Quick Update!! :)

Howdy from Flagstaff!!

Well here's a quick update before my big road trip! Yay! I'm going to go to General Conference with Dan and Jill for my first time ever! I've been dying to go to Conference ever since I got baptized, but never had the chance. Now I get to! YAY!!

I had my Docs appointment this past Wednesday, and she was very impressed! Turns out on their scale I've only lost 8lbs...which is probably really 9-10 cause I still had my layers of clothes on (its been cold) and other things. She was so proud and impressed with my weight loss. I got a "You Go Girl!" at the end of my appointment. Haha.

At this appointment we also established a weight goal. I asked her if there was a certain weight I should be shooting for, and she asked me what I thought. I said I would at least like to get down to 150lbs. She said that sounds good to her. I will never be able to be 100lbs (not that I wanted to be that small) but I can at least get smaller. It will probably take me a good year to get to 150lbs- I hope, but that is my goal and I want to do it.

Ever since I've felt like I've had more energy, and just feel healthier. Heck, a guy even sat by me today in Sunday School (wearing boots and wranglers- yeah I was a fan) and talked with me. It made me feel self-confident and pretty. I know that sounds so stupid, but for a guy to sit by me and talk to me, that does a lot.

Only down side to all this, is I will always have the risk factor of diabetes. I might not have it now, but if I don't follow this new life change I will. Which means in the long run I have to keep this diet my entire life. I'm kinda bummed. I mean what cowboy doesn't eat mashed potatoes with his steak? Or all the good country cooking that really I can't have now. I'm going to be a pretty pathetic cowgirl. Though my doctor rensured me I can cheat every once in awhile- just as long as its not more then eating correctly.

Today in Fast and Testimony Meeting a girl got up and said "Heavenly Father doesn't give us trials that we can't over come." I have to remember that Heavenly Father gave this to me for a purpose, and He's right there with me to help. He wouldn't give this to me if He knew I wasn't going to be able to handle it.

Let's see, that's pretty much all I got. Right now I need to focus on the school work for the week and try to run a few errands before Utah! When I return I'm sure I'll post bunch of pictures and stories. Wish us safety, luck, and for a good time!

Keep Holding On!

You Get What You Give

Howdy Folks! Let's give ya a 8 second ride, shall we?

I just returned from Spring Break to NAU last night, and man I did not want to go back. Don't get me wrong, I love NAU but I just want to be done. It was so nice having a week long break from classes and stress. This Spring Break was different compared to the last couple. Normally on Spring Break I go on a trip with Dan, Jill, Alan, and Jared somewhere but Alan is busy and well Jared is gone. Haha. I did however go down to Tucson for the second half of Spring Break and spent time with Dan and Jill. The rest of Spring Break I relaxed and spent time with my family and Huey.

Last time I wrote I was talking about my sudden life change. Well it'll be a month from this coming Wednesday that I got the news from the Doctor. In fact, I'm going back in for a follow up this Wednesday. This month has not been easy, that is for sure.

I have my ups and downs with this. I have my good days where I don't mind veggies and I say "Bring them on!!", but then I also have my bad days where veggies and lean meats do not sound good at all. Instead I want a 12 oz. steak with mash potatoes!! I never really thought I ate a lot of carbs before, or well at least more then what you should until now when I can't have them. Okay well I can have them, but tiny amounts and none of the white stuff. Spring Break was a good week, cause my Mom cooked stuff we normally have, but I made sure not to get the rice, potatoes, rolls, etc and load up on the veggies. Though towards the end I wasn't so good. I gained a couple pounds back, but only like 2 or 3. Not too bad.

One up side about this, I figured out that I really like to work out. Again I have my bad days where I'm busy with school or Im sore and tired not wanting to do anything- but then I regret it later. While I'm here at school I've been taking a dance-work out class called Zumba. I highly suggest it to anyone if it's offered to you! I also found out tonight, cause Zumba was wicked crowed that I like the work-out bikes. I did 12.5 miles tonight in a half hour, not too bad for my first time. My goal was 10 miles. During the break I would take hour long walks, and loved it. I would either have my Mom with me, or listened to my ipod. Even though I was working out in a way, I was relaxed and was able to think about different things. I love the way I feel after working out, and I'm excited that I'm loving it. Reminds me of when I use to play sports! Oh, I miss it! This is going to make losing the weight somewhat easier.

