Seven Weeks with the Gastric Sleeve

 

As of today, I have had my sleeve for 7 weeks.  I should be able to eat anything and carry on with my regular life.  This is mostly true, but here are some interesting observations.

Alcohol:
Can't really do it right now.  The most I have been able to enjoy is about 1/2 a glass of wine.  If I am being completely honest, it is about 1/4.  I kind of force the other 1/4 down because I don't want to be wasteful.  I feel a little tipsy after a few sips and it just doesn't taste very good.  I am sure this will change in the future, but for now, not so much.

Meals:
I find that I eat tiny meals.  I still can't gage it very well.  I can eat a little less than 1/4 a cup in a sitting.  If I eat too much, there is no spitting up like I did with the band.  Now I get a bit of a tummy ache.  It isn't nausea, but kind of like an ache.  It will last about 20 minutes and then goes away.

Drinking/Eating:
Nope.  Can't do it.  Of course the rule is no drinking and eating at the same time.  Well, I cannot even think about drinking anything for at LEAST 30 minutes after eating.  If I do, I feel ridiculously full and for 10 minutes, I am burping. 

Exercising:
When you don't exercise for 5 weeks, it really is hard to get back into it.  Add to that the time change and it becomes a bit of a mess.  I cannot seem to wake up early as I feel like it is the middle of the night.  So, for the time being, I am working out in the evenings.  Getting back into it, I am sore.  Ugh!

Sleep:
Oh My Gosh!  Loving the sleep!  I did not know how much I didn't sleep until I had this surgery.  It is pure heaven!  My husband says that I no longer snore.  Bonus!

Face:
My face is much better!  I think now that my band is gone, my body is reacting in a favorable way.  My skin always looked tired and blemish.  I have noticed that there is no longer any break outs and I look a little younger.  Skin is healthier!

Honestly, it is not all sunshine and rainbows, but I seem to be adjusting well.  The best thing is that I am no longer beating myself up for feeling bad, gaining, and not sleeping.  The scale hasn't moved much in 2 weeks, but I have been adding food and have just gotten back into the exercise. 

I will keep you posted!

 

Goodbye Lap-Band, Hello Sleeve!

I have a new story to share with you!  It is a long one, so stay with me.  Especially you long time banded people.  I had always preached that the band was meant to last a lifetime and that fully intended to die with a band in my body.  I was an FDA Trial patient for the lap band and I working in the banding business for about 14 years.  I was the success story.  I dropped 200 pounds with my lap band and kept it off.  Well, that is until a few years ago.  

I started having issues.  I would spit up every night.  I usually could pinpoint what I had done wrong that day and promised that I would do better the next day.  Well, it happens for a few days and then that becomes a few months.  Then I started aspirating fluid out of my nose at night.  This would start about 20 minutes after I fell asleep and would continue at random times throughout the night.  I would wake up with loads of mucus coming out of my nose.  It was awful!  At times it would burn.  It did not matter if I had eaten early or late, liquid or solid, alcohol or none.  I always promised myself that I could correct this and would do better.  It had gotten so bad, that it was rare NOT to aspirate at night.  I was exhausted!  I wasn't getting any worthwhile sleep.  I had fluid removed.  I gained some weight.  I had fluid put back in.  I aspirated every night.  I had fluid removed.  I gained weight.  And so on, etc.

I got sick several times last year.  Since I had lost all the weight 15 years ago, I was never sick.  Last year, I had 3 times where my temperature was over 101.  The last time I ended up with pneumonia.  This was a more chemical type of pneumonia because it was due to all the times I was aspirating at night, fluid was going into my right lung.  That was over Thanksgiving.  I spent it in bed.  Scared. 

I am Director of Bariatrics at USMD Hospital at Arlington.  The surgeons I work with had come across so many people that were having issues with the band, that they decided that they would no longer place bands into a body.  They have done quite a few removals over the past few years and many band to sleeve or band to bypass operations.  They felt that there were too many complications with the band that made it old technology.  When I got sick at Thanksgiving, they all asked me if I was listening to them now.  I was.  At this point, I had gained back 50 of the 200 pounds I had lost.  I was the FDA Trial Patient.  I was the success.  I helped hundred of people get bands.  I was a failure.

