Well, it's been interesting! From everything I'd read online, including Optifast clients' blogs, the first 3 days are the hardest. I won't say they were easy but they were not, thankfully, as hard as I thought they would be. The biggest challenge time is between my 2nd meal replacement and lunch - and so I've started to save my ShapeWise Chew (basically an appetite curbing piece of candy with milk minerals and conjugated linoleic acid) until then and that helps.
Of the 5 flavors of shakes I got, the chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, sweet strawberry, sweet berry, and vanilla, the one I can drink the easiest is the plain chocolate. And yes, the water HAS to be very cold. So what I'm doing is making 1 shake before we leave as the water from the fridge is really cold plus I add some crushed ice to it and drink that on the drive in to work/gym. When I get to work I put water in the other blender cup and put that in fridge and then I alternate blender cups so there's always one with cold water in the fridge. That's been helping. They're still a little chalky tasting but tolerable.
One thing I tried is to make a pudding out of them. I did this Thursday night at home with the vanilla and let it set in the fridge during supper time and had it a bit before bed. Not too bad! The chocolate hazelnut I did at work and it also was much better than the shake version. Friday night I added a 1/2 tsp of sugar-free cheesecake flavored pudding to the vanilla shake mix and made a pudding with it - YUM!! Today I'll add some of that to the berry shake as a shake and see if that helps. I did also get some fat-free whipped cream (on the free foods list) to try with a berry pudding and I have some sugar-free Torani caramel syrup to add to something as well as powdered peanut butter. So tweaks to help make them better tasting! Definitely definitely cold cold cold water, though!
The fiber drinks come in Tart & Tangy mixed fruit drink and a Lemony Tea. The first time I drank the tea it tasted so BRIGHT. There is no other way to describe it. Just wow - it was a lot of power! The fruit drink the next day was tasty! I was a bit concerned as it smelled like Kool-Aid but it tasted like a fun beverage out on the town! I bet it'd be really good if I had a Soda Stream..... The second time I drank the tea it was much more palatable - and I think that means my palate is already changing a bit.
The meal bars I've had so far (I bought 2 variety boxes): I started with the cinnamon bar and I wasn't sure I'd like it but it was really good! Thursday was the Smores Bar - another winner! And Friday was the Caramel Cocoa - definitely no lack of chocolate for me!! All very good and I'm looking forward to trying the rest, too.
Suppers have been fun, too. Well, for me. Maybe not so much for Casey...but he's a really good sport! Wednesday night we had pork and a zucchini/squash/bell pepper blend (and don't tell anyone, but these bells? I may have not actively disliked!). Thursday was similar but with a fajita flair. (He asked me to get fajita seasoning, chicken and cheese and I forgot the chicken and cheese.....) Friday night we tried a Profile recipe, Roll in a Bowl. It's basically your meat and a coleslaw mix for the vegetables. Casey added he thinks 7 red pepper flakes from a spice jar - the kind one puts on pizza. Holy MOLY did that make it HOT HOT HOT!! But really tasty and I foresee this one being a favorite. Dad, bless him, has been all on board with the healthier suppers. He mentioned something about having gained a bit of weight since he retired... And he brought out some oatmeal cream cookie sandwiches and chocolate cakes for him and Casey last night but said if it bothered me he'd put them away. So that helps a lot - instead of joking/teasing he's trying to help. And I'm fortunate that generally "not within reach" means I won't be grabbing for the sweets. They kept them back by them and I enjoyed the cheesecake pudding.
I really thought the 64 ounces of water would be the hardest part - I don't like water, I much prefer my Diet Dr. Pepper. But I borrowed Casey's Bubba Keg - it holds 52 ounces!! and when I get to work I fill about 1/4 of the way with ice then top it with water to the top. It's been empty either just after lunch or before lunch! I have a 16-ounce glass at work that I then fill with again a small amount of ice and water and even that's been gone before I leave for the day. Now, it does help that it's bitter cold out and furnaces and heating systems and wood stoves are in full force so I'm super dry but it's still pretty impressive.
