All clear!
Thursday August 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pmI got the results back from my last CT this morning, and everything looks normal. Its so fascinating to me that somebody out there has just looked at all my insides, and it def. gives me great peace of mind to realize not only are there no signs of cancer, but all my organs look and are functioning normally. Its pretty darn neat they don’t have to cut people open to determine that 
They did find some nodes that were enlarged, one in my groin that’s bigger then 1cm but with everything else looking good and the blood work all normal, I’ve been given the all clear. I’m scheduled for another neck CT at the end of October (3 months from the first one) just to see if things are growing/shrinking or staying the same.
So .. that brings up the question .. why do I feel so lousy. Well both the doc.s believe I have some sort of really nasty virus, like mono. But seriously 5 months of this nonsense is enough. My main complaints are tiredness and the swollen nodes, and I have a hard time thinking clearly. It basically just sucks, but I’ve come to the decision that I’m really not helping myself by letting the exhaustion take over my life. What am I going to do about it? Diet & exercise of course!
Yesterday I lent my South Beach diet cookbooks to Nikki and then realized I should really start eating more of those low carb low fat meals. Then I was in BJs and saw they had the latest South Beach book, South Beach Supercharged. Now .. I’ve never done the real South Beach plan .. I never really felt the need to ‘jump start’ losing weight. I just think that their recipes are a healthy way of eating. But, this time I think I need to do something to shock my body back to normal. Or I could really mess with my immune system and end up in bed for a few days .. but I figure what’s a few more days when its been over 4 months of that 
Basically I have nothing to lose, and I’ve run out of excuses.
What’s the difference with South Beach Supercharged? From what I can tell .. they added an exercise plan to the original plan. I’m not 100% sure, because I dont have the 1st book with me at the moment, but the meal plan seems alot like the 1st book. Luckily, my taste buds have certainly expanded since my family first did SoBe in 2003, because most of the meals in the first two weeks sound yummy to me. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to make it through this time.
The exercise plans in the book are really simple, walking for cardio, chair exercises for strength training. I’m certainly going to put the Wii Fit to use, and it’ll be nice to get the dogs to walk with me. I recently bought them new harnesses so hopefully that will stop their pulling and they’ll get the exercise they really need too.
I’m hoping to start tomorrow .. I’ll fill you in tomorrow on my stats (no .. I don’t have the guts to post pictures like Keri) I’m really looking forward to joining all of you losers out there!
On this day: Workout #1 .. success?
On the bandwagon
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 at 10:58 amThank you to all the biggest loser girls for blogging your progress, you’ve inspired me to make an effort to eat healthier. Yesterday I even put together a meal plan for the week, which includes making lunches in the morning so that when I get hungry I can just grab and eat, rather then just grabbing the goldfish crackers I’ll be doubling up where I can for lunches and so that I can freeze meals for later. I even packed todays lunches in little boxes, filling in the empty space with baby carrots, almost bento style If I really pick up this habit I might really start making bento boxes, how fun!
Tues
Lunch: Ham sandwich & mini carrots
Dinner: Turkey Tacos
Snacks: applesauce, celery & pnut butter
Wed
Lunch: Taco salad
Dinner: Grilled chicken breasts, brown rice & veggies
Snacks: applesauce, celery & pnut butter, chocolate pudding
Thurs
Lunch: Sante-fe like salad, chicken breasts, black beans
Dinner: Baked ziti, small caesar salad (I know this isn’t that healthy, but I want it)
Snacks: applesauce, celery & pnut butter
Fri
Lunch: Tomato, basil & mozzarella sandwich
Dinner: Hamburgers
Snacks: apple, celery & pnut butter
Sat
Lunch: Hamburger
Dinner: Auntie Karen’s Shrimp
Snacks: applesauce, celery & pnut butter, cookie
Sun
Lunch: Ham sandwich & mini carrots
Dinner: Pizza
Snacks: apple, celery & pnut butter
Wii Fit .. first impressions
Wednesday May 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pmIts fun! First it does all sorts of calculations by your age, weight, height .. my Wii Fit age is 44, my BMI is normal (I knew that). Then the Wii helps you pick a goal .. mine suggested a BMI of 22 which would require me to loose 10 or 11 lbs (i forgot already, but my BMI was only 23.something) .. I would be happy to lose that! Wii Fit is alot like brain age, where it suggests you train every day and your ‘fit age’ will improve. The first tests and the first yoga poses I did .. the system told me I had excellent posture and balance. Then I did the tree pose, which I suck at normally, and yeah .. I was terrible. I was a little disappointed the system didnt recommend short cuts, like putting your foot to your calf rather then your thigh muscle to start out .. which is the way I did it .. and I still sucked I went on to play the balance games, where I scored ‘unbalanced’ every time, The aerobics exercises were fun, especially hoola hoop which i’m proud to say I finally got the hang of. The first time I did it, i let the hoop fall .. and they let you know loud and clear that YOU FAILED.
