Surgery Day

We spent the day getting hubby's cataract surgery done.  They do surgery on one eye then in a couple of weeks they will do the other eye.  It was a quick process, the people moved through the clinic like an assembly line (every 20 minutes a patient went in then out they popped in 20 minute increments a couple hours later).  Overall everything went well (he said he can see better through the eye that had surgery than the other one!) and I was surprised that they don't even bandage the eye afterwards, just put a clear plastic cover over it so he doesn't inadvertently rub the eye and disturb the new lens.

I've known several people who had good results with this sort of surgery but a couple of people who had not so good results so I was more worried pre-surgery than hubby was.  Fortunately all seems well plus the entire procedure was free compliment of the VA!

Another Post on Health

It's been a pretty wild week around here, most of the drama having to do with health.  So my message today is to TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH.  Not only will this save a lot of money (especially for those in the US where one minor medical  problem can bankrupt you) but it will also save so much sadness and drama and suffering.

Here's the update: the relative who had open heart surgery was sent to a rehab facility where he very nearly died (sounds like from neglectful care) and is back in the ER as I type this.  This is the same relative who I chatted with right after hubby's heart attack and he told me he had similar issues (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) and got tired of his doctor ranting at him so he solved the problem by just not going back to the doctor.  Turns out he probably should have been listening to his doctor.  When my sister just went to visit him she said he was so broken down she barely recognized him(!).  Sad.  The other relative who died and then was resuscitated told his family he would be dead by the next day.  Incredibly enough he was.  ER staff will tell you that when a patient tells them they will die soon they are quite often right.  Sadly this relative had a litany of health problems and suffered from them FOR YEARS.

The thing to do: exercise every single day (I know an 85 year old guy who can run circles around people half his age--literally.  He exercises every single day for a couple hours and his health is still excellent).  Eat well (I am a big fan of the whole food plant based diet).  Manage stress (yoga? meditation? deep breathing?  Whatever works for you).  Track and manage your health markers (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, etc).

My wish for you is health and happiness and good health goes a long way towards long-term happiness!

A Health Update

It's been 10 days since hubby was released from the hospital with a newly repaired heart.  Since then...

• We have eaten mostly vegan food with a couple of servings of fish in that time period.
• I have lost 10 pounds (!!!).  And that is without even trying.  I guess cutting out all of the junk food and Starbucks and fancy coffee drinks (plus uping fiber, vegies, fruits, and whole grains) makes the weight practically fall off!
• Hubby's blood sugar has decreased dramatically.  We will need to talk to his doctor about changing his diabetes medications since doctors tend to medicate for a certain baseline (mostly assuming that patients won't change anything) and once the patient makes significant diet changes their blood sugar can sink too low (same for blood pressure and cholesterol levels).  
• We have eaten out once in the past 10 days.  We went to a buffet and ate mostly salad.  Hubby had a little meat and I realized that even vegetables aren't really healthy in a restaurant as they were mostly swimming in butter and salt :(  I had a few bites of coffee ice cream and couldn't even finish it as it was too sweet.  I think our taste buds have been re-calibrated!
• We are eating all of our vegies!  We used to buy a lot of fruit and vegetables but since we ate out so often they would usually go bad and end up in the garbage.  With the way we are eating now (all meals cooked at home) we are actually saving money both in restaurant costs as well as by having much less food waste.
• Aside from our Costco and Whole Foods shopping trip, our over all grocery shopping costs are lower than usual.  We buy mostly fruit and vegetables that are in season and on sale and bought spices at Asian and Mexican stores where they are much cheaper than at a regular grocery store.
• I borrowed the e-book "The End of Diabetes" by Dr Joel Fuhrman from the library.  It is an excellent read and is all about using food to completely reverse diabetes and other chronic diseases.  It's nice to hear a doctor say "you don't need to be chronically ill" instead of "here take these pills, you will need them for the rest of your life".

Overall hubby's health crisis was a huge wake up call.  I am glad it worked out as well as it did (he could have been dead or needing open heart surgery so his minor heart attack was better than the alternatives).  We have really made a complete change in the way we eat and hopefully we will both end up in much better overall heath!

Daily Blogging Challenge Fail

I missed blogging yesterday because I was so tired I could barely see straight (a hospital is the LAST place to get a good night's rest!).  But I will pick it up again and hope to compete the year with a blog post every day.

