February has been a tough month to get my act together. I've been doing a lot of traveling for work and although I'm by myself in the evenings I haven't felt like doing much blogging. You see...I did something pretty stupid and now I'm having to deal with the consequences. It's a really long story that I'm not going to get into but basically I joined a medically supervised weight loss plan because a friend of mine had great success and wasn't working nearly as hard for nearly as long as I had been. I got a little envious and decided to short cut the ole 'healthy diet and regular exercise' plan that I had been using since January 2013. Well great news, I lost the last 10 lbs and got to my goal weight... but bad news I did it with the help of a prescription appetite suppressant that threw my endocrine system into a tailspin. It began in Vegas in mid-January with a anxiety-like attack/stroke feeling. It completely caught me off guard and was terrifying. That same weird heavy feeling, confusion, trouble speaking, heart racing, panic type feeling came back over and over for about two weeks and has now progressively tapered off to extreme exhaustion or not able to sleep at all, extreme hunger or no hunger at all, headaches, trouble regulating body temperature, poor memory, etc. Basically, I'm a complete mess and I'm working hard to rebalance my hormones naturally and holistically. I'm trying to correct the health of my gut and digestive system with a cleanse and eating clean and rebalancing my hormones with exercise, relaxation, prayer and natural supplements. Oh and yes, I went to the doctor but the doctor who prescribed the meds acted as though it was impossible that the medication could have this effect and my personal PCP wanted to potentially treat me (i.e., prescribe more medicine) for things that he wasn't sure were going on and didn't want to give the Rx appetite suppressant much attention. I wasn't open to taking any additional medication and have felt since day one that it was the medication because it was the only recent change in my routine and I am otherwise a healthy and active 29 year old. Also, any drug that acts to falsely increase neurotransmitters to fool your body into ignoring it's survival signals (hunger) can negatively effect your endocrine system. So...oops, I went into much more detail than I intended on but the moral of the story is that weight loss is best handled with common sense. If your program seems too good to be true then it's probably not good for you. Lesson learned...and continues to be learned the really hard way. I am really grateful for the progressive improvements though!
Enough of that! Here's a peek at my week in pictures.
We started a new series at church called "Marriage Makers and Marriage Breakers". It's a 6-week study on what the bible says about marriage and how to create oneness (not sameness) in your marriage. We're finding great value in it even though some of the principles aren't easy to follow. I can't imagine a better investment of my time than preparing for a successful and biblical marriage.
Monday morning at 6:30am I flew to Dallas and then drove to Cleburne for the opening of a new office. What a beautiful look above the clouds!
On Monday evening I drove to FTW to visit one of my best friends, Celia, and her mom, Cynthia, who is battling Stage 4 bone cancer. They recently placed her on home hospice and therefore, I really expected my visit to be be somber and depressing but it was the exact opposite. Cynthia was so excited to see me (it was a surprise!) and had a huge smile on her face when I walked into her room. We sat and talked for about an hour and just shared stories (new and old) and laughed. It was literally one of the best moments of my life and I'm so grateful for Celia's parents in my life. They have always been so good to me and although I don't understand God's timing in this situation, Cynthia trusts Him and so do I. Cynthia told me as I was leaving that we are going to Chuy's to have a New Mexican Green Chile Margarita very soon! I'm in!
Call me goofy but I had been resisting jumping on the EOS chapstick train until Tuesday. It was freezing and my lips were so dry. I couldn't find my Burt's Bees so I picked up one of these at CVS...and I love it! Go get one!!
On Wednesday morning I drove from Cleburne to Greenville to meet my team for another office set-up. We got everything ready and then I got to fly home on the private plane instead of going through security and waiting at the airport. I won't lie...it's MUCH better! Breanne seems pretty comfortable too!
Thursday was a praise day! My dad had a pretty major neck surgery to separate several vertebrae that were grinding on one another. Ouch! Here he is before surgery in his fancy surgical cap! Thankfully the surgery went very well and now he's at home recooperating for a few weeks.
Valentine's Day was Owen's first birthday!!! We are waiting to have his party until my dad can participate but wow, what a joy he is in our lives! I can't believe that he's already a whole year old!
I used to hate 'food on face' baby pictures but now I'm a convert. This guy makes spaghetti look adorable!
On Saturday evening Jay used his new smoker (Christmas gift from yours truly) to make dinner. He smoked himself a ribeye and a piece of ahi tuna for me. This smoker might be the best purchase I've ever made! Everything is delicious and not overly smokey tasting. We spent the night at home watching the Olympics.
Well that was pretty much it. Work is great, my family is great and my health is on the rebound. I wish I didn't have to learn things the hard way but...I guess I just do!
ht
