Just one of those days...

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Just one of those days in my Monica Arnold voice. Saturday, I'm so happy to see you. I started my day early. I took care of all my errands. I didn't have a list of things to do. I just needed to return boxes to Comcast. Then back home. Every Saturday morning I start my day with Coffee and a donut. Not much for dieting but hey I eat healthy all week long I deserve a little treat. At least the coffee is with skim milk and splenda. That makes it better, right?? 

I did most of my laundry yesterday. Only delicates and white clothes were left and I got them going now. Now, I am sitting here watching Queen Latifah's Last Holiday with my feet up. I think I am going to make a nice cup of hot tea. Teavana is bae!! Smores is my flavor of the moment.

For the rest of the day, I'm going to veggggggggg (make sure it say it  real slow)!! I have no desire to do much else. I may finish the season of Wentworth on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

For Lunch, its going to be leftovers. Whole Grain spaghetti and a homemade marinara sauce. Then snacking on my favorite extra sharp cheddar cheese. Dinner?? Hmmm!!! Not sure yet but since today is a cheat day. Maybe a slice of pizza and salad. Who knows! I am going to enjoy my free day until its time to do some homework. This course is over in two weeks and then I have 2 courses left. Then I will be paying back those school loans. So I will talk to you later.

What do you do to enjoy a lazy day?

The hard work and the emotions in being strong....

picture courtesy of dietfreelife.com

This account has been up for many years. It has been neglected for many years, as well. I have had so many ups and downs over the years that I didn't want to oblige myself to another task. At the end of May, I had a 10 lbs tumor removed and a hysterectomy. Today I can say that I am pain-free...well besides my ankle that is healing from being re-fractured. I haven't been pain-free for over 3 or 4 years.

After cancer treatment and this recent surgery my weight has fluctuated. I finally feel well enough to return to my journey of weight loss. I could say healthy eating or a change of lifestyle but right now all I want to do is lose weight. I am being 100% genuine with you. I guess the healthy part isn't something I stress because I know with my weight loss comes a different eating style, different food. In essence, I will be adapting a new way of life and a healthier relationship with food. The Lord knows I really need that new relationship with food. 

So why start the blog again and why now? Well, I was sitting after dinner and I was deal hardcore emotion towards my weight, my decision to loss, and how was I going to tackle it. I also thought about all freaking hard work I have to put in to do it. Of course I asked myself is it even worth the effort. Then, I thought I have a clean bill of health and why eff that up. Why work against all the work I had put in when I first started. I realized I need an outlet. I need something to type out my feelings. I need to release all my feelings, good or bad, some place.  I thought someone else may feel the same way and might need to read this. People tend to post or record videos about the beauties of weight loss but they skim over the fact that this mess is hard. Sometimes you just want to say eff it. That's how I am feeling RIGHT NOW. I haven't given up. I don't plan to quit. I am not a quitter. I'm a complainer though. I am a realist. 

So here I am to document my weight loss. Here I am to share the good with the bad. I am an emotional eater. If I cant eat my emotion down, shit, why not type about all the stressor that comes with it. 

Remodeling my house

What have I been up to? Well besides family life and school, I working on my house. We thought this was going to be fun...ha! Talk about stress. I will be documenting my process as I can. This weekend, I plan to start painting the kids room. I'm also going to experiment with some chalkboard paint. Will share details on that, as well.

The remodel plans consist of removing walls, painting, kitchen re-do, finishing the basement, and exterior facelift (yard work, fence, shutters, and a few other things I can think of).

Have you been through a home remodel? What was your experience?

Moving Toward the Next Chapter of My Life

I'm laying here in an empty house ready to say goodbye to SC and hello to a new journey. New years resolutions on my mind. Hmmm, what are my goals? What do I want to accomplish  in 2015? 

1. Purchase my first home

2. Lose this weight again

3. Run in the Army 10 miler

4. Graduate with my Masters in Clinical Psychology

5. Save money

6. Start a new hobby

7. Love the life God keeps blessing me with

What are some of your goals? How do you intend to accomplish them (I will blog my experiences and expectations). Above all,

I hope you seek an abundance of happiness. What's life with out love and happiness. 

I hope I continue to grow and become a better person. 

Now I better get up  and help finish packing. Husband is on a mission. 

