Category Archives: Health

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Good evening!

I was on such a high yesterday afternoon! Nothing could stop me! I was the QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!!

Well, it has been about 24 hours later, and I have gotten a blow off of my invincibility pedestal! As you may already know, my sweetie and I are going through the process to have bariatric surgery done; we are both wanting to get the gastric bypass, him in July, and me in August.

Anyway, I got my lab results back this afternoon, and I have to tell you, I am still in a little bit of shock, and not sure what to make of it all.

So, what I found out was:

It looks like I am now going to have a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea since my overnight oxygen levels dropped to 81%. 90% – 100% is normal. DARN – I was hoping to somehow avoid having to sleep at the hospital while having people watch you!! (Did I mention that I work at the hospital???)

I am pre-diabetic. Hrmph! I honestly didn’t see that coming, but with the diet and exercise I am doing, I am sure that will be manageable, and hopefully after the surgery, a complete non-issue.

And finally, and most shockingly I found out that have hyperthyroidism.

WHAT???? How can that be???

One of the common side effects of hyperthyroidism is unexplained weight loss!

Uhmmm…I WISH!!!

No, I have not experienced that symptom AT ALL!!! The most common symptom that has hit me really hard is anxiety, which I guess is caused by your system running faster than it is supposed to! That would also explain the racing heartbeat, flushed face, and overall distaste for any heat of any kind (because my body is already running a little hot).

Yes, I said it – “I’m HOT!”

Not to mention moodiness, inability to sleep, and my hair falling out! LOVELY! (Sarcasm!)

So, as I deal with the fact that I am getting older, whether I like it or not, and the fact that I knew that if I didn’t take care of my health at some point, I would be taking care of my sickness, like it or not, my sweetie is taking me out to watch a play this evening; A Streetcar Named Desire. I am pretty excited about that, since I have never even seen the movie before, and I hear that this story is a classic!! and having a moment of fun, is just what the doctor ordered!! Thanks love!! šŸ˜‰

I will keep you posted!!

Here is to a FUNĀ  & PEACEFUL evening!! ;-)

Ā If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Here I Am!

Good morning!

I know it has been a while since I have last posted, but here I am!

Things have been moving vey quickly around here, and we have been very busy!! Right now my husband and I are over on the Oregon coast. We have been here for the past 2 days. We have been visiting with our adopted grandparents before they go out of town for a couple of weeks. I the meantime, my hubby and I Are going to take their 3 dogs and babysit, while they are out of town! All 5 of us, my sweetie, the three dogs and myself are all heading back home today, as I have to be back at work tomorrow.

I said things have been moving rather quickly around here, and they really have! My hubby and I had made the decision to have Bariatric gastric bypass surgery, but we needed to wait to get everything rolling until we were able to pre-pay for the surgeries. Well, we did that earlier this month and my sweetie has had a bug-a-jillion appointments to get anything and everything scanned, measured, checked, swabbed, scoped, etc, etc, etc. The way that we have this worked out is that my sweetie will have his surgery first, July 3rd, and then I will have my surgery about a month later. So, my crazy schedule won’t start until after the 23rd of this month, which is when my initial appointment is.

Right now, we are both early excited, and I can’t speak for him, but I am also really scared. The funny thing is, is that I am not scared for the surgery, I am scared to meet the skinny me! I have no idea what she looks like, how she will feel, what she does, or if I am even going to get along with her. In all honesty, I am sooooooo excited to meet her!! I know she has been in here forever!!! I also realize that the is going to be a kind of mourning period for my old self. Crazy right? This fat suit that I have been wearing (figuratively) has really been a protective barrier that has given me all sorts of excuses why I didn’t have to do something’s, and it really has been a way for me to hide behind a lot of things in my life. Even talking about it right now, I really can’t wait to meet the new me!!!

Anyway, I have also been keeping very busy with my Brave Girls’ Club Soul Restoration I class. Matter of fact, I am just in the final week of class I, and will be starting class II next week. I am so thankful that I have stumbled across this life-changing class, and I am so excited to see what more I learn during class II.

