The Week After Mardi Gras

This week started out full of optimism and ended in despair.  On Monday evening after a day of travel, I joined Weight Watchers online after a lot of indicision about whether I thought online would work.  The main thing about going to the meetings is having someone hold you accountable for following the program.  I finally decided that Bubba could hold me accountable probably better than a roomful of sympathetic women.  The downside of this is that now he knows how much I weigh.  That is a number that very few women want to share and I hope I don't live to regret it.  The latest version of Weight Watchers has a two week plan based on their power foods.  

This was my breakfast this first morning.  It is plain Greek non-fat yogurt on shredded wheat and topped with strawberries.  I had tried Greek yogurt before but didn't like it.  This time I sprinkled it liberally with Splenda and the extra sweetness actually made it pretty good.

This was Bubba's breakfast that first morning.  Looks good, doesn't it?  The good thing is that I'm not very hungry in the morning anyway so I didn't feel deprived at all.







To make a long story short, I had no problems sticking to Weight Watchers all week long.  On Wednesday, I started the day by walking 30 minutes on the treadmill and then doing 40+ minutes dancing with Richard Simmons on a "Sweating to the Oldies" DVD which is really old, but it still is a good work out.

Everything was going great.  I was having no problems with the Weight Watchers plan and followed through with the exercise program on Thursday.  We had plans to eat with Tim and Winifred on Friday night and were planning to leave on Monday to camp in Opp so we could have a good visit with Joe and Judy.  Joe is still recovering from shoulder surgery and Judy is dealing with a broken foot (again).

Then things changed.  Thursday night I didn't sleep well because of an aching in my jaw.  I had a tooth that was sensitive to any pressure.  I called the dentist office and he called in a prescription for pain killer and antibiotic.  I was scheduled to see him Monday.  We headed out for Panama to see Bubba's sister, Azalea, who had fallen off a ladder trying to trim a limb and broke her leg.  (By the way, Azalea, is 72.)  Well, I was standing in the hospital room and realized that I was feeling like I was going to faint.  I sat down and put down my head, but I was too late to stop it from happening.  When I came out of it, I was on the floor and sweating profusely.  Needless to say I left the hospital room in a wheelchair.

Things went downhill from there.  By Friday evening, my tooth was throbbing with pain and the pain medication did not help it at all.  By the middle of the night I was on the internet looking and trying every home remedy that I could find.  For the record, salt water, peroxide, and tea bags will not stop a tooth from hurting.  On Saturday we got permission to double the pain meds and the antibiotic.  This stopped the pain but caused me to itch like crazy.  Finally I went with a dose of NyQuil and was able to get a decent night's sleep.  Sunday night was even better.

Today I went to the dentist and was advised that I need a root canal which is scheduled for next Tuesday.  I've got more medicine to take until then.  The diet is still going well -- Bubba has already lost six pounds.  I will weigh in the morning and report on my progress.