Before I left for the break I had lost up to 13.5lbs! Granted I have gained some back, but still. I'm very proud of myself. I do have my days where I look in the mirror and just feel so fat or that I'm gaining and get so frustrated. But I have to remember that you want to lose weight slowly, and I think 13lbs is pretty amazing for me.

I'm very nervous for my Dr. appointment Wednesday. When she asked about my medical history before, I totally forgot that my Grandpa who passed had diabetes, and apparently I have two Aunts on that side who also suffer from diabetes. When I was with the Dr. last she said if I gained 50lbs more, I would be classified for Type-II Diabetes. I'm scared now that after I tell her about my family, she's going to be like "Oh, you have diabetes!". I know the meds I'm on now are for those who have Type-II Diabetes, and I hope that by being on that and losing the weight I won't have them. But we'll see. I'm scared to see what she's going to say. I hope she's impressed and says I'm doing things right. I have lots of questions for her, and one is being do I have to do this for the rest of my life. The exercising no problem, but the diet change...I'm a little nervous I can't do it.

I guess I'm just going to have to wait to see what she says, and see what happens. I have a new motto about this and that is "You Get What You Give". If I give the effort to do this to succeed, then I can do it! Though if I fall or don't try, then well it's back to where I started. My family has been very supportive, and so has Jill. -But I bet I'm driving them all crazy.

So I never took like a before picture of this, but here's a picture of me before and then as of right now. Well at least my face. I notice for sure I have lost weight when I look at my face.

What do you think?

Life Changes

Howdy Y'all!

I hope all is going well with everyone! Things have been very busy and stressful for myself. School is crazy insane. I think I get on top of things, but then do bad on a quiz or lab in Chemistry. I hate it! All I want to do is pass and get closer to graduating. I'm worried about Physics, Genetics, and Chemistry. I hope I can pull this semester off. :S

I've also had some life changing things happen as well. I have decided along with my friend Jill, that I want to lose like 50lbs (she wants to lose like 30lbs or something). I want to be able to fit in those cute cowgirl wranglers and get those cowboy's attention. Lately I've been going to the doctor to talk about a few things.

Well after a doctors appointment after another each week and a blood test (4 vials worth...oh man I almost passed out on the nurse that morning, luckily she caught me) I've recently been diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome and PCOS. They aren't serious serious, but they are not fun and need to get under control.

What does this mean? Well... first off my body isn't using insulin correctly. It produces insulin but my cells reject it and the other energy from the food I eat. So that extra digested food goes to my waste, and results in fat build up. So my cells are starving, which results to my brain telling me to eat more. Due to this it's making me a "Carbohydrate addict". I need to cut down on my amount of Carbs. Right now I can't have rice, pasta, bread, and the worse one-potatoes!!! I can't live without my potatoes. Luckily I can still have these by very rarely and in small amounts. My diet has now changed to lean meats and veggies! It hasn't been easy one bit. I'm starting to eat more veggies that I never knew I liked, but it seems like a lot of stuff I know how to make or whatever has carbs. If any of you know great recipes for chicken and veggies, or have any suggestion I would love to hear them. Along with the diet change, I'm taking a medicine to help disguise the insulin so my cells will take in the food and energy they need which should result in me being more energetic and not as hungry.

The PCOS means that I'm producing an egg every month, but my body isn't releasing it. So it gets stuck and hard resulting in larger ovaries than usual. My female hormones also are at different levels, which they should be the same. For this one I need to lose weight (which my diet change should help) and I'm on the wonderful pill! The down side to this one is that it means complications when it comes to having kids later. I'm really bummed, but the Dr. said I'm young and there is a lot that can help me to try and have kids. She was telling me about a pill that actually has a high rate of twins- oh boy! I might be carrying twins later! Haha.

My Dr. said it's good that we're catching it when I'm so young, which means I can help keep it under control. It's not curable, but she says I have a mild case and we can easily do things about it.

So now my life is about exercise and diet- which really I guess is how every one's should be. This hasn't been as easy as I thought. In fact I'm frustrated with it. I was doing so well at first, but now I'm still at a consistent 8lbs lost. I want to lose more though. Like today I just looked at the mirror and felt fat. Ugh.

I know I can do this, it's just going to take time to get the results I want. :S