I like how it tracks your ‘fit minutes’ rather then you guessing how much time you exercised by the amount of time you’re standing infront of the TV. I played Wii Fit for 53 minutes today (according to the wii) and I banked up 26 fit minutes. I’d like to try to start around 30 minutes daily, but today I didn’t change out of my jeans, so I didn’t really do any strength training or extra aerobics.
The best part of wii fit for me right now? Is that your mii’s workout with you. This summer I brought my Wii to Hive and a bunch of my friends made their own mii’s. So .. when I did step aerobics, Jason was on my left and Angelle was on my right. When I was jogging, Nikki & Jason happened to pass me running together, then my dad went by, a few mii’s I recognized were along the way cheering me on. Eventually I passed Big Tranny and felt so proud Anyways .. its almost like I’m exercising with my friends, and what could be better then that.
On this day: A Baby Shower For Liz & Ella
I know .. it’s late
Thursday April 24th, 2008 at 12:31 amBut I’m wide awake now. All day today I was exhausted, just wanted to nap .. but now I’m awake. It sucks, really.
Today I designed a new theme for this blog .. lookout for it around May 1st.
Then I decided to go through my old photos and see if I have any good ones to share .. and I realized 2 things .. I pretty much stopped getting infront of the camera around 2005 and I used to be alot thinner. So now I’m trying to figure out how to get back to that smaller size. My gym membership is over next month, I should really cancel it because there are cheaper gyms around here now, plus if I can’t make myself workout at the house, there’s no way I’m going to faithfully make it to the gym. I need to start walking or running daily .. preferably with the dogs. And eating correctly .. because eventhough my nutragrain waffle with “lite” syrup for breakfast wasn’t too bad .. the double helping of fried rice for lunch was. I’m having a real issue / fear of eating turkey sandwiches or salad for lunch for the rest of my life to be healthy :\ But its seriously time to make a change since I have no energy and no money for new clothes (I actually dont fit into half my wardrobe).
I also need to get my hair done. When my highlights fade or grow out .. I start pulling my hair back .. when I pull my hair back, it goes flat on top .. which looks so ugly. I need to cut it short again .. short and cute.
Blah .. just a late night rant .. its really time to get some sleep. Hope everybody has a good day tomorrow!!
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Happy Easter!
Sunday March 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 amAfter a very long week, my little family is all back in our home .. and everybody is sleeping but me. The dogs are totally worn out from running around with Rocky this week, Sean is also catching up on some much needed rest. So I’m here, trying to figure out what to cook for Easter dinner, as all the stores are closed and I got home too late last night to shop. Oh well ..
So .. I had a free week this week .. and what did I get done? Not as much as I had expected. I had a ton of craft projects to complete, photos to edit, paperwork to file .. but none of it got done. I’m starting to think I really need a schedule. Its not something you hear to often, but I think I have too much free time. Yes, you read that right .. too much free time. I dont have a regular day job, I dont have kids, I dont have any structure to my day at all .. so why can’t I make time to visit the gym daily .. or scrub the soap scum from my shower once a week? When I look back at my day or weeks gone by .. most of my time is spent on the couch, with a dog in my lap and me surfing around on all my favorite friends’ sites .. reading about everything they’re doing and realizing I’m not doing ANYTHING! I could be building the garden I designed last year, painting touch up paint on my walls, scrubbing showers, sewing special projects that I could actually sell online, cooking meals and photographing them, oh .. so many different things .. but none of it is happening. I realize I have very little energy right now, but that would change if I could start exercising regularly and eating regular, healthy meals.
So .. do any of you guys out there have schedules? Especially you SAHMs .. I dont even know where to get started, considering I dont usually get dressed until afternoon most days anyway. I guess a schedule is really a work in progress .. so if you guys have suggestions, or have things that help you organize task lists .. let me know!
View 3 Comments | Add a CommentOn this day: Getting better all the time ...
Note to self..
Saturday February 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 pmThe gym closes at 7pm on Saturday and 5:30 on Sunday.
I *almost* made it to the gym 3 times this week .. but instead I went grocery shopping and made fried rice with brown rice, chicken and lots of veggies.
No Comments | Add a CommentOn this day: My awesome office project!
A small victory
Thursday January 31st, 2008 at 10:14 amMade it to the gym again last night! And did 40 min of cardio, with 30 min of that being interval training (3 min L4, 2 min L7, repeat 6 times) .. yay for me!
Today the dogs are nuts for some reason .. I think they want to go to the dog park, but Keri is on her way over with the kids for a photoshoot .. they’ll just have to wait til tomorrow!
No Comments | Add a CommentYesterday ..
Wednesday January 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pmI didn’t vote .. I know I’m bad. The thing is, I continued to flip-flop on that stupid amendment all day long, yes or no, yes or no. So I decided to leave it up to everybody else in the state, I’m fine with whatever they choose. Turns out they chose yes. Rumor has it that the amendment is going to be challenged in court, but hopefully it’ll stick around, I was kinda getting used to the idea of a few tax breaks. But what I really hope for is that those important people up in Tallahassee continue to figure out other solutions to our property tax issue.
