Tori's Journal

[LovinLDL]

Tori,

What does your doctor say about your weight?  Maybe you don't really need to lose?  I do think you should try to eat good, healthy LDL meals....not stuffing yourself but until comfortably full.

Adequate sleep, exercise and water intake can all affect appetite and general health too.

If you feel good...you certainly look great in your picture but as little as you eat, it does need to be healthy (not empty calories) so LDL food is what you are looking for too...fruits, vegees, beans, good meat, rice, whole grain cereal etc.

Blessings,
Julie

[Tori]

Thanks for the reply, Roger. I know I need to start eating something small every few hours to get my metabolism going, I just have a hard time doing it. I don't know why. I am going to make an effort to do it though, and see what happens. I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my babbling. lol

Julie, I need to lose about 40 pounds. My doctor is the one who told me I am not losing weight because I am not eating enough, thus putting my body into starvation mode/weight gain cycle. So frustrating.

I know that the sleep issue also hinders my weight. I don't sleep very well at all. Our bed is so hard that I wake up all through the night with stiff muscles and backaches. Some mornings, it is literally hard to roll out of bed because my back is so stiff. We just got the mattress a couple of years ago though, and simply don't have enough $$ to purchase another one. Many nights I sleep on the couch, because it is softer, and I don't hurt so bad when I get up.

I would love to be able to purchase one of those Sleep Number beds, or a Tempur-Pedic mattress, but they are SO expensive! With all the medical bills from my (uninsured) gall bladder surgery last year, it will be a very long time before I can think about purchasing another bed.

I am going to be setting my Gazelle back up this week. I am hoping the exercise will jump start my motor and help me feel hungry more often.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post! I appreciate it. (:

[LovinLDL]

Tori,

I will be praying for you a better sleep.

Do you know that you can get a Tempur-pedic topper?  They are much less expensive (Sams/Costco has them) and I like mine on my firm mattress better than a Tempur-pedic matress.  Also, we invested in good pillows and sheets.  It has helped so much with my sleep and better sleep has improved my health which has made for less medical tests and RXs which cost me much more than the topper and bedding...not to mention the benefits to my family of having a well rested wife and mom.

I'll be praying that God will provide the means to address the lack of sleep.

Very Concerned,
Julie

[DEBBIEWEBE]

I would love to be able to purchase one of those Sleep Number beds

I can highly recommend this bed.  Will put you back about 3 to 4 grand ours was $5 grand but that is a king size (actually two twins pushed together) with separate mechanical bedframes that raise and lower head and feet and massage.  I received some unexpected money so this bed was a splurge. But it was way worth it. I expect to have it for many many years.  I used to sleep on the couch too due to a too hard mattress and found myself staying up till 1am.....now I cant wait to go to bed and sleep like a rock!!!!  Also I recently had a bone density test that showed over the last year my hips and spine alignment have improved significantly.  Was told I have the bone density of a 20 year old. I can only attribute this to increased thyroid medication and this bed cause I have been playing tennis for over 10 years so that isnt the reason.
Love and God Bless
Debbie

[LovinLDL]

Here is what we did:

We stayed in a Westin Hotel for our 18th anniversary.  The "heavenly bed" that they tout is absolutely the most comfortable ever...for me.  It must be for others too because they actually sell the entire bed (bedding and all).... http://www.westin-hotelsathome.com/ense ... oryLevel=2

I took a good look at this bed when we were there and the mattress didn't look much different than my medium firm pillow top mattress at home...then there was a pillow top topper on top of that and a "heavenly" combinations of pillows, sheets and blankets on that.  Since I owned the mattress and decorative quilts, etc.  I went to the site and researched the fabric & thread-count of the topper, pillows, sheets and things I didn't have.  Then, dh and I went to Linens and Things and picked out these with fabric and thread-count as close as possible.  We did end up changing up a few things...trying out the tempur-pedic topper instead of the type of topper they had and dh opted for a thinner pillow.  Now we have our own "heavenly bed"   AND, for about the price of two nights stay at the Westin   At first I purposed to wash and iron the sheets and leave a little mint daily.....but, alas....6 kids and no Alice....I am blessed if this gets done once/week   But, it is still an extremely comfortable sleep and my dh, who has degenerative disc disease (which BTW has been helped by losing weight w/LDL) would rather be in his own heavenly bed than at the Westin. 

Tori, maybe you should start with a night at the closest Westin?

Blessings,
Julie (who was touched to tears at the Wilson's kindness)

[Tori]

I too, am touched beyond measure! Roger, Anita, and Mom, thank you so much for your kind offer. I am honestly speechless, so I will have to get back to you after my brain processes this. I have honestly never met anyone as generous at heart as you all are! 

Debbie, since you own a Sleep Number bed, can I ask you a question? Is it anything like sleeping on a typical air mattress? That has been my fear of even considering one of these, aside from the cost. Most air mattresses I have slept on have been very uncomfortable. Plus, with my hubby being larger than I, when he lays on one side, I end up about 5 inches above him on the other side from the air being pushed over. 

We don't have a Westin Hotel anywhere near us that I know of, Julie. Honestly, if I could find a mattress that was made out of the same stuff couch cushions were made out of, I would be in heaven! LOL!!!

Speaking of which, it is after 1:00 AM here, and I need to go make up the couch. Funny that these posts should be here, because I just told hubby when he was heading to bed that I am going to camp out on the couch tonight.

Coinkydink? I think not. 

[Tori]

P.S. Debbie; we have to have a King Size bed as well. Hubby is a very large man, and a double or even a queen is simply too crowded! I need room to turn over without getting an elbow in the ribcage. lol Sure makes the bedroom look tiny, but when it comes to sleeping well vs. room to walk, I would prefer the sleep!

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Plus, with my hubby being larger than I, when he lays on one side, I end up about 5 inches above him on the other side from the air being pushed over. 

Dear Tori,
We have this same problem. My husband weighs about 85 more lbs than I. The way they construct the king is either out of two twins where both parties are free to adjust the bed as they choose, firm or soft and how high you like your head or feet raised or a regular undivided king with separate side air chambers inside the mattress but only one control for the frame which was obviously less money than the two separate mattresses and two separate frames.  In MY opinion the two twin and two frames is the way to go cause the likelihood you and your husband are going to like the same head and feet elevation is rare.  Plus I can adjust mine during the night and not wake my husband up.  I like my head and feet slightly elevated cause it most resembles the way it felt to lay on the couch. I have to say this is the KEY INGREDIENT TO BETTER SLEEP and taking pressure off your back is the elevating of this beds head and feet.  You can make ANY BED SOFT WITH FEATHERS OR FOAM BUT YOU CANT RAISE THE TOP OR BOTTOM OF YOUR MATTRESS AT WHIM like you can with this system.  There are also times when I like the bed firmer so with this bed you can change the firmness and height to suit your mood.  On the couch your midsection sort of dips and this raised configuration seems to imitate it most closely for me.  I also purchased a padded mattress cover for each side that gives it that extra cushiness!!!!  I can honestly say I wake up very little during the night and am very rested.  I used to have a hard time straightening up those first couple steps out of bed from my back being wrenched all night but now I only flip over a few times a night to give my arm a break from being layed on.  Tori do you have a sleepnumber shop near you?  They were very friendly and I think we went like 4 or 5 times to look at them over the years before we just decided that $5,000 wasnt really that much for something that you use everyday as much as your bed and it took us a while to narrow down the model we wanted.  They never pressured us and were always so helpful.  We ended up with the one under the cushiest pillowtop cause that one didnt feel as nice as the to me as the medium weight one for the cost and I knew I could add the padded mattress covers from Sam's club to soften it up for only another $30 per side whereas the cushier top was hundreds of dollars more.  My best advise is to try it out and see what the store recommends.  They have a machine that closely narrows down your number by the pressure points your body makes on the mattress.  My husband, who thought he liked a VERY FIRM mattress came to find out after sleeping on it only a few weeks that he prefers it only 5 degrees higher than I.  If we would have purchase a spring mattress we would have both been miserable still with a lot of money down the drain.  To change the firmness with this bed he just let out a little air lol.  My sleep number is 35 and his is 40 now even though he started out at a 75 he finds the lower number much more comfortable.  I think they have some sort of guarantee......I dont remember exactly what it was but I think you are able to try one out and return in a month if you dont love it.  We bought a new bedroom set to go with it and hung a 42 inch flat screen on the wall between the two armoires and this is clearly my favorite room in the house.  I go to bed no later than 10-11pm cause I cant wait to stretch out and relax.  Didnt mean to ramble, but I know the pain you are facing everynight and I cant stress enough how much better I feel now.  Not to mention how sad it made my husband that I wasnt sleeping in the bed with him for the three years I was on the couch.  He says HE sleeps better now that he can hear my little snoring lol. Best of luck in your search for great sleep!!!!
Love and God Bless
Debbie

[Tori]

Ahhh, Debbie .... you should be a spokesperson for Sleep Number Beds! You make your bedroom sound like heaven! I would love to get a sleep number bed, but quite frankly, the thought of spending $5,000 on a bed makes my head spin. LOL! You are talking to a woman who has never even spent $5,000 on a car. 

I have been looking at Costco for a while now, and they have some of those memory foam mattresses that start at about $1,000. I would think that would be pretty much like sleeping on the couch, wouldn't it?

And yes, being able to sleep in bed with hubby would be very nice. 

Sorry I haven't been posting much, but finally got my son over his flu, and now I seem to have caught it. Day 3, and hoping today will be the last of it!

[DEBBIEWEBE]

spending $5,000 on a bed makes my head spin

Ehhhhhh if I keep it for 20 years its only like 34 cents a night ahhahahhah

[Tori]

LOL, I guess that is a good way to look at it!   :laughing:

So ....
No major earth-shattering news here, but I lost 2 pounds this week. Yay! I know I am still not eating all of my meals, but I am really working on it, and I am doing better with it. 2 pounds may not seem like much to some, but for me, it has broken a very long plateau. I am excited! What makes it even better is that I know it is not from being sick, (I had the body aches, headache, fever, and overall blahs, but nothing more), but instead the weight loss is from making it a point to eat more regularly, and to choose the right foods.

I am proud of myself.

With that being said, onto the daily food journal:

September 10, 2008

Breakfast:
Coffee
Whole grain cereal with low-fat milk

Lunch:
Veggie Soup
(beef broth with corn, carrots, green beans, onions, celery, and peas)

Dinner:
Wasn't hungry at dinner time, so I didn't eat anything for dinner.

Drinks/Snacks:
Before bed - 100% pure apple juice, heated, with cinnamon. Very nice way to end the day!

[Tori]

Thanks Roger! 

[Tori]

September 11, 2008

Breakfast:
Coffee
Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal
1/2 cup raw oats cooked in 100% pure apple juice, topped with cinnamon

Lunch:


Dinner:


Drinks/Snacks:

[Tori]

The past couple of days, my eating has been terrible. I think I only ate once each day. 

Hopefully, next week will be better. I found a new way to eat oatmeal (cooked in 100% apple juice that is SO yummy!) so I am going to try to eat some each morning to jump-start my metabolism. If I can get past this breakfast hurdle, I will eat more during the day. I always do. Just seems like when I skip breakfast, I don't eat anything until dinner. *sigh*

Wish me luck this week!

[robnveronica]

You'll do it Tori. I have faith in your ability to choose the right thing!