Hypothyroidism is just one of the reasons for hair loss that I am experiencing. I am sure that stress isn’t helping either. Other symptoms of hypothyroidism: dry skin, depression, tiredness and unexpected weight gain or sluggish metabolism.

This friend and I had lost contact many years ago. Still, I never forgot the lesson he taught me. I figured it was an important one. So I have kept it in my back pocket until this very moment. Because I think it’s important to check in with yourself on this journey. Make sure that you are still happy and excited. Make sure that you are persevering and motivating yourself. Make sure that you are creating an environment that spells WIN. And if you aren’t, then figure out what you need to do to get back on track and go for it!

This week has proven to be a difficult week for me to get my fitness in. My baby has pink eye, my oldest son has strep throat and my husband has been working way later due to server outages with certain clients. I haven’t seen the inside of the gym since Monday.

At first, I felt like my train had been driven off of my path. It felt like one of those moments where you throw your hands up and say… “what the F?!” Obviously, there is nothing I can do to change the kids being sick or my husband having to work late. Those are some of the facts of life my friend. Shit happens and sometimes you step in it. Know what I mean? And really in the grand scheme of things, this is only one off-week.

Instead of lolling around the house moping about it, I utilized the extra energy to keep moving. I cleaned and organized things I never thought to clean or organize. Sometimes, I found myself jumping around in the kitchen just for fun. Or if a good song came on the radio, I would dance to it with my daughter. 4 weeks of working out has me craving movement. Any kind of movement. My body wants to move. From couch potato to mover and shaker in 4 weeks… that’s me! I have also been extra careful to watch what I eat. Just because I am unable to get to the gym, doesn’t mean I should throw all of my progress to the wind.

Today, I was pacing around the house wondering what else to clean (I think I have the cleanest home in America now). Then I remembered my old exercise bike in the garage. I found it buried under a whole bunch of stuff. So I moved the stuff and moved the bike back into the house. This was no small feat and took a lot of extra effort but it was totally worth it. I moved it into my living room and got 45 minutes of straight cardio on it! And after I was done I felt this calming sensation flow over my body and soul. That is what exercise does for me. It chills me out and sends me to my happy place.

So this week, when I check in with myself, i’m going to note that I overcame an obstacle and am still managing to keep on track with my goals all while smiling.

I tried to watch what I ate as much as possible.  Some days I did rather well, other days I threw caution to the wind.  But getting sick is an unexpected occurrence.  I mean… we expect that we’ll get sick maybe a couple of times a year but no one can predict when and why.

I think the only *good* part about it is that I really didn’t have much of an appetite.

How do you deal with weight loss when you are sick?  Do you feel as though you are in the moment and continue to plug on or do you put your journey on hold?

It’s summer and time to get some summer clothes.  Shopping for clothes does not hold very enticing prospects for me.  So, in short… I hate shopping for myself.

When you’re a big girl like me, then you understand that the clothes available to you in the real world (as in not online) are pretty bleak and more often than not very unappealing.  Heck, you wouldn’t even expect your mother or grandmother to buy those clothes.  So let’s face it ladies…. shopping kinda sucks when you’re big.  Nine times out of ten, unless you have a cute store tailored to plus sizes, you’re stuck in the world of online shopping.  Online shopping is great, except when it is your only option.  Know what I mean?

So, I went on this task with a heavy heart.  Before trying on any clothes, I was already running different plus-size clothing websites in my mind.  However, I had a bold moment and decided to try on pants that were one dress size smaller.  I expected to be disappointed.

I was wrong.  They fit!  They didn’t fit as well as I would have wanted them to but I was able to slide them on over my rear and button and zip them up.  I felt like an Olympic Gold Medalist at that moment.  Then I felt bad for being sick and being off program for the last 2 weeks.

This no guilt thing is hard to do.  Especially for me.  Because the thing is, I want to be smaller but yet, habits are hard to break.  I always hear people say… “If I can do this… you can do this too!”.  It is sort of cliche in its own charming way.  But I have to admit, that this rings true in my situation.  If I can do it… even half-assed… then anyone can do it!

I’m stoked that i’m down a pant size!  Being down a pant size is like extra inspiration and motivation!

But today, my fever started to sweat out a little and I felt hungry.  So what did I do?  I ordered pizza.  A comfort food to be sure.  Damnit anyway.

I only had a couple of slices but the grease is not agreeing with my system at the moment.  I don’t feel the least bit energized or healthy as I do when I eat fruits, veggies, cheese and lean meats.

I don’t know.  I suppose I could have made a sandwich or opted for  fruit or something.  But pizza just sounded good.  It’s hard not to feel guilty when you have made so many right choices and then BAM!  this happens.

I suppose the food I didn’t eat should outweigh the food that I did eat (since I didn’t eat much during the past few days).

We’ll see what this week’s weigh-in brings.

So I managed to convince myself on Sunday evening that I wasn’t feeling a searing kidney pain.  Nope.  Must be gas.

I woke up on Monday almost in tears but managed to get through most of the day.  My husband nagged me about not going to the doctor on Sunday but then drove me around to every clinic in our area to find out that 90% of them were closed and only 1 remained open.  That one happened to be jam-packed.  I was in no mood to be in a room with dozens of people while trying to convince myself that I really didn’t have to go pee.  It didn’t help of course that stubborn ol’ me decided to wait until 5:30 to drive around and look for an open med-center.  I procrastinate.  It’s what I do best.

Instead, hubby drove me to Walgreens where I picked up AZO test strips (to see if I did in fact have a UTI) and AZO UTI relief medicine.  The relief medicine was not a cure but was supposed to make the pain and symptoms subside.

We got home and I could hardly wait to go pee.  Partly because I had to go for the 100th time that day and I was tired of trying to hold it and partly because I wanted to see the results of the test strip.  It kind of reminded me of a pregnancy test though.  You pee on a stick, wait three minutes, and then look for colors that tell you positive or negative results.

So I peed on the stick and the colors came up deep purple and deep pink almost immediately.  Damn.  So I really did have a UTI.  I took the AZO medicine (which turned my pee a delightful shade of orangish yellow) and some Tylenol and went to bed.  The combination seemed to work right up until 3, when (surprise surprise) I had to pee again.

Finally, the end to this sordid tale came this afternoon.  I went to the nearby med-center (got there before it closed this time), and peed in a cup.  30 minutes later, the doctor wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic.

I stopped at the desk to pay the bill and noticed that I was charged $18 for them to stick the test strip into a cup of urine.  Holy crap.  I paid $10 for a 3-pack of those strips!  I felt a little taken, but then again, it’s the health care industry.  What do I expect?

Part of me wishes that I would have packed up the pee-stick from the night before and handed them that.  Maybe I could have saved $18.