Category Archives: Health

Getting REAL!!

Good morning! IĀ  did my weigh in this morning and am up .2 pounds from yesterday, which is frustrating because the weight was falling off so quickly before, and now it seems to be inching up a little every day. UGH! I am not really sure what adjustments to make – I am counting every calorie, exercising more, stress level is down, and I am making sleep more of a priority – I am not sure what else to do. I pray for wisdom in this area, because I am a little stumped! I just don’t want to have weight loss surgery! I want to know that I did this without such invasive medical intervention!

Anyway, I am loving taking the time to tap into my creativity every day! It has really taken the edge off of my sometimes stressful life.

Also, I have started, along with my partner at work, Chris, walking through the Willamette University campus for about 45 minutes every day. Willamette University has such an electric and creative feeling atmosphere – that feeling is VERY CONTAGIOUS! When I was in both Junior and Senior high schools, I had always dreamed about going to Willamette. It has always been so prestigious and the grounds are both stunning and architecturally MAGNIFICENT! I just wanted, and maybe still do, to be a part of that school’s history! Well, for now, I will just have to be satisfied with my daily walks!

Can I confide in you? I am having a health issue and normally I would let it go, but this issues has really become a problem. The thing is, is that I am menstruating seemingly all the time, which can really make it difficult to feel normal, not to mention clean and absolutely un-GROSS! My mom had a total hysterectomy at 32, I think, and here I am at 35. My doctor suggests getting a DNC done, which she warns will be very painful! I have ALWAYS been a BIG BABY when it comes to pain! A DNC is basically where they go in and scrape out the lining of your uterus! SHUDDER!! That sounds HORRIBLE!!! I think my hesitation, besides the pain, is that I hear that it can make it more difficult to get pregnant; like we need ANYMORE issues in that area of our lives! My husband and I have been together for 16 years and we have NEVER even gotten pregnant. That is REALLY rough because I have always known that I was born to become a mom, and Jason would make a FABULOUS daddy!! It is really hard to not be constantly jealous of my friends and family who have kids; ESPECIALLY those people who you come across in life who either ignore, or take their children completely for granted – that has been REALLY ROUGH! Anyway, one way or the other, I am going to have to get myself to my physician and get this issue taken care of, OR I will have no other choice but to invest in Kotex – since I may be SINGLE HANDEDLY keeping that company in business!!! LOL! šŸ˜‰

Has anyone else ever had a DNC done? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject in the comments above! Is it really as painful as I am thinking it is? Were you able to have children after having one done? Anything to help fill me in on the details would be EXTREMELY appreciated – thanks!!! šŸ™‚

ON A SIDE NOTE: I hear that is supposed to be some kind of AMAZING show of shooting stars this evening! If the weather cooperates I will have to check it out!

Have a FABULOUS day!! šŸ˜‰

Thursday Night Update!

I am enjoying a nice quiet evening with my husband. There is soft music playing in the background. Our sis and niece stopped by and had a healthy dinner with us and we played some rounds of Bananagrams – still one of our FAVORITE games!!! I love you sistah!!! šŸ˜‰

Jason and I have had a little bit of a health scare here today. I will not go into any details, but I think my husband is finally on board with getting fit and healthy! I have been following the calorie guide from Livestrong.com, and have lost almost 9 pounds in a week and a half. I am really thankful that I stumbled upon this site. My husband, sis, and one of girlfriends have all joined up because of my progress so far. I am telling you – try it for one week, and if you don’t lose any weight, then quit – but it is free. So, what do you have to lose??? Except some unwanted lbs that you know have been bothering you!! šŸ˜‰ Ok, commercial is over! Let me know if you have any success!!

Anyway, tomorrow is Friday – YEAH!!! Jason and I are heading out on a date tomorrow night – we are actually planning on watching the new Harry Potter movie. The 7th of 8. I have high hopes that it will be entertaining, not as good as the books mind you, but good just the same! I think it is going to be odd to watch one of these movies without Dumbledore – he has been so integral to the story. I also think that this movie will be scarier than I am used to. I am a big chicken when it comes to these things – my imagination has a tendency to get too out of control! I know, but now you know why I watch so many light and fluffy romances, and comedies.

Jason is asking that we go for a walk, and I am going to take him up on it!! So until next time!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ™‚

Another Day Another Dollar!

