How I have changed since I started writing on this blog . . .

I have a friend who was recently celebrating her 43rd birthday (youngster LOL.  I'm 45!) and she was complaining about how she had noticed that she needed to use reading glasses sometimes.  And we were laughing and saying how she needed a chain so she could wear them around her neck, like my piano teacher always did. 

I was thinking that I wasn't 40 when I started this blog, but you know what? I was! I was actually just turned 42! I started this blog way back in August of 2008.  Sometimes, that sounds like a lifetime ago, and sometime it sounds like it was just a few months ago.

So how have I changed in the past few years?

- Well, workwise, things have only recently changed, and not completely.  Back in 2008, I had recently started having full-time daycare students instead of just teaching preschool out of my home.  I'm still doing daycare/preschool now, but I've been doing some freelance training and I'm working to so that Simply Living In The City will be its own business (classes, online store and book!)

- Speaking of Simply Living In The City, I think I knew that I wanted to do something like that way back in 2008, but didn't really understand how to make it a reality.  Plus, I was relatively new to the "simple living" scene myself.  I was still trying to find my way and discover how to make the simple life work for our family.

- Mr. Simple's work has changed over the years.  In 2008, he was in his 8th year of working as a fire inspector/public safety officer for our city's fire department.  In 2010, he took another job working as a manager of media relations for a large company (no, not THAT large company in my city), and then he became unemployed in June of 2011.  But he has since started his own business, and is doing quite well! In 2008, he was also broadcasting for the local arena football team, and he continues to do that as well as starting as the broadcaster for the basketball team too.

- My kids (sniff!) have grown up a lot since August 2008.  Super was 3, almost 4 when I started and Jelly Bean was 6, and Flower was 8, almost 9.  Now they are 7, newly 10, and 12! I don't have "little" kids anymore. They are still mostly "simple" kids though.  Flower has an iPod Touch (that she bought herself) and we were gifted a Kinect by a generous family member in December, but my kids still LOVE to play outside, still LOVE to read, still LOVE to make gifts and still LOVE to spend hours drawing (especially Jelly Bean.)  But lest you think that they are "simply perfect", they also appear to LOVE to annoy each other too. :)

- When I started blogging, I was starting out my first year of homeschooling and it was just Flower.  The next year, it was Jelly Bean and Flower.  Last school year, it was just Jelly Bean. And this school year? Everyone is in public school.  I miss homeschooling.  I still, every once in awhile, wonder if we made the right decision.

- I have really made great strides in living a simple life that fits OUR life.  Which for us, means thrifting for clothes and housewares.  Buying less.  And when we do, it is a NEED.  And it is something that fits our lifestyle, so it probably means that it is quality.  And natural materials.  But bought as frugally as possible.  Eating whole foods.  Using our cars less and walking and biking more.  Learning how to make things.  Like dairy products.  Soap.  Dishcloths. Mustard. Tomato sauce :)  Learning to make the best use of our space inside and outside of our home.  Coming to peace with living in THIS home and in THIS city. 

- When I started this blog, we had just started digging out of the financial hole we were in.  Being mostly debt-free still seemed impossible.  And we only had one car back then (and it was not paid for either.) Now we have two cars (both paid for), and no debt besides our mortgage.  We pay cash for everything.  We save up if we don't have all the money.  Or we decide we don't need it.
- I have had bumps in my relationships in the past few years.  But I'm pleased to say that I haven't lost a relationship with anyone. (At least I don't think so!) Some have faded a little, and some I'm still trying to figure things out, some are new, and some are stronger than ever.

- I've had some loss over the years.  I lost our son to stillbirth, actually a few months before I started this blog.  I'm not as sad as I was in those early days of his loss, but I still think of him every day.  And I still wish that he had lived.  I lost my grandmother in September 2009.