Just to keep things interesting, we have also had a bunch of company! My sister, and her husband spent the week with us last week, which was a lot of fun, and then another one of sisters and her family are coming up for part of the weekend, tomorrow!! I can’ wait to see them!!!! Yeah!

Well, I am going to grab my camera and head out to go get some pics of the coast on this lovely spring day, here in Oregon!

Here’s too a FABULOUS day!!!
~Christina šŸ˜‰

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted! I have been happily busy with a new online class that I have been taking for the past couple of weeks, but more on that with a different post. Tonight it is time for Chunky Dunker’s again! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunkerā€™s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we donā€™t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunkerā€™s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepinā€™ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader ā€“ that is alright with us too!!

So, without further adoā€¦

Tonightā€™s topic: Consistency!

I am always talking about taking baby steps to get from where we are to where we want to be, and baby steps is something that is very easy to do, however baby steps is not always enough! Consistency is something that, when paired with baby steps, can really move mountains! or so I am told! šŸ˜‰

Baby steps are easy, but doing them with any kind of consistency is something that I really struggle with. I have a whole list of things I know I should be doing, all sorts of baby steps, but I have every kind of excuse under the sun to get myself out of doing most of them.

Is that just me? What are some healthy things that you know you should be doing, but you can talk yourself out of doing? Here are a few of mine:

  1. Eating healthy
  2. Exercising
  3. Meditating
  4. Taking stress breaks while working
  5. Taking multivitamins
  6. Flossing
  7. Stretching
  8. Getting to my doctor when I need to
  9. Avoiding the candy bowl at work
  10. Taking vacation days – ok, so that one I am pretty good at being consistent with!! šŸ˜‰

Hmmmm…I wonder what would happen if I were to be more consistent with some of these? What would happen if i were more consistent with all of these?

Here’s to a week of baby steps AND consistency!! šŸ˜‰

Have a FABULOUS evening! šŸ˜‰

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunkerā€™s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we donā€™t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunkerā€™s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepinā€™ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader ā€“ that is alright with us too!!

So, without further adoā€¦

Tonightā€™s topic: You Don’t Have to Like It, You Just Have to Eat It!

This is an ongoing theme in my house, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it.” Sometimes eating healthy can be rough, bland, boring, expensive, inconvenient, time consuming, and just plain not fun. So when I am eating something healthy and I would really rather be having, say… I don’t know, fried chicken? pizza? a massive steak? My sweetie will remind me that, I don’t have to like it, I just have to eat it. What he means is that the nutrients, and good for me vitamins outweigh my grouching and complaining about something that I may not be in the mood for. Kind of like choosing to take that 1/2 hour walk you have been dreading, instead of spending another half hour wasted watching yet another television show! The benefits of the walk far outweighs the temporary discomfort of actually taking the action!

Now, if I can only remember that on a daily basis, I would be doing a lot more of the things I know I should be doing in my life!! So, how about you?? What is something that you should be doing, but really don’t want to?? Could this statement be applied to your situation?

“You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it!”

I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Hereā€™s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!ā€

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunkerā€™s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we donā€™t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunkerā€™s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepinā€™ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader ā€“ that is alright with us too!!

So, without further adoā€¦

Tonightā€™s topic: Shaking Things Up in the Kitchen

I have been spending some time this evening on Pinterest, and looking at all of the different food recipes that people have posted. I am very inspired to get into my kitchen and start shaking up the ho-hum, and turn it into OH-YUM!!

(Do you see what I did just there??? LOL!) šŸ˜‰

There are so many different kinds of meals out there that for some reason seemed to not be on my radar, until now that is!! I am going to take a few of these recipe ideas, and give them a shot. Even if they are a complete and utter failure, I will have flexed my bravery muscles, which will make it easier to keep my kitchen repertoire a little looser, funner, and a lot more varied!

When was the last time that you tried something new in the kitchen?? Tried a new recipe, bought a new and different fruit, vegetable, or other food item, or put things together in a way that you hadn’t before? Shaking things up this way in your food habits could get you out of cooking slump, and turn your everyday mundane cooking chore into a gift of untapped creativity.

