New Body, New Hair!

Well, I have gone and done it -- crept into the salon yesterday and let David do his handiwork. The result? I've got bangs and I'm blonde! My husband is thrilled and I am actually quite pleased myself. It's a dramatic departure from the previous me. I have naturally brown hair, and I had some highlights in there, but this is a full highlight job. Watch out for the new Melissa!

I was very, very happy when David told me he has seen Optifast hair loss before. He assured me that I still have hair and no bald spots and it will thicken back up in time. I asked about vitamins/supplements and Nioxin (they sell the salon-grade, high quality stuff) and he actually told me to just take prenatal vitamins! He didn't think the Nioxin kit they sell (which is expensive) was necessary, so I am just going to stick with my grocery store version.

Now, I ran the prenatal vitamin suggestion past by my dietitian later in the day, and she said yes, prenatals are very highly concentrated, but she wants me sticking with the Biotin. She doesn't want my iron levels too high. So I am continuing with 1,000/mg Biotin a day. I think I mentioned previously that I am seeing new hair growth -- it's amazing, actually. So this is working. (Obviously, the food is helping too!)

I'm "toying" with the idea of sneaking over to the department store after work and looking at some new clothes. I think I've dropped from a size 12 to a size 10, and I need to see if that's true. I feel more comfortable buying nicer clothes now because I've been holding pretty darn steady at 157 lbs. thanks to MyFitnessPal food tracker -- that thing really works! I'm blown away at how rarely my weight fluctuates these days. That really calms my anxiety, which flares up every now and then.

However, I am having problems psychologically when I exceed that MyFitnessPal recommended daily calorie intake for me (1,460 calories a day), but I'm working through it with the help of my friends on the Facebook Optifast Chat Support page and the clinic. I hate that red number with the minus sign in front of it that indicates you are over what you are allowed. It freaks me out and makes me think I am going to gain weight, get out of control, and end up right back where I started.

I know this is all in my head, but I'm now wired this way. I just put too much damn time and effort -- and had to exert the patience of Job -- to get the 80 lbs. off. I spent an incredible amount of money. And I am all too familiar with the odds that most will gain their weight right back. Constant vigilance is the key for me right now. I have to have it this way, because left to my own devices, slippage starts and it's off to the races. Also, in my case, weight loss is very, very difficult and a slow-going process. So it worries me.

I think in time, as I get more and more comfortable and more and more experienced in this maintenance game, things will get better for me. I'm feeling optimistic. The new hairstyle makes me feel all the more confident too. I'll get the hang of this. As they say, One Day At A Time!