On a happy note, hubby is home and with a repaired heart and he is feeling great (from death's door to up and about and feeling great in four days is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!!).  I'm hoping to switch us to a completely whole food, plant-based diet and so far so good (I made black bean tacos with guac when we got home today).  The hospital and staff were great but my only rant with them is that the cardiologist, the nutritionist, and the hospital cafeteria don't seem to believe in vegan meals.  Each meal was lower salt and lower fat but the amount of meat and dairy in each meal was horrendous IMHO.

On a side note, we didn't get a bill for his hospital stay and procedures (at the military hospital all of this is free) but I looked up the average cost of his procedure and one website said "The price for an angioplasty ranged from $44,000 to $144,922" in California hospitals.  Holy cow!  I think exercising and eating the healthiest food you can is way more affordable than one procedure to fix a lifestyle disease.

Another Quick Update

After much testing it turns out that hubby actually had a small heart attack night before last.  While he didn't present with the "usual" symptoms (he thought he had acid reflux), the pressure in his chest was enough to get him to the hospital which probably saved his life.  He will have more procedures done tomorrow to fix up his heart, meanwhile I am so thankful that his first heart attack wasn't his last (many time the first symptom of a heart attack is death or the crushing chest pain and full arrest which requires an AED to *maybe* resuscitate).

If there is anything more important than my usual mantra of get out of debt and stay out of debt, it is YOUR HEALTH IS IMPORTANT!!!  I am just an guilty as everyone else who can't pass up a pizza, a burger and fries, or a coffee milkshake with the idea that I will work on better health "later".  Sometimes there isn't a later so please please please make your health as important (or even more so) than all of the effort you put into your finances!!!

A Quick Update...

Hubby ended up in the hospital last night and will probably be here for a few days.  Since I am kind of obsessed with keeping up with my daily blog posts (and since the hospital has some nice, fast wifi) I'll just make a quick update...

Some things I am thankful for (in no particular order)...having a vehicle (I much prefer public transit but in an emergency it is nice to have my own car to cart us where ever we need to go).  Extremely good health insurance (the total cost for hubby's stay, tests, etc. will be...free.  If we had to pay for everything we would literally be bankrupted by this unexpected expense).  Wifi, email, text messaging, and other technology (years ago if you are stuck in a hospital you would be bored and out of contact with everyone, these days you can connect with everyone from your hospital bed).  Modern medicine (it is really quite good, the things they can fix these days is amazing!).

10 (Free) Ways to Get Healthy

People are so scarily unhealthy these days.  While so many people are protesting about guns and mass shootings (which are horrible events but the number of people killed in mass shootings is in the triple digits each year), you don't hear a peep from anyone about the more than a million people who die each year from lifestyle diseases (heart attack, stroke, diabetics, etc).  Based on this list from the CDC on cause of death, people need to worry less about guns and more about what they eat and how much they exercise and a dozen other things that impact their health.  I mean, if a million people a year were dropping out of the sky on airplanes, airplanes would be banned but I guess people's general health is not something that gets very much publicity even though the numbers have reached crisis proportions. 

More than 70% of Americans are overweight or obese, and don't even get me started on the part about the government subsidizing the very food that makes people sick while at the same time taking millions of dollars from big pharma lobbyists.  Ugh.  The bottom line is that you are responsible for your own health.  No one will legislate healthy food, your doctor will happily write you a prescription for your diabetes but provide no help to cure it, and then when you succumb to disease you (or your family) will be stuck with the giant medical bills to try to extend your life a bit.  This sort of stuff makes me livid with the system we have ended up with.

Here are 10 ways to improve your health...for free!

