Zzzzz Please

Originally posted on August 14, 2010

As most of you know, I have sleep apnea. Another lovely side effect of morbid obesity. I use a CPAP machine every night when I sleep. Albeit the fact that it helps me sleep and that I wake up rested and with energy, I hate that friggin machine. I have strap marks when I wake up in the morning. I have skin irritation on my forehead, nose and above my mouth. It royally bites and I can't wait until the day I do not need it anymore.

Am I at Risk for Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, even children. Risk factors for sleep apnea include:

Male gender
Being overweight
Being over the age of forty
Having a large neck size (17 inches or greater in men and 16 inches or greater in women)
Having large tonsils, a large tongue, or a small jaw bone
Having a family history of sleep apnea
Gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD
Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies, or sinus problems


What Are the Effects of Sleep Apnea?
If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems including:

High blood pressure
Stroke
Heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks
Diabetes
Depression
Worsening of ADHD

In addition, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for poor performance in everyday activities, such as at work and school, motor vehicle crashes, as well as academic underachievement in children and adolescents.


Common sleep apnea symptoms include:

Waking up with a very sore and/or dry throat
Loud snoring
Occasionally waking up with a choking or gasping sensation
Sleepiness or lack of energy during the day
Sleepiness while driving
Morning headaches
Restless sleep
Forgetfulness, mood changes, and a decreased interest in sex
Recurrent awakenings or insomnia

If you have any of these symptoms, it would be worthwhile to have it checked. The polysomnigram is an easy test they use to determine your oxygen levels while you sleep. I even did mine at home.

I know it is scary but it is a life threatening condition so if you are exhibiting any of the symptoms, PLEASE get it checked out. Until next time...

Happy Weigh!

Yipee it is Friday! I am so glad! It has been a pretty good week but I am always happy to see Friday come along! Dave and I had chicken with sweet potatoes and green beans for dinner. I bbq'd the chicken since it was nice outside. I am the bbq person in our relationship which I think is funny. I have a great little grill though and it is super easy to use. It is called a Patio Caddie. 

I got on the scale this morning and it was 256 which is a loss of 2 lbs. since last weigh in. It is so nice to see the scale moving in the right direction again. It is only 4 lbs. from my lowest thus far on this journey. I can't wait to see new numbers and new decades on the scale!

In other news, I got a call from Lani who works at the facility where Bruce was living (bio-father) She had a similar case and wanted to ask what was done with our situation. She told me an investigation was being conducted regarding Bruce's death and she said there was an article in the S.F. Examiner about it. I was not aware of the article and looked it up. The article actually gave me more info then I had so I was thankful. I assumed he died of sepsis but it was only an assumption. Now it is confirmed and he also had pneumonia.  

Nothing too exciting planned for the weekend. I am getting a pedicure on Saturday afternoon and I want to color my hair but that is about it. I need to go to the gym of course. Not sure what Dave's schedule is this weekend so I will know more later. Hope you all have a great weekend! Until next time...

Admin Professionals Day

How are you all doing this morning? I am doing pretty good. I am still getting used to the Fitbit's user interface but I want to come up with a daily way of posting my numbers like I did with my bodybugg. Even if it is just manually pulling the numbers.

Speaking of my bodybugg, I was packing it to ship out (I sold it) and I found my travel glucose monitor. I have never been real good about testing my blood sugars. I do insulin shots every morning but I just do the same amount of insulin every day. Well, while I was sick last week, my doctor and the advice nurse said it was very important especially when you are sick. Soooo, I have been trying to diligently check daily. What a &%#^@ pain it is. Honestly, it hurts more to poke my fingers then it does to do the shots in my belly. I am going to check into getting a less invasive test kit so that will help but what a pain. Literally! LOL!

When I came to work this morning, two of our teachers brought these cute cake pops for us.  There were a dozen but they got absconded pretty quickly. I have not had one yet. I can't do cake for breakfast. The flavors are vanilla bean, red velvet, chocolate decadence and banana.  Not sure which one is which by the colors. How thoughtful huh? Very cute!

Not sure what is on my agenda tonight. Dave has another night game. I will most likely go on a bike ride. I need to renew my library card so I may ride over there and do that. Until next time...

There's A New Tool In Town

I have been using the Bodybugg fairly consistently for the last 100+ weeks. It was an instrumental tool in helping me shed 60 lbs and keep it off for the last year or so. I loved what it taught me but there was a "new" tool that caught my eye awhile ago and I was waiting for them to catch up with the demand but now I am the proud owner of a Fitbit!