Thursday was my first coaching session and it was with Troy, the same coach I did the initial consultation with in November. He said he was glad to see I got signed up and was overall really nice. These can be scheduled on my lunch break at work and so that helps a lot. When the local branch opens up it might be trickier but my supervisor has already offered up 1-hour lunches if I need them. (I have a GREAT supervisor!!) We went over the basics and we'll dig deeper next week. I did forget to ask about invoices again but when I order next week I'll definitely remember!
I did get the lab results back and, as I suspected, they were not as good as we wanted. I'm borderline diabetic, my blood pressure was high (I was definitely dehydrated plus the machine was being wonky but still), my iron is low, and my cholesterol levels were high. So for now, an iron supplement + iron-rich foods, fish oil, and diet and exercise plus monitoring of my blood pressure. So when I go back in a few months it will be interesting to see the changes!!
Heather
My musings on life as I'm experiencing it. Your mileage may vary.
Showing posts with label optifast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label optifast. Show all posts
Saturday, January 07, 2017
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Happy 2017!!
Another year has gone by, and what a crazy year it was!
Quick recap: Bought a Skoolie in February, got jerked around by a well-known truck service company in Ohio for a month, but managed to leave Ohio and end up in South Dakota in April. Our intent was to get to Washington state but that's on hold for a bit. Got good jobs, Dad and Casey are kicking butt on the Skoolie renovation (it had already been converted to a motorhome but now it will be a much cleaner, safer, nicer one!), got a new used car, and have had great times with family and friends!
Biggest change for 2017 is weight loss. And a lot of it. I had been talking about Optifast previously, and while I still feel it would have been a good fit for me (as always, consult with your physician for what will work best for you), I was able to take the delay in finances and do some additional research. Optifast ends at either 12 or 18 weeks, whether you're close to goal or not. That had the potential to be a major downside given the amount of weight I need to lose. I had seen a commercial for what I knew was a gimmick product but I'm always curious about the "claims" they make so I did some digging, read some reviews, and one of those reviews mentioned Profile by Sanford. My ears perked up a bit as I know the name Sanford, as in Sanford Health, very well having previously used their health insurance plans offered through employers in the Huron, SD area. And so I did some digging and it is very similar to Optifast but with a few noticeable differences. One, you're not meeting with one of their doctors - which is okay with me as I much prefer meeting with my regular physician anyway. Labs are not included - which is also okay because getting those done through my doctor means they apply to my deductible instead. You still get weekly coaching sessions for up to 18 weeks, but your subscription is for 1 year - and so you have access to the tools for one year plus you can always pay for another year if you want. Also included in that is a wifi scale and network bridge that syncs to your account automatically. And while they are primarily located in Eastern South Dakota, MN, and that area, they have a virtual option so that's what I'll be doing. It does sound like they're planning on opening one near me this year, but it is nice that I don't have to wait. They do offer education as well, which is a big deal for me. I need to relearn a lot when it comes to eating habits, especially emotional habits.
So, after talking to a coach for an initial consultation in November, I placed my order on December 26th. Keeping in mind it is the holidays, I did experience a bit of disappointment which I will be bringing up with them. I did not get a confirmation email for my order, and along with that, no tracking information. All I knew was that they took my money. They did pre-honor their $99 pricing that wasn't to go into effect until the 1st of the year, and I did add the cookbook (pricing as of right now is $10). But I really would have liked an invoice, even via email since there wasn't one in the package, of how that money was utilized. I don't know what the cost of the meal replacements were, for example. I'm sure had I gone in person I would have an itemized receipt and frankly, I expect no less when I'm purchasing online. I also have no access to my profile on their site - it needs to be activated, and I received no information on when I can expect my first coaching session nor when they want me to start the program. That being said, when I did my initial consultation, he had laid out what to eat and about when, and how to read the grocery list, so I am planning on starting meal replacements Wednesday, January 4th. This is because I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday for blood work and I want that to be pre-plan. This will give me solid starting numbers that are not dependent on a scale or a tape measure and will be additional data for me to help keep me focused. The only other issue is that they don't have hours for the virtual program as far as when you can call if you have questions - they have store hours for their physical locations, but even so, calling during those hours I've had twice where they've answered and twice where I've left a voice message with no indication of hours. These are, though, small things that will be worked out over time.