- I have had some health problems over the years.  I had a heart scare in early 2010 and then I lost a bunch of weight in 2010 and 2011.  Also in 2010 and early 2011, I was dealing with terrible allergies & sinus infections.  And I was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2010 and had it removed in early 2011.  And I was diagnosed with Meniere's in Fall of 2010.  And 2011 was the year that I got tendinitis.  And burned 25% of my body.  Here is to hoping to a healthier 2012!

- There have been other changes, in particular one that took place in 2011, but I'm not ready to share about EVERYTHING yet.  Baby steps.  I didn't used to share anything personal here, and so I've made changes with sharing things more here too, I guess.

But I am happier.  Happier than I was in 2008.  And we are better off financially than we were in 2008.  And we are simpler too.  Oh, and older too. But I still don't need reading glasses. :)

It could have been much worse.

There is another reason why I didn't post much during August besides the fact that we were having a crazy busy summer.

I burned myself.

Not just a little one on my finger, or the side of my hand, from touching the oven rack when I was taking out a pizza or something.

This was second degree burns. On 25% of my body.

It was the night before the Swim Team Awards Banquet. It was our first evening in two months that we hadn't had either evening swim practice or a swim meet. We were going to have dinner, at home, with everybody.

So I decided to cook up some of the green beans that I had picked from the garden, just that day. I put a quart or so of water in my dutch oven, and let the water boil, and then I threw the green beans in for a couple minutes. My kitchen is TINY. (Have I ever mentioned that? LOL) And there really isn't even a full step between the stove and the sink. So I took the handle of the pot and was just going to drain the water off the beans into the sink. This is where everything went wrong.

As I turned to the sink, I splashed some of the boiling water on my right hand. In reaction to that, I dropped the pot. On the top of my right foot. The water then splashed up on my right shin and then the pot tipped over on the linoleum floor. Now I was standing in boiling hot water. I went to move out of the water, and I slipped. And fell into the water. On my right hip.

It was SO hot. I got up immediately and stood up out of the water. I think I started screaming next. By that time, Mr. Simple had heard the pot drop and came to investigate and saw me. He took me and put me in the bathtub in cool water.

It would feel better for a second when the skin was in the water, but if I lifted my foot or leg out of the water, it would feel like it was burning all over again. And it would start to blister. I knew my hip hurt, but I thought it was just bruised from the fall. I asked Mr. Simple to look at it and it was then that he decided that we needed to go to the hospital. (If you ever get burned on your hip, and are wondering what to wear to the hospital, I'm telling you, the best thing is a swim suit cover up. I was able to be modest, and yet, I could hold the material away from my hip.)

The trip to the hospital was not one that I would like to relive ever again. Especially because I couldn't even sit, and I was in SOOO much pain. But we live very close to the hospital thankfully, and so the ride was short at least.

We got there and if you ever want to get quick service at the hospital, say that you have been burned. Wow. They got me back to a room and gave me a shot of pain meds right away. Then a dr. came in and accessed the situation, and then after the pain meds had kicked in, they put the burn medication cream (Silvadene) on everything. And then gave me more pain meds. After 3 hours, they sent me home with more pain meds and instructions on how to change the dressings.

The next few days were a blur. I slept a lot. But then by Friday, Mr. Simple had to go out of town and I had to watch the kids on my own AND change my dressing on my own. As it turned out, I had to have a good friend (very good! She had to look at my burn and my half naked body! ACK!) change my dressing on Friday and then on Saturday, I ended up back at PromptCare because my hip area was starting to get infected and so I had to go there and have them look at it and change the dressing. Plus, they gave me a heavy duty anti-inflammatory, which actually helped more with the pain that the opiate medication I had been taking.

I had a burn check with my regular dr. a week out and two weeks out. After a week, my foot was doing very well. By two weeks, both my shin and foot were almost completely healed. My hip area, on the other hand, was deeper and a much larger burned area, and so even after two weeks, was not that healed. But he said that he thought that it would be by a month out, and sure enough, at the one month mark, I was dressing and pain free everywhere, including my hip.

I will always have scarring on my hip, and probably a little scarring on my shin. (I joked to my dr. that my swimsuit model career is over now! LOL) I have to keep all the burned areas out of the sun until next June.

