Welcome Family and Friends!

I hope you all enjoy my efforts here!

Feb 27, 2009

Number Change!

Normally I don't post my weekly weight loss efforts tally, but will break with that today. Why? Because I finally got rid of the weight I gained at Christmas and then some! After 2 months of saying I'd loss 222 lbs, and several posts ago joking about all the twos that applied to me, I'm finally in some new numbers. As of today, I've lost 224.1! After I lose slightly less than a pound (.9), I will be within 5 lbs of goal. I'm thrilled to be moving forward again. I knew I would eventually, as I struggled with all the events that have thrown me off course. I'm glad to be there. CELEBRATION time for me folks! :)

Feb 26, 2009

Joy of Now

One of the things I seem to be re-learning anew this week, is how wonderful life is, if you allow yourself to truly live in the now. I've stated in an earlier post some time ago the fact that now is all we really have. The past is gone, out of your hands, and it's not worth it to re-hash, obsess, hold grudges or let it take anymore control of you. The future never happens. When we are so obsessed with the future, we miss NOW. We look so much to the future, that when it becomes "now" we judge it, grouse about it, and find fault. Our "now" was yesterday's future. To truly enjoy the future, you have to enjoy the "now".

Think of your favorite treat. Do you savour every morsel and bite? Let it melt in your mouth, fully feel the texture of it? Think of how much pleasure you gave yourself as you forgot about everything and just totally gave yourself over to the enjoyment. That's what it's like to truly live in "now". For example, when driving in the mountains today, I'm driving through areas I routinely see as I commute to the different students I work with. However, today I made sure to really "look" at the view, to empty my head of thoughts, worry, routine, and just savour the visual treats before me. The visual treats of my normally routine trip, left me in awe, and my mind reeling as I took in the sights, really took them in. The other day, I drove home from the office, and I felt joy as I saw two young boys enjoying themselves while they walked home, saw the sweetness of a father walking with his toddler son. I was realizing how sweet so many of these moments really were, in my glances as I passed them.


All of this appreciation for "now" isn't coming out of the blue. It's no accident that I've been listening to Eckhart Tolle's audio book called "The Power of Now" as I drove this week. I'm not necessarily recommending it to anyone, as I know some people will be closed off to it, feeling like maybe it doesn't fit in with their "spiritual" views. However, I feel that so much of what he has to say can teach us how to live our best life. I love to feel myself continue to be transformed by this very personal journey I'm on. The feeling of joy I feel as I truly focus on "now" is one I don't ever want to lose. I'm sure, being human, I will forget what I'm learning many times, and have to re-learn the lessons. It seems so many of life's simple lessons are easiest forgotten. I wish you all joy.

Feb 22, 2009

Opportunity Strikes

A quote I read in the last few months goes through my head at times. I don't know remember the exact verbiage (hey, my memory IS that bad!), but the gist of it is that when opportunity comes, grab it. It never comes again.

So many times, I've not taken advantage of opportunities. I've thought and re-thought things too many times, always having lots of excuses for why I can't/won't. Sometimes the opportunities are small, sometimes they're big.

Today was a day for a small opportunity. The mail volume was low at work and much to my surprise, they allowed us to leave work 3 hours before our shift was over. Wow! What an unexpected gift. Here was an opportunity to do something fun on a weekend afternoon. Most of my weekends are exercises in survival and getting through them. While my weekend job is no stress in some ways, it's very stressful in others. What to do, how to take advantage of this opportunity. It once was, that I'd go straight home and decompress from the stress of a 2nd job, if I was able to leave early. Today, I decided to strike while the iron was hot and DO something fun.

I checked out my PDA and saw that there was an captioned movie playing in 30 minutes. (There's only one movie in the whole SLC valley that's captioned at any given time, something that we really need to change! But that's neither here nor there). I would have loved to have friends or family join me. However, if I spent my time trying to text/email my friends and family trying to find someone free, I'd be too late to make it. I decided I was going to just go out by myself, have fun, catch a movie and do whatever I wanted to! Off I went and caught the only movie in town I could enjoy today. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop".


The funny thing is, I didn't even want to see this movie when I saw clips for it. However, nothing was going to stop me from "enjoying rare time off work on a beautiful afternoon". It was a funny movie! I had a great time and got to enjoy lots of laughs!

I got home tonight at my normal time, but feeling refreshed, able to enjoy the time with the little ones, rather than feeling drained and a need to isolate that often hits me as I struggle to survive the weekend. I love opportunity and can't wait for the next time it knocks!

