Monthly Milestones 2015 {12}

Today will be the twelfth and last Monthly Milestones for 2015.  If you want to share a milestone post, just leave a comment below with a link to your milestone post, and I'll pop over and visit it and leave a comment, and hopefully some of my other readers will, too. :)  Normally, Monthly Milestones, where I will be giving you updates on how I am doing physically, mentally, etc., goes live on the first Saturday of every month.  I'm a day late this month because I wasn't home at all yesterday.

Just an FYI, I plan on keeping Monthly Milestones alive for 2016, but I will not be making it a link-up again at this time.  I do hope you stick with me next year as you have this year, though. :)

Here is how I am doing as of today:

Me as of today, December 6, 2015, at 226 lbs. (Thanks again to my son, Stephen, for being my photographer!)



1. My weight went up a little!  I had hoped that my weight would be down again this month, but it's not. :( I'm up 1/2 pound from last month.  I'll keep plugging away at it, though, and hopefully I will ring in the new year with a weight loss.
     
2. November was full of illness!   We've been dealing with a lot of crud in the house over the last 3 weeks especially.  We've had an ER visit with my youngest due to an asthma attack that resulted from hyperventilating due to the Croup, we've had lots of hoarseness, coughing and congestion, some fevers and overall miserableness.  My oldest  now has the ickies, and I'm dealing with it, too, on a milder scale.  So far we've avoid sinus infections or bronchitis/pneumonia, so we're hoping that we continue to avoid those things.  This particular bug seems to hold on for weeks, so even when you're over the worst of it, it's still not gone completely.    I've been cleaning/disinfecting like a mad woman, and I'm definitely looking forward to it being gone (hopefully) soon!
     
3. We're still plugging away with our new lifestyle choices.  It's been a milder start to the winter season (yes, I know it's not officially winter, but I consider winter starting on December 1st), but we've had lots of cold wind and rain (and illness as I mentioned above), so I've not been able to walk as much as I'd like.  However, I'm hoping to be able to get out a little more this next week as I feel able and as the weather permits.
   
   The holidays make it a little rougher to eat right, but I'm finding that "cheating" on a dietary change is always a bad thing.  The more gluten-free I eat, the better I feel, so I'm working a lot more diligently at that.  We found out the hard way that my middle and youngest kiddos must not eat gluten.  They got very hyper, lots of focus issues, had a lot of trouble sleeping, and a few other issues for a few days after they got a smaller amount of gluten, so it's a no-go for them, period.  Even my hubby and oldest feel better when we avoid gluten as a whole, so we'll be gluten-free as a family eventually, I'm sure.
      
4. My body is still fighting me off and on.  My newest random symptom has been dizziness/lightheaded-ness.  With the illness in the house, I'm not sure what is related to what.  I've also had some joint pain and weakness issues, especially in my hands.  This gets worse with a cold environment and has always been this way, so I'm assuming it's just the season at this time.  I am thinking at this point that my symptoms (weakness, pain, dizziness) are manageable for now, so I'm just keeping notes and planning to talk with my doctor about them when I see him at my next check up.  I may have to schedule it earlier than next summer, but we'll see. :) I definitely want to see if these symptoms continue past when I get over this illness and into the next few weeks.  I don't want to go in without anything consistent as I don't want things brushed off as "just Fibro".  Some of you will know exactly what I mean by that. :)  Anyway, prayers appreciated as we make decisions on if and when to see my doctor about these fluctuating symptoms.  Thanks!
   
   
5. Blog updates are still coming along!  Due to illness, updates on this blog and Natural and Free are going slower, but they are still coming along.   I'm hoping to post new recipes/info on my other blog by this weekend.  We'll see how I'm feeling and how much free time I actually get.  You don't get much when you're not feeling well, schooling at home, and playing nurse. :)
      
6. Overall progress this year: down 3 and 1/2 pounds!
    
   
   
   
           It's not much, but I'll take it! :)  It's been a rough year for me illness-wise, family health-wise, pain-wise, etc.  It took me awhile to start losing, and now that I've started, I'd like to continue.  I know my weight was up 1/2 lb. this month, but that's really trivial, and I think I can start losing again for next month. :)  Here's hoping, anyway!

That's about it for now.  How are you doing?  Are you reaching your goals?  Have you tried something new?  Come up with a new recipe?  I hope all is going well with you, and I hope you will leave a comment sharing your thoughts and/or milestones (with a link to your post, if you wish).  As always, I wish you the best of luck in all you do, and hope you will return soon! :)

(This post was originally posted on my original site, Fibro, Fit and Fab!)