Dumbbells are not so dumb

I started working out with my bff a few months ago on her bowflex machine. It was a really good workout and it was fun at the same time. When the holidays crept in, it was a little more difficult to find the time or motivation to work out.

I've noticed the past few weeks that I haven't felt as good or slept as well as I had been and I think it might have something to do with not working out for so long. So this week I've been trying to workout with my dumbbells and I even did my 8 minutes abs, buns and arms. I'm a little sore today so I'm taking the day off, but I'm glad that I have a few days of workouts behind me.

Got 'er done

15 minutes on the elliptical machine today! And that's BIG!...For me anyway.

Low Cholesterol Foods

Here I go... talking about cholesterol again. I want to share this website that I found on what kinds of food to eat to lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy diet. I found it to be extremely helpful and I liked the way it was organized. Just fyi.

Nutrition: How to Make Healthier Food Choices

She Doctor

Did I mention that I had my annual doctor appointment last week? I'm sure I would have mentioned it if it hadn't been for the fact that I had guests last week and I was too busy to blog. Anyway, I checked out ok and received the results from my blood work in the mail today. I already knew what it said since the nurse called me last Thursday to inform me that my cholesterol was high and I needed to work on getting it lowered. That meant exercising more and watching what I eat. My number was 242. The good news was that my HDL (good cholesterol) was high and for the first time in years, I wasn't anemic.

So now I'm trying to make sure that I'm not eating foods high in cholesterol. So far, I've been making better choices but I'm sure I'll slip up at some point. At least I'm trying.

Additions

I've made some changes to my diet in the past few weeks that makes me really proud of myself. My breakfast has gone from poptarts to Cinnamon toast using a whole grain bread with twice the fiber and I've been making fruit smoothies. So I've added whole grain, fiber and fruit to my life. It's a great feeling.

I'm also trying to like wine. Only for medicinal purposes, of course. I wouldn't normally think this was a good addition, but you can't turn on the tv these days without hearing that a glass of wine a day is good for your bod. It sure better be because I'm not finding any enjoyment out of it.

Cody is sick :-(

I got a call on Thursday to come pick up Cody from school because he was running a fever. On Friday he seemed to be perking up and feeling better. But this weekend has been terrible for him. He definitely has the flu; fever, chills, cough and running nose. I feel so bad for him. His throat hurts and he just wants to cry but is trying to tough it out. And something else that I've noticed and I'm so impressed with is that our dog Mia has not left his side the entire time. I can honestly say that we have not seen her out and about the past few days. I think it is so sweet of her to stay with him. She usually drives me crazy because she's a little bit of the "anxious" type: always up trying to figure out where to be, what to do and very undecisive. But I think I'm going to be a little more patient with her, after seeing her dedication to Cody.

Feeling Fluish

I've been feeling bad all week, no energy whatsoever and I didn't know why. It all hit me last night. My body ached all over and I had a terrible headache that I could not get rid of. Whatever it is, this must be the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm feeling a little better today and I hope to be getting back into the swing of things early this week. Ray was nice enough to do the dishes and that alone makes a person feel better to know that they aren't stacking up. You moms out there know what I'm talking about.

I finally felt like checking my email and seeing if I was missing anything online. So now it's back to bed for me.

Poo!

I have felt so heavy and bloated the last couple of days that I go through my day wishing for a good poo. And to top it off, last night I had a dream that I was pregnant. I was happy about it and telling everyone that I knew. Then you know how you have those moments where you remember something about your "awake-real life" and all of a sudden dreamland meets real life? I remembered, while I was dreaming, that I had my tubes tied and then I'm trying to figure out how I could be pregnant. That's about the time that I woke up and thank goodness because being pregnant is not something that I would be happy about. But because I've felt like I'm in my second trimester with this bloatedness that I carry around, I guess had to dream about my ailment. Needless to say, I was at Walmart at 6:30am this morning buying the highest fiber cereal that I could find.