Well, as opposed to last night, I am being super productive this evening! I got less sleep last night, but my healthy eating is somehow giving me a burst of energy – oh yeah, and the walk I just got back from may have contributed to that pep too!! LOL! Quick side: check out the website Livestrong – it has been super fun and easy to use, not to mention FREE for the basic plan!!! Let me know your thoughts!! šŸ˜‰

Anyway, what else? Ok, I am reading this new book that I just picked up, it is called, The Elements of Personal Style. This book was put out by the editors of Elle magazine, and this book is really inspiring. The tagline on the cover says, ’25 Modern Fashion Icons on How to Dress, Shop, and Live’. and HONEY, there is Diane von Ferstenburg (my FAVE!!!), Dita Von Teese (I think every woman needs to tap into what this woman has to feel sensual), Christina Hendricks (a real woman who rocks her sexy curves), Milla Jovovich (a woman who proves that you can be both stylish and strong), and Fergie (need I say more???), just to name a few of the featured fashion icons!!! It gives you style-based interviews with celebrities, inspiration boards and ideas on how to get the looks of the celebrities featured!! SO FABULOUS!!! not to mention colorful, insightful, interesting, and fun!!!Ā  Check it out!!!

I am also busy going through my copy of the 2011 Entertainment Coupon Book – yes, I have finally reached that age where this MAMMOTH coupon book, really makes me happy!!! I know sad, but there you go!!

Ok, before I leave for the evening I wanted to answer a few questions to maybe let you all know a little bit more about myself and my life!

  1. When I fell in love I was wearing: Jeans, t-shirt, and one of my dad’s sweatshirts, yes dad I did take that! šŸ˜‰
  2. People compliment my: My smile!
  3. My most prized possession: My wedding ring!
  4. Never: Give up!
  5. Always: Live as if today was your last!
  6. The most reliable thing in my closet: My black blazer, I could wear this almost every day!
  7. The sexiest thing in my closet: A little black dress with a deep v-neck and Ginger Rogers-type skirt that is meant to be DANCED in!!
  8. I wish I could change my: Stress level!
  9. I feel most beautiful when: I am HAPPY!!!
  10. Every woman needs: To have the confidence to BE EXACTLY WHO THEY WANT TO BE!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ˜‰

Wednesday Update!

I LOST 6.6 POUNDS!!! YEAH!!! OH HAPPY DAY!!!

I am not sure what to say about that but I am really proud that my hard work is paying off!! šŸ˜‰

Anyway, I am tired, I have been working out like a fiend today. I have incorporated mini walks throughout my day, I didn’t you use the elevator at all today, and I spent a rambunctiously fun time swimming with family this evening!!! WHEW!!! šŸ˜‰

I received a new/old book in the mail yesterday. It is a book that Diane von Furstenburg wrote in 1976, and it is about beauty, style and being your sensual self! So far I am loving it!!! I am hoping to get this read quickly!!! The advice is very sensible and is still applicable to today’s woman!!! It is really GREAT to hear her thoughts, she seems like a kindred spirit, or a long lost sister or something!!

Anyway, I am heading off to bed!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ˜‰

The Super Short & Sweet Post!

I am off to bed early tonight, I am taking a new fitness class for the next 6 weeks, and it starts tomorrow morning at 6:45 AM. EEK!! What I do to meet my hidden inner self! šŸ˜‰ It will be worth it!! Tomorrow is also weigh-in day, and I have high hopes!! So we will see!!

Anyway, have a FABULOUS evening!!!

Wednesday Hump Day!!

Ok, not that kind of hump day…hmmm…at least not YET anyway!!! LOL!!

I have had a pretty good day today! I just got home from work and finished some house chores. My sweetie is grilling some chicken out back and I have got the veggies all ready to go! YUM! We have some peppy music playing, and every once in a while, Jason will stop wherever I am at, and spin me around so we can start dancing! God, I love that man!!! šŸ˜‰

Anyway, I will put my feet back on the ground – at lease momentarily!!!Ā  I have been doing some more research on Diane von Furstenburg, and I ran across some of her really AWESOME quotes, and I can see why I just LOVE her soooo much!!!

“Attitude is everything.”

“I design for the woman who loves being a woman.”

“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.”

“You’re always with yourself so you might as well enjoy the company.”