1. Walk every day.  Hopefully several times per day in a rapid manner that gets your heart rate up.
2. Choose better food.  Whole food plant based diets seem to be popular now and have the studies to back up how healthy this way of eating is for your body.  If you are going to buy food anyway, you might as well buy the most nutritious food possible.  Since we have gone mostly vegan, the amount we spend on food each month has actually gone down.
3. Stretch and move around every hour.  This is simple to do where ever you are--at home, at work--and doesn't take any special equipment.
4. Switch out all of your beverages for water.  This saves on calories big time and drinking water instead of soda will save you money.
5. Look for community health freebies.  In our city we have free health fairs, free blood pressure checks, free radon detector kits, even free women's health services like pap tests and mammograms for women who can't afford them.
6. Use online freebies to get healthier.  There are a lot of free apps--from MapMyRun to MyFitnessPal and a bajillion others--to help you improve your health, you can follow along with free Zumba and other fitness videos online, and there are numerous health bulletin boards where you can share information and ask questions about improving your health.
7. Take advantage of any health deals your employer offers.  Some companies offer free gym memberships, a friend of mine was given a pedometer from her employer who pays employees for the number of steps they take each day, and other employers give extra bonuses to employees who don't smoke.
8. Take care of your mental health as well.  There is a free National Suicide Hotline for people thinking about taking their own life and there are free support groups for nearly everyone (alcoholics, shop-a-holics, recently divorced, etc).
9. Make time to sleep.  I know people brag about being able to function on four or five hours of sleep per night but most people need more sleep than that.  Schedule your sleep times just as you would scheduled any other important event.
10. Find free things that make you happy then go do them.  Whether it is reading or listening to music or playing with the grandkids or volunteering, there are so many free things you can do that will make you relaxed and happy.

ACK I'm Officially Old

And yes, it has been documented and verified.  Here's the story...
I was at the doctor's with the hubby a couple of days ago.  I always go in with him for his appointments because he forgets what the doctor says or doesn't ask stuff about his medications, etc.  So we were both sitting there and I was next to the blood pressure machine and the nurse asked if she should take my blood pressure first so I said yes.  My test results--from cholesterol to blood pressure to blood sugar, etc--ALWAYS come out great.  This time my blood pressure was HIGH!  It was 147/90 and I was shocked.  So shocked that she redid it and again it read the same.  So when the doctor came in, he talked to me as well as the hubby.  He asked if I wanted medication for my high blood pressure and I said "noooooooo".  High blood pressure is an old person problem!  And then I realized that I am getting to be an old person. OMG!  So I calmed down a bit and told the doctor that it was probably high because of my extremely sedentary lifestyle and my really crappy diet and that I would see what changes I could make myself.  Here are the changes I have made in the last couple of days:

• I walked twice yesterday for 45 minutes each.  I have always been really active until the last five years or so and I think this is the main cause of the problem so I have resolved to get more active.  And I really have no excuse, the weather is beautiful and sunny here nearly every day of the year.
• I immediately stopped all junk food.  No Baskin Robbins, no ice cream, no potato chips...just fruit.  Cue the massive caffeine headache.  Cue hubby commenting "here we go again."
• We will not be eating out nearly as often as before.  Having worked in restaurants years ago, I know that almost all of the food that is served in restaurants is loaded with salt, sugar, fat, etc. in order to make it taste better than what you eat at home.  It is super easy for us to eat out because all of the restaurants we go to are free with hubby's comps but by eating at home, we will really know what it is we are eating and can skip the high salt and added fat.
• De-stressing.  I'm did some deep breathing but I have a head cold so that didn't work so well. I am also less stressed when I am not on the roads of Las Vegas (people drive like maniacs here and it is super stressful).

So mainly my plan is to exercise more and not eat junk food and see what happens after that.

Trash Picking and a Home Remedy and a Note on Banking

Trash picking:  The hubby and I have started walking every morning (now that is isn't 110 degrees by noon!).  Yesterday we were walking through our neighborhood instead of driving to find a nice hill to climb and it turns out that since it was the day before garbage day, some of our neighbors had their trash already out by the curb.  That's where we found these two still in great shape chairs above (right next to these chairs were two boxes for the new chairs that were bought to replace them).  So we scooped up the chairs and carried them home and hubby will probably reupholster the seats which is really easy to do.  They will fit our island just perfectly and will be really handy when we have parties and need extra seating for everyone (for some reason everyone gathers around the island to eat and totally ignores our nice big table which is just across the room!  So now we have six tall stools for our island).  I don't know why these neighbors didn't even try to sell the chairs on CraigsList but we are happy to pick them up and give them a new home.  Yeah trash picking!