But it could have been worse. It could have been SO much worse.

I have the best family and friends. That is CERTAIN. I had so much help during this time. I could not have done it without them. And I have a whole new respect for cooking and have and will be more careful. I have a very tiny glimpse of what it would be like to have a major burn and for those people, I am so sorry and you are AWESOME because there is just so much to have to deal with when it comes to burns.

Please be careful. Be extra careful. I have been cooking for years and even done canning and yet I burned myself with just a small amount of boiling water. If I had ever imagined how I would burn myself, I never envisioned that it would be because I was cooking some green beans.

Enough Already!!

I wrote in this post about how my health has gone down hill in the last year or so. In case you don't want to click on the link, here is a brief recap:

* After a year of almost non-stop sinus infections and respiratory problems, which came after a few years of off-on respiratory problems, I went to the allergist and was diagnosed with allergies to pollen, birch trees, coconut (already knew about this odd one), and wasps. It took a few months of tweaking meds, but I've been doing fairly well since then.

*Last summer, I experienced some dizziness and then a middle ear infection, and then "fullness" in my ear, loss of hearing and LOTS more dizziness. I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease last fall.

* I had a bump on my forehead that didn't look right. I also had redness on my cheeks that would get worse in the cold or the heat and after exercising. I went to a dermatologist and was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma on my forehead. I had Moh's surgery to remove it in January. I was also diagnosed with rosacea and now I use a facial gel and take a low dose antibiotic.

* In early January 2010, I was admitted to the hospital after experiencing heart attack-like symptoms. I was cleared and released, but I was put on a cholesterol lowering drug (and it was recommended that I exercise and lose weight - I exercise most days and I've lost 80 pounds so far. Go me!)

* I've had problems with my teeth for years now. In 2010, I had two root canals and two crowns put in and a couple of fillings. There went over $2000 out of my pocket. Ouch.

---------------

More recently:

* On March 19th, I was eating something (soft) and one of my crowns fell off. No big deal, right? They'll just glue it back on the tooth. Except that THE TOOTH broke off in the crown. This was now a VERY BIG VERY EXPENSIVE deal. And of course, it didn't happen on a back tooth or something. On one of my top FRONT teeth. A bit hard to overlook the big gaping hole in my mouth. After weighing my two (expensive) options, I ended up going with a dental implant followed in a few months by a crown. Total cost: $3000, out of pocket. Oh, did I mention we are still making payments on the $2000 dental bill from last year too? And did I also mention that the dental surgeon AND our new dentist (we changed dental insurance) require all the money up front before providing services??? Thankfully, I have parents who love me and will help a daughter in need.

* I was diagnosed with tendinitis in my right foot. In the grand scheme of things, this has been the most minor, but it has hindered my gym attendance as of late, and is sort of annoying in general. It hurts a little bit all the time, and a bit more when I exercise. I also have some left knee pain. Similar to the the foot pain - a little bit all the time and more when I exercise.

* And then THIS Saturday, my lower back started itching. Then my neck. Then my head. I tried to ignore it. Sunday, we went out of town. I had broken out in a red rash by this time. It was all over most of my torso. I could no longer ignore it. I took Benedryl, which did nothing, well, except help me sleep. I went to the Dr. today and he said that it is probably an allergic reaction to something (really???) and that 90% of the time, you can't figure out the cause and most of the time, it goes away and doesn't reoccur. So he put me on Zyrtec for 12 days along with Prednisone. I've taken 3 doses so far. NO CHANGE. I'm still itching and I still have the rash.

--------------

So, I'd just like to put in a request for a moratorium for medical and dental issues. For at least 6 months. A year would be fantastic, but I don't want to be completely unrealistic.

Seven

No, this isn't Super's age. Or the number of bones I've broken. Or the number of trips I had to go out to the car to unload the groceries. (As an aside, unloading the groceries from the car is one of my least favorite jobs. EVER.)

