"Cryotherapy Queen"

It's been awhile since my last check-in here, but I wanted to offer a few quick updates!

First - yes, I continue to do daily whole body cryotherapy.  At least I do it every single day that I can.  When I travel, it can be challenging and recently there was a long stretch (almost 2 1/2 weeks!) where both travel and fate conspired to prevent me from getting my "chill" on.  

Was it a problem?  You betcha!  I came to realize just how vital cryotherapy is in my life pretty fast!

You see, since I started doing daily cryotherapy in September 2016, I had not gotten sick at all.  I came close a few times - I was sick when I first started - but I hadn't gotten sick.  No colds, nothing.  As someone who is always the first to catch any cold, this was a bit monumental for me!  I watched as those around me caught and suffered terrible colds, but I seemed to remain immune!  It was a bit mystifying, really...

Well, no sooner had I missed a series of days due to travel, lost a good bit of sleep and endured some stress and wham! - I caught a nasty cold that I am still working to get over.  

If cryotherapy was, in fact, boosting my immune system to keep me healthy - then, no doubt the lack of it left me vulnerable and exposed when I needed it most.    It's hardly scientific evidence, but it's pretty compelling for me personally.  

I can only tell you this - for my entire life, everyone who knows me will tell you that I am known to be the first person to catch a cold.  If someone sneezes within 5 miles of me, I catch the flu.  The period from September 2016 - June 2017 that I went without a single cold is incredibly remarkable and worth taking note of.

Second, my weight?

Well - it's exactly the same as my last update.  That might not seem like an impressive victory, but it is for a couple of reasons...

(1) I just returned from a long vacation where I am pretty sure I ate California.  Seriously.  If there is a food shortage on the West coast, look no further - I am squarely to blame.  I ate everything that wasn't nailed down.  Wolfgang Puck came to my table at Spago (true story) to introduce himself (still true) and get a look at the woman who ate his entire menu offering - and then the menu itself (possibly exaggerated).

(2) I might weigh the same, but I must have lost inches - because I am no longer a size 8/10.  I am solidly an 8 and occasionally a 6.  Most of my size 10's are now too big.  

(3)  I may or may not be eating Dorito's as I write this.  There could be many reasons that my fingertips are orange.

Here is a picture of me from one year ago (taken July 2, 2016) and another from last week.

Your welcome to be nice about it, but let's be real.  The 'me' on the left looks like it actually ate the 'me' on the right.  It's not a bad picture (okay, it's not just a bad picture) because all my pictures from this day are the same...I literally look inflated.

I just want to go back in time to that poor girl, pat her on the back and tell her it's going to be ok...

The funny thing is, when I look closely - the angle is very close.  There's no mistaking it's still me.  The slightly smaller right eye, the slightly raised left brow, the little smirk/upturn of my half-smile on the left side of my mouth...the things that make me are all present.  Other then my hair and slightly darker lighting...and a ton of weight - everything is the same.

So - that's my personal update!  I happen to have one more tidbit to share - but I am going to give that one it's very own post...coming soon!

120 Days: An Update from Way Beyond

Remember Day 1?  194 lbs, Size 14 on 9/26/16.

Happy 2017!

It's a New Year and a "New Me", for sure...and a huge thanks to cryotherapy for that - so it seems only fitting to drop in and give an update from "beyond".

Just a quick reminder where I started way back on September 26, 2016.  My weight was 194 on that day and I wore a size 14.  The picture to the left is me on day one, getting ready to start my 30-days of "consecutive" cryotherapy.  (I use quotes here because it didn't and still doesn't include Sundays, and the occasional impossible travel day or holiday, etc).

So, what's happened since then?

Now:  156.5 lbs, Size 8/10

Well, I am still doing my "daily" cryotherapy and still losing weight, albeit slower now - but that's ok...because I'm close enough to my goal to take it slow and steady.

My weight, as of this morning, was 156.5 and I wear a size 8/10 (depending on the brand/item) - and I am just fine with that!

My goal is to drop about 7 more pounds, to get to a solid 150 stable.  I don't really care if I drop another size or not.  If I do, I do.  If I don't, I'm ok with that too.  My next goal will be more about toning, rather than pounds anyway.