Feb 10, 2009

Is two my lucky number?

I attended an event tonight put on by Cochlear Americas, the company which makes the brand of cochlear implants I wear. From the time cochlear implants first were invented and found to be successful until more recently, people would only implant ear. In the last few years, research has been done that proved that two cochlear implants are better than one. I jumped on the bandwagon and got two as soon as I realized I could do that!

When discussion turned to the question of bilateral cochlear implants, many deaf people and parents of deaf children are pondering if they should get two. Myself and 3 other adults who had two implants were called up to the front of the room to share our story and ask questions posed to us by the presenter. There were a lot of people in the room that knew me. They've seen me go through the experience of getting the 2 cochlear implants as well as lose the 222 lbs. (Notice all the repetitions there of 2) I've changed and become tons more energetic due to the weight loss. The presenter knows who I am, but doesn't know how my energy level has changed (he knew I'd lost so much weight since he saw me in 2006 that he didn't recognize me when tonight). When he was asking me "my question" to answer for the audience, he asked me how my energy has changed since I got my cochlear implant.

The funny thing was, there was a lot of laughter in the room at that question! He was confused. What was so funny? What was the inside joke? Diane made a comment about the diet Coke giving me energy (I do drink too much). However, I knew most of the laughter was from people who'd seen me totally transform from a person who barely moved to this new person via the weight loss. So I had to laugh too! I told the presenter there was an inside joke, but we wouldn't talk about it now! I did answer his question to get the intent of it, or so I hope, in relations to my cochlear implants. The intent for those that don't know, is that you don't have to exert so much energy to hearing and understanding, but can just hear. Ergo, more energy!

Afterwards, some of my friends and I were joking around about it. In talking about the 2 cochlear implants, 222 lbs lost, we realized there was a play on numbers! Notice all the straight 2s! Then I added my own made up numbers. Between the cochlear implants and the weight loss, I decided I had 22 times the energy! Just so I can claim 2 as my lucky number! 2 cochlear implants; 222 lbs lost, 22 times the energy! Add it all up, what do you get? Not a mathematical answer, but rather it all equals a life transformed.

Feb 8, 2009

Insulation Rumination

It's interesting to realize how much insulation fat provides. I had an extra 222 lbs of insulation that I carried around me all the time.

It didn't matter what, I was always hot. It took very little for me to sweat. I used to think that I was just one of those people that had very active sweat glands or ducCheck Spellingts. When I wore hearing aids, back before my cochlear implants, I would ruin a hearing aid every year through sweat. They'd send it in to be fixed because it was always under warranty, only to find that they had to replace it instead.

When joking with my friends, about the subject of menopause, I would tell them that when I enter menopause, I wouldn't know I was having a "hot flash if it hit me in the face", since I was always so hot! One of my friends (Diane) was always cold. Her joke was, if she enters menopause and gets a hot flash, she'd pull up a chair and get warm! :)

Well, here I am, 222 lbs lighter and I can't remember what it was like to be hot all the time, nor to sweat so easily and constantly due to all the heat. I'd sweat at the least little thing. I didn't have to exercise to sweat. I could just stand for a few minutes and down it would fall. Now, when I work out, I have a hard time getting it to be hard enough to get some sweat going.

I have a part time job on the weekend keying mail for the post office. We key mail in this large building that has one giant open room with rows and rows of computer terminals and people keying. It is probably at least the size of a football field or more. I imagine it's a challenge to heat the thing properly, what with all the people and computers. I never used to notice the temperature though. NEVER. I would just wear a blouse and slacks while I worked.

It's a whole different story now. I can't believe the steps I have to take to stay warm while I'm keying. It started with beginning to layer my clothes, even in the summer. Then I noticed I was still freezing. I started to layer with heavier clothes, turtle necks, sweaters and even added light hooded jackets.

I recently started to wear long johns! Can you believe. I had to do something more! So here I am today, for example, wearing long johns, a turtleneck, sweater, and a winter jacket (outdoor coat) ALL DAY as I sat there keying mail. Another problem I've had is keeping my hands warm. I now key the mail wearing gloves on top of that. Yesterday I dressed similarly. After adding long johns and the winter coat to my attire, this weekend, I felt content that I was finally warm enough! The weirdest thing is to get off work, and find that you already have everything already on to go outdoor and head home!

Despite the difficulties, I wouldn't take the 222 lbs back and revert to just a blouse and slacks attire for anything! The funny thing is to realize I would now pull up my chair and join my friend Diane as we try to get warm, if only we could get a hot flash!