Cycle Three: Achieve! Day 12 - The Biggest Loser Pt I

Hello dieters!


I left yesterday's blog entry with a question that stemmed from a massive weight loss in 2003. The question was, what was I doing that caused the sudden fluctuation in my weight and vaulted me into super skinny mode? 


One of the contributing factors in this situation was medication. By this time in question, I had been under my psychiatrist's care for about a year and a half. I was bouncing around taking different medication combination's until I could settle with one that worked. I wasn't finding any relief and found my daily habits and personality changing. I was given a prescription for a particular medication in August of 2003 and by the end of September I had lost about 30 lbs. This was a traumatic time as I had also been ill and hospitalized with double pneumonia. 

Hospitalized for pneumonia in Sept 2003

So where did this leave me? 
I was gaining energy by the day and becoming quite hyper. This is something that had never happened to me before.
I was hanging out with my best friend Yvonne and actually moved in with her for a few months. We did everything together. She had started to lose weight too and so we found ourselves in a routine of dancing three nights a week and eating strictly veggetables and lean protein, mainly chicken breasts. 


By January I had lost roughly 100 lbs and was well on my way to skinnyville! 

January 2004 - Weight approx 190 lbs

As my goal weight approached in March of 2004, I began to break mentally again. My mother and I were struggling to get along and this was a major stressor on my body. I landed in the psychiatric unit of the Hospital by the end of the month at my lowest adult weight 169 lbs. Every day I ran laps around the unit and also did core exercises in my room on the floor. Every day patients and nurses would ask me where I got my energy. I did not have an answer. After many daily consults, written tests, exams and blood work, it was determined that I did not actually have Bi-Polar disorder. I actually had clinical depression. My base mood level was actually at a level higher than average. So when I was not my normal happy self, I was merely depressed or sad. So my stabilized mood was really not a high or anxiety associated with a manic episode like that of someone who has bi-polar. My excessive happiness was really just my normal self. 

That being said, my medication was immediately altered but I had to remain in the hospital because of the side effects of the med changes. I was transferred off of 5N, the psych unit, and moved to a medical ward for observation during this time. Through out this part of the process, I was allowed to have unsupervised passed and leave the hospital grounds as long as I returned by the 9pm curfew.

About one week into my med change, I decided to go shopping with my mother at Walmart for some new jeans and snacks to take back to my room at the hospital. When I picked out my size 28 jeans, I tried them on and had problems with fitting them over my thighs. Did I grab the wrong size by mistake? Was I swollen from the new medication or had I really put on so much weight that I could no longer wear my skinny jeans?

Read Tomorrow's Blog Here! The Biggest Loser Pt II

Read Yesterday's Blog Here! Lockout Pt II