My alma mater is this university, and I still live in the same city that the university is located. So today I was driving past one of the intersections by campus and noticed a big banner that said "Seven" and then led you to the university's Wellness home page.

Now, I've mentioned how I've been pretty UNwell this past year, at least physically. I'm really hoping that 2011 is a more healthy year.

But I also hope that I'm more healthy overall and so I decided to check out the Wellness page.

They list seven areas of Wellness and their definition of each area:

1. Intellectual - Intellectual well-being involves lifelong learning through your formal education and informal life experiences. Well-being in this area increases your openness to new ideas and to maintain a sense of humor, creativity and curiosity.


2. Emotional - Emotional wellness is a journey toward increased awareness, expression and acceptance of a wide range of thoughts and feelings in yourself and others. Optimal emotional wellness helps you achieve positive self-esteem, satisfying relationships and resilience to meet life's challenges.


3. Physical - Physical wellness involves respecting your body's own uniqueness and diversity, and engaging in practices that move you towards a higher level of health. Optimal physical well-being includes connecting with your physical self and avoiding harmful habits, while remaining focused on the balance of body-mind-spirit.


4. Social - Social health means being aware of, participating in, and feeling connected to your community. Social well-being is enhanced by establishing supportive social networks through meaningful relationships with family, friends, colleagues and other significant individuals.


5. Vocational - Vocational wellness can be nurtured by matching your core values with interests, hobbies, employment and volunteer work. As you uncover your talents and passion, you express yourself to the world.


6. Environmental - Environmental well-being includes trying to live in harmony with the earth by understanding the impact of your interaction with nature and your personal environment, and taking action to protect the world around you.


7. Spiritual - Spiritual wellness involves developing an inner connection and harmony between yourself and the wonder, majesty and mystery of the universe.

On the Wellness page, they also encourage people to complete activities in each of the areas for prizes.

Now, I'm all for prizes and all, but a) I'm pretty sure they don't allow alumni to enroll in the program and b) I want to have more control over what prize I'm going to get. I'm all about chocolate for prizes :)

So I'm mulling these areas around in my mind today and trying to decide what my goals are going to be with overall wellness. I may try and complete a goal in each area each month. But that might be too much to take on. I may try and complete a goal in ONE area each month. That would be more doable, but will I lose momentum and motivation that way? And will I feel that I'm not concentrating enough on overall health? Or I may just write all these down in my journal and try and just encourage these ideas in my overall goals and things I do during the year.

I'll let you know what I decide.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away? Not For Me!

I used to say "Well, I may be fat, but at least I'm healthy."

I can't seem to say that anymore. It seems like every other week, I'm at some doctor for something.

I suppose it all started back in January. I had been experiencing slight chest pains for the at least a month or so before January. But it never seemed THAT bad. Plus, I had no health insurance, and I was afraid if I did go to the hospital, and get checked out, only to find out it was nothing, that I would be stuck with a gigantic bill, just to tell me that I was fine. So I ignored it.

Then it was New Years. It seemed worse. But things were pretty stressful on the home front around that time too, so I chalked it up to just a reaction to that. Then Mr. Simple got a new job, and I would be able to have health insurance again. He would start on January 18th. It seemed better for a few days. Then it was January 16th. Definitely worse. By the 17th, it was no longer something that I could ignore. It was definite chest pain. I had pain in my shoulder and down my arm. My jaw hurt. But my health insurance wouldn't kick in until the next day. I laid in bed all day and all night. And hoped. And prayed.

I got up early the next morning and drove myself to the hospital. I walked in the emergency room doors and went to the desk. The person asked what my symptoms were and I said that I was having chest pain. And then there was a flurry of activity. I was taken directly to a room, and hooked up to an EKG machine, I was given a nitro pill, they were trying to take blood and start and IV, all while they were asking question after question. When did it start? What did it feel like? How would I rate my pain? Did I have any family history of heart problems?

