It's 6:30, and I'm totally ready for bed.

6:30 PST, that is...9:30 EST. I've been up since 4:30, and I'm exhausted. I only have one more day in San Diego, so it would be really lame to go to bed now, but I'm tempted! I'm going to dinner with Darce and TJ at 7. After that, it's lights out for me. Sorry, kids. I've done well under the circumstances!

We met a friendly ship captain in the hot tub this afternoon. He recommended a great restaurant in Little Italy, and I'm looking forward to a nice Italian meal. I'm suspicious of finding good Italian cuisine in San Diego, but he says Italian is his favorite kind of food, so I'm going to trust him. TJ and Darcy (the real Italians) aren't that picky about Italian food, so who am I to worry?!

We had a nice breakfast, although mine made me sick to my stomach. Here are some pictures:

Darcy posing innocently with her fresh squeezed orange juice.

Me going on about heavens knows what...and looking like my dearly departed Aunt Donna. Darcy laughed so hard at this picture of me, she started choking.


TJ laughing at us in general...

This is one of the views from the hotel room. Darcy and TJ went for a walk while I rested in the room.
Me before the presentation...you can hardly tell I have pneumonia, and that I really just want to curl up into a fetal position and melt away into a warm, soft place.

Me and TJ - what a good looking bunch.

The presentation went really well. I was very pleased with all of it, and several people approached us after about utilizing our services. $weet. :)

I don't know if it was because I was so tired/sick, or because I just knew the material well, but I wasn't the slightest bit nervous at any point. That was nice. I'm not one to really get nervous about public speaking, but every once in a while I may get a few jitters right before I begin...not today. I could have fallen asleep mid sentence, I was so calm...yeah, it must be the illness...LOL

I'm glad I can finally relax for the rest of the trip. Hurray! I made it! Pneumonia is no match for me!

LOL

I'm...too sexy for the the plane...

We arrived hours early for our flight, and about five minutes before boarding, I started having a horrendous coughing fit. I'm not sure what brought it on, but it caused TJ to quickly escape from my side, and for Darcy to come over and loudly announce that "it's a good thing I'm not contagious anymore!" LOL. The poor things.

I know everyone was staring at me thinking "God, don't let me sit near HER!" I was coughing so hard that I almost threw up repeatedly, but I managed to avoid that, thankfully! I pre-boarded with the families and the people with mobility issues, as I was still in the middle of my coughing fit when pre-boarding started, and I wanted time and room to try to stop the coughing. I swigged some robitusson with codeine, and put my foxy mask on as soon as I got on the plane.

The stewardesses looked at me sympathetically, as though I had just had a bone marrow transplant, and I couldn't breathe in public air. The mask worked, and I didn't get any more sick from the plane, for the first time in my adult life. Around hour three of the trip, I was allll set with the mask, though. It made my face hot, I felt like I couldn't breathe, the elastic was irritating the tops of my ears, and yes, I looked like a freak, but I didn't care about that. Still, I stuck it out, and it was absolutely worth it.

I slept for the last hour or so of the trip. I could have slept the whole time, as being out and about exhausted me yesterday, but I didn't want to be up all night, so I waited it out. I was so tired yesterday, I wanted to kiss the floor of the hotel room when we finally arrived. I didn't, though, because that would be gross.

When we arrived in the room, we quickly discovered that the entire room was laden with feathers. Down pillows, down comforter, down mattress pad....I do not understand, for the life of me, why hotels assume no one is allergic to this stuff. I know so many people who are! We called the front desk, and they quickly sent someone up to redo all of the bedding, and she was really nice. Still, it took forever, and I was soooo tired. I sent an email to the corporate headquarters, letting them know of my troubles. LOL

I woke up feeling pretty good today. I'm still sick, of course, but each day I'm getting better. I'm really hoping to make it through the presentation without having a coughing fit like I did at the airport yesterday.

Oh - something really cool happened on the plane! I had the shade down most of the trip, but I happened to open it JUST as we were flying over the Colorado Rockies!

The horizon was pink and yellow and blue, and the mountains were glorious. The picture does nothing for the scene I saw, but hopefully it gives you a glimpse. It was absolutely amazing.

We are meeting TJ for breakfast at 6:30 (PST). I've been up since 4:30, and I'm starving. We had a late lunch before our flight, but that was really all we had other than breakfast yesterday, and a few silly snacks on the plane. The restaurant here serves a buffet style breakfast, but I'm sure there will be healthy options - it's California!

The hotel is equipped with several skinny mirrors, and I'm liking that!

I couldn't help but think last night that this whole thing would NEVER have happened if I hadn't lost the weight I did. I never would have flown coach to California, I never would have agreed to speak at a large national conference...it just wouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have let my weight hold me back, but I did. I'm still overweight now, but I won't let that stop me from doing anything I want to do. Life is too short. Hopefully someday, I won't be overweight at all, but even if I stay at my current weight for the rest of my life, I'm going to live each day to the fullest.

Super Scale!

As I mentioned before, Alison just bought me an Escali scale - thank you, Alison! These scales are awesome. It's the same brand I use for my kitchen scale. Let me tell you, it's impossible to trick.

With my other scales, sometimes I would weigh myself repeatedly to see if I could get a better reading. ;-) Darcy says that's cheating, but I think it's just looking for the best possible answer. With the Escali scale, however, the reading is always the same! Whether I'm on one foot or two, in the corner, at the end, it's all the same. That is a good scale! I love having a scale I can trust.

I'm a little fanatical about weighing myself. I weigh myself every time I'm in the bathroom at my house that has the scale. Not because I'm obsessed...more because I'm just compulsive. I can handle the news, so it's not that...it's just a crazy little habit of mine. I like to know the difference the time of day makes, or a certain outfit or shoes, etc... It helps me estimate better when I'm weighed on "foreign" scales to know exactly what the weight means to me if I have my sneakers on, or my watch, or a certain pair of pants. I know how to adjust it all exactly to get to the "right" number.

So yes, I'm a little crazy, but it's fun for me. If I ever started to go off the deep end due to a number I didn't like on the scale, I'd re-evaluate my habit, but that hasn't happened. As I've mentioned, last Wednesday the scale said I weighed about 13 lbs more than I weigh today. I knew I was bloated, and that my weight fluctuates more than any person on the planet when it comes to bloat, so it's no big deal.

Anyway, thank you, Ali. I love it!!

Carbo-breakfast

After today, I just have one more day on the Z pack. It bothers my stomach, so I have to have a big meal before I take it. This morning, I decided to have an onion bagel with reduced fat chive cream cheese for breakfast. Yum! It's definitely not something I usually have. I ate half the bagel, and with the cream cheese, it was 4 points, so that's not bad.

I'm getting better each day, but I'm still plenty sick. I'm really hoping the plane doesn't get me more sick. My allergies have been really bad since yesterday, and it's not really helping things. Still, it's night and day today from how sick I was on Friday. I feel like my energy level is increasing too.

Walking through the airports should be a challenge. I usually like to speed along the halls to get to my destination, but I know with my diminished lung capacity, I'll have to take it easy. I don't want to set off an asthma attack or coughing fit. We'll arrive plenty early to not have to rush through the airport.

I'm going to be wearing this foxy mask during the flight. It should really cut down on the germs I'm breathing in on the airplane germ fest, and I'm going to take an airborne before the flight as well. I'm SO looking forward to the warm weather.

I am down another 2 lbs, one yesterday and one today. I think I'm finally getting rid of this bloat I've had for so long. I'm not eating differently, except for having more carbs than ever, so that is a very strange thing... I'm not complaining! I wonder if it's all the liquids I've been having since I've been sick. I'm good about having a lot of water each day, but I'm probably up to about 2 gallons of fluids a day since I've been sick, so maybe that's the difference. Who knows!

I'm really looking forward to getting to exercise when I am better! I was jealous reading about Ali's work out with TJ and M yesterday! The water is flowing by our house, and our inlet should be defrosted soon. Maybe by the time we get back, I can go kayaking!

Rice Cheese

Just say no. Trust me.

I've been trying some dairy alternatives lately, and Darcy brought these home from the store. I made us breakfast sandwiches this morning, and I thought it would be a good time to try out the cheese amidst the other ingredients. I even cooked up some center cut bacon (2 points for 2 slices) to give it more of a chance.

As soon as I unwrapped the slice from the cellophane, I knew something was wrong. It smelled...not like cheese, but a little sweet and possibly like old milk gone bad. I thought maybe it would taste better than it smelled, or that the bacon and egg and bread would drown out the flavor, and it would just be there to trick me into thinking I was having cheese.

Wrong! Oh, so very wrong. LOL

It was nasty. Thankfully, I was able to scrape it off the sandwich, no harm done. I asked Darcy to try it, and she was horrified. The remaining slices swiftly made their way to the trash.

I went online, and I read reviews of the rice cheese, and they weren't bad! I don't get it, but I guess if I were vegan and I wanted to avoid processed soy, I would be glad there was something out there...I guess...

