It's Saturday, what can I say?

This past week has been a bit crazy for me.  Mother's Day was Sunday and I celebrated my wedding anniversary on Wednesday, May 12th.  You'd think I would be elated to have two great events in one week, but for some odd reason I've been down in the dumps this week.

In December 2009, I was diagnosed with Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD).  My legs and arms tend to move with involuntary muscle contractions and prevent me from getting great deep REM sleep.  After a sleep study the results showed I was having these movements 22 times or more per hour.  I had been gaining weight fast because the sleep I wasn't getting at night I replaced during the day while my son was at school and the Metabolism Monster slowed down to almost a dead halt.  I also have sleep apnea and look like Darth Vader when I go to bed at night.  Sleep apnea also causes weight gain my friends.

Those of you who also relate to being overweight, even obese, can relate that having health problems is no fun.  I also suffer from major depressive mood disorder and dermatological issues.  So what do you do when each day you swallow a bunch of pills to help your mood swings, help you not get panic attacks, relieve muscle spasms and sleep better?  If I had that answer, I'd be a wealthy woman and probably appear on Oprah!

I was cleaning houses until I noticed the time to finish was taking longer than normal, I was tired all the time, and becoming late to get my son at school.  Given the economy and my health, job loss right now is not preoccupying my every thought like it would most people.

I have found a release working in the school garden until I managed to injure my back between many hours of weeding and working out at the gym.  I look like a pregnant woman in front and ahem my son was born almost 10 years ago.  I also have anemia and hypoglycemia so I'm trying really hard to avoid getting Type II diabetes.  My first husband died from that at age 50 when my son was only 6 years old and it's not something I want to add on my list of aches and pains.

Currently I am going to physical therapy twice a week to work on my neurotransmitters in the brain and figure out how bad my autoimmune disorder is.  My first session was killer.  I'm taking anti-inflammatories but it's really hard when pain comes the day after a physical therapy session.  You could say I'm having a love affair with my heating pad but it only does so much, kinda like when you ask your husband to do things around the house.

I'm getting back on NutriSystem.  I had lost 12 pounds on it before and then tried to think I could do it "on my own" eating regular food and boom...I gained even more weight back than what I'd originally lost.  For time being I can't exercise at the gym til my physical therapy sessions are over but I'm not giving up.  So many of us struggle with obesity and in all honesty, I'm a compulsive over eater.  Stress and boredom lead me to the very foods that are destroying my health as I'm a carb freak, especially when it comes to sugar.

I hope that my honesty in posting here will be of some encouragement to others.  My mother is always calling me a "modern day Erma Bombeck" so my humor might just be contagious.  Today is a day off NutriSystem and I couldn't be happier.  NutriSystem has changed a lot of foods out and my next shipment comes soon.  It gets boring but I tell myself I have no choice.  We all know what it's like when those clothes don't fit yet you don't want to go and buy a larger size.

Hope all of you are enjoying your weekend so far.  As things come to mind, I will keep posting.