And when I said Yes, my dad had his first heart attack at 38, it was decided that I would be staying at least overnight. They took me up to the Cardiac Care Unit and over the next 12 hours, I had a number of tests. And one by one, the results started coming in. By the next morning, the doctors said that I was all right. I had no blockage, my heart rate was fine, even my cholesterol level was o.k. The doctors said that I did the right thing coming in because of my family history and my symptoms. They weren't sure what the problem was exactly - could be stress, could be gall bladder, but for right now, my heart seemed o.k. It was recommended that I lose weight, and I told my dr. that I had been planning on it anyway, and that I would do it. (Which I did. But it took packing on another 15-20 pounds and another two months before I started. I know. I'm an idiot.)

In February, I went to the dr. because I had a sinus infection and pink eye. He mentioned something about allergies and I said that I hadn't had any problems with allergies as a child, but the past few years, I had had lots of nasal/respiratory problems. He said I should keep an eye on it. I was sick again in April. And then I spent ALL summer hacking. Or stuffed up. Or both. And then I got another sinus infection. Oh, and pink eye another couple times in there too. And another bad one in September. I was put on antibiotics in September. And prednisone. I felt better for a few days. And then worse. So I called an allergist and made an appointment. I had my appointment in the middle of October. Diagnosis: Allergic to dust mites, pet dander, grain pollen, ash trees. Allergic to coconut and probably allergic to bees/wasps/hornets, etc. and probably some other foods.

And then there is the Meniere's. I had slight problems with vertigo over the summer, but thought it was related to my respiratory problems, or because I was working out in the heat, etc. Then I had a major episode in August. Then I started to have a feeling of fullness in my right ear. Nobody could figure out what was wrong, or if I was connected to my other nasal/respiratory problems that I was having at the time. I went to a Prompt Care dr. about it, my regular dr., and finally an ENT, who was able to diagnose me with Meniere's right away. I've been back twice now to see the ENT. My hearing loss is progressing quicker than he anticipated, and I'm experiencing more vertigo than I did over the summer. But there isn't any cure for Meniere's, so the ENT is just trying to help me manage my symptoms.

And then I'm having some issues that I needed to see my GYN about, but I'll keep the specifics of that to myself. But it was just one more doctor, one more medical problem that I've had to deal with this year.

So now although I'm not as fat, I'm not as healthy either. But don't worry, my plan isn't to gain weight to see if I feel better. I am still exercising most days and still eating healthy most days. And hoping. And praying. That one day, I will be thin AND healthy.

Here are the weight loss pictures although

Before Picture - Taken December 2009

Mid point picture - October 2010

I do need to clarify a bit.

The "before" picture doesn't really give you the FULL effect. I'm standing next to someone and so it is hard to tell what I really look like, and this is a before pic that was about 15 pounds away from where I finally freaked out. And I'm not sure what is up with my hair. It doesn't always look great, but this was a particular bad day.

The midpoint pic is taken by Jelly Bean on my phone. The camera completely died yesterday and so I will need to get a new camera, but that will have to wait until mid November. So you get what you get (and you don't throw a fit LOL)

I can't tell for sure if these pictures really gives you a flavor of what I look like compared to before. I do know that I've lost enough so that people I haven't seen in awhile completely freak out, but day to day people, well, some of them still haven't noticed, or at least they haven't said anything.

I'm not brave enough to give you actual numbers yet beyond saying that I've lost 55 pounds so far and I need to lose 110 total. But I'm sure that you can guesstimate about where I was and where I'll end up.

Less of Me These Days

Not around this blog, at least not lately. I've been chatty lately. :)

I talked in the summer about how I've been exercising. Mostly jogging. And I've mentioned a couple times about how I've been eating healthier.

Well, guess what?

I've also been losing weight.

Yea me!

It started back in March. I mean, not really. I've been overweight for the better part of the last 14 years. I did lose a bunch of weight back in 2006. But generally, I've been around a certain weight for much of that time.

So I had been ignoring the scale and just assuming that I weighed the same as always. But I noticed that my clothes were getting tighter and that I was get winded by doing simple things. So I got on the scale.