We are hoping to have the Skoolie done by spring and plan on finding a place to park it and live in it - at least over the summer/fall to test it out. The finance company where we got our car sounds like they're pretty picky on customers leaving the area owing them money (understandable as they are loaning to high-risk customers) and so we need to be a lot closer to having it paid off before we can head out of town again. My hope is to find a mobile home park but we shall see what we shall see. We picked up the fridge yesterday and it's in the house waiting to be installed. Our biggest concern right now is a heating system - we'd like a convection-style wall-mount system and we did find one that we think will do the trick - we'd need 2 units and if it doesn't, it's a 15% restocking fee on each one, plus the cost of shipping both ways. Before we can do any interior framing and building, we need to tint the windows which would be a good time to test any heating system due to the frigid cold we're experiencing!! We have a layout in mind, and it's even been taped out on the floor so we have an idea of what to expect. I was rather surprised to see we would have room for a 36" shower - and told Casey we can definitely go as small as 28" if we need to. It's looking like we may still have a small bit of closet space where the old closet was, which will be nice. Any extra space will be nice!
It's looking like we'll have a busy 2017 - may it be a wonderful year to all of you!
Heather
Quick recap: Bought a Skoolie in February, got jerked around by a well-known truck service company in Ohio for a month, but managed to leave Ohio and end up in South Dakota in April. Our intent was to get to Washington state but that's on hold for a bit. Got good jobs, Dad and Casey are kicking butt on the Skoolie renovation (it had already been converted to a motorhome but now it will be a much cleaner, safer, nicer one!), got a new used car, and have had great times with family and friends!
Biggest change for 2017 is weight loss. And a lot of it. I had been talking about Optifast previously, and while I still feel it would have been a good fit for me (as always, consult with your physician for what will work best for you), I was able to take the delay in finances and do some additional research. Optifast ends at either 12 or 18 weeks, whether you're close to goal or not. That had the potential to be a major downside given the amount of weight I need to lose. I had seen a commercial for what I knew was a gimmick product but I'm always curious about the "claims" they make so I did some digging, read some reviews, and one of those reviews mentioned Profile by Sanford. My ears perked up a bit as I know the name Sanford, as in Sanford Health, very well having previously used their health insurance plans offered through employers in the Huron, SD area. And so I did some digging and it is very similar to Optifast but with a few noticeable differences. One, you're not meeting with one of their doctors - which is okay with me as I much prefer meeting with my regular physician anyway. Labs are not included - which is also okay because getting those done through my doctor means they apply to my deductible instead. You still get weekly coaching sessions for up to 18 weeks, but your subscription is for 1 year - and so you have access to the tools for one year plus you can always pay for another year if you want. Also included in that is a wifi scale and network bridge that syncs to your account automatically. And while they are primarily located in Eastern South Dakota, MN, and that area, they have a virtual option so that's what I'll be doing. It does sound like they're planning on opening one near me this year, but it is nice that I don't have to wait. They do offer education as well, which is a big deal for me. I need to relearn a lot when it comes to eating habits, especially emotional habits.
So, after talking to a coach for an initial consultation in November, I placed my order on December 26th. Keeping in mind it is the holidays, I did experience a bit of disappointment which I will be bringing up with them. I did not get a confirmation email for my order, and along with that, no tracking information. All I knew was that they took my money. They did pre-honor their $99 pricing that wasn't to go into effect until the 1st of the year, and I did add the cookbook (pricing as of right now is $10). But I really would have liked an invoice, even via email since there wasn't one in the package, of how that money was utilized. I don't know what the cost of the meal replacements were, for example. I'm sure had I gone in person I would have an itemized receipt and frankly, I expect no less when I'm purchasing online. I also have no access to my profile on their site - it needs to be activated, and I received no information on when I can expect my first coaching session nor when they want me to start the program. That being said, when I did my initial consultation, he had laid out what to eat and about when, and how to read the grocery list, so I am planning on starting meal replacements Wednesday, January 4th. This is because I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday for blood work and I want that to be pre-plan. This will give me solid starting numbers that are not dependent on a scale or a tape measure and will be additional data for me to help keep me focused. The only other issue is that they don't have hours for the virtual program as far as when you can call if you have questions - they have store hours for their physical locations, but even so, calling during those hours I've had twice where they've answered and twice where I've left a voice message with no indication of hours. These are, though, small things that will be worked out over time.
