On Halloween Eve I bought a new broom!

Don't worry, I'm not planning to ride the broom tonight.  Here I am on the first chocolate holiday of the year.  I've had nary a Junior Mint.  I have not tried even one piece of candy since my surgery.  There was that fortune cookie I ate a couple of months ago but that's the closest thing I've had. 

Oh, you say, you've never heard of the chocolate holidays?  I invented the term to describe all holidays for which there is a chocolate candy specifically made for that day.  Naturally there are no chocolate holidays in the summer because of the hot weather.  So Halloween starts off the season which includes Thanksgiving (foil covered turkeys), Hanukkah (chocolate  gelt coins), Christmas for chocolate Santas, Valentines Day and Easter.  Mother's day marks the end of the season not for specific Mother's day treats but just because so many of us get a box of candy when the kids can't think of anything else to buy.  There are now colored M&M's and festively wrapped Hershey Kisses for most of these holidays too.

You must have surmised by now that I am a chocoholic.  I admit it.  I'm in recovery though.  I have not cheated because of the threat of the dreaded dumping syndrome.  I have had chocolate protein powder and protein drinks.  There is sugar free Nestle's Quik for chocolate milk, sugar free fudgesicles and chocolate sugar free pudding.  I've also had sugar free hot cocoa since the weather has turned colder. 

I don't know why I could never have had this strength of will before my surgery.  I've had too many years of chocolate overload.  This year I handed out candy to the trick or treaters and did not even try to smell a candy bar.  It didn't kill me.  It didn't even hurt.  I can do this thing.  I feel great.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Bless my blog.

It's been a long time since I posted anything.  I'm finding that now that I'm back among the working again I am no longer the last one to go to bed in my house.  I liked the solitude of 2am to think and write.  In the evening competition for the computer is at its peak. 

I've been reminded of something I found out a long, long time ago.  Losing weight can make you feel better and live better.  Your life, however, is still your same life.  There are still bills, frustrations and the common cold.  Some days my job just sucks. 

We all seem to think that if only we were thinner, blonder, richer or had a smaller nose everything would be better.   This became very obvious to me the first time I lost a significant amount of weight.  I was 21.  I lost 72 lbs. and thinner than I'd ever been.  Some friends and I were driving to a party one night and on the way another car ran into us.  There were no serious injuries but we were stranded about sixty miles from home.  It was my first car accident and I was really upset that my car was wrecked.  Things worked out all right.  We got a ride home and my car was not a total loss.  When I got it back from the body shop it was as good as new.  I learned that night that thin people don't have a monopoly on happiness. 

On a more positive note, I am down nearly 80 pounds.  Doing my job is a million times easier than it was before I had my surgery.  Even though my work is very stressful at least I don't stress about basic things like breathing.  It's wonderful. 

I'm finding lots of clothes in my closet that I can wear now.  I've had to throw out a big bag of clothing that was too big!  Yeah!  Its great! 

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan. 

I'm having a busy week

Since this is my second week back at work and also opera "Hell Week", I haven't spent much time blogging.  I have to admit that the night they started bringing the trapped miners in Chile up to the surface I was up after midnight watching the second miner come out.  It was really terrific.  He brought up some small rocks in a bag and passed out some copper ore to the President of Chile and a few others.  I thought that was a very upbeat thing to do.  It's amazing when the whole world is watching something positive.  It was wonderful to see. 

As for the opera, we are finished with rehearsals.  We have performances on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon.  I'm holding up pretty well.  Our last production I had difficulty moving while singing.  I had to make sure I got to the backstage area well before my entrances so that I wouldn't be out of breath when I went on.  I could never have managed working and performing in the same day. 

I passed Dr,. Choi in a hospital hallway the other day.  She said I'm looking great.  I do feel great most of the time.  I've had some back spasms a couple of times.  I don't know what that's about.  Naturally it would be impossible for me to be completely pain-free for any length of time.  I still have arthritis flare ups when the weather is bad. 

I'm managing my meals and snacks with this busy week.  I made a yummy protein shake tonight.  Chocolate flavored protein powder with frozen unsweetened dark cherries with a little sugar free chocolate syrup with milk.  It was almost like eating chocolate covered cherries. 

Many kudos to Amanda, my daughter for feeding the family when I'm so busy.  Love you!

And love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan.

I made it.

I survived my first week back at work.  The first day was exhausting though.  I fell asleep that night in the middle of Dancing With The Stars!  The next day was better and by Friday it felt like I'd never left.  It felt incredibly good to be able to work without gasping for breath like I did before. 

In addition to working I had rehearsals for Tosca two nights this week and also Saturday.  Next week is our "Hell Week" which means rehearsals every night then three performances on the weekend. 

As you can see I've jumped right into the fire!  Of course the holidays are not far off so I will continue to be busy, busy, busy.  I am back with the living and glad to be back. 

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Back to the real world

Tomorrow morning I am back on the job full time.  I feel so much healthier than I did six months ago.  Back then I could barely walk down the hallway without tachycardia and shortness of breath.  Even walking at a very slow pace was too much.  I truly could not perform my work to my satisfaction.  My patients noticed my breathing and asked if I was OK.  I don't think a person having a myocardial infarction should have to worry about their nurse's breathing. 

My family, coworkers and friends have been so supportive of my efforts.  Some of my coworkers even had to care for me when I was an ER patient.  Thanks to you all for your love and support.  My journey is not over nor will it ever be completely finished.  My quest for a healthy body will last for the rest of my life.  I have to look at it that way because I am not on a "diet" that will end one day. 

Now all I have to do is make myself go to sleep at a reasonable hour so I can wake up by 6 am!

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

That's more like it.

Yesterday I had my three month checkup at Dr. Choi's office.  I also saw the dietician and weighed in on the official scale.  My total loss is now 67 pounds.  So my plan to deal with the plateau seems to have worked.  Everything seems to be good but the PA said that now is the time that I might notice some hair loss.  I have been keeping up with my protein which lowers the risk of losing my hair.  I hope it works. 

I started using fitday.com for keeping track of my food/nutirient intake.  It is a good site but I wish they had a way to keep track of fluids too. 

The next chapter of my journey begins on Monday when I go back to work. 

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan