Maybe Not...

Well, I was feeling great so I went back to the gym. Day one went well, so I went the next day and pushed myself just a little harder (still not anywhere near as hard as I did before getting sick). I think I made a mistake. My coughing is back and so is the shortness of breath. Dang it! I am going to hold off until I talk to the doctor and get another xray on Monday. Crazy thing is, even with all this sickly laziness going on, I still lost two pounds. Weird. I probably puked the weight last weekend! Anyways....now I'm just back to playing the waiting game. We'll see what the doc says. Two more days!

Disaster Strikes

I totally slacked off on the blogging part of my health goals. I guess I should tell you where I stand. I've lost about 65 pounds total. While I know that's quite an accomplishment, I wish I had a bigger number to report. I thought I'd be well past my goal by now. I'm currently one size away from my ultimate goal. I reached my first major weight goal, but not my size goal. I'm now reaching for the dream weight goal that I wasn't sure I could accomplish at first, but now know is possible. I was really getting into the habit of being active. I was hiking, rock climbing, running, biking, and lifting weights on a daily basis. When I missed a day, I felt pretty crappy. Then disaster struck. I woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. I went to the doctor, and she sent me straight in for a chest x-ray to confirm her suspicions: Pneumonia. As she thought, my right lung wasn't looking too hot. I have now been off strenuous exercise for two whole weeks. It's KILLING ME! I was in bed for about five days, and still felt pretty bad after that. I had absolutely no energy. I could barely make it up the stairs, so I knew running would be a bad idea. I have now been told I can walk, but should only be working out at about 50% of what I was doing earlier until I get a clear chest xray. At that point, I'm supposed to start out slow and work my way up to 100%. I have an xray one week from today, so pray for clear lungs! I also know it can take months to feel completely normal again. Then....to add to the fun, about ten days into the pneumonia, I caught the flu. I'm currently recovering from a miserable weekend full of constant vomiting, and my chest is not feeling too fantastic. I really hope the pneumonia didn't strike again with greater fury. I was finally feeling my energy coming back, and now it has been lost once again. It has been really hard for me to accept the set back. I was SO close to reaching my goals, and it's hard to put them on hold. I'm trying to be really careful about what I eat and stay on my feet as much as possible, but it's difficult. I have a lot more free time on my hands when I don't spend two hours a day working out, which makes it a lot easier to over-eat. Right now I'm trying to find motivation in every way possible so I don't sabotage my efforts. Wish me luck!