The begining

This journey actually started on June 6th when I decided to join Jenny Craig and 24 Hour Fit to try and regain control of my eating and physical strength. Although family and friends say that I'm am thin and what do I need to lose weight for (and I love them for that) I have found that I am an unconscious eater. I stuff food in my mouth with out thinking, no matter if I'm hungry or not. Not to mention how out of shape I'm in. When I started this I was 5'2 and 141 pounds. Yes, I did just put my weight out there for everyone to see. My goal was to lose at least 20 pound, 10 of that before my 43rd birthday (today) and to go to the gym at least 3 times per week. Needless to say neither of those things happened.

Weekends were my downfall. Eating meals with my family. Though the JC food for the most part is really good, sometimes Roy was just fixing something that sounded great at the time. I thought I was choosing well but I probably ate more than the recommended portion amounts. I still kept telling myself "I am committed to my JC plan." I did go to my weekly weigh-in's and see my consultant, doesn't that count. No! Why, because I was only walking and not using weights or doing resistant training. I would lose 1 to 2 pounds one week and gain a pound another week. What a see-saw. I have realized that if you are not committed to both completely, then it is a very hard task to accomplish. So in the last two months I have lost 6 pounds. Not the 10 I was hoping for but better than only 3-4. In the meantime a good friend suggested that I go see this Chiropractor/Nutritionist/Holistic Dr for help with my migraines. Now, this is where everything gets turned around.

One week ago I go see him and we discuss everything I have done, tried and am currently doing. He was full of questions to say the least. For what seemed like 20 minutes or more he kept doing these funny assessments with my feet and legs to see how my body lines up and where it was off. I would tilt my head to one side. Put my ear to my shoulder and during all this was holding 1-4 small jars in my hand. I thought to myself that this was very funny and odd at the same time. I do have to say that he is very informative.

He said, by looking at my ex rays, that I have a mild case of scoliosis, my C1 & 2, sit to the left, 3&4 are aligned and 5&6 sit to the left (Cervical spine=neck). One leg is longer than the other, an extra vertebrae in my lumbar (low back). Good news is this can all be helped with regular adjustments. Plus it would hopefully decrease my headaches. He also wants me to have a full panel of blood work done including urinalysis. Then he says "No more Jenny Craig!! That program is based on calories in and the same calories out. Very hard to maintain over a life time." Hmm! He also figured out through all the assessments that I was deficient in at least 4 supplements. Okay! So off I go with my lab requests and a lot to ponder. This was Thursday of last week. Friday morning (the next day) I went in first thing before work because I had to fast, and had all my lab work done.

Still eating my JC food until further notice. Tuesday I got a call from his office letting me know that my results were in and we set an appointment for Thursday afternoon for me and Roy to come in. A bit nervous to find out what might be wrong, but looking forward to it at the same time.

Thursday Roy and I get there, he sits us down and I'm thinking "oh boy, here it comes, the results of my impending death are about to be revealed." He starts with "I found nothing inclusive that will say Hey this is the cause of her migraines, however (ugh, there's that word) there were several things that did appear."

Lipids:
Cholesterol is 218 over 200 High
Triglycerides is 266 over 150 High
HDL Cholesterol is 80 over 50-70 High
VLDL cholesterol is 53 over 30 High
Thyroid:
T3 Uptake is 19 should be 24-39 Low
CBC Platelets:
RDW Platelet is 16.1 over 11.7-15.0 High
Urinalysis:
Appearance, WBC and Epithelial cells were Abnormal
Vitamin D is 26.4 should be 32.0-100.0 Low

Which means ,obviously my cholesterol is an issue. My thyroid isn't working that great which explains some things. My blood could become an issue if I don't get my thyroid and chol. in sync. And, my urine came back looking as though I don't drink water at all...what the heck...interesting.

Bottom line now is total diet change for one. Meat, beans and veggies (breakfast, lunch and dinner) oui! Fruit, I can only have berries. Almonds and Olive Oil is ok. Plus 7 different supplements. And to top that off I have to work with the weights at the gym 3-4 days a week.

No sugars, no starches, no pasta, no dairy and so on. I'm going to die!?!?!?!?!? I do however get one free day to eat anything I want. This is all in an effort to get my body on track with itself (no migraines) and then we can start adding things back in to see what, if anything will trigger a headache. Latter that night I was taking Alix out shopping and decided to have one last hoorah meal. In-n-out, cheese burger animal style, fries animal style and a choc shake. Boy did I feel horrible eating all that after having been so diligent on JC.

This is going to be a tough battle. Fast forward to today, Sunday and it is my birthday. I saved this day for my free day, duh! That means I can have anything I want to eat that I can not have during the week. Roy made me french toast and sausage for breakfast. We went to the Angels game and I had Carl's Jr (western bacon cheese with onion rings) it sat in my stomach all afternoon. Then Alix had made me pasta for dinner. For desert, a client of my, on Friday, brought me a Bavarian cream fruit topped tart. I can't begin to tell you how much I have been looking forward to that all weekend.
The bottom was a pie type crust with a very thin layer of white chocolate so it wouldn't get soggy, the center was filled with Bavarian cream and then rings of strawberries, kiwi, mandarins, pineapple and blueberries. Oh my goodness!!!! Heaven in a dish.

Tomorrow will be back to reality with a workout at the gym, chicken or carne asada for breakfast, fruit and veggies for lunch, just not sure about dinner yet. I go back to Dr Ettinger in two weeks to check on my progress and get another adjustment.

Did I mention that this was going to be a tough battle.

Okay so there it all is. I promise my next posting wont be as long, but now you are all caught up.