The numerous fill/unfill I had under fluoroscopy  showed my band in perfect position.  I also had a CT scan.  It also showed the band in perfect position.  I decided to get my band out and convert to a sleeve.

I came through surgery well, but found out it had been a 5 hour surgery due to the large amount of scar tissue they had found.  I had web-like scar tissue all over.  Just to lift my liver off of my stomach, a process that takes about 5 minutes, it took them 1.5 hours as the scar tissue had fused my liver and stomach together. They had to cut the tubing in several locations to get the tube out of the body.  When this happens, your band, which is pressurized, loses all its fluid.  Mine did not.  They found my band was encased in scar tissue.  It had clamped down on the tubing.  No fluid was getting in or out.  So, when I got those fills and unfills?  Chances are, they were taking fluid in and out of the tubing only.  They had to pop the band in order to get it out of my body.  

My esophagus had sort of made a stomach for me since so little was getting through.  I am told this will go back to normal in about 4 months.  My stomach itself was looking good.  He said it was nice and small.  Yay.  Something was small!.

I am 3 weeks out from surgery and feeling pretty good.  I am down 25 pounds (half of the weight I gained) and not hungry.  Not one bit!  I am getting my protein in and my water.  I have to really follow the rules because I am in Bariatrics, but to be honest, they are not hard to follow.  I am actually getting sleep at night, which is awesome!

Ok, so here is my point: once I told some people what happened to me, all the sudden I am getting emails and texts from my longtime banded friends stating how they had to convert due to issues OR others are stating that they are HAVING issues.  

The take away?  If you are having issues, look into it.  If I had waited much longer, we could have been looking at infection and that would have been so much worse!  Get your band checked.  Be smart.  If your doctor is a doctor that only places bands, get s second opinion.  I can recommend 3 excellent surgeons here in Arlington.  Get it checked out.  Mine showed perfect placement.  They didn't know until they were in there, what a mess it actually was.  I constantly had a raspy voice.  I sounded like I always had a cold. My body was sending signals. I chose to ignore those signals.  If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.

Ok, I have taken up enough of your time.  No longer banded, but loving my sleeve!
Cynthia Jones O'Kelly

Change and Fear Go Hand in Hand

My LapBand is making me sick.  It needs to come out of my body.  That means surgery.  Dang!  I am not the type of person who likes to resort to surgery on a whim.  I have thought this out since I got Pneumonia at Thanksgiving.  I also added 15 pounds since the fluid was removed from my band.  I looked over my journal from 2014 and noticed I had been sick with fever 3 additional times.  It seemed like I was always dealing with a stuffy nose or some sort of sinus issue.


I don't like being sick all the time.  It interferes with my life.  Once the fluid was removed, I ate everything.  Pants got tight and my extensive wardrobe dwindled to just a few pieces that fit.  I was not about to go and buy anything new as I was not going to remain at this size.


On Tuesday, January 27, I am going to convert to the gastric sleeve.  I have done all the thinking and research and believe this will be the best step for me.  My surgeons did loads of conversions last year and once I made the decision, I have found that quite a few of my old banded buddies have had to convert to the sleeve as well.  Seems that I am following a trend. 


Change.  ARGH!  My life will drastically change for the next few months.  Currently I am on liquids prior to surgery.   I have already gotten through breaking the sugar addiction and am impressed that I didn't kill anyone.  Just a side note:  we really have way too much sugar in regular foods.  Eat clean people!  Read labels and know what is going in your mouth.  Low fat products usually mean added sugar.


I feel like I am getting a reset.  Am I scared?  Of course!  I trust my team and my decision.  It has been great getting tips and tricks from my patients.  They are so supportive.  So, stay tuned for a completely new point of view. 


Oh and if you could say a little prayer for me on Tuesday morning, I would be grateful!

