel free to scorn me if a post is not made by Tuesday afternoon about this week’s activities. I look forward to NOT reading them :)

9 lbs...and a new Challenge!

This week was not one of the better weeks. Easter. Candy. Ham. Buttered mashed potatoes. Cookie salad (made with canned fruit, pudding, cool whip, and fudge striped cookies). Though I did try to keep the portions in check. And it was one of the few things I ate that day, which was also not good for the metabolism. However, I did still manage to get to the 9 lbs mark! Even with all the food distractions. I have to admit that I am not a sweet tooth. The candy doesn’t have as much affect on me as it does to a lot of people. I prefer salty things. So I have a whole basket of candy that will most likely be eaten by the rest of my family. I am ok with that. With Holy Week, my schedule was a little off this week too. I made dinner for a lot of people with a lot of help on Thursday. I am not sure I ever really ate anything that day. I skipped lunch to leave early (not good I know). And I stopped and picked up fast food (Taco bell…yuk!) but I am not sure I ever ate the whole thing. One fresco taco…not too bad; nachos…very greasy and gross, threw most of them away; one chili cheese burrito…my Taco bell weakness; and a strawberry lemonade frutista who’s only redeeming quality is that it’s made with real (frozen with sugar) strawberries and not flavoring). But I am pretty positive I worked off some of the calories. I even walked the dog when I got home. I am dead tired. On further thought, I ate out a lot last week. Cosetta’s on Friday (Italian is another food weakness). Burger King on Tuesday (side salad with a grilled chicken breast). I am sure there was a frozen pizza in the week somewhere. Ughh. Bad food week.


I tried to walk the dog at least every other day (she does get out 2 times a day at the very least, just not always by me) and I think I was pretty successful with that last week. It was such a nice week it was hard to not want to be outside. The nice weather has helped immensely. I think I only did one full set of sit ups and pushups last week. I did some sit ups while watching the Blind Side, but I was so distracted I forgot all about the pushups. I think I might just have to suck it up and break out the weights. Or maybe just use them in the garage before I put my car in. This was also a bad strength week. Ok on the exercise though. Must step up all the efforts starting this week though because…


I am joining the Lutheran Geek Couch to 5k challenge! That’s right; I am going to challenge myself to run a 5k by September! (And as soon as I figure out how, I will put the button on my blog.) I must be crazy right? Well not really. There is a training program that seems reasonable to follow. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml And it’s worked for a lot of other people. And I will be one of them. I applaud my friend for finding this and challenging all of us to join her. I am over weight and totally out of shape, but with her support (and riding the coat tails of the support she is getting), I know I can do this. The program is 9 weeks. But I agree with her that by giving ourselves more than that, we have time to stumble and repeat a week (or 3 or 5 :-p) and still reach the goal of a 5k run in September. There is even a pod cast that I can download to help with the training. I should point out here that I HATE running. I am a sprinter at best (was actually pretty good in jr high). I played sports, but was never able to do much in way of distance. As a person who has lived with Asthma since I was 13, it’s always been a challenge to keep my breathing in check enough to do much running. I had another breathing test this winter, and thanks to my new job with a much better ventilation system (wait isn’t that what we built at my last job?!?!), my Asthma is officially listed as mild! As long as I do my inhaler before I start anything (and keep it handy just in case), I should be alright. Yea! I might be crazy, but I am also so very excited to do this challenge. Here’s to better health, less weight, less joint strain, and much better outlook on life!