What is a Fitbit you ask? The Fitbit accurately tracks your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality. The Fitbit contains a 3D motion sensor like the one found in the Nintendo Wii. The Fitbit tracks your motion in three dimensions and converts this into useful information about your daily activities. You can wear the Fitbit on your waist, in your pocket or on undergarments. At night, you can wear the Fitbit clipped to the included wristband in order to track your sleep. Anytime you walk by the included wireless base station, data from your Fitbit is silently uploaded in the background to Fitbit.com

This is a snapshot of my sleeping last night:

There are some major advantages to the Fitbit such as:

• No monthly fee to log food ($9.95/mo with bodybugg)
• Tracking sleep patterns
• No armband <---- that is a biggie!
• Discreet (I am wearing it on my bra)
• Price is $99. If you are a member of 24hr fitness, you can get a 10% discount.

I am still exploring all of its functionality and liking what I see. I will be keeping the same goals as before which was 1.5-2.0 lbs. loss per week.  Also keeping my calories between 1,400-1,600 per day. I have been seeing the scale moving in the right direction so I am pretty jazzed! Until next time...

Easter Monday

Good morning my lovlies! How is everyone doing? Did you have a nice Easter weekend? I sure hope so! One of our friends came over Saturday and he and I played Wii for like 3 hours. Boy were my arms tired yesterday!  To celebrate Easter, my mom, Dave and I went to Outback for dinner on Saturday night. I adjusted my calories for the day to accommodate the meal. It was really good and we did not have to wait at all so bonus there. We had a nice time and mom really enjoyed her steak.

Yesterday, Dave and I went to breakfast and then hung out for most of the day just doing stuff around the apt. We did get a bike ride/walk in yesterday afternoon. I made my first Strawberry pie which was really easy and tasty. We just bought basic crust, baked it, put in the fresh strawberries and then poured the glaze over it and then chilled it. It was really tasty and I managed to control myself and just have one piece. As far as my weight, it is still the same. While I was sick last week it shot up and down so I am just glad to see it settled back down to the lower number.

I have an announcement, but I am not quite ready to divulge yet. I am really excited about it but I want to prepare a little more before I tell you all :-) and no, I am not preggers or closing my blog. You guys are stuck with me for awhile! LOL! Until next time...

I'm On the Mend

I had some kind of stomach virus and ended up severely dehydrated. I had to have fluids administered by IV. I am going to work today for the first time this week. Still feeling weak but can't miss any more work. I have a lot to tell you but it will have to wait until I can think a little clearer. Until next time...

Feeling funky

 

Not feeling well. Be back soon...

Funky Friday

I had a decent day yesterday. For some reason my belly was funky and I am getting stabbing pains on my left side this morning. Not sure what is causing it.  For dinner, I put a whole chicken in the crock pot with a jar of salsa and some taco seasoning and cooked it all day. It smelled SO good when I got home! I read about it on one of the blogs I read but I don't recall which one. It tasted fantastic and it was so easy. I served it with roasted tri-color potatoes and asparagus. As for activity, I didn't do anything formal but a project I am doing at work has me lifting and bending and so I know I am burning some calories doing that. I did not have a chance to upload my bodybugg this morning but I was in my calorie range for the day.

Nothing too exciting planned for the weekend. I need to make sure I eat regularly and don't graze on snacks and crap. It seems like I do fine during the week and then unravel all my work over the weekend and it needs to STOP now! Ughhhh!

Sunday I am planning on meeting up with an old friend I have not seen in at least 15 years. We were friends growing up and through our early 20s and then our lives went different directions for various reasons. I am going to suggest a late breakfast or early lunch. It will be good to see her but I can't help but feel anxiety over it. I have had that happen a number of times recently and it catches me off guard. I used to be a very social person and was out and about all the time but now I feel better just going home. I haven't been meeting up with friends like I used to either. It is like I went from one end of the spectrum to the other. I would like to be more social but also strike a balance without ignoring my own needs. Does that make any sense? Well I hope you all have a great weekend! Until next time...

Trepidition Thursday

Well the rest of the day went downhill. I got in a verbal exchange with Dave. I was still frustrated from the mornings happenings and I met him at lunch time and proceeded to get in spiff with him in the middle of a parking lot. By the end of my lunch hour, we had talked it out but I did not eat anything at lunch. Fortunately, I have some snacks in the fridge at work so I was able to put something together. Dave had games so I was on my own for the night. I had scrambled eggs with spinach and laughing cow cheese for dinner. I did not get any activity in. I have been a slug all week.

