Healthy Me

I've been juicing and making smoothies the last month since I got the new Breville juicer and Ninja blender. They are AWESOME. I love them both, but I REALLY love the blender. If the Breville juicer was easier to clean (not all parts are dishwasher safe), I'd love that just as much too...well, almost as much.

It is so easy to toss some veggies into a smoothie and hide it in fruits for my kids. I just grab a handful of spinach and voila - the kids are eating a vegetable they can't taste! I got the one with the individual cups too so it's easy to blend and go for myself or one of my kids.

For the juicer, a bunch of carrots and handful of kale or spinach with fruits and they're getting vegetable juice.

These are the two I have:

My days of Insanity are over. I'm a 41-year-old mother of four hoping to see some signs of a body again. Insanity was a challenge that I was intent on meeting.

Now that it's finished, I am thinking I might try the new Shaun T T25 (or is it T-25?) exercise program when it comes out or my older sister does Les Mills Combat.  Perhaps I'll try that. I don't want to stop and get lazy again.

I am the type of person who needs variety apparently with exercise (which is weird because generally I am predictable) or else I get bored so I definitely am ready for another program to try.

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.

My weight loss has hit a plateau and it isn't coming off anymore (at least not in the last week).  With the holidays approaching so fast, and two of four of my kids down with the stomach flu, I am more worried about lack of sleep than my weight at the moment.  I'm hoping I don't get the flu because with four kids, I really don't have time to be sick.  As a mom, I'll put on the under eye cream and keep chugging! Cheer practices, family, xmas, xmas dinner, new year's, basketball games - I really have no time to get sick!

On Friday, all the kids were finally back in school.  It was the first day since August 28, 2010 that there wasn't a child home sick.  It's been neverending illnesses around here. Right now as I type, my middle daughter has a low-grade fever so I think she's going to be home sick next.

With my first day to myself, I did some cleaning, trying to rid the house of germs, cleaned the bathroom, had a riding lesson, and soaked in a tub without a child at the door wanting something.  So, a little "domestic" stuff and a little "me" time.  I started thinking about how to decorate for Halloween - it's just around the corner now and it is my favorite holiday!  Pretty soon, it'll be time to decorate for Christmas with white led christmas lights!! 2010 sure is going fast.

Hopefully, since my kids have been hit with illnesses so hard since school started, fall and winter will breeze by.  I need to wipe down the surfaces the kids touch more often (faucets, handles, etc.) and make sure they're washing up when they come home from school, carrying germs with them.  I hesitate to use anti-bacterial cleaning solutions because they're just breeding superbugs (did you hear about that?).  It's called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1.  Last year it was the swine flu.  The year before, was it MRSA? 

I came across an article today about the importance of being proactive about your own health to avoid life-threatening misdiagnosis.  Check out:

I said I'd tell about my illness so here goes...

I was hospitalized due to a really bad case of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (due to bacterial vaginosis...NOT a sexually transmitted disease which the doctors would not believe until the cultures came back proving neither myself nor my husband cheated on each other and gave each other a disease!). The doctors actually ticked both my husband and myself off with their disbelief that one of us must have had multiple partners which one of us got an STD from and that's what gave me PID.  The tests they did proved otherwise but it took a couple days for those tests to come back. We've been faithful to each other for 15 years and having that questioned was irritating!  I'm glad I had my cell phone with me because I was able to learn more about PID and the antibiotics they were giving me on the Internet through my phone. Thank the gods for technology because the doctor was driving me batty!

I was really sick with high fever and extreme pain with the possibility of abcessing. They gave me morphine in the ER for pain, then dilaudid (I think that's how it's spelled) once admitted, then Percocet as the pain went down. Apparently, the flu I thought I had with fever for four days a few weeks ago was the start of the infection raging through my reproductive organs until they were screaming at me to get to the hospital.

Unfortunately, the antibiotics (Gentamicin and Clindamycin) they had me on had such bad side effects (dizziness, nausea, ear pain and hallucinations) that I was happy to get off them after 2-1/2 days when I got sent home. Those side effects lingered for several days after but they eventually worked their way out of my system thankfully. I think it was the Gentamicin that did all that to me. The faces flying at me in my head were bad enough (and the evil grins some of the faces gave me were downright scary) but when the Virgin Mary statue outside my hospital window turned and looked at me several times, I rang for the nurse to get me off the medications!

So that's some of what happened.  There's more to chat about (the CT scan results) but I'll do that later. 

I've been updating my thyroid changes at my blog, Thyroid Hell.  I've found a new doctor who manages my thyroid disease the way I want him to and I've also lost some weight (still have more to go but it's a good start). 

