New Picture...

Hey all,
I am adding a new picture to my profile.  It is blurry, but hey, its 11pm, at least its posted:)  So, it is me, down 10 pounds (11 and a half actually) in the new outfit I awarded myself with ... woohoo!  And I even got to shop with my mom and sister for an extra special treat! 

I am now off to conquer the next 10 pounds...I have done well this weekend despite the kids being at their dads and I usually struggle a lot when they aren't here...who will know right? 

The area I am really struggling with right now is coping with stress, fibromyalgia pain and actually getting to bed at a decent time.  Those are the area of focus I had for myself last week and coming up this week.  Last week, I was getting better at trying other methods of pain control (other than medication), I still needed it, but it was at a lower level, despite having more pain the last few days.  But today I didn't do so well with it:(  And I have had a real struggle dealing with stress and letting it get to a point of real anxiety issues.  Which lead to the next one, having too much to do each day ending with me going to bed way to late!  All three of these areas can cause weight loss to slow down or stop even if I am not going off my plan.  Many of the medications I have for fibromyalgia pain have the wonderful side affect of weight gain, stress leads to increased cortisol in the body which can lead to weight gain (and other unhealthy consequences) and lack of sleep can lead to weight gain.  All three of these areas can easily lead to going off the healthier eating plan!

I know I can't conquer every bad habit at once, but I really am just wanting to see some progress in these areas, baby steps are fine!  I guess I need to place my focus on the time management and stress levels.  I am not sure how to go about doing this with my work load right now, there isn't much to cut out.  My house is already a mess most of the time, the kids are helping out when and where their time schedule permits, I don't watch tv or play video games, about the only time I am on facebook is when I am waiting for an appt or something where I can't be doing homework, the rare socializing I do is needed to counter the high stress levels.   So, since I can't really cut down on my to do list any, I need to find a way to cope with the stress in a healthier way...I've been trying to say "Jesus take the Wheel" when I am feeling out of control and it might help a bit, its not enough to combat this constant knot in my stomach from feeling so out of control.  Maybe I need to also practice, this only for a couple more months.  If I can survive that long:)  I am concerned that I will be depending on pain medication too much as I deal with the pain that is a direct result of the stress.  While I don't see anything wrong with using a little extra during a time like this, especially since it is such a short time frame, I need to be more careful or else I run out before I can get a refill and then the pain is twice as hard to bear because I know I can't get away from it. 

I know I started this blog to help me build my willpower regarding my eating habits, but right now I am needing to figure out better way to deal with the pain so that I don't run  myself out of the pain medicine that I need to get through this time...Any suggestions from anyone on better stress management to lead to better pain management would really be appreciated!  I am going to try to get in to the chiropractor and in for a 1 hour massage to see if I can take care of the extra pain I have been feeling, but that is usually short lived relief...

Oh, back to the pictures, I am also posting one of my senior pictures just for the fun of it...I am not sure how I got from the skinny, skinny girl I was to the very overweight woman I have become, but I find the picture motivational.  And no, I am not trying to get back to that size, I look at that picture and think I was too skinny...there is absolutely no waist there!