And quickly got off.

Something must be wrong with scale. I must have leaning wrong or something. I tried again.

Nope. I weighed about 30 pounds more than my "usual." And my "usual" wasn't great either.

So I spent the weekend thinking about what I should do. I knew that I didn't want to do a crash diet. I also knew that whatever I did, it was going to take awhile to lose the weight. Probably at least a year.

So I decided that I would start walking 5 days a week, and eventually work up to jogging. I didn't want to rush into it and get injured, but I also wanted to make exercise become part of my (mostly) daily routine.

I decided that I would eat mostly fruits and vegetables and small portions of meat and bread. I would try to limit my sweets to a couple of bites. By just taking a couple of bites, I'd get the taste but wouldn't consume enough to derail the whole day. I would try to eat as little processed food as possible. I'd mostly do what I referred to the "Eater's Manifesto" diet - Eat Real Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. But no foods are really "off limits." I just try and really watch my portion sizes.

And when I didn't feel like exercising, I'd tell myself to just do it anyway. (Unless I was injured.) Most of the time, if I could just get out the door, that would be enough to get me motivated to exercise that day.

I started eating healthier and exercising at the end of March. The weight hasn't always come off as quickly as I had hoped, but it has mostly consistently gone down. And by the end of September, 6 months in, I've now lost 55 pounds. I'm running at least 3 miles a day. Which is great. It is. However, it is only half of what I need to lose just to get to a healthy BMI for my height. (I'm uh, NOT tall. 5'3" on a good day.) And the definition of a pear shaped body? Well, they had my body in mind, that's for sure.

But yes, I've lost half of my excess weight. I'm proud of myself.

But mostly, it has been a little anti-climatic, but in a good way. I really have adopted a healthy lifestyle. It is just the way that I eat now. The way that I exercise. And generally, if I exercise and eat like this, I lose weight.

The other thing is that if I don't eat like this, I get sick. Like my stomach is killing me and my muscles hurt and it is all I can think is the pain in my gut for two days kind of sick. It makes it so it isn't all that tempting to overeat.

I'm hopeful that come April 1st, 2011, I will be at goal weight and that I'll be running at least 6-8 miles a day.

And I'll be proud of myself.

But I won't be celebrating by eating a huge slice of cake or going out for a huge meal. I'll eat the same way that day that I always do. I'll exercise. And I do the same the next day, and the next day.

Come back here tomorrow and I'll list some before and mid-point pictures.

Running in Circles . . .

No, this isn't a metaphor for my life. I've actually been running in a circle lately. Well, technically, it is an ellipse.

Let me back up a bit.

I've been overweight for 14 years now. I had been average to thin for most of my life before that. But I'd also had an eating disorder for 14 years before I became overweight. I decided to stop, finally, and right around that time, I was involved in a serious car accident, and I was in physical therapy for almost a year. I was actually eating a normal amount of food, and I wasn't exercising hardly at all, and so I just gained a lot of weight.

I did lose some weight a few years ago by just watching my portion sizes, but then I put all of it back on. And then in March, I got on the scales. There is a weight that I'm generally around. When I got on the scales in March, I was 30 pounds more than my "usual." I jumped off. The number couldn't be right. There must have been some error, or the batteries were low, or I was leaning over, or something. So I changed the batteries, and stood up straight. And it still said 30 pounds heavier than my usual. And my "usual" is not even remotely a good weight for me, so to add another 30, well, let's just say, I was pretty horrified.

I knew I needed to do something but I wasn't sure what to do. I knew that I needed to lose weight, but I felt like I mostly ate healthy food, so what could I change there? I knew that I needed to exercise, but where would I find the time?

And so I thought about it. And thought about it.

And what I finally decided was that I needed to eat healthy. Not mostly healthy. (To me, that means eating local, seasonal food and I need to watch my portion sizes. And it meant that I needed to drink water, even though I didn't like it.)

And I needed to exercise, which meant for me, getting up at 5 AM.