Worst/Best Holiday Ever!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday!  All the hoopla takes place on Thursday, leaving the rest of the week to catch up with old friends, shop and decorate for Christmas.  This year was going to be wonderful!  I had the whole weekend planned out.  Wednesday night we had our daughter's in-laws staying with us, one of my out of town bestest friends were coming for dinner, and Nick and I were celebrating our nine year anniversary.  Thursday was lunch for 15 people with clean up and relaxation for the rest of the day.  Friday was for decorating the Christmas tree and having Joe T. Garcia's with a Dallas bestest friend.  Friday night was all about my other out of town bestest friends and a good catch up dinner with them.

None of that happened.  Tuesday I woke up with shortness of breath and some fever.  Bed for the entire day.  Wednesday (anniversary day) had me feeling better but I decided it was best I work from home.  I got Thanksgiving table all set and proceeded out to lunch with one of my Dallas based bestest friends.  10 minutes into the lunch and I could not breathe.  Scared the crap out of her and me.  I ran out of that restaurant like my hair was on fire.  Doctor across the street.  Somehow I got there.  After a shot of steroids and various tests and a hysterical call to my husband, the diagnosis: pneumonia.

I don't have time for pneumonia!  I have people staying at my house.  I had people coming for dinner.  I AM HOSTING THANKSGIVING!  This. Is. Not. Happening. To. Me.

Well it did.  Life went on hold for awhile.  There was nothing I could do but let go and let someone else grab the reins for awhile.  I am so proud of my husband and my children!  Nick stepped up and pulled off a great Wednesday night dinner.  While I was laying in bed having my own pity party, my son, Brendan, jumped in and made his Ziti recipe (which is delicious).  The troops were not only fed, but fed well and happy about it.  The buzz from the other rooms had me tearful that I was missing a fun party.  I did get up and walk into the kitchen at one point.  I saw that every counter was covered with food and pots were everywhere.  I turned around and went back to bed.  When I got up on Thursday morning, everything was put up and the kitchen was sparkling clean.

I am most proud of my children.  Throughout the evening they kept checking on me, making sure I had water and trying to keep me comfortable.  There were several dishes for the big day that I had intended to make on Wednesday.  I heard them volunteering to make this or that.  My husband was distributing recipes and making sure they had the proper cookware and materials to make those dishes in their homes and bring along with what they had already agreed to make.  No one complained, they just jumped in.  Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. 

Now here is the kicker.  I didn't have to have pneumonia.  I got it because I was aspirating fluid into my lungs from having my Lap band too tight.  I knew that getting up in the middle of the night to be sick was wrong, but I figured I could handle it.  So to all my friends who have a Lap band, if you are having any issues at night, go and get some fluid removed.  There is nothing worse than not being able to get your breath.  I feel robbed of what was going to be a wonderful holiday.

I have always been the one to find the positive in every situation.  The positive in this situation?  My husband and I have raised some awesome children!

What A Pain!

In December, I broke my middle and ring finger of my right hand.  During that bad patch of icy weather, I slipped and as I fell, I did the splits.  Luckily, I do this in my Bar Method classes every day, so there was no pain from that.  I broke my fingers trying to break my fall.  At first I thought I had jammed them.  I figured that the pain would go away after a few days.  Let me tell you, the pain was exquisite. 

 I had a lot going on with Christmas and our youngest daughter's wedding, so I pushed through the pain.  An advantage of working at a hospital, is I can't flip a quarter without hitting a doctor or a nurse.  I finally consulted a nurse who said she could tell by looking at them that they had been broken.  Since time had passed, I was told to wrap it for a few days and it would be OK.

It is not OK.  It will never be OK again.  I now have a way to mark when things happen in my life.  Now things have happened either pre or post finger pain.  They hurt all the time.  They hurt while I type this blog.  I wince when I wash my hands.  Shake my hand?  Hell no!  Needing the right hand to lift something or stop a dog?  Not happening without a small scream attached.

For two months I have put up with this pain.  It isn't the pass out kind of pain, but an annoying constant ache.  The kind where you want to slap something.  Hard.  Then of course there are times when the sharp pain comes because I lifted a glass or something silly.

Why might I be writing a blog about my injured fingers?  Well one thing is that if you see me, please don't try to shake my hand.  I adore you, but lets tap elbows for awhile.  After all, it is cold and flu season.  The other reason is that I knew something was wrong, but I just pushed through the pain thinking that things would get better soon.  I didn't make time to take care of me.