I was a vegetarian for 2 weeks. I tried. Not really, but I didn't eat meat or foods that contained meat or meat byproducts for 2 weeks. It was probably 8 or 9 years ago. I remember all the meat substitutes I tried during those 2 weeks. I hated them all, which is why I only lasted 2 weeks. It's too bad because I kind of like the idea of having a veggie based diet, but I just don't think I'll ever be able to pull it off.

Besides, I feel much better about eating meats when they are grass fed/free range/antibiotic free/etc...

Dinner!

Darcy and I decided to order dinner from Olive Garden tonight. They have a "healthy" selections menu, and we ordered the Capellini Pomodoro from it. We are going to split it, as the dinner portion actually is 16 points - not exactly light, although I guess it is for a large serving of pasta at an italian restaurant! By splitting it, it will be 8 points each, and we probably won't eat the whole thing. We also ordered a large salad with the low fat italian dressing which is zero points for 2 tbsp.

I used to order this lunch meal (the lunch serving is 8 points) when I was on WW years ago, and I loved it! It's nice to find treats from restaurants that make me feel like I can have whatever I want while I'm trying to count points/calories.

It's getting late (almost 8PM), so if she's not home soon, I may just have a little bit now and save the rest for tomorrow. I hate eating too late in the day, and I'm really not hungry. I haven't had much of an appetite the past few days, but I've been eating plenty in an attempt to get well and not let the antibiotics make me sick.

I didn't go to WW today because I'm sick, but thanks to my new scale that Alison got me (thanks, Ali!!), it has the same weight as WW (which Darcy confirmed today after going), and I was down another 5 lbs from yesterday, for a total of about 16 when I joined WW 2 and a half weeks ago. It's not new weight lost - it's a lot of bloat and a few lbs that I had regained, but still, it's nice to see the down 15.8 lbs from my starting weight when I log in to my profile online!

I know I'm going to be away this next week, and that I won't have as much control over the way my foods are prepared, but I would love to be down another 5 or 6 lbs by next week. I know I'm getting greedy. Truthfully, I'm always pleased when I'm away and my weight stays the same. Even if I ordered salads each meal, the restaurants still find ways to make them unhealthy. We'll make the best choices that we can, and in mid to high 80 degree weather, we won't feel like eating junk anyway, so that is to our advantage.

For a list of all the Olive Garden Healthy Fare options, click here: http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/

Survey Says!

It's pneumonia!

That's the bad news. The good news is that I know what it is, and now I'm actually on medicine that will help me get better. The other good news is that as long as I rest and take my meds all weekend long, I should be fine to travel on Monday. I'm going to get LOTS of rest, drink lots of fluids, and chillax. Darcy is at the store filling my prescriptions as we speak.

I have atypical pneumonia, to be specific. It's common in "younger" people they say. It's called atypical because it is the kind of pneumonia that affects healthier people. Okay... ;-)

We saw my chest xray and all the fluid in my lung. Foxy. It is pretty interesting. They gave me a nebulizer treatment, and it helped for about 5 minutes, then I was back to square one. Right now, I am sitting still in a comfy chair, and I still can't catch my breath. My inhaler doesn't work - nothing seems to work. Hopefully, the meds will help soon. I'm sitting next to a vaporizer too.

I can't deal with the puppy right now. He's so hyper. He doesn't seem to adjust his moods to my whims and illnesses. Selfish. ;-) What the heck do parents do when they are sick? They can't just stick their kids in a crate like I just did with Henry...yikes!

Anyway, I'm shutting down and relaxing with what is turning out to be a very boring movie. I can't watch anything funny because I'll wheeze too much. LOL

Can't...breathe...

I'm going in the wrong direction... My fever was in the 99 range, and when I got home from work this afternoon, it was 100.4. My breathing is getting worse and worse, and even just sitting still I can't seem to catch my breath. I *really* hope I'm note headed for pneumonia again. I've been trying to be so good, and I went to the MD as soon as I got sick!

I am really worried about being well for Monday, and I don't want to take any chances, so I called Ask A Nurse, and they said to go to the ER - not because it's an emergency, but because I can get a chest xray and bloodwork done if need be. As I type, I'm in the emergency room. I took 3 extra strength tylenol an hour ago, and my temperature is now 100. My blood pressure is high too, but that can be expected since I can't breathe properly.

I'm really hoping I just need a different type of medication, and that I'll be fine by Monday. I should be able to rest over the weekend. I have a lot to do, but most of it can and will have to wait. I'm hungry, and naturally, everything I can think of that I want has cheese in it.

I could go for pizza, pasta, bruschetta...that's really all I can think of right now...Oh - I could go for a burger or steak and cheese. LOL - naughty! I always crave bad things when I'm sick, and it's just worse because I can't have cheese. I'll get over it!

