Weigh In week 6

OK...I'm in a definite pattern. Once again, a week after no loss, I'm down 5 pounds!!





Over the weekend, from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening I was over my daughter's for a visit. I didn't eat much, but everything was low carb, except 1 small piece of garlic bread. My calories were only 1200-1350/day. Yesterday was better, but still a bit low.

Today, however, is a different story. I've had small breakfast, a huge lunch, and a decent size dinner....and I've had 2 pieces of sf chocolate candy. (Normally I restrict the candy to 1 day on weekend only, but missed last weekend, so had it tonight instead.) My total for today was over 1600. Again, still low carb and natural, except of course the candy.

Today I knew I had to have a big lunch. We went out for lunch to a buffet. I had a plate of salad and 4 different meats! The salad had mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, black olives, sunflower seed, bacon (real) bits, and Caesar dressing. I had a few ounces each of beef pot roast, chicken breast, pork tenderloin and some bourbon chicken. I also had a couple of small chunks of cantaloupe.

For dinner I had 3/4 of a home made pizza. A LC whole grain wrap with pizza sauce and cheese. It doesn't look like much, but it's very filling. I usually put mushroom on top, but didn't have any. Also didn't have any veggies in the house as all spoiled during a power failure.

I love low carbing!!!


I've been doing much better with my joints, although as I type this I have my left wrist wrapped and am off resistance training until it heals. This time, I think it's my fault. I've been doing upper body exercises with dumbbells and have noticed that my wrists seem weak and wobbly. After the trouble I had last week, I decided to put a wrist brace on both wrists. I have 2 different ones, but both work pretty much the same. I don't think I got the left one on tight enough, and re injured it. So...complete rest of the wrist for the next few days. I've not been doing as much lower body lately, and have been meaning to get serious....so I guess this is it.

For those that don't already know, I'm a RN and have had several job related back and neck injuries. I've also had 3 auto accidents that caused varying degrees of neck trauma. I've been told I have at least 3 "old" ruptured discs in my back and neck, arthritis in my neck and back with bone spurs in the pelvis and the neck. The bone spurs are causing spinal stenosis, luckily still mild.

I was doing great on exercising regularly a few years ago, until I was put on Lipitor and ended up with muscle problems and "exercise intolerance". Where I had once walked several miles without problem, I started having leg pain after just a few feet. I was also doing very well with resistance training, following the Body For Life program, and had at least doubled my starting weights. All of a sudden, each workout seemed to get harder and harder, and I ended up dropping weights, then stopping all together. It's has taken almost 2 years for me to feel back to "normal" with my muscles. I still don't have much strength and my endurance isn't great, but at least I'm able to reasonably exercise again. Small weights and slower pace.

I've been taking my fish oil and krill oil, and cannot believe the difference! I don't have as much discomfort in my neck and back, and really no "pain". I'm going to continue. I seem to have different levels of comfort, almost in a cyclical manner. I've noticed this over the years. Not including times when I was recuperating from an injury, I've noticed that the level of pain/discomfort came and went according to a cycle. It never seemed to be related to my periods, but a definite cycle of the pain getting worse then easing off. So I'm going to continue for at least another month, but I think I'll continue to see a distinct difference. I cannot remember the last time I was completely pain free in my entire spine! If I have that only a few days a month, I'll take it! Right now I'm taking 6000iu Fish oil and 2000mg krill oil.


I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment this Friday. It was with a new doc, and I was a bit stressed about it. I've been trying to find a new doc, but haven't had much luck. Well, yesterday I get a message that the doc has to cancel my appointment, and I can't get another one until at least mid-August! I did end up getting an earlier appointment with a different doc...and actually one I'm more hopeful of, since I saw him several years ago and liked him.

I'm tired, and going to bed now. Hope to be able to post again before next weigh in, but it's been busy!!! Work has been busy and I've been trying to get my house in order to get it ready for sale. I've also been looking for a new house and will post later on some I've seen.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!!! You've all been a great support!

5 things

I knew it was going to happen as soon as I saw the first post.

Jimmy Moore's was the first post, and since then I guess I've read another 8-10 posts. Last one was Victoria's. (Thanks Victoria!)

Yep....I've been blog tagged!!!

OK....so here's the deal. I'm supposed to tell you 5 things about myself you wouldn't normally know, and then tag another 5 bloggers. I'm including links to each of the blogs I tag and I hope you visist their blogs!

So, here goes. 5 things you might not know about me.

1. I'm "the baby" of the family. Yep, the youngest of 4, I have 2 older brothers, and 1 older sister. My oldest brother, Tim (11 yrs older) and my sister, Maureen (13 yrs older) are actually half-siblings, but we were raised to not make this distinction. ( 1 sentence removed by author) I was pretty much the "belle of the ball" growing up, at least as far as my siblings is concerned. As far as I'm concerned, I was treated just like the others.

My brother Tim died as a result of an auto accident at the age of 24. I really didn't know him well as he was a "chronic runaway" and left home for good at the age of 16 (I was 5), after spening a couple of years in "reform school". (2 sentences removed by author) My sister Maureen still thinks of me as a little kid, and often gives me advice, including medical advice (see # 4 below).