I hear story after story of people who have had weight loss surgery tell me they are having issues but they know it will get better soon.  They are choosing not to take care of themselves.  They do not put their health first.  Then they end up having to have another surgery or are diagnosed vitamin deficient and must spend a year getting back to normal health.  Are you having issues?  When was the last time you checked in with your surgeon's office?  Might be time to pay attention to the warning signs. Make the time to take care of yourself.

By the way, I can now tell the weather by the ache in my fingers.  Oh what fun! 

Newlyweds?

My life over the last two months has been one of complete chaos.  My plate has been full.  If I told you everything here, you would not believe me.  I will be writing a screenplay as it would be a perfect Lifetime movie.

When the grand life lesson teacher decides to give you back to back term papers, pop quizzes and projects, you do them.  I kept thinking "This too shall pass".  For the most part it has or at least life is moving in the right direction.

One of the neat things I am getting to experience is time alone with my husband.  We have been married for over 8 years.  During that time, we have never really been alone.  Someone was always living in our home.  Sure, we would get a week here or a week there, but never any length of time without someone residing there.

I am not complaining.  I love my stepchildren as if they were my own, but never having time with your husband can be difficult.  The kids have boomeranged so often that on the day one moved out, another showed up and moved in.  There are many times we felt like we were running a hotel. A few weeks ago, our youngest got married.  Husband and I were looking forward to finally being alone.  With the exception of a kid moving in for 6 days in January, we have gotten our long sought for wish.

Currently it is just us and our two dogs.  I love it!  We have a family room that before now was constantly occupied by one or more of our children and their posse.  We really have never gotten to use that room.  Over the past two weeks, we have taken over!  We watch TV, read and work on the computer in our family room.  When husband wants to go to sleep, no problem.  I can stay up and do what I need to do in the family room.  It is almost like we added on a section of the house! 

We are having fun too!  We are trying to see if we can hold off going to the grocery store for any major purchases until we have cleaned out our pantry and freezer.  We are having some creative meals.  It doesn't matter as it is just us!  Whoop!  When I return home in the evening, the house is just as I left it that morning.  Well, except Molly the dog sometimes tries to redecorate, but otherwise the same.

I am remembering why I married my husband.  He is hilarious!  We laugh all the time!  It is so rejuvenating!  I would guess that this is what most of you experience when you get married, before you have children. We are finally having our newlywed moment.  What fun!  It is nice to have the precious time alone.  I will treasure these days and greedily enjoy each one.

Hopefully, we have entered the peace and quiet stage of life.  Oh and if you need a place to stay, please don't knock on our door.  The Inn is temporarily closed for renovations.

What You Allow Will Continue

Yesterday I wrote "What you allow will continue" on my status on Facebook.  This is my mantra for 2014.  Quite a few people emailed me privately or spoke to me in person about these 5 little words.  Think about it...    What You Allow Will Continue.

Eating fast food: what you will allow will continue.

People making comments to you that are a wee bit nasty, yet you laugh it off: what you allow will continue.

People taking advantage of your time: what you allow will continue.

Choosing to ignore your health: what you allow will continue.

Being the victim all the time.  It is always someone else's fault: what you allow will continue.

Sitting on the couch watching Real Housewives instead of working out: what you allow will continue.

Get it?  We choose our present. 

So let's turn this around.

I will do some sort of exercise 6 times this week: what you allow will continue.

I choose to get more sleep and not let the distractions of work or home get in the way: what you allow will continue.

I drink water over high calorie liquids: what you allow will continue.

I have no time for toxic people: what you allow will continue.

I choose to put myself first so I can be a better person for my family and friends: what you allow will continue.

I make healthy food choices: what you allow will continue.

I am the person I want to be: what you allow will continue.


You have the power to make a difference in you and in the people around you.  I challenge you to move forward and make a difference in your life.
 

What You Allow Will Continue!

Confessions of the Band!

Lately I haven't met a carb I haven't liked.  For the past 6 weeks, I have had every kind of bread, potato and sweet I could find!  Why might you ask?  Well, I got some fluid out of my lapband. 