Now, I was a fairly active person before the weight gain, and I did all sorts of physical activities, but my favorite thing to do was to run.

It all started when I was 11. My dad had had a heart attack, and the dr's encouraged him to start walking. It was January 1978, and I would bundle up in my parka and go walking with my dad. By the summer, my dad had worked up to jogging. He would go over to the Catholic High School in the evenings and run around their track. I would go over with him most days of the week. When I was high school, I joined the track team. (I would have preferred to do cross country, but I had weak ankles that gave out on uneven surfaces, so I decided that a flat track was probably a better idea.) When I moved to Utah to go to college, I started running longer distances, and up into the canyons, etc. When I moved back here, I went back to running with dad at the campus recreation center. So until I was about 28, I considered myself a Runner. Or at least a Jogger.

So at the end of March, I decided to start my new lifestyle of healthy eating and exercise. I joined a gym and I started walking on the treadmill. I would do this for 30 minutes, 5-6 days a week. I would also go on a walk on the local bike trail every weekend. After a week, I started adding a little bit of jogging. And then after 3 weeks, I met with a trainer, and he created a schedule of light weights to add to my routine.

By this point, it was starting to get nice outside, so I started jogging/walking to the gym, doing my weights, and jogging/walking back home. (It is 3 miles round trip.)

A couple of weeks ago, my girls started doing swim team, and their morning practice is from 7 am to 8:30 am. The pool is right next to a junior high that has . . . you guessed it, a track. For me, a track isn't necessarily my favorite place to run. Of all the places in town, the trail is probably my favorite place to run, but running on the track was very convenient to the pool. It is also like visiting an old friend.

It reminds me of running with my dad so, so long ago. (Wearing very fashionable tube socks and Nike running shoes, I'm sure.) It reminds me of high school, where I used track as a way to escape from all of the stuff that teenagers need to escape from. It reminds me of running the track at the Rec center and racing my dad for fun.

Now when I run around the track, I don't look like that 12 year old. That 16 year old. That 25 year old. I'm not in shape AT ALL. I shuffle along. I am REALLY slow. I still walk at least a mile of the 3 miles that I do. Some mornings, the little boy that I watch gets dropped off at the track, and I run, while pushing him in the stroller. I don't remember running with a stroller back in the day. But now, some mornings, it is run with a stroller or don't run at all. For many years, I could have run with a stroller, but I didn't. I chose to not run at all. Or much of anything else, for that matter.

But something happened to me in March. I found that I couldn't NOT do it anymore. There are plenty of days that I wish that I could still get a York Peppermint Patty and a Diet Pepsi for an afternoon snack, although I'm finding that I really do enjoy having fresh fruit and vegetables for snacks. I don't hate water anymore. And with the exercising, there are PLENTY of mornings that I don't want to work out. I'm tired, it's hot, my muscles hurt. I just don't want to. But I just do it. I've just been doing it for almost 12 weeks now. I eat healthy, I lift weights at the gym, and I jog. It is just what I do.

And what I hope to continue doing. My goal is to get to my goal weight by next March and to be able to run in a half marathon by next March. I've also talked with my older brother and my sister about doing a marathon and we are all going to train to do the St. George Marathon in October 2011. I know that I'm not there yet, and maybe I won't be capable of doing a marathon by then. But I think I will be. I've got 17 months to train. And if I just make sure and eat healthy and exercise 5-6 days a week between now and then, I think I can do it.

When I told my dad about the marathon, he said "That is so exciting. I think that you will do a great job. I wish that I could have done a marathon." (Technically, he probably could. He still runs most days. But he is 72 years old and generally doesn't run more than a couple of miles, and he just isn't at the point of his life that he feels up to training for a marathon.) So I told him that I would use his first name as a middle name for the marathon in honor of him. If it wasn't for him, I probably never would have started running.

And I hope that I never stop again.

Monday - Health

Get some sleep!

No, seriously. That is the topic for today. Some of my readers have heard this story before, but when I think of lack of sleep, it is what I always think of.

