Stress..Stress...GO AWAY!

On Plan: Water: Exercise:
***Warning....I'm kind of verbose today*** :) Woot Woot! No frownie faces yet! I have had such an incredible amount of stress this week, I think it's a test to see if I will break my diet. Today I broke down in the bathroom at work and cried for 30 minutes. The business that I love and have put a lot of effort and my life into is struggling to stay above water. It breaks my heart. We are trying to turn things around but it's looking very bleak. Then we have a little adoption kitten who was pulled from the shelter with a fractured leg, we surgically repaired it (put a metal pin in it) and about 5 days after we got him he started getting sick, he has a respiratory infection, but it's extremely severe and with pneumonia, so he has been on deaths bed for a week. Here is his picture, these were taken the day we got him before his surgery. He has been severely dehydrated and hasn't eaten on his own since last Friday...we are giving him subcutaneous fluids, medications for his infection/pneumonia and putting drops up his nose to clear it out so he can smell so he can eat. He is also on a heating pad. He is improving today though, I thought we were going to lose him yesterday, he went hypothermic on us (temp 95) and was barely responsive. But he's looking better today, and even purred. Poor little guy has lost a lot of weight. Sorry for going on about him...animals are my life....next to my husband....I have a lot of compassion for special needs animals.




I was so depressed about the business, and the kitten, I was having an incredibly hard time, Hubby told me that I should pray to help take some of the 'doomsday' feelings away, and I did, it helped throughout the day. Now mind you I am the one who served 18 months on a religious mission, not my hubby, he is a convert to our church, and he is such a strong man, he is always the one who has to remind me to talk to my Heavenly Father. I was able to stay more focused on positive aspects of the business and get work done better, I was efficient this afternoon...depsite everyone deciding to show up at once right before my lunch break. I am quite proud of the fact that I was able to stay on plan as usually at the first sign of stress, I start eating badly. So far so good. (It helps that we are broke beyond broke right now so I can't rush to walmart to pick up junk food.....lol) I think I have 2 more days on the detox drink, my tongue is still slightly white, that's what they say to use as an indicator. I am proud of myself though instead of coming home and sitting on the couch with my laptop I did some cleaning in the kitchen and organized the 'dog' corner (where we keep all their stuff etc.)
Food Intake: B Green Smoothie, Detox Drink, 1 Apple
L: Detox Drink, Green Apple, Garden Salad w/tuna, carrots w/low carb dressing
D: Detox Drink, Garden Salad (Grilled Chicken, Cucumbers, Olives, Cheese, Romaine Lettuce) w/low carb dressing, Steamed Broccoli
Snacks: Green Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Detox Drink, Celery
**Detox Drink Lemon Juice/Maple Syrup/Cayenne Pepper
**Green Smoothie: Parsley, Ginger, Pineapple, Honey, Water, Splenda
Exercise: 30 Minutes Walking with my dog

Stress....knicked in the bud....

I am going to start using a 'checks n balances' type system as I am a nut :) I am going to start keeping track of my days with my little smilies:Yes:No:
On Plan: Water: Exercise:
Well for as stressful as today was, I did amazingly well.....it was a VERY long day at work 15 hours altogether including commute time (I'm on salary so no overtime :( . My only dog I groomed today was a Schnauzer who had bad teeth and arthritis so she really didn't want to be groomed too badly, they wanted her face shaved and it was causing her pain.....so she was a battle to groom. We had an emergency come in at 6pm (closing time), it was a Shih Tzu newborn puppy who was born with it's intestines outside it's body, then the mom was having complications so we had to assist her with the delivery, we were able to poke everything back in and sew the puppy at, it has a 50/50 chance of making it. I was there until 9pm. Which totally stressed me out as the people were there from 6pm on waiting for my dad (vet) to get there as he was teaching school, puppy was not in immediate danger so I stabilized it, then we waited for him to get there at 8pm, Rob has to leave for work by 8:30...it takes 23minutes for him to get to work and right now we only have 1 car....so that was MEGA stressing me out. But he woke up with a bad belly so called in sick to work today...that eased my mind. I walked with my dog, Shellie in our doggie daycare room at work since I figured it was gonna be a late night.....30 minutes. So that was my 'bonus' for the day.
Food Intake: B Green Smoothie, Detox Drink, 1 Banana
L: Detox Drink, Green Apple, Garden Salad w/low carb dressing
D: Detox Drink, Garden Salad (Grilled Chicken, Cucumbers, Olives, Cheese, Romaine Lettuce) w/low carb dressing, 5 french fries
Snacks: Green Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Detox Drink, Popcorn
**Detox Drink Lemon Juice/Maple Syrup/Cayenne Pepper
**Green Smoothie: Parsley, Ginger, Pineapple, Honey, Water, Splenda
Exercise: 30 Minutes Walking with my dog

Am I concerned enough?

I work for a veterinarian, and we have this sweet client who owns beagles, anyone who has worked for us over the years remembers her and knows her well. She is very concerned about her pets, she has no skin kids, so she calls us numerous times a day with every little thing that is going on in her pets lives. She lost her older beagle (16 years) back in December just before Christmas, she has a new little one and she calls with questions and concerns about her as well.

This got me to thinking today, am I concerned enough with my health, my wellness, my weight? I have little to no willpower and need to improve. Yesterday it was a struggle for me to walk up to the mail box, which it was about a year ago when I started this journey, sad to say I haven't been exercising like I should, I have been in a mega slump when it comes to exercising and eating right, but I am pulling myself up, getting back in the saddle and am going to do this! I have done so well, I started at 250#, and am now at 214.6# which is a gain from my lowest, but at least I have lost. I have lost 35.4# (14%) that is definitely something to be proud of. I have been invited to several challenges, and I'm still debating on whether or not I want to join them, I feel so overwhelmed sometimes keeping up with everything, I have a lot going on in my life right now, so I am considering them.