My band has always been stress reactive.  The moment I am dealing with something tough, my band gets even tighter.  No big life changing events here, but a bunch of little events caused my band to tighten up and I wasn't getting sleep.  You can't go without sleep...it can quite literally make you crazy.

So, I did the smart thing and went to get an unfill.  Then I decided to have a little more taken out than normal.  I wanted to take a holiday.  I developed my taste for carbs again.  I loved every minute of it...until my pants got too tight. 

Reality check.  I don't want to gain back all my weight.  I can tell not only in my clothes, but in my breathing and in my workouts that I have too much weight on my body to be healthy.  So, I made the call and by the time you see this, the fluid will be back in.

I have had my band for almost 15 years.  I have been successful and of normal weight for 13 of those years.  I have worked in weight loss in one form or another for those 13 years.  So, why am I confessing this bump in my healthy weight and not just losing it and being 'the success story' without you ever knowing about this?  Because I am human.  I needed to do what is right for me.  The point I am trying to make is that it is ok to deviate from your path once in awhile, but always keep it in sight and be sure to get back on.  Don't get lost and lose your focus.

I am getting back on the bandwagon.  I am also paying attention to my hunger scale and only eating when I am hungry. 

Do you need to re-focus?  Let's do this people!  www.losinggracefully.com

Words Hurt!

Recently, an ugly memory from my youth jumped up and slapped me full on the face.  I hadn't thought about it for years and then all of the sudden, wham!

From age 8 to 17, I went to Nakanawa, an all girls camp in Tennessee.  The camp was 7 weeks long. This is what was done in the summer.  It wasn't an option to not go.  Most of my friends went to a 2 week camp and then had fun by the pool for the rest of the summer.  I was always so jealous!

I thought I loved camp, but I was never a special camper.  I wasn't really good at any sport.  I was one of the members of Octet (which was kind of a big deal), but that was singing and not sports.  I never really fit in.

I made the best of my situation.  I grew up at camp.  I learned manners, how to play many sports, and how to live in the same room with 10 or more people.

Every year in the fall, the camp owner would come around and show movies from the previous summer.  It was always fun to see yourself on film (this was before videos and the fact that everyone can be in their own movie via smart phone today). 

After my final year, I went to the movie.  The owner was handing out applications to some of the other girls asking them to come back as counselors for the next year.  I mentioned that I might be interested in an application and she laughed in my face!  She said "You?  Why would you want to come back?"  I was mortified.

Needless to say, I was never a counselor.  For years I ruminated over her laughing at me.  I tried to figure out what it meant.  What had I done to bring on that response?  This was someone that I admired.  Was I a horrible camper?  What was wrong with me?

I had forgotten about this incident until a few weeks ago.  It's always icky when you remember something negative from your past.  Sometimes it can release your inner "mean girl" and cause you to flog yourself for ridiculously long periods of time.  This time my mean girl didn't get a chance to pull out her whips and chains.  I am no longer that young girl who just wanted to be a part of a group.  I like who I am and what I do. 

I release that negative experience into the past.   Those words cannot hurt or haunt me anymore.  Do you have some experiences that continue to haunt you?  Can your "mean girl" appear and smack you around?

Let's talk about it.  www.losinggracefully.com

This picture totally cracks me up!  These are my dogs, Molly and Stu at the dog park.  Molly is the one with her tongue hanging out, the joyful look on her face and her paws in the water bowl.  Poor Stu is the one with the nasty glare.  What you don't see is that Molly has the ball and has placed it into the water bowl.  Stu, being the dutiful brother, is patiently waiting for her to allow him to grab the ball and bring it to me.

I learn alot from these dogs.  Molly is 2 years younger, loves to counter surf and always full of energy.  Stu is my little gentleman. He takes care of his sister.  He has wonderful manners but is all about the ball.  He is focused.  He lives for our daily dog park visits. 

Each day, Stu will run into the park and check out every ball in order to find the "ball of the day".  No other ball will do.  If Molly catches the ball, he will follow her until she gives it to him.  If another dog steals the ball, he will not get aggressive.  He will wait until they lose interest.  Then he grabs it and brings it to me.  When I am throwing the ball, Stu is completely in the moment.  Nothing exists outside of that tennis ball.  No matter what else is going on at the park, he won't get involved.  The ball is king.  I am amazed at his ability to tune out all distractions and concentrate on what he finds important.

