Finally Updating.

I haven't updated in awhile. My Sunday updates went out the window when my weight loss stopped and I started having trouble with depression. I am still pretty depressed and really that is all I am currently trying to fix. I haven't been weighing myself, I have been using the derma roller but it is way too soon to see any difference. I am journaling and reading a lot and just trying to stay positive.

Using the derma roller is pretty painless and simple. The only place it causes discomfort for me is on my upper chest and neck area, so that is better than I expected. It does take me a long time to use it though. It was taking me over an hour to do my whole body (besides my back of course). Using the Bio Oil is the same story. It takes awhile to apply it, must be done both morning and night, and it isn't lasting very long. I was hoping since it was oil, the 4 oz bottle would last me at least a month, but my skin sucks it up. I will have to purchase a 4 oz bottle about every 2 weeks. I have noticed that my skin has vastly improved in softness since using the Bio Oil, so I expect it to work well with continued use.

I won't be weighing myself this week at all. I will do a regular update next Sunday. Hopefully by then I will have lost some weight, but if not then no-sweat. Reading more about the benefits of going low-carb makes it very worthwhile, even if I never lost another pound (though I really hope I lose more!, lol).

I broke down and bought a few things for fun. I bought some gel pens to make journaling more fun and colorful (silly how that is so mood boosting) and an ice-tea brewer. I have 4 unopened boxes of lose tea that need using. I really love iced-tea, but really suck at making it. I always used the Lipton's instant, but it seems like they don't even make it anymore. The Nestea instant is disgusting, and I can't seem to get bagged or lose tea to come out strong enough but not biter (no matter the amount of tea I use or the length of the brewing time). I am hoping the tea brewer solves this problem, but if not I will start looking at finding a better brand of tea. I am beginning to think that Lipton is the Folgers of the tea world (that is, utter crap unless it's the only thing you've ever tried).

That's all for now. Maybe there will be another post during the week, but I will for sure post my next Sunday update.

Ordered My Derma Roller Today.

The title says it all. I just completed my order on Amazon.com for a 1 mm derma roller and a 4 oz bottle of Bio Oil. I ordered K-Cups for the Keurig too, but that's a whole other topic thread! By the way, links are to the actual products that I ordered (same for the coffee brewer, that's the model my family owns). My order should get here Tuesday :D

I have considered buying a derma roller and Bio Oil for nearly a year. What finally pushed me into ordering today is my lack of progress with the weight loss arena. My weight seems stuck around the 215 lbs mark. I have been eating pretty decently this week, although not stellar. I will admit that a couple of days I had a "low carb" bun (there were 15 grams of carbs in the whole thing). I haven't been having hardly any cream since I found out the carb count listed on the carton is a bald-faced lie. I try to use it sparingly and barely had any cream at all this week. I have been having more cheese than I should. Stupid cheese crisps are so yummy and only take a minute and a half in the microwave to make, so I have been eating them as snacks lately. I haven't really been getting many carbs though.

I weighed myself today, and I am down half a pound since Sunday! I was so mad I felt like throwing the scale in the garbage. I have eaten conservatively today so far. I am going to try to restrict my diet more during next week to see if that helps my weight loss pick up again. I am planning to cutting back to only one serving of cheese per day, no caffeine, more water, more salad, more fat, less protein, and no cream. If I don't lose weight next week I just may go bonkers! lol I am just frustrated that I am not moving forward. That 6 lb gain last week felt like a slap in the face.

To be honest, the weight gain has really taken a toll on me emotionally. I feel sort of blue this week and can feel the nasty fingers of depression digging in my brain and spirit. I have been watching a lot of TV to distract myself and have been craving extra attention and comfort from my husband. I am trying so hard to not let this set back discourage me, but it feels like I am losing that fight. Part of my fight is to find positive ways to make progress in my life. I have been journaling, I am doing extra cleaning in the basement even though I hate it so, and I am going to attempt to improve my skin quality.

I am excited about getting the derma roller. It is a huge experiment for me, and could potentially rid me of most of my horrid skin issues. My hormones may be out of whack from my aging IUD (I need to get it removed in a month or two as that's when the 5 year mark is up). I have been breaking out on my face especially bad, but it is also on my chest, arms, and back. I am also having a flare up of ingrown hairs on my chin. I feel like my skin just exploded this last week. I know it's not THAT bad, but I am still reminded of the Baron Harkonnen from Dune...Acne is suppose to improve with a derma roller's use, as is scarring, loss of elasticity, wrinkles, discolorization, and so on and so forth.

I will be taking photos of each area I plan to use the derma roller. I hope to get rid of acne scars and slight wrinkles on my face, scarring and stretch marks on my legs, arms, abdomen, and chest, as well as loose skin on my abdomen. So basically, I will be taking pictures of my entire body, lol not quite, but nearly. I won't be posting my "before" pictures until I have some "after" pictures to go along with them. I plan on taking pictures at one month intervals. Each month I will post my previous picture alongside my current picture, then a comparison between current and "before."

As far as actual use goes, I plan on using the derma roller along with Bio Oil. I will use the roller lightly 2 or 3 times a week. The Bio Oil I am planning on using every day, including immediately after every derma roller use. I am starting with a 1 mm needle length and will stick with that size for 6 months. After the 6 months are up I plan on using a 2mm size on areas that are more deeply damaged such as my loose skin and the deep stretch marks. I may buy a .5mm size for using on my face, but haven't decided for sure or not yet.

