Rolling Thunder, Back Pain, Diet

A big thunder storm rolled thru this morning and has crossed one item off my "To Do" list--- watering the garden.  The "overstretched" muscle in my back/hip will cross off an additional bit of the list as any bending over, hurts like burning hell.  Even getting out of bed (or turning over) was a slow, painful process.  I "worked" with pain yesterday, at work, and that was a big mistake.  One college kid (raised well by his mother) watched over me and would lift trays off the floor for me so I could fill tables with new stock and he delivered a bottle of Tylenol to the lunchroom while I was in there eating.  Watering the greenhouse was terrible as I had to help customers and move the hose and each of those things meant putting the hose "down" and then slowly, trying to pick the hose up again.  Bending and reaching.  I imagine this "overstretched" muscle will cause me anguish for a long while.  I will try using one of G's many canes today and see if that helps with the bending.

Yesterday I spent an hour reading the Atkins book I got from the library this week.  Same info as on the website, but I just like holding the book in my hands.  There is a re-occurring theme in the book of not checking the scale for weight loss.  But trying on clothing that has never fit before.  I am wearing clothing I could not button at the beginning of May.  In fact, on some items there was a good 4 or 5 inch gap between the button and the button hole.  That particular item now buttons but I still wouldn't wear it anywhere as it follows the lumpy contours of my hips-- snuggly.  At 64, I more interested in loose.

Everything I purchased and wore in May of 2007 (the year of the diet) now fits exactly as it did then.  I was only halfway into the diet at that point and had many more pounds to go. I remember how VERY happy I was then, to fit into these clothes.  Delighted to be "so tiny" in comparison to the size 22 clothing I had been wearing for so many years.  I remember that feeling each and every time I wear the clothes. Today I have on the size large linen pants my daughter gave me last summer.  They fit like loose pajama pants and I have the legs rolled up to capri length.  Light and cool and perfect for the summer days ahead. I am also wearing a tiny (for me) bra I pulled out of the Goodwill bag.  It fit, once  upon a time but never again until yesterday.

According to the bathroom scale, I have not only NOT lost any weight, I have gained one pound this week on Induction.  I think I have done everything correctly, as I have lost my appetite for enjoyable eating.  I now eat when I feel so hungry my stomach feels pressed to my backbone.  This can be either two to five hours after my previous meal.  And then I eat.  I am still calorie counting and range from 800 to 1200 calories a day.  Oddly, I am full of food on the 800 days.

Yesterday I had the deconstructed nachos and look forward to having that same meal again today, for lunch.  The spicy Induction chili beef, lettuce, avocado with diced tomato, cheese, sour cream, onion and  a squeeze of lime.  Imagine, looking forward to a diet meal.  And I do look forward to the tuna salad with mixed greens, the ham and swiss roll up, the omelet and now the chili nachos.  How odd.  None of these things EVER appeared to be things I liked before as they are all very "meaty".  I think the 365 Day Diet would have been easier to follow with all these foods included.  I wouldn't have been hungry nor would I have had to skip meals to stay within 1200 calories a day.

I am drinking lots of liquids and have to be careful on hot days at work.  One of the reasons I don't walk the dog in the summer (after work) is that I get light headed in the heat and feel like I may faint.  This is nothing new.  I do much better in cooler temps.  I think it is related to always having had low blood pressure and the lack of real sugar in the Induction Diet.  My "First Aid" kit for the fainting is usually one or two packets of sugar melted on my tongue.  I certainly do not want to faint at work but I am not allowed the sugar packets.

G just called from work.  He, also, is exhausted by the job.  Too much stress not enough rest or "fun".  He is not as bad today as another store manager is having a worse time of it and working 6 days a week to G's five,  Funny, how a worse situation makes us feel "better"?