I wish I had such focus!  Often I find myself getting muddled in the brain due to having too many things going on at the same time.  The important things get mixed in with the trivial events an instead of doing one thing well, many things get done half assed.  I need to focus like Stu.  He does one thing and he does it very well. 

Straight From The Oval Office

Yesterday instead of putting out my blog, I snuck off to the Bush Library with a close friend.  I had only been to one other presidential library.  It was amazing.  President Bush was the president when our lives changed for good.  When we learned that we were not safe from terrorist attacks. 

The team that put the library together did an excellent job.  They handled the acknowledgement of a very sad and scary time in our world, with dignity.  My friend and I (and many others) had tears in our eyes as we read letters from people (not just dignitaries) and speeches from President Bush.

We are so lucky to have a Presidential Library in Dallas.  Regardless of your political affiliations, you need to put visiting the library a priority.  It is history.

They also have a replica of the Oval office.  Note the picture!  Me running the world.  Watch out!

Dancing With Bullets!

This is my year of stepping through fear.  To challenge myself.  This past weekend I did something I thought I would never do.  I went to training for a Concealed Handgun License.  For several years, I had toyed with the idea of buying a gun for protection purposes.  A friend convinced me to attend the class, then decide on a gun. 

We booked the class in January and the first date available was a 12 hour class on April 27.  The class was packed.  I am grateful to Mark at Elite Handgun Academy.  He made a long class fun and informative.  Before class started, there was a list of guns for purchase and I spent some time perusing over what would be my future gun.

The material was interesting and I never got bored, but as the day wore on, I wanted a gun less and less.  As a matter of fact, I began to dread the idea of going to the range and shooting at a human looking target.  Now don't get me wrong, I can shoot.  My family has a farm, so I know my way around a shotgun.  I have no problem shooting a snake.  In my opinion, the only good snake is a dead snake, but I digress.

Once at the range, I was scared.  I realized I don't like the thought of ever aiming a gun at a human being, even a paper rendition. During the qualifying test, I found myself shaking a bit and having to stop and take some deep breaths.  I got through it and passed!  If my family or myself were in a life threatening situation, no problem.  I pray that never happens. 

My take away?  Guns are scary.  I think everyone should get their CHL.  I now know all about gun safety and can defend myself and family if ever necessary.  This is the year of stepping through my fear.  I stepped to my edge and jumped.  I survived.

What can you do that will challenge you?  Want to talk about it?
www.losinggracefully.com 
 

Pretty Things

I love purses.  My close friends call me a purse whore.  I actually have quite a collection.  I take care of them and rotate them for years.  At this time, I have enough purses to outfit everyone in my Zumba class with at least 2 per person.

I have enough. 

This of course did not stop me when I saw the lovely piece of awesomeness that is pictured here.  The moment I saw it, I rushed right out and snagged this beauty.  I justified it because I didn't have a purse that had white leather.  I quickly brought my purchase home, but for some reason, I didn'tput it into rotation immediately.

After a few days, I realized that I did not even think about my purchase.  I saw it and basically shut my brain down and bought it.  No thinking allowed.

How many times do we do that in our eating?  Do you ever sit down at the table or better yet, in front of the TV and choose not to pay attention to the food in front of you.  Then suddenly it is gone and you are stuffed.  Remorse and regret set in.

I didn't need a new purse.  Once I sobered up from my "got to have it" high, I returned my little lovely so it could end up in someone else's collection.

Think before you do.

Do you need some help with your thought process towards weight loss?
www.losinggracefully.com
Let's change your thoughts and get you to your heallthy weight.

No More Buts

I have noticed lately that there are way too many buts in my life.  I am sure you know which buts I am talking about. "I meant to but..." type of but.

Friends, clients, and even family seem to be using these words quite often.  I won't go into detail about them, but I want to mainly talk about my buts.  I am butting myself silly.   What benefit is the word but?  It is an excuse word.  You know after every but, an excuse will follow.