“Now is the time to become a myth.”

and my favorite that I ran across today:

“Absence is to love what wind is to fire. When it’s a small fire the wind kills it, but when it’s a real fire, wind intensifies it!”

As I sit here listening to “I Don’t Care Who Knows” by Catherine Russell, I realize that life is really GOOD!!! I am so blessed in my life!!!

This is isn’t the best video of this song, and I know the lyrics are really hard to understand, but it is basically saying that “I don’t care who knows, I love my man!!!” šŸ˜‰ Every time this song comes on, I just can’t help but dance around!!

As for dinner, I am cooking some onions tonight to go with dinner, and I LOVE them!!! They are my favorite vegetable right now!! now I must admit I don’t make them the most healthily, but they are sooooo freaking’ good! !!

Dice one over sized sweet Walla Walla onion, in thin slices. Add butter to pan, about 1 tbsp per 1/2 an onion – depending on size (I add one extra tbsp for good measure)! Cook on med-high until translucent, then turn heat down to low, and make sure the onions are evenly distributed in the pan. Next, this is key – DON’T TOUCH UNTIL BROWNED!!! then flip and do this again, until all slices are gorgeously brown – I do this about 4 – 5 times!!! and I am telling you, the onion is sooooo perfectly carmelized! The onion will have reduced by more than 1/2, so 1/2 an onion is perfect for one person (I can eat a whole carmelized onion as a meal all by itself!!!)

I received a book in the mail today, it is called “Junk Chic”. and so far, I am loving it! I also love that the book cost me less than $5, including shipping and handling! I have two more on their way now, they are both books by or about Diane von Furstenburg – SHOCKED??? No, probably not!! HAHAHA! šŸ˜‰

I am also going through a bunch of new pictures from our camping trip with my sis-in-law and her family! Some of these are really GREAT!!! I will make it a point to post some of these for you tomorrow!!

Ok, so I realize that my thoughts are just wandering all over the place, but I think I am going to take this new found energy and go for a walk!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

God Bless Oprah!!

On my way home tonight I decided to pick up salads, and baked chicken for dinner, that way my sweetie could take the evening off from cooking tonight! So, after I got home and we had our dinner, I decided to watch some episodes of Oprah, I have 3 on my DVR!!! So, I watch the season premier and honey, I tell you that, I am sitting here with a big roll of toilet paper blubbering like a big ol’ baby! I would like to tell you that I haven’t slipped into the ugly cry yet, but that might not be true!! I just LOVE Oprah Winfrey! I remember my mom watching her when I was little, and myself watching her on and off throughout the years. I am sad to see that she will be leaving her television show this year, but she’s not dying y’all!!! I can’t wait to see what she does next. My life has been blessed because of Oprah, and if each of us could have just a smidge of her compassion for the world around us, and enough gumtpion to make change happen this world would be a much better place.

If not me, who? if not now, when?

Alright so most of you may know that I am working on getting healthy, and what you may not know is that I have been doing HORRIBLY!!! I am an all or nothing kinda girl, and that is probably my biggest downfall in my quest to get fit! I spend a lot of time beating myself up and then just quitting! So I am trying to have a change in my mindset. I want to do at least one thing better today, then I did yesterday.

So today:

  • I visited our hospital’s community health library and checked out two educational programs to watch
  • I had baked chicken instead of fried for dinner
  • I have eaten 6 servings of fruits and vegetables today
  • Watched Oprah, always uplifiting, inspiring, or educational
  • I cleaned out my car
  • Drank water all evening
  • I have put my laundry away (thank you, Jason for folding all of that!)

I have one quote that I wanted to share today. This is a quote that I heard while watching a movie called The Answer Man earlier this week, and ever since I’ve heard it, it has been repeating over and over in my head. The lines of this movie are:

Kris Lucas: Why can’t I do the things I want to do? There’s so much I know I’m capable of that I never actually do. Why is that?
Arlen Faber: The trick is to realize that you’re always doing what you want to do… always. Nobody’s making you do anything. Once you get that, you see that you’re free and that life is really just a series of choices. Nothing happens to you. You choose.

Isn’t that deep??? I am not sure why, but these lines really created an Ah-Ha moment for me!!! I am working on remembering this! It is all a choice, no one is forcing me to do anything!!

Deep!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ˜‰

Happy Wednesday!