Because of the big age difference we really were raised as 2 families, and after the age of 9 it was just me and (removed) at home. While Tim was pretty much absent, and Maureen was more of a mother, (rest of paragraph removed by author)

2. When I was a kid I was a member of a drum corps. Yep, The Amvet Brigadiers. I started late, most of the others had started out in the junior corps, but I started out in the senior corp. This was when I was in junior high, around 1968. I carried a rifle, but mostly stayed with the American flag line, as I really couldn't do all the twirls and throws the rest of the corps did. I was only in the corps for a year, and loved it, but felt like an outsider and gave it up. We had an excellent group and won several contests, but I was only in 1. I followed them for several years, as well as the junior corps, the Buccaneers and the Lancers. My niece was in the Buccaneers for a couple of years and I became one of the "adult" chaperones when I was in high school.

3. I have no middle name. When I was born my parents couldn't come up with a name that went with my first and last (see #5 below), so they didn't give me one. When I was little I was upset when I found out all my classmates and friends had middle names...or actually middle initials and my dad told me to use NMI, which stood for No Middle Initial. Well, I thought that was great, and used it for a while.

Funny, it wasn't until just 2 or 3 years ago that I actually saw this used in "the real world". My current employer uses it for the few people that have no middle name. (I now sometimes use M for Morrison, which is my maiden name, but mostly leave blank) Having no middle name is always questioned when I fill out forms, and I often get weird looks when I say I don't have a middle name.

4. I am a graduate of Framingham Union Hospital School of Nursing, and have a diploma in nursing, allowing me to be licensed and work as a Registered Nurse (RN). Yes, this is the Framingham of the famous Franingham Heart Study.

I graduated from high school in 1972, when the BS programs were just getting popular. My school was a hospital based program. We had several instructors that also taught at Framingham State College and other reputable schools, but they came to our campus and we didn't receive any "college credit" for out work (although many colleges did accept our courses when attempting to get a BS).

Our program was pretty intense, with long hours on both our class room and clinical work. Our program gave us all the "regular" college requirements of Pharmacology, Nutrition, Microbiology, etc and we had a heavy amount of clinical work as well. Each clinical rotation was preceded with an intense class to cover that area, followed by 2-4 days a week working with patients in the hospital. Our classes were from 8AM to 5PM on each day that they were held, and our clinical day went from 7AM to 3PM (30 min lunch for clinical days, 60 min for class days). The frequency was different depending on the year of the program, but a typical schedule was MWF 8-5 class and T-TH clinical from 7-3. We also didn't follow a regular college schedule, working for long stretches without a vacation break....and mostly only a week break. Freshman year we went from December 26 to May 8 without a break!

A friend and I calculated the number of hours we spent in class vs. a traditional college, and found that we only spent the equivalent of 4 weeks less in school. We did in 3 years what BS programs did in almost 4 AND we had at least 2-3 times the amount of clinical experience. It was intense, and hard, and a wonderful program. Upon graduation I found that I'd had an excellent education, having been exposed to more than the average BS grad.

I am licensed in NC and MA, but currently work in the computer software industry. It is healthcare related, so I still use my education, but my license isn't required.

5. My first name isn't Cindy, that's a nickname. And it's not Cynthia either....it's Alcinda, which is the Portuguese derivative for Alice. I am of English and Scotch descent, but my name is Portuguese.

There's actually a pretty neat story that goes along with my name. I was named by my dad, who named me after Alcinda Pereira MD, of the New Bedford (MA) VA Hospital, "the doctor that saved my life". Here's how she saved his life. Dad was in the Army Air Force during WW2 and stationed in the Pacific. Due to stress he began to drink and was unable to stop when he returned home. After sometime being back home, with his alcoholism getting worse, he checked himself into the New Bedford VA hospital for detox. His doc was Alcinda Pereira. He said she was the best doc he'd ever had, and would often consult her for advice in other areas of medicine.

When my parents married they made an agreement that mom would name the first baby, and dad would name the second. My dad told my mom that if the second was a girl he was going to name it Alcinda, but she didn't take him seriously! This was back in 1948 and people just didn't give their kids such unusual names. (It's actually quite popular in Portugal I'm told) Sure enough, when I was born, dad named me Alcinda. Mom had trouble calling me that as an infant, so they gave me the nickname of Cindy.

I went by Cindy most of my childhood, and even teachers usually called me Cindy. I alternated between loving my name and hating it. I was the only kid with an unusual name and got tired of spelling it, and repeating it, and getting junk mail that was obviously for males (I STILL get spam that's obviously for men!).

When I got older I realized how special my name was. I adored my dad, who died at the age of 69 from prostate cancer. He was a very special person to most that knew him, and he gave me a special name for a reason. (As I type this I'm getting teary)

I know use Alcinda for all business. At work that's what everyone calls me. In fact I had a "Cindy" coffee cup that a co-worker was shocked to learn was mine! My RN licenses are in Alcinda, so I've always singed my name with that, or AM, and that sometimes caused confusion. Friends call me both Cindy and Alcinda, depending on their preference.

I love my name. It makes me different. It also makes me know that I was thought to be special enough to be named after a person loved so much.

OK that's it. I'm sure I could come up with a few other things, but I'm only doing the 5 I "have" to do.

I must say thinking of some of these things brought back a lot of memories. A lot of pain and a lot of joy!

OK....so now I have to name 5 people?

Between people already tagged, and that I don't know too many bloggers, this is tough.

1. Emily, of The Furious Dieter blog
2. Sherrie, of the Pinch of blog
3. Dr Mary Dan Eades
4. Suzique, of the No-No NOLA and Waisted in the Wasteland blogs
5. Kate, of Kate's Wellness Blog