Healthy Me

Starting soon to take care of the holiday weight...

Also considering (to change it up a bit - get tired of the same recipes over and over)...

It's almost 2012!  I don't make New Year's resolutions.  I've never known anybody who actually kept them.  I do plan on losing a few pounds and getting in shape in time to coach my two girls' cheerleading squad in 2012 but resolutions?  Nope.  I would do better to bet some coins on weight lost or how fast I can get from struggling to touching my toes to actually touching them but no resolutions for me.

I think my June, I should be able to do a toe touch jump.  Ha ha.  That's funny.  We'll see.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

Just getting in the Christmas spirit.  The holidays are either really good or they're really dysfunctional. Sometimes, they're even both.  I just finished all my shopping and have decided to not care too much about dysfunctional people so I'm going to enjoy it.

I was looking for Cheap Hats but then I found this great Restless Girl Women's Straw Cowboy Hat for a little more than cheap and think that should go on my Christmas list too.  So maybe hubby isn't done shopping yet.

The "healthy eating diet" must start after the New Year.  It must.  I need to get back into a routine where I eat healthy and remember to take my thyroid meds several times a day.  I still forget.  Not good.

I hope everybody has a great holiday!

What industry can handle the ups and downs of the economy?  Computers?  Medical field? Automotive Repair? Pharmacy Technician Jobs?

I briefly considered going back to work this week - part-time.  It was real brief though.  After thinking about not being here to put my kids on and off the bus, being available for them for their activities and homework, or just to run something to school for them or pick up a sick child myself, the urge went away.

My youngest is six.  I am thinking I will be home with them for at least 11 years!

I need to find exercise that I will actually want to do.  If I don't like it, or it makes me sweat, it's just not going to be something I want to do regularly.  So, I am thinking about a pool.  My kids would like it.  I would like it.  Get a nice deck around it, google pool safety and cover pool and relax in the pool - fun and no sweat!

I am trying to get back into the regular routine of taking my thyroid pills.  My doc reduced the dose, which brought all my symptoms back - including memory loss.  So, now that I am back on the right dose, I keep forgetting to take them!  Until I get my system back to the right dose regularly, I am going to keep forgetting them.  Oh what a vicious circle!

My little sister is trying to get engaged. I say "trying" because her boyfriend wants to but my sister seems to have these phobias about men who treat her too nicely. I'm not sure why she always picks guys who treat her badly and then wants to run from the good guys who are nice. She's definitely never been without a guy - - not a candidate for free online dating but she goes from nice to bad to nice to bad. I am hoping she'll finally get engaged to the current boyfriend and not get scared and sabotage it.

Why do women do that?

Who ate healthy for Thanksgiving?

Just wondering.

I didn't.

I haven't had anymore gallstone attacks this past week. I cut back on the chocolate and pizza (notice I said "cut back" and not "eliminated").  For some people, I imagine they have to totally eliminate certain foods but I find that if I do most foods in moderation, I can handle them just fine.  Really, shouldn't we be eating healthy foods and the bad ones only in moderation anyway?

I need to find a "thank you" gift for a friend who has been there for me through these things and have been looking for gift baskets that say "thanks" and I found some that includes fruit!  What better way to say thanks and in a healthy way?

We just bought cabinets for my family room!  It's the first step to actually turning it into a family room and not a catch all for everything, including dust which is bad for my allergies (looks more like a basement than a family room).  I want to expand our storage with that room, as well as set up a living space for the kids to play their video games and watch television.  I am looking for rustic decor in that room, while the rest of the house is more contemporary comfortable.

I can't wait to add "family room" onto my husband's "honey do" list!  I'm sure he'll be happy.  *snicker*

It seems like the economy will never right itself at this pace!  Can you imagine the chronic stress levels right now across the United States?  Too bad you can't buy stock in cortisol - the stress hormone!  At a time when money is scarce and the debt collection agencies are ringing your telephones, medical bills are probably skyrocketing for illnesses and diseases caused by or made worse by stress.

I really believe chronic stress levels caused my thyroid disease. I honestly do. Of course, that would have more to do with my husband's ex than the economy for me.  I also developed TMJ from constantly clenching my jaw (out of anger or out of biting my tongue - who knows).  While I worry about money, the ex has been the biggest stress factor for me since I married almost 16 years ago.

Two nights ago, my body warned me that my eating habits lately were pretty bad (with Halloween candy around, plus candy from my birthday and Sweetest Day, what else was going to happen but bad eating habits?).  I had a gallbladder attack - gallstones are such a bummer!  It's been over a year I think since my last attack.  I was not expecting this attack at all.  It's generally hash browns that bring them on but I've not had hash browns in forever.