Wish me luck.

Huh??

I lost weight overnight. Literally.

I've been up 6 lbs with my salty carb diet this week, and I had the same diet yesterday, but for some reason, this morning I was down the 6, plus one more. It makes no sense. I had about 8 crackers and soy milk for breakfast yesterday, steak and potatoes for lunch, and a small cold cut sub for dinner. I was over my points for the day, but this morning I'm down.

The weird thing is, I kept having dreams where I knew I had lost weight, or people told me I looked like I lost weight. Huh? That is weird. I attributed the dreams to Alison's comment on my Henry blog saying I looked skinny (which I do not obviously, but I don't even think I look fat/skinny, but I appreciate the compliment!!), so I figured that is why I had the dreams, but to be down 7 lbs from yesterday this morning, that's just weird.

Alison, keep the comments coming. Perhaps my subconscious is working overtime to make my body lose weight. ;-)

I took my temperature this morning, and I have a fever again. It's mild - 99.5, but I still shouldn't have one since I've been on antibiotics since Tuesday. I will call my MD when they open the office at the leisurely hour of 9AM.

I have to head into work today. I really want to just take it easy and get some rest, but I really need to spend some time at one of the sites - it's a long story that I can't get into, but you can take my word for it. :)

I'm going to leave shortly, but I'm hoping I won't have to stay long.

Be well, and dream skinny!

Horse pill

The Augmentin pills I'm on are GI-normous. If I had a fill anytime recently, I would have had to cut them in half to get them down. These are the COMMON side effects of Augmentin: diarrhea; nausea; vomiting

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Those are the common ones! Yikes. The severe side effects are: Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody stools; confusion; dark urine; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures; severe diarrhea; stomach pain or cramps; unusual bruising or bleeding; vaginal discharge or irritation; yellowing of the skin or eyes.

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In the past few days, I've spoken with so many people who said they had to go off Augmentin because it was making them sicker than their original illness. I've gone off it every other time I've been on it too, for the same reason. I know I need something strong right now, so I'm hanging in there. I just seem to be sick to my stomach in the first few hours of the day. After that, my stomach is annoyed, but I don't have any other symptoms. I know that all the carbs I'm consuming before taking the pill is saving me, but I'm really bored with my bland diet right now.

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It's a small price to pay to get over a bad illness in a short amount of time, though. If getting to the MD right away, and doing all the right things really shortens my recovery time from weeks to less than one week, I'll be sold. :)

Should've stayed home

I was really starting to feel better yesterday afternoon/night. My fever was just about gone by mid day, and my energy was increasing. I went to bed around 10 last night, and I got up at 6 this morning, a feat I was unable to do the past 2 days when I tried. I'm definitely getting better!

However, I think I probably should have stayed home today. I was starting to nod off on the way to work this morning - thankfully my Dad talked to me most of the ride in. :) I'm in the office now, and I'm completely exhausted, and I'm having stomach issues from the Augmenten. I feel dizzy too, and I have the chills.

I'm going to try to choke down some breakfast (crackers and chocolate soy milk) and take my morning dose of Augmenten and some Tylenol in case my fever is back. I have commitments all day today, and I'm hoping to feel better soon so that I don't have to postpone them again. I'm running out of time before I'm leaving for Cali.

Thankfully, even though I was sick yesterday, I managed to get 11 or 12 hrs of work done from the comfort of my home. I'm in *much* better shape than I thought I would be, so that is a load off.

On the weight front, I'm still packing it on from my diet of carbs. I was up 2 more lbs today. I was over my points yesterday, but not by much. My body is just not used to this much sodium and useless carbs. Again, I'm not worried about the number on the scale right now - I just want to get better, preferably by Monday!

Stay germ free, folks! :)

Who's hungry?

The West Michigan Whitecaps are now selling a 4800 calorie burger. The burger consists of 5 1/3 lb patties, a lb of chili, corn chips, 5 slices of cheese, cheesy filling, lettuce, sour cream, salsa and a 1 lb bun. All in all, it's about a 4 lb burger. They are selling it for $20. Naturally, it's free (monetarily) if you eat the whole thing. "Congratulations!, now there's the john." ;-)

Of course, this burger is nothing compared to the 15 lb burger they serve at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in PA. This thin young man actually ate the whole thing. It took him over 4 hours, but he did it. Congrats! ;-)

I kind of understand competitive eating...kind of...but I was really liking our tendency to move toward sliders instead of these brontosaurus burgers. They are cute and little and great to share, and usually just 150 calories for one!