So my challenge to myself for this next week is to get off the couch (I am addicted to TNT shows) and exercise, either that or use my Elliptical Machine while watching TV, that I can definitely handle...just have to declutter it...it's collected a lot of things on it! I will do this! Today at work I am doing doggie daycare so that is keeping me somewhat active. YEAH! Every little thing helps.

For a cool weight loss percentage calculator: http://www.fitwatch.com/qkcalc/calculate-weight-loss-percentage.html

No emotional eating for me today....

No weigh in today, I will probably only post weigh ins on days when I can 'void' before weigh in, as I generally have a good one in the mornings (somedays up to three pounders) sorry if TMI, anyways I generally am not to that point on my work days, so I will probably post weigh ins on Saturdays, Weds, Thursday and sometimes if I'm lucky Saturdays. Otherwise I fluctuate too much for my own comfort. Today started off good, I worked, groomed a few dogs, wasn't too super hungry for breakfast so I ended up just eating a couple of cheese sticks. I know not the best, but it's better than nothing.

Anyways for the emotional part, one of my recently adopted furkids (he was a littermate to my cat Pipsqueak), he was only about 10 months old. Anyways we've had him for adoption since he was a baby, but he's had some health issues (prolapsed intestines, hip dysplasia etc) so no one has really wanted him, well about 2 weeks ago I convinced my hubby to let me bring him home, he quickly stole our hearts. Anyways to make a long story short, he collapsed today while he was at the vet (aka my work and my dad) getting rechecked for a respiratory infection. We immediately did CPR, we worked on him for a good 20 minutes, my dad even did open chest heart massage, but it was all to no avail. He had something called Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which is non curable, it essentially causes an extreme thickening of the heart wall so the blood can't be pumped normally. So Misaki left us at only 10 months old. Both my hubby and I are devastated. He was such a sweetheart, and we both were quite attached in just a short time (I have been wanting him forever, and been spending a lot of time with him at work). Rest in Peace my sweet baby boy Misaki aka Paleface. Here are some pictures of the sweetheart:
http://thethompsonzoo.blogspot.com/2009/03/misaki-teacheshow-to-win-heartsand-new.html

http://thethompsonzoo.blogspot.com/2009/03/remember-misaki.html

Now for the no emotional eating....normally when I have stressful situations I just grab whatever I can find, or stop on my way home from work and get fast food. Today I was strong, I had the urges but I didn't! Instead I came home and exercised, I did the Leslie Sansones Walk Slim Fast start 2 miles (30 min). I am quite proud of myself. I didn't stress eat! I didn't stress eat! This is a Big thing for me, as that is my 'norm' is burying my stress, emotions, sadness with food and/or diet coke and I remained strong! YEAH ME!

April 3^rd Prep Day #3

B:2 cheese sticks, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice
L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange
D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple
Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

Can't forget the little dogs

Eddie-Pug, Oreo-blck/white shih tzu, Mazzy tan/white shihtzu, Fritz--schnauzer next to Mazzy, and Viggo, schnauzer in the middle

Mazzy is very playful loves squeaky toys.

Mazzy goes NUTS for tennis balls, her eye is actually 'blue' in parts which is why it shows up red in this picture.

Eddie likes squeaky toys too

Eddie

These are my chihuahuas, they are so small (5#) they get their own 'tiny toys land' for daycare, Zoey is the one under the blankets, and Sebastian is the long coat one, Zoey is content just to relax, and Sebastian has doggie ADHD, he NEVER holds still, he's all over the place ALL the time, he normally does 'laps' in their area constantly. I think he's practicing cause he wants to be a Nascar driver :)

Working my butt off

So yesterday I was at work essentially by myself, except for my brother as my daycare attendant was out of town. So I took advantage of a slow afternoon and got some exercise in by doing 'laps' in the big dog daycare area, and playing with the dogs. We have these 3 boxers who come quite regularly for boarding (Bella, Armani & Armada), and they are FULL of energy and excitement, and I must say after 30 minutes of nonstop play and exercise I tuckered them out! Their owners surprised us this weekend by adding a Cocker Spaniel to their family as well; Jasmine. Here are some pictures of Doggie Daycare
Cassie (black) and Strider (cream) are Standard poodles who just like to take it easy. Cassie is almost 12 years old so she tuckers out easily, and Strider will chase tennis balls but he's almost like a 'ditzy' blonde when doing so...hilarious to watch!

Bella with her paw on Jasmine trying to get her to wrestle, then Armada was watching my hand waiting for a tennis ball.

Armani & Jasmine playing of war.

Armani loves these "Hurley" Bones, and they are honestly one of the most indestructive toys we've ever had in daycare. We've had this in there for a good few years and it's barely nibbled on.

Armani, loves tug of war, and is always ready to play

I'm exhausted...

The last 3 nights I have been in bed by 10:30, which is RARE for me. I am so exhausted and pooped by about 9pm that it's beginning to worry me. Then I realized that I have been working 'harder' at work, as I am not the 'part-time' Pet Groomer grooming 3 days a week until we can get a full time groomer hired as my sister took a job with Petco to make more money (they are lots busier). Anyways because I'm so pooped tonight I came home from work and immediately made HORRIBLE eating decisions, binged to the point I have a tummy ache, so I know tomorrow for my weigh in for the March Into Spring Challenge it's NOT going to be pretty. I have a sneaking suspicion that Aunt Flo may be coming for a visit soon which may be adding to the hunger/tiredness. Not sure. But I seriously couldn't get enough to eat tonight. ARGH! I really wish I would NOT do this to myself. I always hate myself afterwards, and it throughs my diet completely off kilter.