Anyway, Super was born at the end of September, 2004 (insert huge sigh that he is getting so big, o.k., back to the story). Flower had just turned 5, but and Jelly Bean was 2 years, 9 months. We were all thrilled to have a baby in the house again. Super was a sweet, easy going baby. As a newborn, he took short catnaps (like 10 minutes) about 3 times during the day. Then from 10 pm to 3 am, the boy was UP. Not crying or anything, but just awake, wanted to be snuggled, looked at, rocked, etc. OK, lots of babies get their days and nights mixed up. It would calm down in the next month or two. Except that it didn't. I tried everything to improve his sleeping habits and nothing worked. As he got older, he just got more and more alert during that 10 pm to 3 am stretch. He would usually drop off around 3:15, sleep until 6:15, and then eat, go back to sleep until 8ish. Would be sort of o.k., I guess, except that Flower and Jelly Bean would get up around 6:30 am, so for months, I was only getting 3 - 3 1/2 hours of sleep a day.

At first, I was exhausted. I'd catch little snippets of sleep whenever I could, but it never was much. Every day was a fog. And then I got used to it. Or so I thought. Ever so gradually, I found myself just wanted to stay in more. I didn't want to go out to the park with the kids. And then I wouldn't want to go see my friends. And then I just wanted to just stay in all the time. And do almost nothing. But I didn't think I was depressed or anything. It was just what I felt like doing. I thought everything was fine.

And then it happened. He started sleeping. At almost 11 months old, he started taking longer naps, and he started sleeping some during the night hours. Almost over night, I went from getting 3 hours of sleep to getting 7 hours of sleep (some of it was interrupted sleep, but hey, I wasn't going to complain about it!) And suddenly, I felt like doing stuff. It was like the clouds had lifted and the sun was shining again. It was only afterwards that I realized that being so sleep deprived for so long had caused me to become depressed.

Now, I know that we are all in different circumstances, and you might not be able to get all the sleep that you want or need. But I also know that I, and maybe you, don't always follow the adage "Early to Bed, Early To Rise, Makes a Woman Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise." I need to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, so I should probably give this advice my best effort and try and curb my late nights, and get to bed earlier, so that I can get up earlier, and have some time to myself to meditate, and gather my thoughts before I start the day.

So go to sleep! You'll feel better!

Monday - Health

OK, I didn't do that well on my exercise last week. (BIG shock, LOL) I did do better than the week before though. I exercise two days last week, and I have exercised yesterday and today. (I'm on a roll!)

What I wanted to talk about this week was Fitness. We had our monthly Women Living Wisely meeting and the topic was about Fitness (physical activity and healthy food). The presentation was really good and I learned many things, but the one thing that I took away from the evening was that the important thing about Fitness (and most things really) was that you need to find things that you will do on a consistent basis. The other thing that I keep thinking about was how I need to make a lifestyle change. I don't just need to look at this as something that I'm going to do for a week or a month or a year or even 5 years.

So I'm going to start a fitness journal (just a cheap spiral notebook). I'm going to record my short term and long term goals, my food intake and my exercise, my weight and measurements, and benefits that I'm noticing.

Monday - Health

I know quite a bit about Health. Probably much more than an overweight, out of shape, 40 something person would appear to know. LOL

My schedule is fairly busy, and I'm at home, watching children, for much of my day. And I hate to be cold. And I'm particularly UNmotivated in the mornings to exercise, and I'm often busy in the evenings. So I rarely exercise. But this has GOT to change. I've recently lost about 20 pounds, and I've got many more to go, but I know the key to continuing to lose weight will be to increase (start? LOL) my exercise.

I'm going to focus on walking for right now. I ran track in high school, and I would like to eventually compete in races, but I need to take one step at a time (sorry, bad joke.)

This week, my goal is to walk for 45 minutes five days a week. I will do it from 1:30 to 2:30 pm. This is a time when I am generally not doing anything besides checking on the computer or reading, etc.