Being Thankful

Alison blogged about being thankful today. Her brother Fred sends out a daily email based in positive thinking, and today's challenge was to write about 25 things you are thankful for. I always love these kinds of exercises, so here are the first 25 that pop into my head:

1. Henry
2. Health insurance
3. Getting a paycheck during these uncertain times
4. Living on the water
5. The Darce who takes care of me when I'm sick
6. A Mom who always taught me to see the positive in things
7. A Dad who always taught me to find joy in giving
8. A Sister who taught me to find edification in reading great books, and who is a shining example of the brilliant woman who can do it ALL
9. Nephews who are so cute and sweet and never fail to bring a smile to my face
10. A support system of family and friends who always believe in me
11. Friends and neighbors who are always there for me
12. Work that stimulates my mind
13. Living in an area where I can kayak, bike, hike and swim just by walking out my front door
14. Creativity that allows me to write, paint, sing and create, whether I'm terrible or not
15. The lap band
16. Unconditional love from God
17. The ability to run (kind of), kneel, hike, bike, do yoga, and all the other things I couldn't do before
18. My hot tub :)
19. Fall in New England
20. Ft. Zachary Taylor beach in Key West
21. The ability to travel
22. The ability to lead
23. Self-confidence
24. Having happiness and fulfillment in my life
25. Free blogging! LOL

Those are not in order of importance - that's just how they popped into my little head.

I saw the MD yesterday, and I'm on a very strong regimen of antibiotics in the hopes that I will be well for my trip on Monday. My fever is much lower than it was yesterday, and I'm definitely on the road to recovery.

I'm hoping to be able to take it easy for most of the day today, and I'm working from home. Unfortunately, I must work as there are very time sensitive projects I'm working on, but I'll do my best. My head is still fuzzy from being sick and having a fever, but I'll make it.

I'm hoping to make a lot of progress with my recovery today, as Thursday and Friday are now booked solid from appointments I had to postpone. I have the weekend to finish all of my work, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I want to get rest to get fully better before leaving, if I can.

The antibiotics make me very sick to my stomach, so my MD told me to take them on a full stomach. I did, and today I was up a few lbs, but I don't care because the antibiotics didn't make me sick, and usually, this kind makes me so sick, I can't even take them. My first priority is getting well. I'll have plenty of time to eat healthy and lose weight when I'm better.

I'm holding off on exercising until I'm well. It's too bad because I was finally in my groove again, but I'll find it again, just like Stella!

I hope it's as sunny where you are as it is where I am. It just feels like spring is in the air!

No root beer float for me :(

I think I have a milk allergy, which is actually different from lactose intolerance, which I've also had in the past. I think my lactose intolerance went away when I went years without having any dairy products (99.5% of the time), and now it seems to be under control. I've been sick more frequently since I had the lap band than any other time in my life.

It doesn't make any sense. With gastric bypass, patients run the risk of malabsorption, but that doesn't happen with the lap band. Also, I have tracked my food intake religiously since day one, and I have *never* eaten healthier, more well balanced meals in my life. In fact, one major change for me was re-introducing milk into my diet.

I didn't have it for years because of the lactose intolerance, but it was a must for the lap band diet, as calcium intake was a biggy, so I thought I'd give it a try. That's when I realized my lactose intolerance symptoms weren't bothering me. I started having dairy all the time, and I was proud of myself for making the change!

I know Lanie is reading this, shaking her head and waiving her finger at me because she's gently cautioned me many times that perhaps, at least while I'm suffering all these respiratory problems, I should remove dairy from my diet. I knew she was right, but I also thought it was because dairy was a mucus forming food, which exacerbated the respiratory problem. What I'm beginning to believe, due to new research, is that a milk allergy actually causes respiratory problems, including asthma, colds, bronchitis, sinus infections, etc...basically everything I've had almost monthly since I've been consuming milk/dairy regularly.

My milk allergy probably made me susceptible to my allergies in general, which now include every change of the season, pets, dust, you name it. I'm sure I'm just making it worse by consuming more and more dairy.

Back to earth - I know I'm not a doctor...but I'm right about medical things (as they pertain to me) a LOT. Or maybe I just think that. :) Either way, I have an MD appointment today to nip my current illness in the bud before I travel to CA on Monday to speak at a national conference (I better get well!!), and I'm going to request a blood test to test for milk allergies.

In the mean time, I've decided to cut all dairy out until I find out my test results, and either way, until I get well. This is no easy task for me. I have dairy all the time now. I ended up having soup for breakfast. I'm not sure what I'll have for lunch... it was so easy having a grilled cheese with soup or cereal as filler meals. I think I may have pita with hummus and tabouli for lunch. Depending on how I feel, I may have soup again for dinner.