My challenge to all of us this week is to do a little pre-planning and get into your kitchen and shake things up a bit!! Come back and tell me what you were able to come up with!! I LOVE hearing your stories!!!

I canā€™t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will ā€œseeā€ you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Hereā€™s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!ā€

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! šŸ˜‰

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! šŸ˜‰

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Heart Health!

I am not sure if all of you knew this, but this past Friday was National Wear Red Day, for Heart Health. I, of course, wore red that day, and unbeknownst to me, I would become a celebrity. Ok, that might be an overstatement, but I did make the cut on our hospital’s Wear Red video that they put out on the web. I honestly didn’t know anything about it, except that one of the multimedia guys stopped me as I was eating a piece of celery (thank you, I was being very good!!), and asked if he could take my picture. So, being the ham that I am, OF COURSE I SAID YES!!! Well, little did I know that he was actually taking a video. So without any further explanation, here is the Salem Hospital’s video on Wearing Red for National Wear Red Day for Heart Health!! BTW, I am near the end of the video, and don’t you dare blink, because you will seriously miss me!!!

Well, there you have it!! My nano-second of fame is officially up *SIGH!*

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!ā€

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Welcome to Chunky Dunker’s Night here at Christinaville! Chunky Dunkerā€™s night is a casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &Ā  fitness path together!!

Well, this week…ok, let’s face it, I am not doing so hot on my consistency, so I am sure my weight is not quite heading down in the right direction yet. I do great throughout my workday, where I have pre-packed lunch box ready for my healthy breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack to get me through my day. I have always had an easy time drinking my water, it is generally about the only thing I drink, so that is not a problem. The places where I am really struggling is dinner, and the weekends, and not getting enough exercise, hardly any, matter of fact!

Dinner is hard, by the time I get home, I am hungry, and if I’ve had a bad day I want to comfort myself with food, if I have had a good day, I want to celebrate with food. We are doing better at cooking healthy meals for dinner, but I am sure that our portions are still much too large. As for the weekends, I find that I do not enough structure in my days to make sure that I am eating regularly – I have a very bad habit of skipping snacks and meals, and ending up so hungry that I don’t care what I eat as long as it is yummy, and if it is a comfort food, all the better. At least in the moment – not so much for trying to lose weight!

As for the exercising??? Well, in all honesty I am so sore all the time. I know this can’t be a new story for everyone, there has to be others out there who feel the same way, but my knees, ankles, feet, and now my lower back seem to almost constantly hurt. It really is a problem. You know the ironic thing is that I have an indoor pool at my house. I could swim every evening – if I WANTED to!!! Maybe that is the problem, I haven’t gotten sick enough of being overweight to really take some serious action on getting it taken care of!!

But, I am recommitting myself to get back on my own wagon, and to get moving, even if it is just for single digit minutes at a time!!! I am worth it, and I really can do it – with patience and CONSISTENCY!!!

Go Chunky Dunkers!!!

šŸ™‚

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

Ā ā€œIf you want to have a different life, live differently!ā€

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!!

I know, I’m late, late, late!!!

Chunky Dunkerā€™s night is a casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &Ā  fitness path together!!

I have had an alright kind of week health-wise, but I still managed to gain .8 pounds. Oh bother!!! Very Eeyore of me, I know!! But, I just had an EXTREMELY healthy, and yummy dinner that my sweetie cooked for us, thank you, Love!!! Now I am eating a sweet treat of a dumb-dumb, you know those little suckers that have all different kinds of flavors? Those are a big hit at my place with the kiddos!

I am sorry this post is so short, but I am running late this evening and I want to make sure that I am able to get into the chat room and start chatting!!!

See you there!! šŸ˜‰

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, live differently!ā€

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunker’s night!! A casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we ā€œmeetā€ in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &Ā  fitness path together!!