I found a really compelling graphic image in my phone that I wanted to share with you.

Please allow me to explain what you are looking at below.

© Copyright 2017.
This image is the sole
property of The Cryotherapy Diaries.
Interested parties may link to this post/blog,
but contact me to discuss any further permissions.
Cryo954 always granted permanent rights/permissions.

The image to the left is a screenshot from my LoseIt app.  

As you can see, I have charted my weight since well before Feb 2014.  More than 3 years.  

You can also see that my weight pretty consistently stayed between 197 and above 200.  The highest being that tall peak of 218 just before the down pattern begins.  It was at that point that I had reached my limit and went to my doctor and got a prescription for Qsymia, an appetite suppressant.  

You can see from the slight drop, that I had some success.  I dropped 24 lbs in about 3 months and got to 194 lbs and then I hit a plateau.  From June to September, I stayed at that 194 level.  Sometimes varying a bit, but always bouncing back to 194.  

On 9/26/16 I introduced daily cryotherapy - and 9/30/16 (indicated) was my first time logging the weight again at 189 (matches the blog date/entry).  

From there, the picture tells the story.  You can clearly see the line sharply and dramatically goes down.  This image shows what I personally consider to be the most compelling evidence of the cryotherapy effect on my weight loss journey.

Beyond weight loss, I am sleeping just fine - when I'm not, it has nothing to do with insomnia!  My skin is super soft, I have no sagging skin that is usually associated with a large weight loss (yay!), I have no real anxiety and I feel great more often than not!

I had more than my fair share of some intense personal issues that were a bit stressing and put a strain on my smile, and I did my best to manage them. 

Some days I did better than others.  I had a rough week or two, but looking back I believe that I did the best I could.  I am learning to let go of things beyond my control, stop letting my happiness be dictated by others and to get back to my own wild and whimsical ways.  Focus on myself, work and doing the best I can in any given day.  

Inspired probably by this blog, I recently took up a form of private journaling some of my more complicated thoughts & feelings as a means of releasing the pressure, since I had no way of honestly talking about it with anyone otherwise.  That seems to be relieving some internal turmoil.  There was a lot built up there and some new plot twists & turns were only further adding confusion for me daily.  I think I was a bit like a pressure cooker inside without a means of release.  Whether or not I will ever share the contents of those entries with the cast of characters featured in my scribblings is unlikely, but... I have learned to never say "never".  

In any case, I will give credit for both the inspired "writing it out" and the clear head to focus on coping with (not resolving) complex thoughts/feelings to cryotherapy as well, since it brought me to this blog...and probably a better sense of calm.  I think I can fairly say that in another time and place I might have handled things more recklessly and more emotionally.

Stress aside, I feel pretty great over all.  I think clothes shopping is one of my favorite things to do, which is good since I have now replaced my entire wardrobe at least twice.  I enjoy picking out my clothes each day in a way that I never did before.  

On a recent night out, I even had some random attention which was pretty flattering.  The first time I noticed it, I was completely thrilled by it.  It was just a very deliberate 'looking over' that was hard to miss when I walked past two men to a table in a restaurant.  It was so blatant that I started laughing.  Smooth, right?  No suave hair flip...no saucy hip swish...me?  I burst out laughing.  I was tempted to thank him and offer him a high-five, but I'm guessing that would have been even less 'cool'.

The second time, later the same night, a man actually approached me to tell me how much he loved my dress and compliment me.  I don't think I even took it as a 'pick up', because I was too busy enjoying the compliment.  I'm pretty sure I told him who the designer was and then discussed whether or not the color red was lucky or not.  Since we were in a casino, I assumed he meant the slot machines.  Later, I realized I might have been missing the obvious double entendre he was trying to hint at with my dress being "lucky".  I suppose it's a good thing I'm married, because clearly, I have absolutely zero "game".  Social misfit, party of one - but as long as I am amused and entertained, I'm not minding that.  


I've brought a few friends to cryotherapy and I'm going to keep it up...for as long as my friends at Cryo954 can put up with me, I'm going to keep showing up.  It's become a cornerstone of my routine and it's incredibly important to me as a part of my total wellness.






XOXOXO,
Christine ♥