I got an email yesterday, telling me that I am being featured as a Top 50 Health Blog. There are some familiar names on the list but also some new ones I have never heard of before. Always looking for new blogs to follow so I will check them out. Personally, I think there are some names missing so I will be emailing them with a few recommendations ;-) Until next time...

Weird Wednesday

Thank you for all of the comments on yesterday's post. I have so much to be thankful for and am truly blessed. It really reminded me of all that has transpired since last summer discovering my bio-family. I could have had an entirely different life but I am so grateful that I was adopted by such wonderful people. We certainly had our differences especially when I was a teenager but I thank God constantly for having such a good family to grow up in.

Had an okay day yesterday. Dave had a game so I ended up having a frozen burrito for dinner. I was not very hungry during the day. When I have anxiety/stress about something it affects my appetite and I don't want to eat. I made up for it in the evening by snacking on pretzels though. Ugghhh... Then to top things off, our toilet at home is not working! Not a great way to start the day let me tell you. Then when I got to work, I was trying to complete a task for my boss and I had to call someone to get assistance (MIS) and she was cranky with me and so I got cranky back. I basically told her that she was standing in the way of productivity. My boss totally backed me up :-) because he knows how she is but sheesh! I have worked her for 7 years and have bit my tongue all this time but today I kindly let her know I felt she was resistant to help me. She was seriously flustered! I closed the conversation by sweetly saying "Thanks for all your help, S---y, I really appreciate it!" Should be interesting to see how the rest of today goes! LOL! Until next time...

For My Dad

Had a good day yesterday. I made tilapia for dinner with some steamed spinach and stuffed mushrooms. Dave really liked the fish. I used the Garlic, Lemon and Rosemary Crusting Blend from McCormick's. After dinner I did crunches (70!) and a little Wii Karate and Hula hoop. Silly me forgot to put my bugg back on when I did my exercising. Oh well...


Me at 4 years old

This is me when I was 4 years old. I was Daddy's little girl. Sweet and still innocent.

Katie and Dad 1987 (I was 21)

 This is a picture of my dad and I in 1987. I was 21. Even though I am adopted, people often said we looked alike.


April 12, 2000 (I was 34)

This was 11 years ago today. My mother, aunt and I went to Santa Cruz to spend the day to memorialize the anniversary of his death.

It was a Tuesday night at 8:32 p.m when he died. April 12th, 1999. He was scheduled for bypass surgery and died the night before! He was an otherwise healthy man. He did not smoke, drink alcohol or even drink coffee. He ate healthy and was not overweight. However, there was heart disease in his family.

My father, Edward, aka "Eagle" was born in 1930 in Chicago, IL. He met my mom in high school but they actually dated other people at that time. He was a jock and she was a cheerleader. He played minor league baseball after high school but he got drafted to Korea at 19. He was shot in the war and became a paraplegic due to a spinal cord injury. After he came home from the war he and my mom got close and they fell in love and married. They were not able to have children so they adopted my brother and I. My brother is from Chicago and then they moved to California and adopted me. He became involved in a National organization called P.V.A. and he was also on committees for the V.A. which helped with accessibility and funding for spinal cord injury research. He even attended a number of Presidential Inauguration's. He had a wonderful life despite his disability. He was a proud man and always had a smile on his face. He and my mom traveled all over the U.S. He took my mom to Maui every summer and they were married 43 years when he died in '99. He made his mark on this world and it was his time to go.  He loved me like no one else and I miss him dearly. I love you Pops!

Monday Meanderings

How was your weekend? Mine was great! Saturday I hung out with Danielle and helped her work on some projects. One of the projects was these windows.

The plan is to paint them and make flower boxes out of them and hang them against the fence. We actually started painting them (pink!) and will work on them again tomorrow night. It was a sunny breezy day so I ended up with a little sunburn. I came home in the afternoon and made Dave's cupcakes. I wanted to surprise him but it didn't work out that way.  Here are the finished cupcakes. He really liked them!

Sunday we went to Denny's as planned so Dave could get his free breakfast. After breakfast we came home and did a few things around the apartment. This is one of two shelves we hung up.

This is in the corner. Dave wanted a plant hung in the corner so we got a pothos. They are very easy to grow and even someone with black thumbs can grow one. I won't mention any names ;-)

We also hung this hummingbird feeder. I can't wait until they discover it!