I didn't think my husband would use a derma roller and minoxidil (generic rogaine basically) on a daily basis, so I didn't order those for him. I told him I had ordered a couple things from Amazon, and he was getting all excited that I had ordered a derma roller for him. Bad communication, bad! lol So I made another order for him. I got a .5mm size derma roller for him, as that is the size recommended for treatment of hair loss. I have my doubts that he will use it like he is supposed to, but here's hoping it's not a total waste of money! He will need to use the derma roller lightly every morning, followed by an application of minoxidil as well as another application of minoxidil every night. He hasn't even been taking his pills everyday, so I'm not sure how it will go with poking holes in his head. Hopefully he cares about going bald enough to stick with it.

I will be taking photos and tracking my husbands progress with treating his thinning and receding hair. Hopefully I end up with impressive "after" photos for both of us! I do believe I will be a bit impatient to see the results. I am trying to talk myself into lowering my expectations, but it isn't working. I really don't want to end up disappointed, especially since I am using this as a coping method for my lack of recent weight loss. Even if my scars don't fade drastically, any improvement would be nice.

That is all for now. Hopefully I manage to lose a bit more weight by Sunday, but I'm not going to be holding my breath. At least Tuesday will be an exciting day!

August 14th weigh in.

What a horrible week :( Well okay, the week itself wasn't so bad, but my weight loss was. We had a birthday this week and I caved and had some cake. To be exact I had two small pieces of cake and two servings of sugar free ice cream (some cake and ice cream twice during the week). Otherwise I was very good on my diet. Those two days of a little splurge killed my weight loss. Looking back, the cake was absolutely not worth it. I felt horrible from the cake. I had terrible stomach cramps and not so fun bathroom time.

I really don't want to list my weight. I felt so disappointed when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw that +6 lbs. It seems unreal to me that I would gain 6 lbs from two little pieces of cake. I have been having such a hard time not giving in to the discouragement. It would be so easy to just go binge on fast food right now, and it is tempting except for the fact that I know I would feel way worse for it. I am trying to remind myself that this is a temporary set back, and most likely some little oddity. There is no way that those 6 lbs are fat. Most likely it is water weight and bloating from the carbs, possibly some constipation too (gross yes, but still a possibility).

So much for my great progress last weigh in, but I am trying hard to stay positive. I am not going to think about the weight loss this week if I can help it. I am going to just try to enjoy the week, relax, and eat tasty food that fits my diet. We'll see what next Sunday holds in store for me.

August 7th weigh in.

I would say that this last week was a big success as far as shedding pounds. During last week I lost 4.5 lbs! Hooray, I say! I am very pleased with that large of a number. I had been losing very slowly in the month of July, so starting August off with a 4.5 pound loss is thrilling! I haven't lost so much weight in one week since I started doing low-carb this last time. During the first month I was losing 5 lbs each week. I'm not sure if this past week was a fluke, or if my weight loss will be a little faster this month. Either way, I am at 209 lbs now.

Since I am under 210, it's time for another reward! I get a reward for every 10 lbs that I lose, so my next reward will be when I get under 200 lbs. I am really looking forward to getting below 200, but I am pleased to be under 210. I have been thinking of trying to get into art a little more. When I was younger I enjoyed drawing, but never had any lessons. So since it is something I have been wanting to do for awhile, I decided to spend $20 on some drawing stuff. I bought a pencil and charcoal set and a beginners lesson book for drawing and sketching. I have some old sketch paper that I'll use for the early basic stuff, then buy better paper later on. It isn't beauty related at all, but it should be a source of relaxation and stress relief, so perhaps it is a tiny bit beauty related :D

I do notice that I am getting thinner. I think my jeans are getting a bit looser, though not by much. My husband said I looked like I had lost weight, but who knows if he really meant it, or was just trying to be nice. I will need to buy a new pair of pajama pants soon. I had gotten them before losing weight. 40 lbs lost and they no longer stay up. I do wish I would lose fat from allover my body at the same rate. I feel like I've lost the most off my face and stomach, yet not much off my upper arms. I've always hated my upper-arm fat, but I feel like it is becoming more noticeable as the rest of my body shrinks. I suppose it will all even out eventually, I just really don't like the way it looks now, lol

There isn't really anything besides my weight loss to talk about. My skin condition has stayed the same, so has my hair and nails. My nails and hair do seem stronger than they did before taking the omega 3 and biotin pills, but I haven't really seen additional improvement in the past couple weeks. I am hopping to see more results after a couple months total have passed. After all, I just opened the second bottle of the biotin pills last night, so I've only gone through one month using them. I have read that it can take around 3-4 months to see the full benefit, so it's not like I really even expected any results yet.

Speaking of pills, I didn't take mine a couple days last week. This is the first time I have missed any of my pills. Our schedule was all messed up because of my husband working ridiculously long hours for a few days in a row. I always stay up until he gets home so we can spend a couple minutes talking before bed. There were a couple nights that we didn't get to bed until after 2 or 3 in the morning, and I kept forgetting my pills. Hopefully I do better this week with taking my pills morning and night every day.

Another 4.5 lbs lost this week would be awesome, but I am just hopping for the 2lbs per week. Right now I am 3 lbs ahead of schedule. If I follow my 2 lbs each week goal, I will be at 170 by Christmas. It would be really great it I could lose a bit more and be a few lbs lighter by the then. I don't want to get my expectations too high though. Whether the weight is lost quickly or slowly, I'll be happy when it's finally gone!