I've lost 13 pounds so far.  With the increase in my compounded armour, I am hoping the next 20 will drop off as well. I have my fingers crossed that I'm going to feel like myself again soon after more than eight years of feeling bad.

What do medical doctors have against doctors some consider "alternative" (like chiropractors)? If it isn't the "stick a drug down their throat for the pharmaceutical company" routine, they don't think it's right or safe? I've seen it with my former Endocrinologist who wouldn't do anything but synthetic medication when there were natural treatments that had been around for 100 years that worked for people.

Today my daughter came home and told me that her best friend's pediatrician told her that chiropractors (who her best friend has been seeing for a pinched nerve) give strokes to children. I was thinking about taking my daughter to a chiropractor for her back pain (from a fall) so I looked it up. There is a big debate between chiropractors and neurologists about the risk of stroke with a chiropractic neck adjustment.

From what I found here:

“Even if neck adjustments cause strokes (and no one can say for sure that they do) the risk is low— 1 per 100,000 chiropractic patients who receive multiple adjustments,” says chiropractor William Lauretti, an assistant professor at New York Chiropractic College, and a spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association.

I've heard the possible side effects on those commercials for a pharmaceutical drug. They go on and on and your jaw just drops listening to them. Sometimes you wonder if the side effect is worse than what it's treating. So what is the bigger risk? I'd seriously like to know the answer to that.

How do you know who to trust? How can you give your blind trust to any medical professional? It doesn't matter if they're wearing lab coats - they don't always know what is best for you and you're left wondering if you can find a medical professional (mainstream or alternative) who you can literally trust your life to.

I turn 38 tomorrow. 38!!!! Do you realize how close that is to the big 4-0? I do!

My oldest daughter doesn't help my anxiety over getting closer to 40. Here's a story every mom will just love:

When I was helping her with her algebra recently, I was flipping
through her algebra book and she looked at my hands and said, "You hands are getting really wrinkly."

Then there was a pause as she realized what she'd just said then a
quick, "...or they're just really dry."

Good try to save yourself but it didn't work. I obviously need to look into some anti aging skin care.

I was telling a friend about it and we all got a good laugh about it, but she was right. My hands have aged. I really need to take better care of my skin if I want to age gracefully rather than dreadfully.

I've heard that magnetic jewelry is supposed to be healthy for you but I don't know why. Me being the nerd that I am looked it up after my four-year-old picked out a magnetic bracelet at our county fair last weekend (it's stuck to my refrigerator right now with all the other magnets).

I looked it up at Herbal Remedies and here is what I found:

"Magnetic energy increases the blood flow to the area, increasing circulation, thus speeding healing and reducing pain and inflammation. Magnets come in various forms for applications to different parts of the body."

I wonder if a bracelet would help my husband's pain through his forearm and hand from work. I don't think he'd wear one though. He'd wear a mens ring but that wouldn't be where he has pain and inflammation so a magnetic ring wouldn't work...he'd likely prefer titanium! Heck, so would I! My preference would be one that has diamonds in it. I wouldn't care about using it for pain and inflammation. I'm just a diamond girl!

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.

We are all familiar with sunburn you get on your skin - the red, painful, blistery feeling your skin gets after you've overdone it without protection in the sun. Did you know you can have sunburned eyes if you don't wear the appropriate protection for your eyes as well?

Symptoms of sunburned eyes, according to the Mayo Clinic, is burning, pain, and a gritty feeling. Sun can damage the retina and lens of your eye. This can lead to cataracts.

To prevent sun damage to your eyes, you should avoid the sun during the hottest hours of the day (10 a.m. and 4 p.m.) and wear sunglasses that block most of the UV light. They make a lot of really nice styles of women's, children's, and Mens Sunglasses. Pick a pair that fits close to your face. Wraparounds are a great choice because they block the sun at all angles.

Stress can wreak havoc on a body. My immune system has gone all wonky (as my thyroid disease and asthma shows) and I have TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) from clenching my jaw during times of stress. It's acting up something awful right now after the recent troubles of trying to figure out visitation with my stepkids and getting my stepson's grades in the mail from his school. I'm going to end up needing jaw surgery if this keeps up.

I definitely need to come up with some stress relievers to let all of this go. Bubble baths usually work. Lighting some candles, like a Wood Wick Candle, turning off the lights and soaking in a hot tub (ignoring the knocks at the door from my kids) usually works but it is 92 degrees here right now. Who wants to soak in a hot, or even warm, tub? Not me.

I definitely need to come up with something else because I was serious about the jaw surgery. Once the cartilage is worn to nothing, that's what I was told would be needed to fix it and I hear it's one of those surgeries that is especially bad.

