Teresa’s Blog

Hello again! I finally got my blog to believe that it really was me who was trying to add a new entry. It wouldn’t let me in for the longest time!

Anyway, an update is due as far as my new lifestyle is concerned. I am approaching the six month mark on my quest for health. (See entry: Fear Factor for the backstory.) Along the way I have been provided many guides/cheerleaders/astonished onlookers.

I can’t begin to fully express how great the staff of Indiana Center for Bariatric Medicine has been. (That’s right, ICBM. They’re da BOMB! Ha!) Dr. Eve Olson is a wonderful combination of “in-your-face-straight-talking-hard facts” and mega-encourager. Her heart for getting people healthy is unparalleled. Angie is the nutritionist who works with me. She is cute and perky, talks 100 miles an hour, and makes me write down every bite I put into my mouth. She has taught me more about nutrition labels that I ever cared to know. Tammy is my exercize guru. She pushes me to walk farther and faster, adds more weight to my lifting routine, and doesn’t look or act at all like my 9th grade P.E. teacher. (Thank God!) Jennifer is my couselor. She makes me cry. O.K., those of you who know me know that almost ANYTHING makes me cry, but she asks the hard questions in a quiet voice that is quite disarming and rather sneaky, I must say. Then there is the BEST medical assistant who checks me in, weighs me, takes my blood pressure, lets me hold my perfect granddaughter, Chloe, and is the best of my cheerleaders. Oh, her name is Amanda, and I guess I should mention that she is my daughter.

Then there is THE SCALE.

Now anyone who has ever struggled with his/her weight will probably agree that it is no accident that Justice is always pictured with a scale in her hand. When you struggle with weight, THE SCALE is the judge and jury of how you have been performing. THE SCALE at ICBM tells all. And I mean ALL! It is programmed with your sex, height, and age, adjusts for clothing, and tells you not only what number your weight has registered, but how much of that weight is fat, how much is water, how much is lean body mass, and so on.

THAT my friends, is liberty! On weeks when the scale showed a loss of .5 pounds, THE SCALE would often show that I was actually DOWN 2 pounds of fat, and UP 1.5 pounds of muscle. I have made peace once and for all with THE SCALE. It is no longer a thing to be feared. More than that, it is just and right in its judgements.

So. How am I doing? I have never felt better. As of this posting, I’ve lost 53.5 pounds. My blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and triglicerides are all down. My energy level is up. I’ve dropped from Grade 3 Obesity to Grade 2, and will drop to Grade 1 in probably another week. I’m walking six and sometimes seven days a week, working out with weights, and I am even running some. (Well, I call it running. It is a little faster than my walking pace!) I’ve logged 184.5 miles since February.

Now for one of the harder lessons: How will this time be different than all of the many other times that I’ve lost weight only to gain it all back and add more on top of that? The answer is harder coming. I don’t really know. All I know is that it FEELS different this time. My motivation is really health related as opposed to trying to reach a certain number on the scale or on a clothing tag. I know that without God, none of this would be possible. I depend on Him for help and strength daily, hourly, and sometimes minute by minute. He knows my frame. He made me, and He has watched me as I abused this body for 49 years, but He has never given up on me. For that I am eternally grateful.

My encouragement to you, Dear Blog Reader, is that God hasn’t given up on you either. Whatever your struggle, know that God is with you in the struggle. Don’t let go until He blesses you!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2004 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Unloading My Brain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.