Healthy Me

This month, we have a flurry of activity at different doctors scheduled for the family. I have appointments with a new endocrinologist, my family doctor, and a gynecologist. My husband has to see our family doctor for tests and to check his arm for pain he's been having. My kids all have check-ups scheduled. We also all have eye doctor appointments.

We schedule like this because my husband's employer requires certain doctor's visits and tests every year and they have a deadline that it has to be done by. While it is a pain, it is best for our health to have preventative visits. Though by the time these are all done, I am going to be SO glad not to see anymore lab coats for a long time! My kids aren't looking forward to them because two of them are due for vaccinations. Even though they are older, they still dread the needle pokes. I can't blame them. I do as well.

I never thought about it before. I am horrible at golf. I've had private lessons, had my own set of ladies golf clubs, and belonged to a golf club. I could not hit that ball to save my life! It was very embarrassing.

A lot of people think of golf as a lazier sport. It doesn't have the constant movement of sports like swimming or basketball (or the aggression of football). People dress up to hit a little ball around the golf course. So how is it exercise?

According to this article, you walk up to five miles if you play 18 holes (that means you have to leave the golf cart behind!). You use a large muscle group every time you swing (I didn't realize that all those times I missed the ball and had to swing again, that it was actually GOOD for me). Finally, it's a stress reliever for some to be outdoors. Golf courses are kept up nice so the setting is definitely pretty.

That makes me think a little differently about golf. It won't make my swing any better though.

With the dangers of skin cancer due to the sun's damaging rays, I have always avoided the sun. Plus, I burn right away. That can't be a good thing so I just decided years ago to avoid it. It leaves me pasty white all year long. Who wants to be pasty 24/7, 365 days a year so I wanted to see what the Mayo Clinic had to say about sunless tanning.

According to them, sunless tanning products, such as Sunless Tanning Spray, are safe alternatives. The only risk I could find is inhaling or getting it in your eyes. This can be avoided if you close your eyes and hold your breath.

A tip for those who choose to do this: Exfoliate first for more even color. Women should shave beforehand as well.

Well, I've been on the 48-hour "hollywood diet" for 24 hours now and I quit. You're supposed to lose up to 10 pounds on it supposedly. I thought I'd see if their claims were right. Here's where I'm at:

• I've had a headache the entire time from hunger I would guess since I always get a headache when I'm hungry.
• I've lost one pound. If I had lost more than that, I might put up with the hunger and headaches for another 24 hours but for one pound? I don't think so Joe!

I am getting ready to eat dinner - REAL FOOD soon. I can't wait. I'm so hungry I feel nauseous.

More information on Gardasil from an attorney's web site.

I scheduled my 12 year old daughter's well-check for next week. While I was scheduling it on the phone, the woman making the appointment tried her best to get me to agree to the Gardasil vaccine. When I told her I wasn't interested, she told me they'd give me paperwork for it so I could review it. I advised her that I had researched it quite a bit and would NOT allow my daughter to have this vaccine. She eventually shut up but I wouldn't doubt if I get a "push" from them at her appointment next week.

I couldn't find Grade B syrup yet for the cleanse drink so today I tried it without. Ick! Lemon juice, cayenne pepper and water are just NASTY. Perhaps I should have waited to find the syrup first to sweeten up the drink! Blech!

I was reading in my First for Women magazine about a cleanse that uses lemon juice, Grade B maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in water. According to the article, it is helpful for weight loss. It seems like a detox type of thing. I googled it and kept coming up with something called Master Cleanse except their program included more in it. It seems like this article I read was a part of a bigger program.

Has anybody used the lemon/syrup/pepper in water to lose weight? What were you results? Were there bad side effects?

I've started swimming twice a week as exercise. No results yet since I've only gone twice but I was surprised. I didn't realize swimming was such a workout until I had been swimming for awhile yesterday. I could feel it in my legs and it's definitely a cardio workout. The first time I didn't feel it because I was taking care of my four-year-old at the same time so the workout was limited. Yesterday I definitely felt it.

It's been years since I've been swimming. I'm not too comfortable yet in a public pool in a bathing suit but I'm doing it anyway.

My sister was telling me about a workout program called P90. I saw an infomercial on television the other day about P90X. It seems like a popular program. It also looks intense!