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Ever since I moved to NC from CA, I’ve had a difficult time finding a doctor. The key for me has actually been that I need something that I can easily walk to or take the bus as it is these types of things that frustrate me about not having a car.

In CA, I had a doctor (actually she was a nurse practitioner) that I loved. I went to a low cost (actually it was free) women’s health care clinic. Don’t let the price fool you – it was wonderful! They were always so supportive and encouraging with me. (at the time I was struggling with my weight)

I’ve been on blood pressure medication for the past few years. My blood pressure has not been crazy high but enough so that treatment was recommended. I really fought having to take medication and have wanted to get it down through weight loss and exercise.

This is a BIG goal for me this year with my weight loss! I really want to get off the medication (this, along with a decrease in weight will also help lower my health insurance costs) and see my blood pressure become normal.

I believe that these physical goals and health concerns are what need to be my main motivation for losing the weight and getting healthy. If we don’t have our health, what else really matters? I’m determined to NOT be someone that is a walking risk for things such as heart disease, diabetes and everything else that is highly associated with obesity.

During my walks up the street to the grocery store, (about a 30 min walk) I discovered that a new clinic had opened. Score! Walking distance! This could be great!

I had my initial appointment yesterday. I needed to get my blood pressure medication refilled so this is what had created the urgency to find a doctor. As I suspected, my blood pressure is still on the high side, but the doctor was very encouraging about my weight loss and exercise when I told him what I’ve been doing. I go back in 2 weeks and then I will probably go on a monthly basis (or so) to monitor my blood pressure. (actually at least to begin with, they’ve given me a trial of one of the more expensive medications which is great!)

Will keep you posted. Here’s to moving towards good health! 🙂

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My sister (M) was in town visiting for a week. She lives in MI near my parents and it was great to spend some time with her. J, AJ, and I are ALWAYS trying to convince her that she needs to move here.

BIG news of the week…

AJ accepted Christ on Easter Sunday! How awesome is that?! It was wonderful that M could be here with us and the whole week was really very amazing. This is something that we have all been praying about and it is such a joy and a testimony to who God is for sure.  I am so excited for he and J as they plan their lives together. (wedding is in June)

On another note, I knew that this would be an unusual week again in terms of being able to totally stick to my food and exercise routine. It’s OK – this is real life, right? We need to be able to handle the out of the ordinary times. I always say when I am making a choice that it less than perfect 😉 – it’s more important what I do tomorrow, than what I’m choosing right now. (mind you, this is only if a "poor" choice is infrequent!) I know that in the past when I was doing the diet/yo-yo thing, I would "mess up" one time and everything would be over! This is ridiculous and really makes no sense at all. lol

The weight loss challenge is all about FORWARD motion! The past is in the past and we keep moving!

(Having said all that, you may notice that my weight loss for the week was 0! – Next week – rock-n-roll!)

Are you with me?

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I just wanted to mention how great it feels that I did meet my first target weight of the weight loss challenge for Q1! My goal was to lose 32 lbs in the first 3 months. I lost 32.4!  WooHoo! Talk about close!

I can’t tell you how beneficial it has been for me to write everything down – goals, calories, foods, tracking, etc. I feel like this is really helping me to stay motivated and accountable. It’s so easy to "forget" about bites of food that we put into our mouths when we’re not writing it down. I also feel that over the long term the tracking of everything will help me to get through rough patches or plateaus. I think that my tracking will give me information that will help to push through plateaus and keep me motivated if and when the weight does not seem to be coming off.

Today I celebrate Q1 and a real feeling of accomplishment and victory! Hey, I’m officially 1/4 of the way to my goal of losing 128 lbs AND I am on track with timing to do this in a year!  I do realize that this first quarter will probably be the fastest in terms of the weight loss and I’m prepared to have to adjust my goals as I go.

How are you doing? Please do share, no matter where you are in YOUR weight loss challenge. I’d love to hear from you! 🙂

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This past week has been very busy for us at PortalFeeder (work) as we’ve just re-opened the doors for new members. I work in customer support with AJ and I do the billing so we’ve been busy getting all the newbies organized.

I love my job and I love that I can do this from home. You would think that I could make some time for exercise, but somehow when I get caught up in the busyness of work, this is the first thing to fall by the wayside for me…along with not taking the time to prepare good meals. This doesn’t happen too often, so hopefully I will get better at balancing this as I go.

So I’ve not exercise that much over the past week or so, but I am really looking forward to getting back into things next week! Wow! Did I say that? I actually miss my exercise routine! I guess that means that I have developed a nice healthy habit there. 😉