Today has been a very productive day!! Work, a long lunch with one of my favorite girlfriends, more work, home, shower, jammies, chores, dinner, more chores, take a breath to write to you this evening, do some more chores, head upstairs, do a little reading, bed, sleep!! Ok, so obviously not ALL of that has happened yet today!!! šŸ˜‰

I am excited about tomorrow! After work tomorrow night, my family is coming over for dinner and then we are all going to go swimming!! YEAH!!! I always have SUCH a GOOD TIME swimming with the kiddos!! They have such a MARVELOUS way of making you feel like a kid again!!! GOD BLESS MY LITTLE KIDDOS!

Well, today was weigh-in day, I am not sure if I told you, but I am on Weight Watchers and am doing my darnedest to lose weight! I am following Weight Watchers, am on a 24 week walking plan, and have a personal health coach!! So, all of that combined with the fact that I have such a great support group around me, I am optimistic that I will be able to get healthy ONCE AND FOR ALL!! I will keep you posted of my progress!!!

OH, you know what has really been on my mind today?? It is called the 100 Thing Challenge. I have heard about this a few times over the past 6 months or so, but for some reason the idea just really intrigued me today, and made me start to think, “If I had to limit belongings to just 100 things, what 100 things would I choose?” Well, right off, I think that would be REALLY, REALLY DIFFICULT!!! Second, there are a few things that I would have to group as one thing, right off the bat, like my library, that would have to equal 1 thing, but really I have almost 1,000 books, So with that in mind, here is a stab at my list…

  1. My wedding ring
  2. My mother’s dresser
  3. My library
  4. My bed
  5. My couch
  6. My dining room table that my mom-in-law found for me
  7. My piano
  8. My artwork – can that count as one thing??
  9. My little black antique leather chair
  10. My cornet
  11. My laptop
  12. My i-pod
  13. My Kindle
  14. My tele
  15. My DVD player
  16. My DVD collection
  17. My pink bicycle, Roxy
  18. My grandfather’s art box
  19. My art easel
  20. My costume jewelry collection
  21. My shoe collection
  22. My clothes (OK, you can see where this would get REALLY DIFFICULT!!)
  23. My CD collection
  24. My game collection
  25. My puzzle collection
  26. My decoration collection

Ok, I am going to stop myself here! I think this might actually be an impossible task for someone like me. Sometimes I just get sooo disgusted with myself because I am such a stuff person. Don’t get me wrong people are more important than stuff any ol’ day, but there is something about being surrounded by my things that make me feel some much at home. With that said, I want to leave with a bit from George Carlin talking about stuff. Enjoy!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ˜‰

Where’s My Vivacious Bitches??

Tara Stiles AKA my health hero!!Today is slowly coming to a close. It has been a pretty good day, but I am just soooo tired. I think a combination of jet lag, and a long day of sitting in a brain gorging technical class has just really wiped me out! šŸ˜‰

I have had my dinner, thank you room service people!! (I feel soooo spoiled this week!!) had a burger, spinach salad, and fries – I figured the spinach canceled out the ill-affects of anything bad I could have gotten from my burger and fries!! LOL! My hair is braided, face is washed and moisturized, and I am ready to climb into bed and read a little before I shut out the lights!!

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be healthy, and what I can do to incorporate true health into my life. I already do little things every day, but I don’t do enough!! I mean I did eat a burger and fries tonight! I have spent quite a bit of time on Tara Stiles website tonight. She seems to be the epitome of super-health! Thin, flexible, energetic, vivacious, positive – oh gosh, if I only could add those things to my “Santa Baby” Christmas wish list!!! “Uhmmm…Honey, could you please go to the Health R Us store and pick up a couple of things for your Baby Girrrrrl!!!” šŸ˜‰ Don’t I wish!!!

Anyway, thank you for joining me on another one of my crazy tangents!!! šŸ˜‰

My FAVORITE thing that I am taking away from Tara Stiles‘ website is her 5 Habits of Healthy People video:

Her 5 items are:

  1. Drink more water
  2. Eat more fruits and vegetables
  3. Meditate
  4. Practice Yoga
  5. Smile at strangers

and the only thing I would add is incorporate walking easily in your daily life!

These are all so basic, we could ALL easily incorporate these a little at a time into our lives, and maybe before you know it we all could be super healthy vivacious bitches!!!! WHOO! HOO!!

Alrighty, well this vivacious bitch is heading off to bed!!! Nighty-night!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ™‚