We are hoping to have the Skoolie done by spring and plan on finding a place to park it and live in it - at least over the summer/fall to test it out. The finance company where we got our car sounds like they're pretty picky on customers leaving the area owing them money (understandable as they are loaning to high-risk customers) and so we need to be a lot closer to having it paid off before we can head out of town again. My hope is to find a mobile home park but we shall see what we shall see. We picked up the fridge yesterday and it's in the house waiting to be installed. Our biggest concern right now is a heating system - we'd like a convection-style wall-mount system and we did find one that we think will do the trick - we'd need 2 units and if it doesn't, it's a 15% restocking fee on each one, plus the cost of shipping both ways. Before we can do any interior framing and building, we need to tint the windows which would be a good time to test any heating system due to the frigid cold we're experiencing!! We have a layout in mind, and it's even been taped out on the floor so we have an idea of what to expect. I was rather surprised to see we would have room for a 36" shower - and told Casey we can definitely go as small as 28" if we need to. It's looking like we may still have a small bit of closet space where the old closet was, which will be nice. Any extra space will be nice!
It's looking like we'll have a busy 2017 - may it be a wonderful year to all of you!
Heather
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Life...again.
Well, Optifast will be getting put on hold until the next round - we need a car and soon and until Casey is working again, that became a priority. I was a bit frustrated that the clinic never called with the financial department's information so I could talk to them to see if something could be arranged but it's better not to have an extra payment until we know what he'll have for income again. In the meantime, I can still work on the little things - not feeding the vending machines being the biggest one!! But those chocolate iced honey buns....yum!!
I've tried a lot of things over the years, and have lost nearly 50 pounds three times, so I know I can do it. It's just that for some reason, just before I hit that 50 pound mark, it's like a switch flips and all the work I've done to create new habits flies out the window. Part of the appeal of Optifast was it not only takes the "work" out of it by literally giving you their meal products (which sounds so sci-fi, I know!) and telling you how much to consume a day and about at what times, but they also work on the behavioral and emotional sides, along with the personal trainer once and the nutritionist weekly. It is a very rounded program and the only "reward" system is your health. Another blogger (I've read so many, I wish I would have taken notes!) said she didn't like Weight Watchers at that time because you could earn back more food - if you worked out more, you could eat more - and I agree. I think that food as a reward kind of defeats the purpose of watching what you eat. I do know I have comfort issues with food as well, and so between the two, I have some issues! (Boy, I hope my brother doesn't read that! haha)
So, while I've postponed the Optifast program for now, I do want to review our budget, and do an Overall Health Assessment, which includes:
• Body Composition Analysis
o Results provide an easy and quick overview of your body make up including lean body mass, body fat mass, basal metabolic rate.
• Functional Assessment
o Assess strength, flexibility, range of motion and functional health of your body
• Cardio Assessment
o Assess cardiovascular health and stamina
• Overall Assessment and Fitness Improvement Plan
o Completed by Certified Personal Trainer
I’ve done the Body Composition Analysis already and it was also a chance to meet one of the personal trainers on staff. He was very nice and informative and I felt comfortable with him, which is always a good thing. The price for the assessment is currently $60 and I feel that there will definitely be value there.
The other thing I want to budget for is Nutritional Wellness Counseling. The description from the Regional Weight Loss site is:
Nutrition Wellness Counseling (pricing plans are identical to personal trainer options, listed above)
Take charge of your diet to promote health, wellness and a healthy body weight.
