Liquid what???. . . .

Here we go! I’m on my first day of my liquid diet. For breakfast I opted to make the chocolate into a pudding instead of a shake. Not bad, just a slight aftertaste, and a little dense, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Definitely better than Slim Fast! It did take me about 2 hours to eat it though. It was the mix with 4 oz. of water. But by the time I was finished, I had gotten use to it.

I don't really have a before image of myself, but thanks to you-know-who, I have a small shot from our get-together. Yep, that's really one arm -- just be glad you can't see my butt!:) I'll try to get a head to toe picture taken tonight and then maybe update as I go along.

If you get a chance today, say an extra prayer for me. I don’t think it will be the food that is going to be hard for me these first few days, but the low sugar levels. I have to get use to my blood sugar being lower than I’m use to.

P.S. I will be off the whole first week of September for my surgery on 9-3-08. I will try to update as the hospital has wi-fi in the rooms:)

'nuff said

Click the blog title to be taken to 'berlygirl blog :)

My Adventure Revealed

Well, if you know me, you know I'm really bad at keeping secrets. Especially ones about myself. And even more so about things I'm excited to share (Christmas is a mighty tough time for me to live through!)

So - since I've told my family AND gotten the go-ahead from the hubby AND my kids are pushing me out the door pretty much every day to do this AND I've already "let it slip" to a lot of people at my job, I guess there's not a lot of reason to keep it a secret anymore. Besides, you all can encourage me in my journey as is the point of this blog. :-)

I'm training to run a marathon!

There's several reasons why I've decided to do this (some more personal and abstract then others) but regardless it's a huge thing for me to say I'm going to do. I was a sprinter in high school track (not a GOOD sprinter, but definitely not a long-distance runner) and I played tennis and soccer. So - lots of up-on-the-toes running and not really long stamina needed. Basically the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of a marathon runner.

I have a 31-week training grid that started tonight. Just a 20-minute walk to start with, but it was surprising how tight my legs were and how hard it was for me to breath. All those years as a smoker are doing me in a little I think. But, the grid is very gradual and I don't even get to tracking distance versus time until week 12 or so - until then it's just building up walk/run time until I can get to 30-minutes of solid running only. (I've modified the 26-week grid from http://www.marathonrookie.com/)

I've probably also gone a little over the top in getting "ready" for this. Like new running clothes. And a sports watch (cheap and pink, but still, did I really need one?). An armband for my iPod. And of course the Nike+ sensor for my iPod (I don't have Nike+ shoes, but the sensor behaves just fine in my free New Balance shoes).

The Nike+ is probably my favorite little gadget EVER. I don't have to look at my new sports watch to track my time or calculate my speed - it does it for me! During my 20-minute walk today, the guy told me when I had gone 5, 10, 15,16,17,18,19 and 20 minutes. At any time I could push my button and find out how far I'd gone (and OK - it took me the full 20 minutes to go 1 mile. Realizing it takes me longer to do a mile outside than on my treadmill. For the record though, I went up a REALLY STEEP hill beside my house - like the first 10 minutes were uphill and the second half was back DOWN the hill).

Anyway...

The marathon I'm aiming for right now is the Olathe Marathon on March 29, 2009. Yes, exciting I know. But, if I survive that then I'll probably do the Kansas City Marathon in October 2009. Before the marathon I'm hoping to get in a few 5k and 10k, but because of when I'm starting training there won't be a lot of races to pick in the winter. If you know of any in the greater KC area between October and February, please pass them on.

But, let's just do this one step at a time... :-)

New Adventure

I'm embarking on a new healthy venture but I'm electing NOT to talk about it just yet. Just know that I've got a very INTENSE goal in mind that should culminate at the end of March next year. Yeah - about 32 weeks from now. And no, I'm not pregnant before anyone gets THAT bright idea in their head! :P

Don't worry - I WILL be sharing and soon - probably sometime within the next two weeks. I just need to do a little more research and be sure I'm truly up for the task - mentally more than physically. Physically I know I can make myself do darn near anything - mentally I have to make sure I'm not taking on too much and going to drive myself a little crazy in the process. But, I think it will be good.

Right now, the only person who knows is the hubby. And he actually said he'd support me in this endeavor. I don't know if he realizes that means there are days he's going to have to watch the kids for a few hours or that some days I may be more crabby than normal.

Anyway - know that there's stuff going on over here but I'm just not ready to share (or be held accountable for it!) Love to you all!

Surgery is a go!

FYI: I went for my pre-op appointment yesterday. Even though I've gained a few pounds back, we're still a go for surgery. I guess that's not all that uncommon. The gal in there with me is having a gastric bypass done and she gained weight back too! So as of 8-28-08 I have to start my liquid diet to clean my liver out for a safter surgery. Then on 9-3-08 I have to be at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. and they will probably take me back for surgery around 10:00 a.m. or so. They said to plan on spending the night, but some patients do get to go home the same day, so it may be a pleasant surprise.

Thank you for all your support and prayers during this time. I'm sure I'm going to need even more after surgery!!

Hope all is well your way. Don't forget to give an update on how you gals are doing.

Love & Miss you!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!

Surgery problem has been solved! After hours of trying to get financing for surgery, I was able to speak with a gal at the surgeon's office. As long as I am able to pay everything before my surgery date of 9-3-08, I can make payments instead of having to come up with it by next Wednesday. That is feasible! I might have to rob Peter to pay Paul, but it's within reach. Oh, I'm so excited!! Finally, I'm going to reach my goal:)

Good Husband

OK - so I haven't written in a LONG time again - that's just adhering to the old "No News is Good News" - right? Well, it's not all good of course, but there's nothing overly WRONG right now and nothing for which I need accounting. I'm doing the right things (more water, less soda, 1 coffee per day, working out - especially the karate) and very few of the bad (very little sweets or high carb foods) and the results are (s...l...o...w...l...y...) appearing.

Case in point...

This morning before I got completely dressed, my hubby looked me over and said "Are you losing weight?"

I thought 'Really? Cool!'

I told him "No, not losing per se, but I'm definitely toning up more and looking slimmer in my waist."

And he said - "Definitely. IT SHOWS."

Whoo hoo!

Good husband!

Dear Lord . . .

Lord help me . . . I can feel the PMS coming on already! Please watch over those around me and help them understand it's not me - it's just the PMS:)

I do need your prayers though. I am running into a snag with the money for my surgery. Even though it's only a small portion of the entire charge it is a large portion to my family of 5 ($1665.00). The money we had planned to use is unfortunately not there right now due to unforseen circumstances. Please just pray for me that this works out. It has really brought me down over the past couple of days and I know if I am meant to have this surgery now it will work out and God will provide. If not, it wasn't meant to be done on 9-3-08 for some reason unknown to me.