Oops, my bad! So, you may have noticed that last week I didn't blog. It wasn't that I forgot, just that I wasn't actually in town. I spent the weekend camping at Jenkinson Lake in Sly Park with my family. What an amazing place! It was absolutely beautiful and relaxing. Well, relaxing until I slipped a disk in my spine on Sunday morning, while loading the car to head home. Not good.After a very painful two hour drive home, I was barely able to get out of the car. What I needed to do was stop right then and there and stretch out on the sofa for the afternoon. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to. Instead, super-mom that I try to be, I unloaded the car, got myself and all three kids bathed and dressed in fresh clothes, and then headed to a family BBQ in honor of an out-of-town guest. Ouch!
Needless to say, come Monday, I was broken. What had started out as a painful pressure in my lower back, was now a full on spasm running down my right leg, leaving the toes on my right foot tingly and numb. Loss of feeling in your gas/brake pedal foot is rather alarming. So, after a trip to the local ER and three different prescriptions, I was officially out of the game and on the disabled list. This wouldn't have been so bad for my weight-loss journey if I hadn't spent the previous weekend eating and drinking beer, then eating and drinking some more. I had gained 5 lbs by the time I had returned home. Instead of being able to work off those pounds, I was told to do pretty much nothing for two or three days in order for my back to heal. Well, sorry doc, no dice.
You see, having three kids pretty much requires some form of movement at all times. Whether it be bathing the 4 year old, picking up after the 8 year old or cooking food for the 11 year old (which is almost constant) you find yourself moving. Anyway you look at it, to be a single mom of three, you have to be mobile. So, instead of rest and relaxation, I found myself popping muscle relaxers and pain killers so that I could do little things like unpack from our camping trip and try to clean the house.
Anyhow, at this point I'm already up 5 pounds and feeling pretty miserable so, to top it all off, Tuesday was my birthday. I haven't had an actual birthday party in at least a decade, if not longer, so my neighbors, friends and I had been planning this luau themed BBQ party for months and here I was, feeling like the tin-man from the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy helps him with that little can of oil. Let me just say, pain killers and muscle relaxers DO NOT mix well with alcohol. Although my back was giving me no trouble after beer number three, by about midnight I was dead to the world. Happy Birthday to me.
In addition to the birthday BBQ, there was the birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory followed by the birthday dinner at Flora in Oakland with my parents. Do you see a theme here? Food, food and more food. None of which was "diet friendly" to say the least. Now, I've sworn off beer for a while now. Empty calories and all that (plus, I'm still having to take the occasional prescription pill to get through my day to day chores around the house). And I've been drinking water and V-8 by the gallon, so instead of being 5 to 10 pounds up from my weigh-in two weeks ago, I'm only up one. Not bad, but definitely not good either. Grrrr!
I've been advised by doctors, families and friends to just rest and not push my back but I'm hoping to begin some mini-workouts on Monday. I really am going nuts being so sedentary. My apartment looked like a tornado had blown through since I hadn't been able to successfully keep up on the little stuff. Blessed as I am, I have amazing friends and a super boyfriend who are keeping me in check and helping me clean up, little by little. They have even managed to enlist the help of my not-so-helpful children! Amazing!
Now it's Sunday morning, and I've confessed to most of my dieting sins from the past two weeks. Ahhh, what a cathartic experience. And I'm off to go make some waffles for my kids Sunday brunch and then try to do some of that relaxing everyone has been talking about. I must thank all my supporters who even though I've looked yucky and puffy for the past week, they continue to cheer me on and give me words of encouragement. You guys are the best! I wish everyone a wonderful week and I'll see you next Sunday, hopefully with some weight loss instead of gain.
Total Weekly Weight-Loss: 1 pound gained
Overall Total Weight-Loss: 37.2 pounds