One-on-one nutrition counseling with a registered dietitian
• Supportive and non-judgmental environment
• Advice about weight control and healthy eating
• Set realistic short and long-term wellness goals
• Develop a unique plan to help you achieve your goals
They have very reasonable rates and package options so for both the nutritionists and the personal trainers and so I think that this well be a good start in the right direction. There is room in the budget, I think, for both as long as we focus.
I’m a member of Sparkpeople and while I am definitely a fan of the creator (he self-funded the site to make it a free site for all users) and they have a lot of great information and people and tools – it was also disheartening for me to see people making so much progress and I would be making none. I’ve also realized I was using it to stay on the computer – which isn’t conducive to health improvement! I tried MyFitnessPal.com as well and while it was a little easier to use as far as tracking, the forums are less than pleasant. I did meet a few fantastic people and there were a few family members on there as well, but I just couldn’t get past the unpleasantness if you asked questions on the forums. A lot of people were friendly and tried to help but it felt like a few were there specifically to promote their own agenda and their own views and if you disagreed they were very rude and judgmental. Which defeats the purpose of an online support system, I think.
So, this week I’ll be refocusing on not feeding the vending machine, getting a budget put together again, and baby steps again. The hardest part about that is that we’re staying with my father and I feel a little obligated to be social and that makes it hard to go upstairs and do a Leslie Sansone WATP dvd or a yoga video or meditation or anything like that. He’s like me – it’s hard to really understand something you’re not directly affected by and so for him, it’s all about moving more/eating less but yet evenings are for relaxing and watching TV. It’s how I grew up. What he is unable to grasp, because he’s not living it, is that essentially my inner organs are smushed in a corset with limited room to move so deep breathing doesn’t happen, my heart rate is slow so I can get dizzy easier, and then add to that an additional 100 pounds of body weight he’s not carrying. I think if I could somehow put him in that situation, that sensation, he would definitely grasp it and it would be easier for him to understand. I can do a fair bit of walking yet – last weekend we had a lovely time with my brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and Dad walking to see a couple of waterfalls – and that was a lot of walking for me! I could do it – albeit slowly – but I was definitely wore out. (And I am so grateful that there were no comments about my slowness, only patience – even from my not-so-patient brother!) Baby steps. And perhaps some communication improvement. :-)
The Skoolie is nearly completely gutted inside as I’m typing this. The mattress has been put in plastic and into the garden shed. The bed framing has been removed and sitting on the driveway for now. Dad was amused by the amount of clothes Casey had tucked away. The man has more clothes than most women do! To be fair, a lot of his attire is bicycle-specific and since that is usually his preferred form of transportation, it’s necessary. But I’m also pretty sure he could get by with not wearing the same t-shirt more than once in a 90-day period…
We’re looking at vinyl planks for the floor, in a hardwood pattern. Easy to clean for me! We’re still working out configurations for things, including the bathroom. It’s a 32-foot long bus, but we lose about half of that in the engine compartment. So we have around 24 feet to play with – and of course the king-size bed takes up a fair chunk of that! We’ve met a couple of fellow Skoolies, including Dredman, and they’ve had some neat ideas that we’re hoping to make our own. Our biggest problem is the bathroom – we’ll be using a composting toilet so plumbing and black tank for that won’t be an issue – but bathing is a necessity. There are plumbing holes in the floor already so we’ll just have to see what we can do with what’s existing and kind of design around that. Our intent is to have all the plumbing on the driver’s side of the Skoolie so the sink will be there as well as the Panda washing machine. It will be a challenge, but a fun one!
They did put in new roof vents – we purchased two with fans and two without. Over the bedroom area will be the fan blowing into the Skoolie, then a fanless, then a fan wired to blow out of the Skoolie, then the other fanless vent. That will make for some respectable air circulation. We are planning on getting at least two LED-lit garnish rings and possibly four. And as I was typing this – they are down to the wall framework and lots of cleaning up of fiberglass insulation and general debris. They’re speedy!
As I mentioned in a previous post – there will be some changes. I’ll be monetizing this site so look for some Amazon links and probably Google ads if I can figure out why they aren’t working. We’re looking at other things to do for supplemental income and so down the road we may have some pieces of art for sale as well. I’m going to put up a progress sidebar for my health tracking as well. Stay tuned, folks!