I'm going to ask Darcy to pick up some soy alternatives from the store today. I'll give you a full report of how they taste. I know - very exciting! :)

I did an hour of yoga and 30 mins of cardio (7 miles on the bike) yesterday. I went in the hot tub twice - boy is that nice to have for aching muscles! I did 30 mins of yoga this morning from a new DVD I bought last night. It was for beginners, but it was challenging...mainly because I was still sore from last night, I think.

As the day goes on, I'm feeling weaker and I'm thinking of taking the day off. I am booked back to back today, but I really need to get better, so I may just have to put in longer days the rest of the week. We'll see how it goes.

Check out my new moves!

I'm not even sure I know what's going on in this picture.

I can't believe some of the asanas (that's what we yoga people call yoga poses - LOL) that I've seen online. I can't wait to become a pretzel. I think that will be cool...

Here are some of the benefits of yoga from www.abc-of-yoga.com:

Physiological Benefits of Yoga
Stable autonomic nervous system equilibrium
Pulse rate decreases
Respiratory rate decreases
Blood Pressure decreases (of special significance for hyporeactors)
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) increases
EEG - alpha waves increase (theta, delta, and beta waves also increase during various stages of meditation)
EMG activity decreases
Cardiovascular efficiency increases
Respiratory efficiency increases
Gastrointestinal function normalizes
Endocrine function normalizes
Excretory functions improve
Musculoskeletal flexibility and joint range of motion increase
Breath-holding time increases
Joint range of motion increase
Grip strength increases
Eye-hand coordination improves
Dexterity skills improve
Reaction time improves
Posture improves
Strength and resiliency increase
Endurance increases
Energy level increases
Weight normalizes
Sleep improves
Immunity increases
Pain decreases
Steadiness improves
Depth perception improves
Balance improves
Integrated functioning of body parts improves

Psychological Benefits of Yoga
Somatic and kinesthetic awareness increase
Mood improves and subjective well-being increases
Self-acceptance and self-actualization increase
Social adjustment increases
Anxiety and Depression decrease
Hostility decreases
Concentration improves
Memory improves
Attention improves
Learning efficiency improves
Mood improves
Self-actualization increase
Social skills increases
Well-being increases
Somatic and kinesthetic awareness increase
Self-acceptance increase
Attention improves
Concentration improves
Memory improves
Learning efficiency improves
Symbol coding improves
Depth perception improves
Flicker fusion frequency improves

Biochemical Benefits of Yoga
Glucose decreases
Sodium decreases
Total cholesterol decreases
Triglycerides decrease
HDL cholesterol increases
LDL cholesterol decreases
VLDL cholesterol decreases
Cholinesterase increases
Catecholamines decrease
ATPase increases
Hematocrit increases
Hemoglobin increases
Lymphocyte count increases
Total white blood cell count decreases
Thyroxin increases
Vitamin C increases
Total serum protein increases

Weird Dreams

I've had weird dreams the past two nights, and I think it's because I ate before bed each night. It's not something I like to do since it's best to stop eating by 7PM, but last night I was hungry and I still had points left so I had a late snack. It's not something I want to make a habit of.

Also, I was up a few lbs this morning, and I know it was because I ate later than usual.

Darcy did yoga with me yesterday, and I think she liked it. It's a bit to get used to at first, but she got the hang of it! Henry, on the other hand, did not. He barks at us like crazy because he doesn't understand the different stances and poses. I think he thinks we're about to attack...something. LOL He is a funny little dude!

I have a 10AM conference call, and then I'm going to into my office, but first I'm going to do yoga with Darcy. Tonight we're going to go to the gym. We have free tanning at our gym, so we want to get some color before heading out to Cali next week. I haven't lifted weights since I hurt my back since I did so much damage working out too soon, so I'm planning to be very careful.

Root Beer Float

We went to Bugaboo Creek with Steph and Carolyn for dinner tonight. There was a 15 minute wait, so I ordered a diet IBC root beer while we waited. It was really good! It made me think of how some fat free ice cream with the diet root beer would be a really yummy dessert to have at the house.

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The IBC diet root beer doesn't taste like chemicals the way other diet sodas do, and Darcy, who is not a fan of diet soda, even thought it was really good. We are going to give it a try tomorrow!

Planning for the trip

We leave for San Diego/Palm Springs in a week from tomorrow. I've been so busy with work that I haven't had a chance to plan for the trip yet. I'm planning to have a lot of activities planned, and we are going to be very careful to stay within our WW points while we are away.