Actually, I have been writing this one post for 2 weeks because I seem to get stuck in the buts.  Ugh!

I am forcing myself to get through this so I can post something completely different tomorrow. 

The big promise I am making to you and myself is that I will try to drop the excuse but from my vocabulary.  No more buts!

Almost Finished!

I must admit I am completely bored with my subject.  Kitchen is not done yet.  But we are close.  Very close.

It is exciting and excruciating at the same time!  In the next week, I should have my home back.  No longer will there be legions of men in my house, making loads of noise at all hours of the day.

I will have my bedroom back as a bedroom.

I can move the kitchen items back into the kitchen. 

My office will be relocated from the 6 bags of files in the closet, back to my office.

My dogs will be able to live in the whole house and not just our bedroom.  Molly will no longer destroy everything in site just to let me know that she isn't happy to be trapped in a room with scary noises outside.  My house will smell better.

I have been busy waiting.  The best part about this situation?  I have been coaching the heck out of myself!  I have learned so much about thought work.  I am confident in my craft.

Now I am ready to coach the heck out of you.   www.losinggracefully.com  Lets work together.




Eat Healthy? Ha!

 

We are doing a kitchen remodel.  Nick and I have wanted to do this for 8 years.  A dream come true!  Now that it is happening, we are in the midst of a nightmare.  We have been with out a working kitchen for 2 weeks.  I have learned so much from this experience. 

 

The project was to start in February.  Due to a hiccup, they could not start until March.  I handled that situation with grace.  People were amazed at how I was so calm and cool while dealing with complete craziness.  Since the construction started and we lost the use of our kitchen, I have turned into a complete witch!  I have no patience, I am grumpy, and my poor husband has to put up with this behavior.  He is a saint.

 

I spent some time trying to figure out why I am not happy while this change, that I have desperately wanted, takes place.  I believe it is due to the fact that we are eating out everyday.  We love to eat at home.  We eat pretty normal.  I would say healthy, but we do eat some evil foods, so lets just stick with normal.  When we started this process, we thought we would have salads everyday and lose weight while we have no kitchen.  I had visions of chopping all sorts of raw foods at our dining room table.  Ha!  We have either dined out or brought home take out every single night.  I am sick of it!   I have people in my house all the time and there are loud noises and weird smells.  Dust is everywhere!  The dogs are being needy as they don't understand what is happening.  Everywhere I go, they follow closely.  I feel like I am leading a school of fish!

 

Enough!  The positives?  The crew are very respectful and it looks like we only have one more week to go before they will finish.  We have some great friends and family who have taken us in and fed us.  When it is over, we will have an awesome new kitchen! Once we have it back, I believe we will be eating at home for awhile. Wahoo!

 

                                           

 

What Brings You Joy?

Meet Griz!  Griz is a 10 month old golden retriever that I see almost daily, when I take my dogs to the park.  Griz is the funniest dog I have ever met.  I would say that he brings me 80% of my daily belly laughs.

I believe that everyone should have, at the minimum, one good belly laugh a day. A belly laugh is a laugh that comes from the gut.  A laugh that is joyful! We spend too much time being serious.  It is so easy to lose sight of the day to day comedy.  Our lives are hilarious!

Take Griz and his sweet, very patient Momma.  She is trying to teach Griz some manners.  Griz is a bit of a slow learner.  Momma is trying to teach Griz not to jump on people.  She has tried absolutely everything from yelling 'NO' to sprays and now currently a tin pan (dogs don't like the sound).  Griz's mom has become a ninja, trying to get there in plenty of time when Griz wants to jump up to say hello.

Of course we are all bad enforcers.  Griz is just so stinkin cute that you kinda want him to jump up and say hello.  I mean seriously, look at that face?  He is a happy dog!  Griz's antics can get a laugh from me everytime.  I am so grateful for Griz and his Momma.

What gives you a belly laugh?  Are you laughing every day?  Give it a try, it is good for your health!   

Sometimes Me Gets Lost

I have a very full life.  I have a husband, 5 fantastic stepchildren, and 2 dogs that continuously shed!  I have a great career as a coach with clients I adore.  We are currently making some changes to our home and that require a good deal of time interacting with contractors, inspectors, et al.  There is a lot going on at our house all the time.

