I hate prednisone :-(

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. Seems I was prematurely elated that I was showing no signs of the prednisone doses. I now have the swelling. My hands, fingers, neck, face and abdomen are all swollen. Niiiice. Looks great, feels better. Of course the number on the scale has inched up but I don't know if its weight gain or just fluid. Allahu alim.

At any rate, we'll see within the next two weeks. I had a bit of a rough go of it for a few weeks, had alot of pain as well from gastritis. Yippee. :-) So no weigh-in right now. It'll just depress me. I'm a numbers girl, yeah, but I also feel the swelling.

In the beginning, I took photos daily to show the progress of the cushing's syndrome which is the name for what happens when you get high levels of prednisone in your body. So at first, as I said, nothing really changed so I stopped. I think I'll take a photo tonight and if it's a dramatic as I think I'll post the pics for our elucidation. :-)

Please make du'a for me; I really want to lose weight. I do feel a little defeated that I got sick right as I was making good progress and now I feel I've been derailed. Insha'allah I can regain my momentum. Ma salaama...

Week ?? Day ? :-)

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. So I'm over my prednisone dosing, my kidney function has improved a bit (alhamdulillah!) and here I am again. With good news to report... I didn't gain any, I actually lost! I think because by this point I've been on prednisone continually for 9 years so I didn't react quite the same. Alhamdulillah! I was anticipating 15+ pounds which did NOT happen; I actually lost a couple.

It's been so long since I've posted (as I said I would be taking a hiatus during my health issue) I've lost track of weeks/days. I guess I could start over or just do the math, we'll see.

Anyway I also changed my goal to reflect an easier target. That way I won't get discouraged as easily; I will admit it, I am a numbers girl. I like to see myself getting closer to that number that I want to have. So I've changed it to 190; I thought 200 was too easy and 180 too far. Really 190 was kinda random but I popped it in so there it is. Now when I lose my progress will show up more apparently and I think it will just encourage me.

I don't think I am going to rejoin WW. I really enjoyed it but in the month I was there, I think I learned enough about what to do/ not to do that I am able to be successful on my own. And save the $38 a month. lol To be honest, if I had liked the meetings (which I really wanted to) I would still attend. However I only liked the accountability portion of the meeting; otherwise I always felt kinda disconnected. There was some good information but I'm just not a support meeting kinda girl.

If I do well on my own I'll stay solo. If I seem to have problems, I'll rejoin because I do think it's a good program. So that's where I'm at for now.

Alright my sisters I'll be updating here more frequently now in that effort to pull off some more weight insha'Allah. :-) Ma salaama  ya'll...

Week 5 day 5: early weigh-in

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I lost 2 pounds so far this week but I had to weigh-in early; who knows what might have happened? Anyway it brings my total loss to 9 lbs yay!

Now for my reason for early weigh-in: my transplanted kidney is experiencing some problems and I have to begin a pretty heavy regimen of steroids for 2 weeks. I will definitely gain weight (hopefully just fluids) so I won't be weighing for a few weeks (at least not for weigh-loss purposes).

I will be updating my other blog until I get back to this new weight (222.2 lbs) insha'Allah. Please bear with me and keep me in your duaat that the medication halts my rejection episode and that it's side effects aren't too severe this time. I know I will get disheartened when I begin to swell and gain weight from the meds but insha'Allah I won't use it as an excuse to just eat and eat. Although prednisone makes you HONGRY! :-) Yes hungry with an "O" is hungrier and very proper southern-ese. :-)

Jazakum Allahu khair....

Week 5 day 1: Sorry!!!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll and soooo sorry for the lack of posts! I've been super-tired lately and just lacking in initiative. You know, when you start something new, like a hobby or a WEIGHT LOSS EFFORT ;-) it's very easy in the beginning to pick up steam. But then you remember, oh wait, yeah, I have a life and responsibilities and I am B U S Y. So yeah, all of that caught up with me.

Alhamdulillah I lost again!!! I think maybe last week wasn't a true gain, as I had mentioned, but rather my kidney being all weird. Speaking of, my creatnine (which is a by-product of protein breakdown and is used to calculate kidney function) has risen the past two weeks. It's a very sensitive measurement. For example, as a healthy person, most of ya'll reading would have a creatnine level of .8 to 1.1. Not a dot more.

So my creatnine, since transplant, has been steady at 1.2 to 1.3, which is seriously awesome for a transplant patient! For a healthy person, it would definitely raise doctor's concerns. So my was 1.7 two weeks ago and was 1.89 upon retest. Alhamdulillah. I'll be having a biopsy on my kidney in the next week or so insha'Allah and we will see if my kidney is starting to show it's "age". It's been almost 9 years since my transplant.

Anyway, that was a big seque, but only saying it to say that yeah, if my kidney is being cranky I could very easily retain fluid. :-)

OK I have to go, housework and Aaminah calls!!!!! Ma salaama ya'll and insha'allah I'll post more often but probably not every night. It just isn't realistic for my situation. :-)

Week 4 day 1: weigh in woes

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I gained 1.4 pounds the past week. WTHeck?!? I know I 'fessed up to some not-so-great choices but I really didn't think I had gained. I have a couple of explanations for this, none of which involve blaming myself! lol

1. My transplanted kidney does not always do a good job of keeping my hydration level on target so I could be retaining fluid from kidney-related issues.

2. I am at the exact time in my monthly cycle when I a) want to eat nonstop and b) seem to retain fluid. Paired with #1 and that could easily equal 1.4 lbs.

