Pictures

Today is awesome. Yes it is. For starters I was able to get some decent sleep, which can really make a difference in how the day goes. Then my husband and I went out to lunch. (I, ahem, sleep til noon on my days off.) I had a wonderful low carb lunch and then went to tan.

This is my favorite bed. It's an Ergoline and it's huge(!) which means lots of space even for my ginormous butt.

And before anyone goes and gets all preachy on me about the sins of tanning, stop. I started tanning because a couple of months ago my doctor ran a bunch of blood tests and found a couple of major issues, one of which was a serious Vitamin D deficiency. I work nights and even though I try to get outside on my days off, apparently I don't expose enough skin (seriously...would you want to see me expose more skin? No, you wouldn't). After talking for a few minutes about the other stuff - vitamin B12 deficiency and hypothyroidism - he suggested that visiting the tanning bed a couple days a week would be a good way for me to get my Vitamin D. "Don't go crazy and try to get super dark because then you're in skin cancer country," were his exact words. Then he told me that my vitamin deficiencies are contributing to my anxiety and seasonal affective disorder. He also told me, and this was VERY interesting, that obesity causes most of the Vitamin D deficiency in developed nations because Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and fat cells like to suck it out of the bloodstream and store it where it cannot be utilized by the body. Interesting. So my husband and I talked about it and he drove me to the tanning salon where they hooked me up with a package and now I'm two shades darker and my vitamin levels are up. Win-win. I'm still having trouble remembering to take my thyroid medicine and my vitamins so my husband told me today that he's buying me a pill organizer (yes, like the older folks use) to help me remember to take my pills. I protested that since I only take a thyroid pill and vitamins, I don't need an "organizer." He made his point by explaining it wasn't for organization, just a visual reminder to take them and also a way to let me know if I've actually taken something already as I have a tendency to ask myself (out loud) if I've taken my pills today. Okay honey, you win, I'll use the old folks way.

After lunch my husband agreed to take some "Before" pictures of me since I got my awesome new digital camera and for whatever reason that is infinitely easier for him to work than the camera on my phone. So here they are! (And this is quite the step for me, posting them into the blogosphere, as I am very self-conscious about my looks.)

So this is me. Wt 304. Ht 5'5".

This shirt is a 24/26 and these jeans are size 26T because I like my jeans long.

Baby got back.

I hate how you can't tell that I have high cheekbones because my face is so round now. But I smile just the same because I'm happy about the journey I'm on and where it's taking me.