Peace and love 

D.  

I'm baccckkk!

I decided to take time off of blogging and vloggung until I was found myself in better health and settled. The good ole Army had us moving twice, year. As of October, no signs of cancer.  I'm not settled yet but I'm getting here. I will start off slow with my blogging but I am back at doing something I use to love. Coming up the good ole New Years Resolution for 2015. Hope  you have a fantastic New Year! XOXO

Update on my Health

I had my surgery on Monday the 3rd. I was told the surgery had a few complications but they were able to get most of my thyroid and radiation iodine treatment get the rest. This past Tuesday I had my preoperative follow up. My second biopsy of my thyroid shown 3 forms of cancer. Crazy, right?!?! Thank God all this was caught when we did. This could have gone another way. I will be headed to nuclear medicine soon for R.I. treatment to ensure all thyroid cancerous cells are destroyed. I was told I'm am moving around great. However, he found out I decided to move furniture and over did it. I paid for it. Yes, I got in trouble double, my husband and Doctor. Scar is looking great. Still getting use to the stares. 

Losing Weight Saved My Life

Yes, literally it saved my life. I want to share my story, not for pity but to build awareness.  Last year, I decided that I wanted finally to lose the extra weight that I have been carrying since I had children. It was a great surprise for my husband. He was deployed, and the thought of being this skinny hot chick on the welcome field was amazing. At first, the weight was coming off easy. Then I started getting sick, and my weight loss started to slow down. I lost 50 lbs. and not being able to lose any more wasn’t that big of a deal.

All of a sudden, I started having strange pains. I was always tired. There were days that I only got out the bed to take the kids to school, cook, and back home. I felt bad because the kids needed an active mom, but I just didn’t have the energy to do anything. I brushed it off as depression. I am in school full time, and my husband was deployed. That had to be the reason for me feeling so bad. Some days, I felt like I ran a marathon and I didn’t do a thing. I hung on. I ignored any possible signs of a problem.

My husband came home. He was impressed with the weight loss, but he was concerned about my lack of energy, my stomach issues, and a newly found lump in my neck. So, I went to the doctor. I was treated for a book of stuff. I blew off the lump in my neck but finally made an appointment to appease my husband.  As a result, I had blood tests, ultrasounds, and multiples scans. You name it I had it done. Finally, the doctor suggested that I go get a biopsy because it seems to show that I had cancerous looking nodules, nine to be exact.

Waiting for that biopsy seemed to take forever. And that forever turned into the most scariest call I ever had. “Mrs Coates, blah blah blah ….cancer.” Cancer that word is like a death sentence. Yes, I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. What do I do? How do I tell anyone? What’s next? My kids!!! My husband!! To be honest, I was scared…no I AM scared, but I told myself to pray for strength. Whatever happens…I needed strength.

That same day I realized that if I didn’t lose weight I would have just gotten sicker and sicker.

As I sit and talk to with my doctors about concerning symptoms, I realized that the warning signs were there. I just chalked it up to being fat.

Knowing all of this, I got really sad and I ate, and I ate. And I ate some more. Then it hit me. Snap out of it. Put the food away and live. I am strong enough to face Cancer. I don’t need the extra junk. I want to be healthy. I want to live to see my children have children. I want to be able to enjoy life.

Thyroid cancer, if caught in time, has a high recovery rate. I have to get my thyroid removed and any lymph nodes if the cancer has moved to them. I will have my surgery in the next two weeks. I am scared, but I know all will be fine. I also found a new outlook on life….a healthy one.

Every day, I post on Facebook and Instagram about being happy. I am happy. Yeah, I had a moment where I didn’t get out of bed. I had a moment where I cried. I had a moment when I questioned my life. Yesterday, I finally shared with my children what was going on. Talking to them made me realize that I have no time to be sad or depressed. I know I will come out of this fine. So, I have to enjoy my life to the fullest because I only get one and wasting time being sad is interfering with my time to be happy.

I am also proud of myself, right now. I am proud that I am up and moving. I am proud that I am even sharing this with you. I am a private person and sharing so much about myself is a bit intimidating. However, Sharing my story may inspire others to be healthy or educate themselves on cancer and even being healthy. I believe God put me here to uplift, teach and inspire. I believe sharing my story does that.