8 lbs gone!

Many people thing weight loss is simple.  Many people know that it's HARD!  For me it's one of those hard things to do.


I may be chubby but I also have a medical condition.


As many people know I have Lymphedemea of the legs.  Which is a condition of fluid retention and tissue swelling that is caused by a non working lymphatic system. (It doesn't have a pump like the heart) The Lymphatic system returns the interstitial fluid to the thoracic duct and then to the blood stream, where it is recirculated back to the tissues.  


In short words my lymphatic system doesn't work the way it is supposed to.  In order for mine to circulate I have to open lymph nodes to get my system up and moving.   This I have to do every day.


So losing this 8 lbs is a huge accomplishment.  I'm feeling great about myself and less sluggish. I like the feeling of my muscles twitching while in a cool down.   


I haven't been able to do  much exercise over the years because of carrying the extra lymphatic weight in my legs.  Yes many people find blames for gaining weight but this was in-fact true never mind the two surgeries on my ankle.  Now that my ankle is fixed and pain free I made my mind up that I was going to be able to walk a mile by the end of March.  


Well I've met my goal!  I'm so proud of myself, it wasn't easy at first but I did do it.  


At first I was lucky if I could walk around the building once.  But I continued to push myself to do so.  By now people must be thinking how simple is walking around a building once?  Well remember I was telling you about the weight of the fluid in my legs well that makes walking difficult.  To give you an idea it's almost like adding a total of four water gallon to each leg.  That's two gallons on each leg, filled with water.  Just to give you an idea.  One gallon of water is about 8 lbs.  So 8 + 8 = 16 lbs x 2 for both legs =  32 lbs so just with fluid it's about 32 extra pounds in my legs that I'm carrying around.  So see how hard it is to just walk once around the building?


But yet I pushed myself to do this.  It fully is if you make up your mind you can accomplish anything.  It took me a week to be able to walk 5 times around the building.  5 times around = 1 mile.  At first it took me for what seemed forever to do this.  But if you go back to my staying of I love the way my muscles feel when then twitch key word being muscles I'm able to do the mile in 15 minutes. (GO ME!!!!!!) 


Since walking a mile every day 7 days a week I have lost 8 lbs.  I couldn't believe it.  I had a pair of jeans that were tight lets just say if I would sit down I couldn't breath.  I tried them on the other day and they fit.  I have room in them and I can even sit down and breath.  


Yes I have more weight to lose, and yes I do hope and pray that it's going to happen. Slow at first is always the best way to go, for getting back into shape.  But it will happen, and who knows maybe losing the weight and walking a mile + will help my lymphatic system even more.  The more I can keep my legs moving the more the lymphatic system will start flowing more and more.  


I love having this much energy! It feels great! That I'm even going to try and take another mile walk today. It's such a beautiful day out that I just want to take advantage of it.