I am not complaining, but sometimes I get a little lost when there is so much going on.  Husband needs things, kids have issues that need attention, and the dogs want the ball!  Taxes need to be done.  Items need to be moved from one area to another.  I have no place to have my office during the renovation.  There are never enough hours in the day!  It is so easy to lose Me when life is busy.  The old Cynthia would have been grumpy and  whining to any and all who will listen while shoving a cheeseburger and fries into my face as fast as possible.  Oh and I would wash it all down with a side of chocolate cake and a huge vat of wine!

Through out all the craziness of my day to day life, I have found that if I take at least an hour for myself, I can deal with anything that lands in my lap.  I would not consider myself as an exercise junkie, but during crazy times, I have found that in order to keep my focus, an hour of Zumba or Bar Method gives me sanity and keeps the unneeded calories away.  I have also got meditation on my to try list, just don't have time for that yet.

My point is that no matter what is going on in your life and how busy things can be, take some time for yourself.  Remember that you have to be you in order to be at your best for everyone else!  So what keeps you sane?

Take The Leap!

I have not written in a few weeks but so much has happened that I believe I will have plenty of material for multiple blogs! 
That is me flying through the air.  A few weeks ago I went on a girls trip to my favorite place, Miraval in Tuscon, Arizona.  It has become a very special place to me.  Last year, while at Miraval, I learned about being Mindful and made the decision to become a life coach.  I spent the rest of the year studying and getting certified.

This year, I decided to try the Quantum Leap.  This is where you climb up a 35 foot telephone pole and get on to a one foot by 2 foot board, stand up and look around, say something profound and jump!  When I saw the climb, I thought I would never make it.  They made me go first.  Deep breath!  So, harnessed up and shaking, I started up the ladder.  Made it up there pretty quickly with no issues.  Now I needed to climb onto the actual pole.  The pegs or staples are spaced for normal height people.  I had to wrap my hand around the pole as I was climbing up to the next staple.  I was amazed that I could lift my body weight so easily.  I was able to get to the top at a normal pace.  Then I had to climb onto the teeny tiny platform.

It was a windy day and the pole was swaying from that height.  My legs were shaking as well.  I took awhile before I stood up.  I didn't want to give up and just fall.  The goal was to stand up on the top of the pole.  So, I did.  I stood up and just jumped. 

IT WAS AWESOME!

I never thought that I would be able to climb up a pole and jump off the pole 35 feet in the air.  I was amazed that I wasn't scared to leap.  I knew all was ok.

My take away from the exercise?  It is good to experience things that will make your heart beat a bit faster. I am in better shape than I thought.  It is ok to trust.  The rewards are amazing!  I still giggle when I think about it or see the pictures.

What will you find out about yourself if you were going to climb up and leap off of a 35 ft telephone pole?  How about if you go ahead and commit to that food plan.  What's the worst that could happen?  The best that could happen?

I can help you get to the point where you can enjoy a challange.  www.losinggracefully.com
Contact me for a free 30 minute session.

Thank God For Coaching!

This is a view from my back door.  It has been this way for the past week.  What was going to be a 3 day event, has turned into a week and counting. 

The reason the incompleted fence is crazy and out of mine and my contractor's hands.  The City of Dallas is currently ruling over this situation.  It is enough to place someone on an IV of valium.

In past years, I would have been ranting and raving and stuffing my face with every sweet available.  When I got the phone call about the stop work order, I must admit that I did growl for a minute, but that was all.

My mind immediately went to all the information I have learned on how to handle things.  This situation was out of my control, so I wasn't going to lose control.  I was able to coach myself out of a dangerous moment.  Nary a cookie was eaten and all the people I have had to interact with over this matter have gotten the kind and relaxed Cynthia and not the angry, out of control Cynthia.  It felt wonderful!

I hate that my backyard looks trashy and icky, but I love the fact that I stayed calm and focused and that I know my coaching ability.  The backyard will get done, just not as quick as I would like.

Wow!  I am an awesome coach! 

I would like to help you feel wonderful and focused too.  www.losinggracefully.com