I just started doing research online, and I found out there is a beautiful wine country near Palm Springs. I don't drink wine, but I think wineries are very charming and so interesting, so we definitely want to visit a winery during our trip. I also found a water park near by. I love waterslides and lazy rivers and Darcy does too. There is also a Pueblo art gallery that will be very interesting to visit, and a place that does jeep tours of the canyons - cool!

I want to rent out a bike for a day to tour around the area while getting some good exercise in.

I'm looking forward to the warmth, and hopefully when we come back, it will be warm enough to start hiking and biking.

Prettay, Prettay Good

I'm going out for a late lunch with friends today, and I know that will be my dinner. At 11 AM I was hungry, so I went to a cute little cafe that's in my building. I ordered a greek salad wrap. It had a lot of things it it I don't like (like feta and olives), but I like to be open minded so I took a big bite.

Gross! LOL. I bit right into a greek olive. Nasty. Sorry to all of you who love them. I actually like feta when I cook with it, and I have it in that roasted vegetable orzo dish that I make that my sister taught me, and it's great. However, I don't like huge chunks of it, and there were huge chunks in the wrap.

I took out all the feta and olives, and I loved it! The salad dressing was only lightly applied, so it just tasted like fresh, crunchy veggies with a hint of greek dressing on a tomato/basil wrap. This will be a sandwich I'll have again!

I think I broke it

Springs aren't supposed to come out of the scale, are they? LOL

I'm on a corned beef kick. I didn't end up having any on St. Patty's day, so I made one yesterday, and I ate it for 2 meals, and I've had it for 2 meals today too. I was so bloated from the salt that I was up about 4 lbs today over yesterday, and I'm already up to begin with!

I have my weigh in on Saturday, so I have one meal left of it, and then it will be gone. I'm going to eat salad and water all day tomorrow. LOL

I only bought a really small piece, but it seems to be lasting forever. Potatoes make me bloated too, and of course they are on the side, so I'm just not doing myself any favors.

I haven't done my yoga yet today because I've been super busy, but I definitely will at some point. I was thinking of taking a break soon and doing it in my office. Why not?!

I feel good!

I can't wait until I can do poses like this one! LOL

I thought the dog was barking with my beginner poses, just wait until I do the scorpion pose!

I found a cool web site that has lots of yoga poses with instructions easy enough for any beginner to follow: http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/postures.asp

I did all of the warm up poses and many of the standing poses. There were too many to get through in one session, at least at this point, but I feel fantastic after. It was amazing how much more limber I was at the end of my workout than the beginning. I think I'll be hitting the Bikram classes sooner than later!

My co-inhabitants didn't seem to get as much out of my yoga session as I did. Henry kept barking at me, because he didn't know what to make of all of it, and at one point, Darcy burst out laughing hysterically to the point of tears. She couldn't breathe!

I worked up quite a sweat, and now I feel completely relaxed. I'm going to do yoga every day, but I will lift weights and do cardio as well for a more comprehensive workout plan.

Bikram Yoga Update

I've blogged about Bikram Yoga before...it's a type of yoga developed in LA that holds classes in a room heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity. The classes last 90 minutes, and involve just 26 postures, pictured above.

Brooke has started doing yoga recently, and she asked me if I wanted to go to Bikram yoga with her. I said I'd love to, because I've been wanting to go. I figured I could try it out, and just leave during the session if it was too much for me. I just went to the web site for Manchester Bikram yoga, and they said they are very strict about not allowing people to leave during a session unless it's an emergency.

If I have to do the entire 90 minutes, I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I'm going to do some yoga DVDs at home to warm up to yoga again, and then I'll go. I did all of the above poses today (as best as possible), and some of them were super hard...others impossible.

I know they say they accept beginners and people of all different fitness levels, but I just don't know how that's possible. Tonight when I'm done work, I'm going to do some yoga and get this ball rolling!

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I find that people either love or hate corned beef dinner. I love it. Looove it. I think it's because I love salt and beef and potatoes so much. I'm Irish - what can I say?!

I had a corned beef meal a week or so ago, and I loved it, and I'm going to have it again today. I'm meeting up with a bunch of friends and Jimmy is cooking a big meal. If you eat the lean parts, it's only 213 calories for 3 oz of corned beef, so I'll be within my points for the day. I plan to eat a salad before heading over there, and then I won't be hungry and fill up on naughty things.

I've stopped counting calories on fitday while I'm keeping track on the WW site...it's just too much work, and I have too much going on right now. If I stop doing WW, I'll go back to using fitday. I went over my points yesterday, but it's allowed - you have 35 extra points a week to use whenever you want.