My Recent Gallbladder Attack Symptoms:

I was sitting in bed reading and felt like I had heartburn.  I thought it was the pizza but I don't get heartburn unless I'm pregnant (which I'm not).  Then the pain and burning was on my right side, right up under my rib cage in front and up through shoulder blades in back, front and back, and I felt nauseous...oops, gallbladder attack! I drank a lot of water, did some stretches, gagged a little bit, and then it was over. Thankfully, it was a minor attack compared to previous ones. Usually I vomit for at least an hour - repeatedly and very hard and cry in a lot of pain while wondering if this stone blocking the way is too big to pass through.  This one didn't even make me cry.

Too bad gallbladder - I win this round!

I want to compost but don't want the pile in the yard or to have to shovel it to keep it aerated and moved.  I just found this compost tumbler that will eliminate all my concerns about it. So cool.

I am thinking my father-in-law would love one of these for Christmas too.  He is the hardest person to buy for and this just made this Christmas simple!

My cat and dust allergies are just driving me crazy right now.  I take an allergy pill everyday - that does nothing. I was having an allergy storm yesterday - running nose, coughing, airways closing so using my inhaler often, sneezing - - it just would not stop.  I had bought Allergy Buster Nasal Spray (all natural spray for allergies) last week and took it out to try yesterday.  It's active ingredients are Capsicum Annuum, Eucalyptus and Urtica Dioica.  The initial spray is definitely intense but wow are the results nice for several hours afterward.  It's non-drowsy and non-habit-forming.

Wanted to share this with other allergy sufferers.

What's on your kids' Christmas list this year?  My two youngest kids' lists keep changing every week. Every time they see a commercial, things get added and subtracted.  My teenager is going to Disney with her band so that is her Christmas AND birthday gift because we aren't made of money. I'm considering a PS3 as a family gift (which my son would like) or one of the more inexpensive tablet pc's (which he has been asking for). I won't start shopping for the big gifts until November so I'll figure it out eventually.

I shopped all day long.  I was looking for personalized baby picture frames and ended up with a huge supply of toiletries, cereals and juices (from coupons).  I'll go online tonight to Personal Creations and find the personalized gift that I need for a friend's baby (she just found out she is having a girl).  In the meantime, I need a whole other room to store all the stuff I bought today!

My new doctor tried to experiment with my thyroid meds by reducing my T3 dose slightly.  I tried it for two months and couldn't stand it any longer.  My hair started falling out, my periods were late and when they did decide to show up, they were too light (yes, there is such a thing...wish there wasn't).  So I am back on my regular dose and now I know just how sensitive my body is and just how much I need to take both T4 and T3.

It's amazing how such a small change can cause such havoc in my body.  It's also amazing to me that I went nine years before a doctor would finally agree to give me T3.  I obviously needed it! I am real tempted to write a letter to my former doctor advising her of how well I do on my new doctor's medication dosing (she and I did not see eye to eye on it at all no matter how I felt) hoping she'd reconsider and perhaps it'd help her next patient. Then I wonder if her ego is too big and why bother.

It's a shame how many people go without proper thyroid disease management when your thyroid affects every part of your body.  I spent nine years of my life miserable - hair falling out, memory loss, exhaustion, messed up periods, weight gain.  It never had to happen.  I feel like I wasted my 30's.  Not exactly medical malpractice.  I don't need to look up raleigh attorneys and find some legal relief for this but I do want my former doctors to know how their treatment made me worse and hope they learn from it?  I think writing them a letter will make me feel better anyway.

On October 1, I started my "healthy eating" diet and as of yesterday morning, had lost 4.5 pounds.  I also forgot to take my thyroid medication yesterday AND didn't have healthy snacks with me while out shopping and indulged in some "not so healthy" eating so I don't even want to see the scale today.  I know it definitely didn't go down.  I have a week to get to my weight goal before I turn 40.  I do not want to hit 40 overweight and I also do not want to have to get a new driver's license and lie about my weight, ha ha.

I had my bank card number stolen once and used all over the UK.  Since I hadn't lost my card and am never without it, I'm thinking they stole the number from somewhere I had used it or they used advanced technology to scan the rfid chip that my bank card uses to get the number. Whatever it was, they caused me a whole lot of problems getting it all cleaned up.

Break out the insurance from Wholesaleinsurance.net, this blogging mom is turning 40 in a few weeks!  I think I should just say I am 34 and see how many years I can get away with doing that.

