Weight, lumps, and hormones...

With that title I'm sure you realize this post is not quilting related (NQR).

Let me start a little over three years ago.  I was a smoker, a very heavy smoker, so was my husband.  On March 26, 2009 we woke up and became non-smokers.  It was rough, very rough, we rediscovered our taste buds -- wow, we were missing some really good foods over the past twenty-some years.  All that food was great, but... yep, with every bite I was putting on weight.  I know, I was told to expect 10 or 15 pounds, I was prepared -- it had to be better than smoking, right?  Well, if you don't already know, I am an over-achiever... I didn't stop at 10, 15, or even 20... over the past three years I have put on over 60 pounds, 68 to be exact!  That's a lot of weight!   It was progressive continual weight gain of about 1-3 pounds per month, way beyond any quitting smoking poundage.  I'd do weight watchers, walk on the treadmill, run on the elliptical and maybe lose a pound over the course of a month.  Something was NOT right.  In the meantime I developed this strange lump in my throat/neck.  It made me cough every so often, then it started making me choke every so often, then... all the time, coughing, gagging, choking, sleep was almost not existent.

So last week I went to the doctor.

He ordered a plethora of blood work, as I am also peri-menopausal, depressed, have lower self-confidence than normal, etc. and also ordered an ultrasound of my neck as we are pretty sure it is a thyroid issue.  Great news, we can fix all of this!  The doctor explained to me that he can balance all my hormones to their proper levels and correct the thyroid issue and I may drop 5-10 pounds, BUT (damn that dreaded but), the rest of the weight is all mine until I lose it.  Lose, what a word, I lose my keys, I lose my grocery list, weight - I know exactly where it is!  In other words, I must get rid of it.

So... here comes Monday.  I started (as suggested by my doctor) a NO carb NO sugar LEAN protein diet.  Hello, my name is Karen, I am a carb/sugar addict.  Do you know how hard it is to find NO carb recipes... very hard, you need to look in Mother Nature's recipe book, because they are called vegetables!   Now this diet isn't permanent, the doctor is trying to shock my system because right now it is storing everything I eat.  But, it is also a serious change for me... I love bread.  I love whole milk.  No breads, okay, got it, I'll adjust.  My milk choices are skim (ewwwwww) or unsweetened Almond Milk (okay not too bad).  None of this matters -- I MUST LOSE WEIGHT!

Here's a picture of me a few days after I quit smoking.  My Mom, so proud of my accomplishment, treated me to highlights and a new haircut.  I was at a good weight -- not high school skinny, but normal, no double (triple) chin, healthy cheeks, normal upper arms, no inner tube belly, not even a muffin top (you can't see, but I know)...

Here is me now (ugh, in all my unedited glory).  But hey, that's what I really look like, well, what 68 extra pounds looks like.

So, here begins my journey of weight loss, hormone balancing, and thyroid corrections.  Have fun sharing it with me, along with all my ups and downs, mishaps, goofies, and crankies!  Oh, and by the way, I wasn't supposed to weight myself til Monday (1 full week), but this morning I peeked -- three pounds in less than 3 days.  I am keeping totally optimistic knowing I have no other choice!