I think one thing that everybody knows is that too much sun can cause damage to your skin. Too much sun can make your skin look harsh and make you look older than you are. That still doesn't keep people from overdoing it under the sun's rays without taking proper safety precautions, which I just don't get!

I burn pretty much as soon as the sun kisses my skin so I avoid the sun as much as possible. My skin fries and then it freckles. I really don't need the help with skin freckles from the sun so it's another reason to avoid it.

However, I don't enjoy looking pale or being called "ghost" (my childhood nickname from my older brother). I found one option to consider if I don't want to be lily white anymore. Spray Tanning!

I have to avoid the sun and I want to avoid skin damage and all it entails so it's nice to know there are other options.

I recently had a biopsy done on my thyroid, searching for cancer in the nodules on my thyroid. The biopsy was done on May 18 but my doctor's nurse wouldn't call me back with the results despite several phone calls and emails to her office the last week or so of May. So, I called the hospital and they told me that the results had been sent to my doctor electronically on May 20th (but they couldn't give them to me)! I did finally get my results from my doctor's office on June 1st. I can't believe they had them that long and didn't call me, knowing how much I wanted assurance that they were negative. I didn't want to assume no news was good news because I haven't been happy with this doctor for awhile and didn't trust the "no news is good news" mantra where they are concerned.

In this case, no news was good news but I am still going to find a new doctor. When I don't trust my doctor or the care she is giving, it is definitely time to find a new doctor. Just because they wear a lab coat doesn't mean they should treat a patient like that. I want to find a doctor who I feel like listens to me and doesn't see me as a lab result. I want a good doctor-patient relationship. I think it is in my best interest's to feel confident in my doctor's care. For tips on good doctor-patient communication, click here.

I think most of us have heard that NutraSweet is bad for you and that it has caused tumors in the lab rats it was tested on. I don't think people pay that much attention to it though. I found some more information on it and what it may do to you. Here it is.

• Blood Pressure: 115/75 being optimal.


• Belly Fat: Dr. Oz says that belly fat is a barometer of how you handle stress in your life. I've read this before, how stress keeps cortisol levels high in your body which means more fat is deposited in your belly area.


• Breathing: You need to do belly breathing to manage stress. If you're sitting in a stressful situation, take a few deep belly breaths and help decrease the feelings of stress.


• No Smoking: No explanation needed there.


• No White Foods: Eliminate white flour, white sugar, etc. Dr. Oz says that the food you eat should look like it did when it came out of the ground (which automatically eliminates all the processed crap we put into our bodies).

I haven't done too well the last couple of days. I haven't binged on anything...nothing like that. I just didn't do anything to make my health better.

I asked my husband the other day if it was better to do MORE sit-ups and hold them for less time or LESS sit-ups and hold them for more time. He said less. OK, that's what I thought. So I only did 15 sit-ups the other day, holding them for a count of ten. I thought that was pretty mild stuff. Hubby said I was overdoing it and was going to hurt myself. *pick up chin off the floor* I only did 15! That's discouraging to me. I think I know when I can feel that I am hurting myself and believe me, I am the last person in the world that is going to push myself so hard, fitness-wise, and cause damage. I'm lazy! I didn't think 15 was that big of a deal. I was actually going to do a set of 15 a couple times a day, every other day, but I didn't tell him that after I got a lecture after only doing the first set.

The last time I started exercising, he thought ten minutes of Turbo Jam was too much and I was going to hurt myself. My face gets red easy so maybe that's why he's so worried. He sees that as over-exertion. I am very pale so ANY change in blood flow is going to show. A couple of our kids are the same way so you'd think he'd realize? *sigh* I got discouraged and put it away. I didn't want a lecture every time I took the DVD out or talked about it. He was overweight as a child and his family thought it was "cute" - - you would think he would be the one person who would understand the need for encouragement?

It just gets discouraging. I am not a fitness buff. At all. I need encouragement! I don't think he wants me to remain 20-25 pounds overweight? I don't know. Maybe he likes the extra weight it brings to my chest, lol. Just kidding. Maybe.

What I don't get is this: Why are 15 sit-ups too much but he has no problem with me shoveling snow. My husband knows I won't leave it (like he would leave the snow...he just four wheel drives over it)? Boy if he could have felt my heart rate this morning! I went out there today and only got a small section shoveled, big enough for the mail car, so the mail could be delivered today (about 3 ft. deep that the road crews pushed into our driveway) before I felt like my heart was going to explode and felt nauseous. I had to stop before I sent myself to the ER with an asthma attack. Shoveling snow is a lot harder on my body than 15 sit-ups!

I don't understand. I just get discouraged.