~Heather
I've tried a lot of things over the years, and have lost nearly 50 pounds three times, so I know I can do it. It's just that for some reason, just before I hit that 50 pound mark, it's like a switch flips and all the work I've done to create new habits flies out the window. Part of the appeal of Optifast was it not only takes the "work" out of it by literally giving you their meal products (which sounds so sci-fi, I know!) and telling you how much to consume a day and about at what times, but they also work on the behavioral and emotional sides, along with the personal trainer once and the nutritionist weekly. It is a very rounded program and the only "reward" system is your health. Another blogger (I've read so many, I wish I would have taken notes!) said she didn't like Weight Watchers at that time because you could earn back more food - if you worked out more, you could eat more - and I agree. I think that food as a reward kind of defeats the purpose of watching what you eat. I do know I have comfort issues with food as well, and so between the two, I have some issues! (Boy, I hope my brother doesn't read that! haha)
So, while I've postponed the Optifast program for now, I do want to review our budget, and do an Overall Health Assessment, which includes:
• Body Composition Analysis
o Results provide an easy and quick overview of your body make up including lean body mass, body fat mass, basal metabolic rate.
• Functional Assessment
o Assess strength, flexibility, range of motion and functional health of your body
• Cardio Assessment
o Assess cardiovascular health and stamina
• Overall Assessment and Fitness Improvement Plan
o Completed by Certified Personal Trainer
I’ve done the Body Composition Analysis already and it was also a chance to meet one of the personal trainers on staff. He was very nice and informative and I felt comfortable with him, which is always a good thing. The price for the assessment is currently $60 and I feel that there will definitely be value there.
The other thing I want to budget for is Nutritional Wellness Counseling. The description from the Regional Weight Loss site is:
Nutrition Wellness Counseling (pricing plans are identical to personal trainer options, listed above)
Take charge of your diet to promote health, wellness and a healthy body weight.
One-on-one nutrition counseling with a registered dietitian
• Supportive and non-judgmental environment
• Advice about weight control and healthy eating
• Set realistic short and long-term wellness goals
• Develop a unique plan to help you achieve your goals
They have very reasonable rates and package options so for both the nutritionists and the personal trainers and so I think that this well be a good start in the right direction. There is room in the budget, I think, for both as long as we focus.
I’m a member of Sparkpeople and while I am definitely a fan of the creator (he self-funded the site to make it a free site for all users) and they have a lot of great information and people and tools – it was also disheartening for me to see people making so much progress and I would be making none. I’ve also realized I was using it to stay on the computer – which isn’t conducive to health improvement! I tried MyFitnessPal.com as well and while it was a little easier to use as far as tracking, the forums are less than pleasant. I did meet a few fantastic people and there were a few family members on there as well, but I just couldn’t get past the unpleasantness if you asked questions on the forums. A lot of people were friendly and tried to help but it felt like a few were there specifically to promote their own agenda and their own views and if you disagreed they were very rude and judgmental. Which defeats the purpose of an online support system, I think.