Eating was questionable on both days. Waiting too long between meals is what gets me in trouble. I prefer just eating two meals on the weekends and it does not work with my blood sugar so I need to plan properly.  I am armed with my bugg and ready to have a good week! Until next time...

Happy Birthday Dave!

We are going to have a wonderful day celebrating your birthday! I love you!

Weigh Day Friday

So I have happy hair again! My hair is short, short, short! I like it but it will take a little getting used to. I think it looks much better then it was and I did get some compliments at work already so that is a good sign :-D I will try to get Dave to take a picture this weekend.  I cancelled my pedicure appt. As much as I need it, I just did not want to sit for an hour and a half. I will go next week sometime.

Dave chose to make Italian-Seasoned Roast Chicken which was in the March 2011 issue of Cooking Light. It was really good! I would highly recommend it. It was very flavorful and juicy! The only thing we had to pick up for the recipie was fennel seed. We had spinach and a baked potoato to go with it.

I got on the scale this morning and I am at 258 which is a 1 lb. loss. Frustrating that it is weight I already lost but after seeing the 260s on the scale this week, I am glad to see it going down. Reigning in some of the snacking and increasing my activities are what is going to keep that scale moving in the right direction.

Sunday is Dave's birthday. He will be 60!! Hard to believe! He does not look or act like it though! Hahaha! I will be lifting my "no baking for Dave" rule just for his birthday.  I am going to be making him some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I got a Wilton stand like the one below to display them. I also got sporty cupcake holders with baseballs, bats, footballs, etc.  He is going to be busy all day Saturday so I will have time to set it up

Safeway $13.69

We will most likely go to Santa Cruz or to San Francisco on Sunday to celebrate. He want's to go to Denny's for his free meal (dork!) so I will have to plan accordingly. At least I won't have to worry about liquid calories this year because there will be no imbing like in years past. Hope you all have a fab weekend! Until next time...

P.S. Trish at Crazy Little Thing called LIFE just got to Onderland! Please stop by and say hello if you have a chance! She is a wonderful gal and has such a positive attitude.

Thursday Tidbits

Had a good day yesterday. I met my mom for dinner at Fish Market as planned and I had Shrimp Louie for dinner. It was tasty and satisfying.  As far as activity, I did some squats and some crunches and then watched Idol. Go Lauren and James!!!

Today at lunch time, I am going to get my hair cut and then I'm getting a pedicure after work. I have not been happy with my hair lately and it is just bugging me so I moved up my appt. from next week. I have decided a few things. I need bangs because I am not a fan of my furrowed brow forehead and going against my naturally curly hair makes for a frustrated Katie J.  I am grateful that the hair salon is close by and I can do it on my lunch hour. When we move offices, this will not be achieveable so I will have to come up with a plan but until then... My tootsies need attention in a big, bad way. I have one toenail that is growing sideways and it is hurting. Ughhhh what happened to my once cute and painless feet. Blerghhh... I always do pink on my toes. No decals this time though.

Dave is home tonight so he will cook dinner.  We are having chicken.  I suggested we try a new recipie from Cooking Light. He is on it so I will let you know what he comes up with. Also, my neice, Candace is coming by to drop off the Wii games I loaned her. I actually miss doing Wii Sport with karate and hula hoop.  She is moving to Sacramento this weekend. Sacramento is only a few hours away so I am sure I will go up and visit her once she gets settled in. Until next time...

Katie J and the Kettlebell

Had a good day yesterday on the eating and exercise front. I really made an effort to stay out of the kitchen after dinner. I have noticed that I have been more snacky in the evenings and need to avoid eating late at night.  Dave had a game so I had a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner with some tortilla chips.    

So after dinner, I decided to go for a bike ride. I was able to extend my distance again which made me happy. I seem to go farther when Dave is not with me. I do enjoy when he comes along though. After my bike ride I decided to break in my kettlebell. Before blogging, I had never heard of a kettlebell. I used one for the first time when I did some personal training.

$29.99 - Amazon

Description: The kettlebell works all the muscles in your body simultaneously and gets your heart rate up while you strengthen and sculpt your body. Kettlebells add lean muscle to your entire body for a strong slender physique. Kettlebells boost your metabolism and turn your body into a fat burning machine!   I did some basic lifts and did 4 sets of 10 reps then picked up the medicine ball (6 lb.) to do the rest of the work on my arms. I feel good this morning, my muscles are tight but not strained or painful.

