As some of you know, I was in the hospital last year for 5 weeks. Until recently, I still wasn't clear about what happened to me. Well, this week my doctor finally interpreted my discharge papers for me and it all made sense. The white blood cell count in my spinal fluid had skyrocketed and some other level in my spinal fluid had also gone up too high. That's why I began vomiting, my speech was slurred and I was having psychotic episodes. My brain was infected and I had encephalitis. I had somehow caught a horrible virus. During the course of my 5 week stay in the hospital they gave me steroids and I responded to the treatment well. After I was discharged, I was given a medication that made me gain a ton of weight. Over the course of 2 months I gained a total of 50 lbs. I begged the Dr. to take me off of it and he finally did. Now I have to do everything I can to lose the weight in a reasonable amount of time. It's not going to be an easy task because I also have something called PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which makes it twice as hard to lose weight as the average person. But I know that if anyone can do it, I can :)
I decided that rather than take pills or pay someone else money to help me lose weight, I would invest $11 in the Extreme Fat Smash Diet book by Dr. Ian K. Smith. I watch him on Celebrity Fit Club and I figure if his lifestyle change plan can work for a bunch of spoiled celebrities, then it can work for me. I read the book cover to cover and I like it. It seems reasonable and no-nonsense. I'll get the right amount of carbs, proteins and fats that I need to get through the day. Of course, on a lighter scale. I will also be going to the gym regularly. There's no point in eating less if I'm not going to go to exercise.
It's going to be a long, hard journey. 50 lbs is no joke, but I'm in it for the long haul. I'm sure I'll fall off the wagon at some point (especially with gelato season right around the corner), but I'll just hop right back on. I'm going to make myself accountable by documenting all of it right here on my blog. If anyone has any tips, please, by all means leave me a comment. I need all the support I can get. I already have the support of one of the most important people in my life. Of course, that's Ale, my beautiful Italian. I don't know what I'd do with out him.
I'll be starting this new adventure on April 1st. I'm not going to set any time limits on myself, I mean I'd like to lose about 10 lbs a month but I don't want to be unrealistic. I'll just take the weight loss in stride, as it comes. Wish me luck!