3. It's a conspiracy with the people at WW who are afraid of my almost super-human resolve and worry I'll make the others look bad with my awesome weight loss. :-))

Ahhhh scenario #3 not so much but I really think the 1 and 2 did me in. I really told myself it doesn't matter, it's a momentary set-back, I can do this, blah blah blah but inside yeah, I was a little down. Alhamdulillah each day is new and we have the choice to do better.

So did I do better today? That is the question. OK I had 1 egg on 2 pieces of high fiber, high protein bread. BTW don't try it. lol It's Arnold's brand which we love but this really wasn't that palatable. Insha'Allah I'll just get the oatnut next time. :-) Anyway that was breakfast along with my 8 oz of steaming hot milky tea.

Lunch was non-descript... OK I'm trying to cheat a little here. :-) I had to run out for some errands at lunch time and I ended up buying a small sandwich and fries at BK. I didn't stress about it, I got the smallest available and I always drink diet drinks so alhamdulillah minimal damage.

I made maqlouba tonight (a traditional Palestinian dish) which I make in my own manner. :-) It has a healthy mix of veggies but you do fry them first. I fried in them in a very small amount of oil (NOT deep-fried) and ate a reasonable amount. This is the kind of dish you don't just throw together on the spur of the moment so I did eat for enjoyment but didn't over do it. Alhamdulillah my day is ok and I feel back on track.

Make dua' for me sisters that I make positive headway next week! Ma salaama ya'll

Week 3 day 7: I don't wanna weigh in tomorrow!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I feel like a big fat F for failure. Or F for fat, works both ways. :-) I ended my week -5 points. Yep, -5 meaning I used ALL my discretionary points plus 5 I didn't have. Now I have been alot more active this week which technically entitles me to exchange my activity for points for more food if necessary. I didn't exercise but went out in the snow 2 times (seriously it was hard! lol) and had some other projects which typically use more energy than I normally expend.

I really don't want to go to weigh-in tomorrow. I will haaaaate to see a) I lost nothing or b) I gained!!!! Oh the horror! Because... even though I slipped up a bit I still did soooo much better than I was doing before! As I said, at breakfast alone I usually skip 1 turkey sausage and 1 egg, that's 200 calories there. IF I get something out I get the smallest sandwich and a small fry (maybe once a week that happens). I really keep myself from just eating what I want.

Oooooooooh noooooooo! I just remembered I had a lindt chocolate truffle. Arghhhhhhhh! I don't wanna know the points for it! (sigh) 

OK a positive thing is the fact that I am not stressed like a true stressed, I'll just eat exactly as I want, I have size 20 pants, no worries kinda stressed. I still paid attention and limited from what I might have normally done. I have come to the solid conclusion I don't normally eat so much as eat things that individually have alot of needless calories.

I am not giving up sisters. I will persevere and insha'Allah will succeed. I think a huge thing for me will be to set an exercise time and just stick with it. I have a hard time carving out "me" time. Yeah, like most women. :-) Exercise, although as I said before can be done in the gym here RIGHT DOWN THE FLIPPIN' HALL, takes me out of the home. Where I have some unruly stepkids and a cute little 2 yr old who says "mama, mama, you are nice, i love you so much, you are my life". Wallah, she said that. So you can imagine how hard it is for me to say, ok I'm going down the hall, no you can't come, stay here...

Ummmm as I type that I see how silly it is but what can I say? I'm 38 and this is my last baby and by gosh I'll baby her!!!! Actually she is very independent and self-actualized. (That's a snobbish word and I'm kinda sorry I used it. lol. But not sorry enough to erase it cause it's funnier to leave it and type this loooong explanation. :-D) 

Don't remember where I was going with that so I'll just sign off and please sisters, make dua for me that Allah gives me the strength to succeed. Amin!!!!!!! Ma salaama ya'll.....

Week 3 day 6: ouch

Graphic of how my brain feels

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I have a really bad headache tonight so I won't be doing a post. I had actually went to bed and got up to get a drink and (get this) I felt guilt for not posting! Silly me.

So this is a post to say I can't post. While I'm here though I might as well share. Today was an ok day; I think I just got it in my head I ruined my week with the oreos and Applebee's and I never really got my groove back. However I have made some changes which have stuck, mainly in the area of portion control.

It's so easy (with the typical American diet) to overeat on your calories while not actually gorging yourself on food. This is a big problem and one the WW combats with their power food choices and free fruits and veggies (getting you to eat more of the healthy stuff). For example, we often have belgian waffles for breakfast on the weekend with turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, and of course pure maple syrup.

I never really stopped to look at what kind of nutrition I was getting. I would eat 2 turkey sausage links (fine), 2 scrambled eggs (1 is sufficient) and I would eat 2 waffles. Nothing major, nothing that a passerby would gawk at, so I felt ok.

Now alhamdulillah I make definite changes. I had 1 sausage, 1 egg, and 1 waffle. I cut my calorie count in half on that! So even though I don't feel I've made the best choices this week, I have definitely learned to be more intelligent in my choices and think before I eat. For the most part.

I am not sure if I will post a loss for this week even though I've been within my points (I only have 16 discretionary left now, I've never used that many of the 49 extras!) . I am a little stressed by that but telling myself, I have next week. I really want to lose the weight, be healthier, and I am committed to it. Insha'Allah. :-)

Hmm not bad for a "this is a post just to say I'm not posting" post. :-)) Ma salaama ya'll!