I am about 3-1/2 weeks from my 40th birthday and my goal is to be at my target weight by then.  That means I need to get my backside in gear and get working on it but I've not been too motivated yet.  I need to motivate, motivate, motivate!

I am turning 40 in October.  I can't believe that.  When I was a kid, 40 seemed so OLD.  It's not SOOOO old to me now but still, it's the point where people can start saying I am "over the hill" right? Somebody told me last week that they thought I was only 34.  That was cool.  I didn't mind that at all.

A friend of mine wants to celebrate my 40th birthday like it's 1999 (she said) but I'd have to take a cash advance out pay for it. With school starting, we're financially depleted and the outlook over the next few months doesn't look any better - homecoming, sports, band trip.  I plan to cry on my 40th anyway so why spend a lot of money to sob at a party when I can do it at home for free, right?

My six-year-old has been asking for a swing set for the last two years now.  It's important for kids to spend time actually playing as opposed to zoning out in front of a computer or video games.

I've been looking at the type of swing sets in the picture above, but just looking. We can't afford one of these right now. By the time child support is done and we can, she'll be too old to care anymore.  I'd love to have one of these in our backyard!

Do you know what I did recently all by myself?  I actually fixed the toilet.  Me - who has never been handy around the house!  I was so proud of myself.  The flapper chain was broke and the handle broke off (guess kids thought pushing harder on the handle would make the toilet flush but it doesn't work that way when the chain isn't there).  My husband would wait months for his dad to come and fix it and with all these kids in the house, I was not willing to wait months and reduce us to one bathroom with eight people in the house.

I looked it up on YouTube, went to the store for a new flapper and handle and did it all myself!  I was quite proud of myself.

I wonder if I can lay floor in the family room and install a blu ray home theatre system all by myself?  I think I better aim smaller to start and replace the tub spout (kids broke that too).

Seeing a theme here with kids and things breaking?

My husband gave up smoking for the kids - guilt works great!  Well, he said he did and the last two cigars we knew he was given are still in the fridge.  However, did he really give up his Cohiba or is he just not bringing them home anymore? Yeah, I think that's it. Cigars were a once in awhile thing for him. I'd be really surprised if he gave them up completely.  I think he learned just not to do it in front of the kids and on his weird work schedule, it wouldn't be too difficult to get away with it.

My teenage daughter might be taking a trip with her band class to Disney this winter and I'm a bit nervous about it.  That's scary to me - her going that far away without parental supervision.  I'm slowly cutting the apron strings here but she is just a freshman.  I don't have to cut them completely yet!

I do my best to save money where we can, but I have one guilty pleasure - jeans from The Buckle.  They fit GREAT.  They look fantastic and they last.  From the attention my husband gives me when I wear them compared to other brands, they've become a favorite! With my kick to save money, I've been on the search for buckle coupons.  So happy I found them!!

Summer is coming to an end.  We took one vacation to our home state to see family back in June but that was all that was affordable this summer.  Between hotel, dog kennel, etc., it's just too expensive anymore.

My sister gave me an idea for us for a future purchase.  She has both a 5th wheel to pull and a regular RV to drive.  I'm wondering what 5th wheel insurance is like, but I am thinking - rather than pull a trailer, perhaps we should buy a regular RV that drives itself so I don't need to put the wear and tear on my new truck, we won't have hotel expenses, and we can even take a dog with us if we want.

Something to think about for next summer.

For the past month, I've dived into finding deals - deals on food, deals on health care needs, deals on school supplies, and even finding whatever great sale for school clothes that I just can't pass up.  When you combine drastically reduced prices on online school clothes with free shipping, how can you not buy it?  I actually have a small stockpile of things like toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc. so we won't run out (which happened too often before with all these kids in the house) and found a pretty little pair of Nike hi-top tennis shoes for my daughter at sale prices.  I've bought school supplies for little to nothing. In this economy, saving money is the way to go.

Once I'm done with school clothes, it'll be time to think about Christmas (can you believe it?).  I finally bought myself a Wii Fit (I really wanted it to help make exercising fun and it does), but the kids need some things for the Wii system too and Christmas is the perfect opportunity to get it for them. My son also wants those Monster Beats headphones all the kids are wearing.  It's become a challenge for me to find the best price for everything I buy now.  I keep watch on Buy.com for great deals!

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I took some time off and enjoyed the hectic schedule with my kids finishing up last school year, enjoyed the summer off with them, and now that school starts in little more than a week, I am getting excited about school starting and getting back to work myself.

In terms of healthy news - - I have kept off the weight I lost earlier this year.  Yeah for me!  I stopped dieting because I wasn't sure if I wanted to go further or not.  I've decided that I do.  So, on the day my kids start school, mom starts The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results again.  It's just too easy to lose weight this way (and after all these months, I've kept it off) so I'm going to get it finished up.

