Just a fyi!

The last 3 posts were added, two from May of 2013 (oops) and one from today! Sorry about that! I think I thought I had posted them! The last one was my amazement that I even have this blog! haha!

I did not remember I had this blog!

Hi folks!

So am here because a friend of mine has a blog here and I came to read her’s. After I read it, I thought, “Man, I need to get to blogging!” I knew I had blogged before, but honestly, did not know where I blogged before. I tried to sign up here, but it said I already had an account! (crossing eyes). So, I signed in and saw I had posted here several times. Amazing!

I don’t remember blogging here because I have this condition of Short-Term Memory loss which I’m sure I mentioned in the other blog(s), or not…can’t remember! hahaha! It appears I haven’t been here for almost a year.

It is truly frustrating having this memory loss condition! Finding I have a blog was interesting! Now I have to try to figure out how to remember I have this blog! I have sticky notes all over my house with things I have to remember and my phone is filled with reminders daily for things I am supposed to be doing. But what I’ve found is, with all the reminders, I eventually (evidently) don’t see them anymore. Hmmphffff! Frustrating!

So I’ll start with today’s post and put a reminder in my phone, and possibly I will then see it occasionally! Mind boggling that I don’t remember writings these blogs, but I do remember the events written about. How very strange! I think I must be in denial still about this memory loss, because it blows my mind every time I find something I forgot about!

Now, today, let me get you up-to-date on things and we’ll try to go from here! First, I have lost 22 lbs since last year! Yippie! The Lord is amazing at how He is doing a work in me and it doesn’t depend on my memory for Him to do it! So thank you Lord!

Second, I am working on a book. Ok, so I’ve been working on it since 2009, but I keep forgetting that I have it! I began to write in it again this last month. What I found was, I had four copies of this book, each with a different amount of pages in the documents! What is most amazing is this, all that was written, was exactly the same! The words may have been stated differently at times, but the concepts talked of were exactly the same, which tells me that it is truly the Lord who is writing this and not me. So I am now doing this book as my “work” on a daily basis so I remember to work on it! So as we go along in this blog, I will possibly give excerpts from the book to get your feedback and hope to build your curiosity! I sure hope I remember this! hahaha!

Ok, so that’s what I remember to update you! There may be more that has changed…but not really sure! So be patient with me and I hope to be able to be the vessel the Lord uses to minister to you!

Have a wonderful day all!
LuAnn Marie

Struggles

You know, each of us in our walk in life, develop struggles or hurdles we must overcome.  It seems that these hurdles can be a deterrent to overcoming the weight loss issue.  I too have my struggles and there are two that are just completely getting in my way!  So let me talk about these issues.

First is the issue of degenerative disk disease.  Part of the reason I am so short is, well, the initial reason of having fairly short parents.  My dad having been 5′ 8″ and my mom was 5′ 3″ but has shrunk now to 4′ 9″ due to this spine issue I deal with as well.  I used to be 5′ 2″ but now have shrunk to 4′ 11 3/4″ in the last twelve years.  So how is this a deterrent you ask?  Well, let me tell you!

Today I woke up, and the pain level is extremely high; my neck hurts which goes into my shoulders, which then goes down my arm into my wrist and causes my hands to be numb.  My lower back hurts as well and today, only shoots into my hip, not down my leg to my ankle.  When the pain level is this high, I’m still supposed to do a walking workout, but honestly, I am sitting here writing because I have no idea how I’m going to accomplish that.

How does this pain level deter my weight loss?  It is quite simple, not working out for a short person is an invitation to weight gain!  I need that exercise to get rid of the weight.  If I miss a week because of pain, I find I’ve gained instead of lost, even with keeping my calories where they should be.  Those of you reading this may lose well on a 1400 calorie diet, but not me!  I can gain on those calories if I don’t work out.

Second is the issue of memory and this blog.  I was in a “walking” coma with Encephalitis in 2008, where no one knew I was in a coma until I came out of it.  Well, I shouldn’t say no one knew, because my daughter knew since I kept saying it was Friday every day and had no idea that it was the next day.  When I came out of the coma, that’s when my husband and daughter began telling me all the things that happened, all of which I had no memory of at all.  Walking comas are rare and that’s why they go untreated.  My doctor, being the uninformed hick he was, never considered I had encephalitis, even though all the symptoms were there and the brain scan showed it loud and clear.  Encephalitis is swelling of the brain by the way and show up well to a doctor who is educated and up to date on things.

Since coming out of the coma, we discovered that I have short term memory loss, but it is not as bad as it could be, since it is not a case where I go to sleep and wake up not knowing what happened yesterday.  My loss are things such as, if I move something, I have no memory of what I did with that thing I moved, or writing a blog such as here, having no memory of the blog until I get an email about it saying that someone read it.  Other things that happen are, when I go to get something for the table when eating dinner, I see something else that needs attending to and have no memory then of what I was originally going to do.

So this memory loss can be quite irritating!  Sunday I was in church and a man came up to me and said, “Hey LuAnn!  See you Wednesday,” to which I looked at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about.  He then said, “Bible study,” to which I then remembered and gasped, replying, “Ohhhhh yeah,” chuckling in embarrassment.

Now, how does this memory loss cause problems with weight loss?  Well, first, I forget to eat because time flies by when you have memory loss.  I will think I’ve been writing on this blog of five minutes and then look and see 25 minutes have passed.  Then, when I’ve forgotten to eat, I am extremely hungry and have to work hard at not over-eating.  I seriously have lost a week, ending up not having worked out all week because I didn’t realize that much time went by.  So it’s a struggle.

I talked about missing working out due to pain above, but this memory loss contributes to missing workouts as well.  I may think I worked out yesterday, but it was a week ago.  Mind boggling I know, because it still blows me away when it happens!

If these two struggles exist, then what is the answer to overcoming them?

A Loss

Well folks, I had a 3 lb weight loss this week.  That made me completely happy!  What I started this last week was a “first-do” at restaurants when I got my food.  The last week and a half we’ve had to eat out for one reason or another and honestly folks, they serve you meals of 3 or more servings instead of one serving!  So, what I did was, look at the food on the plate, cut it apart into a serving for one and only ate that amount.  The rest of the food I had put into togo containters a