Things done and things to do

I got up early this morning and started scrubbing the kitchen floor. I didn't have to "scrub" much because of this spray product that I was using that is just short of a miracle when it comes to getting dirt out of crevices. I swear Krud Kutter literally makes dirt float to the top of the liquid. It's an environment friendly product and the only place I know of that you can find it is Home Depot. I had a heavy duty scrub brush that I swirled around the tiles just to work up the extra stubborn dirt but that's just about it. I'm going to try it on my shower door along with the Mr. Clean sponge. Someone told me that the Mr. Clean sponge was great for shower doors... soap scum is wiped away easily.

We are going to Texas this weekend and after I get back I'm going to make a strong effort to start eating a low cholesterol /part vegetarian diet. That means mostly plant foods and fat free items. I've got to get my cholesterol lowered before something horrible happens. I want to cut out all meats which means I'll need to get my protein from skim dairy products. I'm pretty sure that nuts are protein so that's another option, except they are higher in fat. I'm trying to come up with some ideas for different types of lettuce wraps. I say this now, but I'll see how far I get with it. I've always toyed with the idea of being a vegetarian. I've done some research and I'm quite sure that I'll have to have the vegan diet that includes skim dairy products because I'm a woman and we do need our dairy!

Mammogram

I had mine today. No longer will I brag that it was no big deal from my first experience from it about 5 years ago. I think I was reciting a prayer while that machine had me in it's grips. And afterwards, as I sat waiting for the technician to check my films to see if I would need anymore pictures (which I did), I noticed that my chest was on fire! Kind of like getting an indian burn when I was at elementary school.

Update on Dylan

He seems to be fine. It appears to be a hematoma. If it had been a bit bigger, the doctor would have drained it. But his treatment consist of placing ice packs on it as much as possible and some stretching exercises to prevent this from happening in the future. He should be able to play soccer again tomorrow, if he can tolerate it.

Sleep Be a Lady Tonight

Well, that was a glorious night of "no sleep whatsoever". I don't know if it was the medicine that I'm taking for strep (not the antibotic, the Mucinex for the other symptoms) or the fact that I hadn't eaten since 1:00pm yesterday. Could have been the combination of both. Whatever it was, sleep did not want to come for me. I maybe got 3-4 hours and ending up getting up at 4:30. Nice.

I took Caitlin to the doctor yesterday and found out she has strep. So no school for the 4th day for her. Not to mention the soccer she's missing. Luckily the doctor put us both on meds since I've been sick the past couple of weeks and could have had it myself.

Today I'll be taking Dylan to the EOOC because his soccer trainer at the school thinks he may have "Compartment Syndrome" in his leg and apparently it could be serious. Dylan thinks it's not as serious as they may think and you know 17 year olds.... they know everything. But anyway, I was told to get him in immediately, so first thing this morning, we will know something.

I'm off to sleep do house chores. I mean.. what else would a person be doing at this time of morning.

I might be a hypochondriac

I woke up one time last night and my face felt warm so I decided I probably had fever. Never mind the fact that everyone is warm when they are tucked under a down filled comforter. I awoke again and had my leg outside the covers, decided that this was strange and it must be because I have fever. I went back to sleep and was having very strange dreams and felt like things were going in fast motion, so once again...I was convinced that when it was time to get up in the morning, I would be feeling terrible and running a fever. Geez. Even though my throat was a little sore, I woke up feeling fine.

We are sickly.

We've had sickness running through our home for the last two weeks and it doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. Ray came down with something last night and that something had better not inflict me. I'm still dealing with plugged ears and a bit of sore throat. Caitlin, who became sick over the weekend and who also played two high school games with a fever and chills, has showed no signs of getting back to her old self yet... but maybe by tomorrow. I'm just hoping the rest of us won't be recontaminated with something new. I've been spraying Lysol and cleaning fixtures with Clorox wipes just trying to minimize the germs. I'm afraid that we are losing the battle. Send help.