So, this week I’ll be refocusing on not feeding the vending machine, getting a budget put together again, and baby steps again. The hardest part about that is that we’re staying with my father and I feel a little obligated to be social and that makes it hard to go upstairs and do a Leslie Sansone WATP dvd or a yoga video or meditation or anything like that. He’s like me – it’s hard to really understand something you’re not directly affected by and so for him, it’s all about moving more/eating less but yet evenings are for relaxing and watching TV. It’s how I grew up. What he is unable to grasp, because he’s not living it, is that essentially my inner organs are smushed in a corset with limited room to move so deep breathing doesn’t happen, my heart rate is slow so I can get dizzy easier, and then add to that an additional 100 pounds of body weight he’s not carrying. I think if I could somehow put him in that situation, that sensation, he would definitely grasp it and it would be easier for him to understand. I can do a fair bit of walking yet – last weekend we had a lovely time with my brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and Dad walking to see a couple of waterfalls – and that was a lot of walking for me! I could do it – albeit slowly – but I was definitely wore out. (And I am so grateful that there were no comments about my slowness, only patience – even from my not-so-patient brother!) Baby steps. And perhaps some communication improvement. :-)
The Skoolie is nearly completely gutted inside as I’m typing this. The mattress has been put in plastic and into the garden shed. The bed framing has been removed and sitting on the driveway for now. Dad was amused by the amount of clothes Casey had tucked away. The man has more clothes than most women do! To be fair, a lot of his attire is bicycle-specific and since that is usually his preferred form of transportation, it’s necessary. But I’m also pretty sure he could get by with not wearing the same t-shirt more than once in a 90-day period…
We’re looking at vinyl planks for the floor, in a hardwood pattern. Easy to clean for me! We’re still working out configurations for things, including the bathroom. It’s a 32-foot long bus, but we lose about half of that in the engine compartment. So we have around 24 feet to play with – and of course the king-size bed takes up a fair chunk of that! We’ve met a couple of fellow Skoolies, including Dredman, and they’ve had some neat ideas that we’re hoping to make our own. Our biggest problem is the bathroom – we’ll be using a composting toilet so plumbing and black tank for that won’t be an issue – but bathing is a necessity. There are plumbing holes in the floor already so we’ll just have to see what we can do with what’s existing and kind of design around that. Our intent is to have all the plumbing on the driver’s side of the Skoolie so the sink will be there as well as the Panda washing machine. It will be a challenge, but a fun one!
They did put in new roof vents – we purchased two with fans and two without. Over the bedroom area will be the fan blowing into the Skoolie, then a fanless, then a fan wired to blow out of the Skoolie, then the other fanless vent. That will make for some respectable air circulation. We are planning on getting at least two LED-lit garnish rings and possibly four. And as I was typing this – they are down to the wall framework and lots of cleaning up of fiberglass insulation and general debris. They’re speedy!
As I mentioned in a previous post – there will be some changes. I’ll be monetizing this site so look for some Amazon links and probably Google ads if I can figure out why they aren’t working. We’re looking at other things to do for supplemental income and so down the road we may have some pieces of art for sale as well. I’m going to put up a progress sidebar for my health tracking as well. Stay tuned, folks!
~Heather
Saturday, October 01, 2016
This crazy thing called life....
So....we finally left Akron. Thank goodness. It really was not a good fit for us. In fact, it took us 2 days to get out of Ohio!! There's a NaNoWriMo project in there, so you will have to wait to hear that story.
We did make it to the Black Hills of South Dakota in April and have been there since. We don't really have a long-term game plan anymore. If we learned one thing on that trip, it's to not plan too far ahead. We've been busy though. I've been working full time for a finance company and really enjoying it. I have a great team with some great coworkers. He worked for part of the summer and then took some time off to get the exterior of the motorhome done. If it was going to be outside in a South Dakota winter, it needed a lot of work to survive!! He and Dad had already spent a lot of the summer doing some major bodywork - even rebuilding some spots! They removed almost all of the old paint and we all helped give her a new coat - my brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nephews included! Here are some before/after pictures of her:
It's like an entirely different vehicle!! This winter we'll be spending a lot of time gutting the interior completely and redoing it to meet our needs. I'm looking forward to sharing more as we go along! Where we're staying we have slow internet and a data cap so I'm looking at ways to post regularly because not only are we going to be working on our Skoolie, I'm going to be working on me.
My weight has become an issue lately. It's gotten to a point where walking up a flight of stairs leaves me winded. And yesterday, for the first time ever, I didn't fit in the seat at the theater. (Thankfully, the arm rest went up and that was really all I needed but still - very hard on the self psyche!!) I'd been looking at having the LapBand procedure done when we got to the Pacific Northwest because I know that I need more help than I can give myself now. With my 2 past surgeries, I'm fairly certain a lot of hormonal issues were going on - and really, when one has an ovarian cyst the size of a gallon of milk, it would be kind of silly to think otherwise. But after doing a lot of thinking, some of which was misinformed, I decided I really wasn't looking forward to another surgery, even an outpatient one. I had been reading that my health insurance provided required a year of medically supervised weight loss attempt before they would approve the surgery and so why not try that route? I went to the local hospital's site and started reading about a non-surgical weight loss program; Optifast. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. It's not just a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet). It's also a form of counseling - you have group and one-on-one sessions. It's medically supervised. I'll also be meeting with a physical trainer and a nutritionist. So, even though I did find out my health insurance does cover LapBand after only 3 months of medically supervised weight loss, I'm going to put that thought on the back burner. I don't want something that simply physically restricts me from eating a lot. I need something that basically re-teaches me how to eat for fuel. There's some mental blocks going on and this program will help with those.