I am 2.9 pounds away from my weight loss goal!  After feeling fat and lumpy for so long, it's awesome!  Rather than repost all about it here because I just posted about how I did it on my Thyroid blog, follow that link to my other blog and read up! 

I have a waistline!  I kept my boobs, thankfully (I was a little worried about that).  My arms are thinner.  My legs are thinner.  I have cheekbones!  No more squeezing painfully into jeans anymore - they're getting too big.  Yeah, shopping!!

We just set up two more dog kennels for two of our dogs to sleep in and I bought several safety gates to gate them off from the bedrooms on both levels.  This is an attempt to: 1) potty train them completely, and 2) stop them from using the bedrooms as their own personal potty playground!

I sure could use some good dog training advice on how to finish potty training, especially in the winter when the little dogs don't want to go to the bathroom in the snow! Seriously, they're dogs - get outside and potty in the snow already!

It's been a month of viruses in the family so I am sure looking forward to the end of winter!  I am counting the days until spring.  Fresh starts, spring cleaning, and babies!  No, not MY baby but baby showers galore for a few friends of mine. 

I have a great idea for a baby shower gift - have you ever thought about personalized baby gift baskets?  No?  Well, you should!  What better way to give a new mom what she needs for baby while still making it unique and personal to the new little bundle of joy?

I have to admit that for our four children, it has been the personalized gifts that have become keepsakes to keep and pass onto them when they're older.  Generic gifts?  Yeah, not so much.  OK, not at all.

The smell of burnt hair in the morning is becoming normal whenever I use my current hair straightener to straighten my thick, coarse hair.  It takes a lot of heat to smooth out this mess!  Unfortunately, I am beginning to wonder just what kind of damage I am doing to my hair.

I like long hair so cutting it off, to cut away the damage, just isn't something I'm willing to do.  So, what do I do in order to maintain healthy-looking hair but still get the manageability and smoothness I want when what I was born with was frizzy, thick, coarse hair?  What kind of products should I be using?  What kind of styler should I be using?

Well, online I found this straightener by ghd.  Not only will it give me smooth, straight hair, I found out I can get curls from it too! On the ghd web site, there is a "Get the Look" link that will show you step-by-step video instructions and step-by-step written instructions on how to achieve five different looks such as: a pin-up style with soft curls, a back-teased look for the bold, soft movement with the hair down, flirty curls for running fingers through, and then a Hollywood glam look! 

My favorites:  I love the pin-up look.  I have never been able to pull my hair up with any sort of style to it and this video makes it look so easy.  I bet I can do that too!  My other two favorites are the back-teased look that has a bit of punk to it (makes the 1980's girl in me very happy) and the flirty curls that looks made for my husband to run his fingers through. 

So now I am on a mission.  I want a ghd styler!  In the videos, you can see the straightener making one pass-thru the hair to smooth it instead of multiple (burning the hair) pass thrus.  So much healthier for the hair!

I also need some of the ghd hair products.  I have made my shopping list below. 

Step 1:

I want the Replenish Shampoo and Conditioner for dry, coarse hair (I am the poster child of dry, coarse hair).  I want the Opulence Mask for a good, weekly treatment and the Remedy Cream for daily protection. 

Step 2 (heat styling protection): 

Definitely need the Thermal Protector for dry, coarse hair. 

Step 3 (style):

I need the Smoothing Balm for when I want to straighten it, the Sea Spray (with dead sea salt!) to hold curls when I want romantic, run your fingers through my hair curls, and the Obedience Cream as an anti-frizz (ha, I didn't even put "obey" in my marriage vows but I'll put it in my hair!). 

Step 4 (finish):

I want to try the Polishing Serum for the fly-away ends and the Shiny Serum for dry, frizzy hair to tame my thick mane.  Otherwise, it's just out of control and I can't stand the frizz!

Now, I need to drop some hints to the husband about how these would make fantastic gifts.  There has to be a holiday coming up soon, right?  I can always find a holiday.  Valentine's  Day sounds like a good holiday to me.  By the time Mother's Day rolls around, I'll need to make another order!  See, it works out perfectly.

I love updating my weight loss ticker (in left margin) when the weight is going down!  I have lost a total of 22.7 pounds overall, leaving me with 15.3 pounds to go, assuming I decide to go all the way to my target weight.  I want to make sure I don't end up with scrawny looking legs (or no breasts).  After all, who knows what the girls are going to do after four kids and all this weight loss?