What I actually did do yesterday .. is go to the gym. Yeah, remember that post from before the first of the year with all my resolutions and such. Oh, and that 25 lbs to go ticker at the top of this site .. yeah, before yesterday I hadn’t been to the gym since last year (December 31st to be exact). I know, I know .. I had a plan, I had a time scheduled in my day to drag my butt to the gym, but my schedule had to change. I had planned on making the morning my workout time, but I came to realize that mornings are when I’m the most productive for work. I’d get up, take care of the pups, and then sit at the computer to check my email and 4 hours later I’d have completed all my work for the day, but hadn’t made it to the gym. Last night I realized that I’m usually sitting in front of the TV from 6pm on. I know, sad. But the dogs are usually curled up on top of me, and its so nice and warm. So after my fix of national news, I picked myself up and made the half hour drive to our nearest gym, and had my first workout of the year. Yippie!
I used to think I hated working out at night. It would take me awhile to calm down and relax after a workout, which would make it hard to sleep. But I remembered that when I first started last time, I was EXHAUSTED after every workout. So this might actually work out well. I’m going to try my hardest to make it a habit.
Onto today .. our oven stopped working. I really dont know what happened, Thursday it was having problems preheating, I put it on broil instead of bake, and it seemed to fix the problem. Saturday I baked a bunch of cookies for Keith’s birthday present, and didn’t really notice a problem. Although Sean swears the first batches were undercooked, and I swear the last batches were over cooked :\ Onto Sunday and I really wanted one of these Pillsbury whole wheat dinner rolls I recently picked up .. they’re just awesome, nice crusty outside, warm and soft inside (I WANT ONE NOW!!) .. but I turned the oven on and forgot about it. A half hour later I remembered and went to put the rolls in, and the oven was cold 
I then slammed the oven door about 10 times, but that didn’t fix it, HA. Fast forward to last night, I tried to heat the oven up for shits and giggles .. and nothing happened. So Sears is now on its way to take a look. I’ll update you later. Homeownership is so great. Why do we have such problems with our appliances?!? Ugh.
Cookies for breakfast
Friday December 28th, 2007 at 10:41 amI am actually getting sick of cookies but I hate to throw them out. There were tons of good food and great times this Christmas, I was pretty sad for it to end. Liz uploaded pictures [click here] .. Sean also got a flip video recorder, so there are a couple silly short videos on my youtube account.
There were a bunch of really good gifts given and recieved through the family this year. I made my mom a knitting backpack, and put together a photo album for Liz of Ella’s first year, broken down week by week. Sean got a hot dog griller and a ton of really nice tools from his Mom. Dad got a nintendo DS and a iPod dock for his home stereo receiver. Liz got a Canon XTi camera, so look forward to amazing photos from her. Mom also got an iPod and a GPS unit for her car. And I feel totally spoiled this Christmas, some of the highlights are a Cuisineart Griller that makes awesome paninis and other things I haven’t tried yet, a speaker dock for my iPod so I can listen to music in my sewing room, and Sean got me a Mac Pro (desktop) that is much more powerful then my laptop, so that I can edit photos faster, and spend more time on customers, to get my photography business up and running.
So onto 2008 right? I’ve been trying to think of my new years resolutions this year. For one, I want to eat at home more, and healthier. When I go out to run errands, because we’re at least 20 min from shopping areas, I’m usually out for 2-4 hours, and I almost always get hungry. I want to stop snacking on fast food and get in the habit of packing an apple or celery sticks before I walk out the door. Continuing on that train of thought, of course I want to lose weight. I estimate I have 20 - 25 lbs to lose now, but I refuse to step on that scale yet. I started an account on traineo.com and I’ll have a little ticker on this page to keep me motivated. I’ve picked a time to do my cardio daily (right after the puppies start their morning nap, usually around 8:30). And hopefully once I get back in a schedule, I’ll make a 2nd visit to the gym on some days for yoga or other classes. Lastly I want to make a real effort to start my photo businesses. I plan on joining local business organizations and write up a business plan.
Alright that’s probably a long update. Time to go clean the kitchen! Hope everybody has a good New Years!
No Comments | Add a CommentMeal Plan Monday
Monday October 1st, 2007 at 1:07 pmIn light of my recently discovered current weight (see post below) I think Meal Plan Monday will really help me stick to eating healthier. Thanks to eDiets & Body for Life .. here is my meal plan for the week.
Monday:
dinner: Beef Fajitas with melon
Tuesday:
breakfast: Cinnamon Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
lunch: Roast Beef Sandwich
dinner: Baked Chicken Parmesan
Wednesday:
breakfast: Cinnamon Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
lunch: Chicken and Grape Salad
dinner: Marinated Fish with balsamic onions and tomatoes
Thursday:
breakfast: Cinnamon Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
lunch: Sauteed Scallop Salad
dinner: Grilled Salmon with Spinach and Baked Sweet Potato
Friday:
breakfast: Cinnamon Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
lunch: Turkey Sandwich
dinner: Shrimp Stir-Fry over Brown Rice
Saturday:
breakfast: Cinnamon Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
lunch: Ham Melt
dinner: Turkey Ragout w/ Pasta
On this day: Another Contest!
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