I planned to use them on Saturday when we went to Chili's for lunch after the weigh in, but I didn't end up going over my points that day after all. I didn't eat much on Sunday and I was hungry all day yesterday, so I used 20 of my flex points. That's a lot, but it's allowed. :) I didn't eat anything naughty, but I just kept grazing all day long.

When I weighed in at WW last Tuesday, I was very bloated, and when I weighed in on Saturday, I was down 10.8 lbs. Alison was shocked when I told her, but I didn't think it was a big deal because I was just re-losing weight I had already lost. They just caught me on a bad day. Still, it felt good to be down that much in 4 days...

Yesterday AM I was down another 2, but today I'm up those 2 again, so we'll see. My next weigh in is next Saturday, and another big loss would be nice, but we'll see. I'm just sticking with the program, and I hope I see some results.

Shrimp Scampi - 4 points!

We're having shrimp scampi for dinner. It's a weight watchers recipe, and it's only 4 points per serving! We make it with the multigrain pasta, and I think it will be delicious.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
4 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 pound(s) shrimp, medium, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup(s) wine, dry white or vermouth
3/4 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth, fat-free
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
8 oz uncooked linguini, cooked and kept hot
2 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, chopped

Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add oregano and stir to coat. Add shrimp and sauté until bright pink, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer about 1 minute.
Dissolve cornstarch in chicken broth and whisk until blended. Add mixture to skillet and simmer 2 minutes, until sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer cooked linguini to four individual shallow bowls and spoon shrimp and sauce over top; sprinkle with parsley. Yields about 1 1/3 cups of pasta, 1/4 cup of sauce and 3 ounces of shrimp per serving.

Breakfast!

We had egg sandwiches for breakfast today - very yummy. We used light whole wheat toast, one egg, one slice of reduced fat cheese, tomato and chives, with a little light butter on the bread. All in all, it was 5 points and a great way to start the day.

What's for lunch?

For lunch today, we are having baked potatoes with low fat cheese, low fat sour cream and chives. I love loaded potatoes, and I've only had about one in the past 2 years. It's not something I'd make a weekly staple having, but the whole meal is only 5 points, and it's very filling and delicious.

We're going to sushi for dinner tonight, and I'm just hoping the reduced sodium soy sauce doesn't make us bloated for our weigh in tomorrow morning!

Great news!

My dear friend Matty, who has been battling cancer for the past 2 years, just received a clean bill of health! The bone marrow transplant was torturous, but successful, and the cancer is GONE!

I'm so happy for him, and for the world, because he makes this place a little bit better. :)

Matty has had a positive outlook through the whole process, and he has been amazing. What wonderful news! He's been a great example to me, as I consider the importance of my own health.

Another yummy treat

I love doing this with Darcy, because she brings home lots of yummy treats from the store that I wouldn't think of. These slim a bear bars by Klondike, are delicious! They taste just like the original, but they are definitely smaller. I recommend them!

A match made in heaven

I was craving bread for some reason, so we decided to have grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. It was faaantastic. Darcy found some very light bread that is only 1 point for 2 slices, and low fat cheese with healthy request tomato soup. She used pam to cook the sandwiches, but put a little bit of light butter on the bread.

Do you ever have a meal, and think, now THAT hit the spot! ? Well that was one of those meals.

Just one point!

These mini bags are great. The serving size is perfect for a snack, and they only are only 1 point, but they have 4 grams of fiber! Sometimes, I dress it up with a little butter spray and some fat free parmesan cheese - even better!

The office

I started moving into my new office today. Darcy came with me, and I was thinking I would walk home, but it was freezing out! My plan is contingent upon warmer weather, and I hope we have some soon!

Here are some pictures of the outside of the building:

Here is a picture of the theater sign with the business listings:


This is the old fashioned elevator:

Here is the inside of the office - I didn't do a good job with taking the picture, but you get the idea:


Here are some pictures of the view out my window:

You can even see the moutains in the distance. Very cool.

I bought some pictures for the walls at Building 19. Cheap! I got a large one for $39.99 and two smaller ones for $14.99. My camera died before I could take the 3rd picture, but here are two of them:

Darcy and I wanted to have something healthy, yet different for lunch, so we ordered from the Korean restaurant across the street. I haven't had Korean food in a long time, and I really like it. I ordered the spicy beef with vegetables, and it was SPICY! I loved it. Here is a picture of my lunch, and a picture of Darcy as well. We had lunch in my office for the first time. What fun. There are sooo many restaurants nearby, I'm hoping Darcy and Henry will visit me for lunch so we can try them all out.

I know it's hard to find healthy options, but it will be a fun challenge.