 

Tonight I am supposed to meet up with my mom. We will most likely go to the Fish Market. I need to come up with something new to eat there. I am kinda bored with the same ole entree. They have a pretty wide selection so I shouldn't have any trouble choosing something new to try.

Flowers

Had a fairly good day on the eating front. I must say though that I am bored with my breakfast food. I usually eat a cereal bar or cereal with a piece of fruit and yogurt or string cheese for a snack. I am not a big breakfast eater so I have to force myself to eat  most mornings.  What do you guys have for breakfast? We had mexican food for dinner and I variated from my norm and had two chicken tacos instead of my usual crab tostada. They were tasty and filled me up. No activity to speak of.

So here are the pictures of the flowers I planted over the weekend:

Celosia

Gerbera Daisies

Begonia

Calanchoe - top left

Cosmos

Speaking of flowers, someone has been putting flowers on my dad's grave and we don't know who it is! It has happened twice now. The 1st time was a few months ago and I suggested that one of my friends did it. Well we checked with her and it was not her this time so it remained a mystery... then it happened again this weekend, so my mom called and asked my friend and again she said no it wasn't her... so my mom thought maybe there was someone who was buried in the cemetary with the same last name so she is going to check with the office but she jokingly emailed us and said that he must have a secret admirer. Weird huh? He has been gone for 12 years next Tuesday April 12th. Until next time...

Spring Cleaning

Hope you all had a nice weekend. I had a pretty good one. Eating was not the best. I got snacky from waiting too long between meals.  We finally went through our storage and I am actually feeling pretty organized now. Fortunately our neighbor is letting us use her storage unit too so we separated the decorative stuff from storage stuff so it is easily accessed and identifiable. Did not pitch too much though because I was able to do that when we moved.

I found some shoes I had been looking for which was a nice bonus! They were sandals and dress shoes so timing was good. I also came across all my pictures. I actually had Dave bring them into the apt. so I can take a look at them. It has been years since I have seen them. I have probably looked at them once or twice in the last 12 years since my dad passed. It was just too hard for me back then but I think it is about time I check them out again. I have been wanting to put a montage of pictures together showing my weight throughout the years. It would also be good if I sent some to Tess so she can see what I looked like growing up.

Sunday I planted flowers and plants for most of the day.  I planted cosmos, gerberas, pansys, kalanchoe and petunias. I will take some pictures when I get home after work. Technically, we aren't supposed to have any potted plants out front but I can't imagine they would say something because it enhances the beauty of the area. No one has said anything before so I think it is okay but we will see. Until next time...

Weigh In, NSVs and BMI

Didn't get my bugg uploaded this morning.  Had a good visit with my mom last night. I agonize over getting together with her and then always question why I agonize so much afterwards. Had the sushi and sashimi for my entree. Helped her with her computer then headed home. Did not do any activity to speak of.

So as I mentioned yesterday, I was going to log my weight regardless of what it is and it was 259. I am okay with that because I saw 265 earlier this week so I know that my recent activity and healthy eating are making a difference. Weighing daily seems to be working for me lately too. I just need to keep up the momentum and it should pay off.

When the scale is not budging for you there are other ways you can check your progress:

Measurements: The standard areas to measure are neck, upper arms, chest, waist, hips and thighs.  With the bodybugg they have you track Neck, chest, upper arms, forearms, waist, hip, thigh and calf. It is almost impossible to do this by yourself so you may want to enlist someone to help you.

Non-Scale Victories (NSV): NSVs are ways that your weight loss and healthy lifestyle are affecting your day to day life. For example, looser clothing, rings fitting, more comfortable on planes, compliments from strangers etc. I find it helpful to keep a list of these NSVs and when I get discouraged I pull it out as a reminder of what life "used" to be like.

BMI: Your Body Mass Index. With my 60 lb. weight loss I have reduced my BMI by 10 points. In order for me to be in the normal range, I need to get down to 140 lbs. at 5'3". A healthy BMI for adults is between 19 and 26. A BMI of 27 to 30 is considered overweight. Obesity is classified as a BMI of 30 or above. If your BMI is in the overweight or obese range, you are at greater than average risk for conditions such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

No big plans for the weekend. It is supposed to be in the 70s so I want to make sure I am active and get out and enjoy the sunshine. Hope you all have a fab weekend whatever you do! Until next time...



FTC Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Reader's Digest.ca