I considered creating a new blog for this. One blogger I had read said she was treating her weight loss like a cancer - 5 years before she considers herself in full remission, so to speak. And that's my plan - 5 years of treating myself holistically. I decided to keep this blog going instead and there will be many changes coming up. My goal is to set up a plan for regular updates. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And from everything I read, there will be ugly. But I have a wonderful partner who is prepared to help me through those moments. I have a great team of coworkers who are already supportive of this plan. I got the call on Friday and I see the doctor on October 19th and start. I'm going to start at the beginning of the biggest feasting holidays of the year...what a wild ride this well be!!! I can't wait to share it with you!
~~Heather
We did make it to the Black Hills of South Dakota in April and have been there since. We don't really have a long-term game plan anymore. If we learned one thing on that trip, it's to not plan too far ahead. We've been busy though. I've been working full time for a finance company and really enjoying it. I have a great team with some great coworkers. He worked for part of the summer and then took some time off to get the exterior of the motorhome done. If it was going to be outside in a South Dakota winter, it needed a lot of work to survive!! He and Dad had already spent a lot of the summer doing some major bodywork - even rebuilding some spots! They removed almost all of the old paint and we all helped give her a new coat - my brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nephews included! Here are some before/after pictures of her:
It's like an entirely different vehicle!! This winter we'll be spending a lot of time gutting the interior completely and redoing it to meet our needs. I'm looking forward to sharing more as we go along! Where we're staying we have slow internet and a data cap so I'm looking at ways to post regularly because not only are we going to be working on our Skoolie, I'm going to be working on me.
My weight has become an issue lately. It's gotten to a point where walking up a flight of stairs leaves me winded. And yesterday, for the first time ever, I didn't fit in the seat at the theater. (Thankfully, the arm rest went up and that was really all I needed but still - very hard on the self psyche!!) I'd been looking at having the LapBand procedure done when we got to the Pacific Northwest because I know that I need more help than I can give myself now. With my 2 past surgeries, I'm fairly certain a lot of hormonal issues were going on - and really, when one has an ovarian cyst the size of a gallon of milk, it would be kind of silly to think otherwise. But after doing a lot of thinking, some of which was misinformed, I decided I really wasn't looking forward to another surgery, even an outpatient one. I had been reading that my health insurance provided required a year of medically supervised weight loss attempt before they would approve the surgery and so why not try that route? I went to the local hospital's site and started reading about a non-surgical weight loss program; Optifast. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. It's not just a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet). It's also a form of counseling - you have group and one-on-one sessions. It's medically supervised. I'll also be meeting with a physical trainer and a nutritionist. So, even though I did find out my health insurance does cover LapBand after only 3 months of medically supervised weight loss, I'm going to put that thought on the back burner. I don't want something that simply physically restricts me from eating a lot. I need something that basically re-teaches me how to eat for fuel. There's some mental blocks going on and this program will help with those.
I considered creating a new blog for this. One blogger I had read said she was treating her weight loss like a cancer - 5 years before she considers herself in full remission, so to speak. And that's my plan - 5 years of treating myself holistically. I decided to keep this blog going instead and there will be many changes coming up. My goal is to set up a plan for regular updates. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And from everything I read, there will be ugly. But I have a wonderful partner who is prepared to help me through those moments. I have a great team of coworkers who are already supportive of this plan. I got the call on Friday and I see the doctor on October 19th and start. I'm going to start at the beginning of the biggest feasting holidays of the year...what a wild ride this well be!!! I can't wait to share it with you!
~~Heather
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