I don’t really have too much to report this evening! This is officially my second weigh-in day since on Weight Watchers online. I have to admit I didn’t lose any weight this week, but I didn’t gain any either, so I am going to call it a good week!! I did have quite the splurge on Monday evening, going to a Chinese restaurant, and then making a beeline to Cold Stone Creamery. UGH!! It was yummy, and I would probably do it again, if I had the points for it, which I did! Dinner, I didn’t do so hot choice-wise, but instead of having my own ice cream at Cold Stone, my sweetie and I shared one, so it could have been much MUCH worse!! šŸ˜‰

Anyway, I got my camera back from the repair service place!! YEAH!! It took a couple of weeks to get back and I have just been going crazy waiting for it to get here! I am happy to report that it seems to be in working order, and I will be back to taking a ton of pictures of anything and everything starting tomorrow morning, I have even warned my co-workers!! MWA-HA-HAAAAAA!!! I have noticed that my blog posts have been looking a little sad without their pictures, so I will be fixing that SOON!! šŸ˜‰

Oh, and a slight explanation about tonight’s pic. This is how I look right now, as I post this evening. I am in my jammies, and ready for bed. I know I look tired in this pic, and that is because I AM!!! I have been keeping myself pretty busy!!!Ā  I just love talking to all of you for as long as possible, but being someone who habitually goes to bed early, I thought tonight I would just beĀ  little proactive, and get all my ablutions done BEFORE I get online to to chat this evening!!! So, my apologies if my pic scared anyone!! LOL!! šŸ˜‰ Now you know what my sweetie gets to look forward to every night!!! I love you, Babe!! šŸ˜‰

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, live differently!ā€

Flannel Jammy Day!

Good morning!!

As many of you may already know, I am a to-do list kind of girl! I keep to do lists for what needs to get done in my lifetime, this year, this month, this week,, and today! Even though things are getting accomplished and things are getting crossed off my lists, I have been feeling a little burnt out by it all; combine that with the fact that since my sweetie is out working today, I have the day to myself!! Aaaaaah!! šŸ˜‰

So, I am declaring that today is…

FLANNEL JAMMY DAY!!!

Today is the day that I am going to put away my normal to-do list, just for the day, and replace it with a to-do list of things that I can do to gently take care of my inner self today (the key word being GENTLY)!!

Some of the things on today’s list are:

  1. Take a relaxing shower and take time to just enjoy the sensation.
  2. Wash, tone, and moisturize your face, neck, and decollete, and really take time to see yourself in the mirror.
  3. Brush and floss your teeth, don’t forget to mouthwash, this instantly makes me feel like I’m taking care of myself.
  4. Use your favorite body lotion all over to make all your bits feel baby soft.
  5. Slip into your favorite comfy jammy’s – preferably non-holey, and something you feel beautiful in.
  6. Give yourself a manicure.
  7. Give yourself a pedicure.
  8. Eat whatever whole, healthy foods you want all day today, no stress, no pressure.
  9. If you must get dressed in your real clothes, take yourself out for a casual walk where you can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.
  10. Spend some time in the quiet just meditating.
  11. Make yourself a lovely cup of tea and snuggle up with a good book, and don’t feel guilty if you happen to doze off.
  12. Water, water, water! Keep yourself hydrated. Add a few slices of cucumber or lemon, and serve it in a chilled wine glass to make it feel special.
  13. Spend some time loving on your pets, your stress level will immediately lower.
  14. If you have kids, spend some time just observing them while they play.
  15. Join them.
  16. Smile for no reason.
  17. Spend some time writing your thoughts in a journal.
  18. Don’t be afraid to be alone. Alone time can be really nourishing to your soul.
  19. Keep the tele off today, but if you must watch something pop inĀ  a great chick flick you have been wanting to see.
  20. If you must keep your phone on, keep it to a lower volume so as not to cause any unnecessary anxiety.
  21. Make it a point to do something you LOVE today.

What would your list look like? If you don’t have an entire Flannel Jammy Day, is there something you would like to do in just a spare hour? Half hour? 5 minutes??

As I go and thoroughly enjoy my new found Flannel Jammy Day…

Have a FABULOUS day! :-)

ā€œIf you want to have a different life, live differently!ā€