I don't weigh myself because it scares me and causes anxiety and I don't need that. I'm 5'2 and began at 140 pounds. For some people that doesn't sound like much but when you are very short it's like being the Pillsbury dough boy. I had a heart attack two years ago and it really spooked me. I was afraid to exercise. But five weeks ago I began chelation therapy and started feeling so good it was as if I HAD to move! It was like something freed me up. I began loving the feeling of walking and sweating again. My muscles started firming up in my legs. I put little three pound weights near my TV chair and the fan would cool me as I lifted those free weights (talk about being lazy ) . My son-in-law is a cardiologist and he thinks this chelation (removal of calcium, lead, mercury from the arteries) is hocus-pocus and that it's just the placebo effect. So be it! I also know I am very allergic to wheat (all breads, pastas, etc. have wheat in them). My abdoman will swell and nothing fits during this horrible three or four days of discomfort. In the past I've eaten a cracker or bread and sufferred for it thinking "it doesn't matter that much" but it does! So I must avoid wheat as if it were poison. Thanks for letting me share the good news that things are zipping up easier, energy is back and muscles are firming. Maybe I won't have to spend big bucks on liposuction after all
Psi

Hey, good for you! I'm sure that having had a heart attack once, you'll be checking with your doctor regularly regarding exercise.

Lots of people react badly to wheat. I have a friend who knows she shouldn't eat it, but sometimes she does anyway, and she gets swollen ankles and such. If I eat whole wheat I get terrible indigestion. Fortunately I love brown rice! (But I limit it for my weight loss program.)

There are lots of folks who will try to tell you what _not_ to do regarding chelation, supplements, and so on. You have to do what works for you.

I don't think 5'2" and 140 pounds makes you a candidate for liposuction--you were joking, right? That weight and height puts you above healthy weight, according to a chart I have, but certainly not in the obese category. So "take heart"!

Jay

SW: 196 5/24/04
CW: 178 8/4/04
GW: 145
Height: 5'4"

Thank you for the reply JayEll. There aren't many foods that do not contain wheat. I really have to hunt to find rice crackers, etc. And corn bread is not sour dough, but it works for me!
I was always encouraged to exercise for a heart rate of 120 by my cardiologist but I just felt insecure fearing a possible recurrent "attack".
I'm an RN and have researched chelation therapy in depth. I'm not here to propose this therapy to anyone-just that exercise was always fun for me before and I felt a great loss out of fear it would happen again if I exerted myself. The truth was I still didn't feel 100% after being discharged from the hospital. Since taking things into my own hands and trying this alternative method of clearing my arteries I have an inner knowing that it's ok-I can tell something is working.
I feel women are getting a bum deal when it comes to heart disease. We have different symptoms than men and we stress over emotional issues more. Many of us suffer "a broken heart" and continue on anyway, eating when we need solice. I think women who are nearing 50 and are premenopausal have not been warned that it's the number one killer of women and 500,000 of us are dying each year. In my case there was also a small stroke effecting my mental clarity. We are made to feel guilty about our weight and dress size but not enough education is given in order to save our lives. I just don't want one more woman out there who is feeling fatigued and dizzy to be ridiculed and ignored-told she "needs to exercise more" but isn't worked up by doing a simple treadmill test to investigate her heart function. This is not a heart health thread, I know. It's about success! And that's what I want for me and everyone on this board. Because of my loss the weight gain came quickly and further hindered my right to be successful. I want women on this board to be insured of a healthy heart and that they never take for granted the beautiful gift of moving, sweating, and energizing their way to increasing beauty and health.
Love, Psi

Psigrl, you might be interested in this recent article I found on MSNBC.com:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5635915/

It is titled "Heart Disease Differs in Women" by Rob Stein of the Washington Post. According to this article, chest pain in many women isn't caused by one main blockage, as it can be in men, but rather by arterial spasm. The article also says that one disturbing implication is that many women would not be helped by bypass surgery or angioplasty because of this difference.