Weaver's Web

I finally fell asleep about 2 last night.

After unwittingly eating Tabooleh, my gut rebelled last night & this morning I'm sore. My right ankle is still sore as well, but to my relief, it's not swollen or hot to the touch.

I'm majorly annoyed, both at myself and where I went to eat.

When I got home last night, I had a light meal (chicken curry - carry out, gluten free) and while my husband munched on his dinner I got down to business folding and putting shirts into boxes. I have a large amount of clothing and just like I'm letting go of the weight, I need to let go of the fabric.

I had sorted out all of the 5x shirts at least a month ago and hung them in another area of the walk-in and last night I reached clarity I HAD to get them moved out of my closet. I boxed up at least 30 shirts last night, maybe more. Nine are in a carton at my front desk waiting for a friend to come pick them up. Her son's a big boy and should be able to make use of at least 8 of them, plus she has an assortment of 'nephews' who're also young men 'of size', so anything that doesn't work for her son, should work for one of the other boys.

There is another box of at least 20 shirts now in my garage. I think come summer I'll begin listing them on eBay. Most are in superb, like new condition, most are office or dress shirts, and the quality on all of them is quite nice. I have a penchant for Lands End and every one of them is a Lands End shirt.

Hopefully this weekend, I'll begin boxing up the 4x's. These days, I routinely fit into a 3x and am even beginning to get into some of the 2's. I also need to start boxing up my sweaters and vests, and it's time to go thru the T's and other gym clothes. Some things will be given away now, and things that are in like new condition I think I'll put away till summer when there hopefully will be time to sell them.

This morning saw me at the gym for a 5.25 mile run (1:10 minutes to go that distance) after which I soaked for 10 in the tub and stepped on the scale. Sixty-five pounds are gone. When people have asked me how much more I want to lose, I've been saying rather manner-of-factly, about 110. I now need to start saying about 100. Tomorrow marks 4 months since I started. As of today, I can use the scale in my office without adding a counter weight; I'm at the scale's max limit, but I can use it. This is a milestone I'm savoring. It also means I'm right at the threshold of another milestone & it's a big one - getting out of the 300's into the 200's. I'm also closer to where I was when the arthritis got so bad and when this gain began, than to where I ended up. That's just 50 lbs away. I hope to get there by this coming summer. We shall see. I'll get there when I get there, but I will get there, and beyond.

Saw my physiatrist colleague after brunch, and had my prolotherapy. I'm sore now after the injections, but so far the results have been well worth the temporary soreness. The left ankle is definitely giving me a lot less grief, and the sensory neuropathy in the seural and saphenous nerves is markedly less painful. She's been injecting right where these nerves pierce the fascia of my left leg, and while I far from enjoying them, I'm loving the results. After a long day on my feet yesterday, I got out to my car at the far end of the lot, realized I'd left my phone on my desk so I turned and quick stepped back to my office to get it. I hit me as I was unlocking the door, there was absolutely no pain anywhere in my legs, ankles, joints, back, or anywhere else for that matter. I was moving without hesitation, without slowness, without thought.

And to think, it all started with giving up wheat.

I'm blissed out right now. It's the third time today. One giant ball of endorphins.

I was up @ 6 this morning & out the door by 7, on my way to the gym, my mind set on a run on the elliptical. Headphones on, Alanis Morrisette in my ears, I started at an easy gambol for 5 minutes, then ran for the next 45. I would have liked to have done the full hour, but lacked the time. Two weeks ago, the first time I did an hour in at least 9 years, I waddled away from the machine slowly, dripping sweat behind. I remember sitting in the men's locker thereafter, thinking I needed to shower. Five minutes later, I was still thinking the same, having not moved.

I was tired. Not crippled. Just tired. I had a bold sense of accomplishment & satisfaction. The euphoria of the endorphins however, eluded me that morning.

Not so today.

I got off the machine today because I had to. I walked away & 4 minutes later I was lathering up and rinsing off. I felt great. Better yet, nothing hurt.

30 minutes later I was sharing b'fast with two colleagues in the doctors' lounge at the hospital. Said my ER colleague, "you're looking thinner; are you?" I smiled. Said my physiatrist colleague, "I'll bet you just came from the gym." I nodded. I sipped my coffee, debating how much to share.

The physiatrist is a lovely woman, an osteopath & a recent permanent addition to the staff. She & I have spoken about my new reality a couple of weeks ago. "He's in remission," she informed the ER doc.

I explained to him the inadvertant discovery of my celiac disease, the rather sudden resolution of my arthritis as well as my psoriasis from eliminating all wheat, and my new sense of freedom. She asked how much I've lost.

"About 20."
"In a month?"
"Not quite."
She put down her Danish.

I noticed later, my legs are stronger. I'm beginning to see and feel the muscles in my legs and butt, & I'm relishing their awakening.

I move better. It's no longer the strain it was just a month ago.

I walked back over to the hospital @ noon time, intent on a light lunch. The day was sparklingly clear, the morning chill and fog long gone. I was rewarded with a reasonable choice to eat. The roasted veggies were heavy on the cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts, both cooked just to the point of starting to caramelize their natural sugars. The Caesar salad had been left undressed & was thankfully light on the croutons. Less to pick out. The main course was Jambalaya; I was able to pick out the chicken with just a modicum of the seasoned rice. I thought about the sausage, but decided it wasn't worth the risk, not knowing for sure if there were bread crumbs as a binder within. Similarly, I skipped the soup. For once, when I was done eating there still stuff on my plate. I had no urge to eat any more. As I dropped the paper plate into the trash, I thought, "who are you & what have you done with Weaver?"

Tonight was ripe for marital time. My ease of movement was there as well. I'm feeling as though years have been peeled back.

My personal doc has a coaching and psych background. She's been telling me to visualize the normal sized person within. I'm not there yet. I'm having too much fun getting re-acquainted with the able-bodied person within.

The perks are superb. If this is what giving up wheat will allow me to do again, I'm so there. This is my new paradigm.