Home remedy:  I think my gall bladder is unhappy.  I have been having slight symptoms on and off for a while (probably because of my crappy diet) so of course I went to Google first (mostly because I know the standard protocol for gall bladder problems is just to yank it our and I am pretty fond of my internal organs and want them to remain, well, internal and not tossed away in the garbage).  So I did what I recommend people DON'T do and came across this gall bladder flush (which was recommended in a number of other blogs and websites as well) so I am giving it a try starting later today.  Of course I realize this isn't the best thing to do when you may have a medical problem but 1) I am a much bigger fan of natural medicine than invasive medicine, and 2) it seems relatively safe (I remember years ago my grandmother's cure for stomach ailments were a spoon of castor oil and this is similar), and 3) I can always fall back on my local doctor if it fails.  And most important, I think this is the wake up call I needed to change my diet.  I have been eating healthy, natural food only for the past few days and I haven't even been interested in my near daily habit of aStarbucks Frapuccino or a Baskin Robbins Blast.

And a cool thing I learned about banking:  I now have a local bank but I got a check from one of my clients and I wanted to put it in my other account in my bank in Washington.  This usually involves endorsing the check then putting a note on it that says it needs to be deposited into my account, then mailing it to my bank.  I saved myself the cost of a stamp and envelope yesterday because my bank now has a way to scan the check and edeposit it into my account.  And it worked!

What the Heck is Wrong With Me???

I posted last week about some dental pain I was having and now I think there is a bigger problem.  After the dental pain went away, I woke up the next day with literally the entire right side of my body having a weird feeling on my skin.  It was like hot and cold and tingly patches but when I looked at my skin it looked perfectly normal.  I thought I was having a stroke so I did a quick stroke test (again do-it-yourself-medicine) and I seemed fine (gait was normal, smile was even, lifted arms and both were even, grabbed hubby's hands and both grips were even).  I didn't run to the doctor immediately because all of my systems seemed fine (breathing fine, blood pressure fine, blood sugar fine, bones fine, muscles fine, no headache, no joint pain).  Then, of course, I Googled away and found this and this which sound exactly like my symptoms. 
So I am guessing that it may be a vitamin deficiency (my diet has been crap lately), a virus (which I kind of thought when the dental pain went away so quick...sometimes viruses move around your body and I did have a wart on my finger recently when I got rid of which is caused by a virus), MS (which kind of freaks me out because my mom had severe MS towards the end of her life), environmental toxins (too many to list in the area we recently moved to), stress (I really have no reason to stress but literally every day in Las Vegas makes me stressed so I'm thinking I might not like to live here), something I picked up in Asia when we were traveling, or nerve damage from a few huge bruises I had on my right leg after we moved here (I fell over a fence on New Years and it left a half dozen huge bruises on my leg and before that I gave myself a huge bruise when we were moving furniture.
So tomorrow I will call my doctor in Seattle and I am sure she will tell me to see a neurologist.  I would like to fly back up to Seattle because medical care there is really excellent and my doctor is great but since we are officially living in Las Vegas I am thinking I should probably find a doctor here.  The good thing is that we have good insurance that covers just about everything, anywhere we are.  The bad thing is...I am not a fan of doctors, clinics, hospitals, medical tests, etc. and would be happy with a nice naturopathic cure for whatever this is.  Yikes.

A Health Update and My 10 Health Rules

I was planning on writing this post as soon as I got the results back from some medical tests.

The bad news: the week before we were getting ready to move, the results of my "girly parts" test (Pap) came back abnormal for a second time. My doctor and everyone in the clinic knew we were getting ready to leave for a minimum of six months of travel and fortunately they are awesome. So two days before we moved out of our house, I had a consultation with my doctor about the further tests I would need. One day before we moved, I met with another doctor who would do the biopsy and other tests. The day of our move I had some biopsies done (then quickly went home and finished packing and cleaning up just as the new homeowners were on their way to our house). Talk about stress!

The good news: today my doctor called and said the biopsies and other tests came back fine so I would just need to come back for another exam in six months. Yeah! Happy!

Needless to say, during the ensuing couple of weeks I have been a bit stressed, worrying about all of the horrible results that the doctor could call me with. Also, however, during the past two weeks, I have become a health zealot. The idea that I have been treating my body like a garbage can pretty much resonated through my brain on a daily basis for the past couple of weeks. So I have turned over a new leaf and am ultra aware of the responsibility I need to take for my health. Here's the ten health rules I now abide by:

1. Get regular health exams. Getting a physical on an annual basis will allow your doctor to catch any problems when they are small, not at a later--and more difficult to treat--stage. Fortunately I have great health insurance but the cost for health exams for people who don't have insurance can be a real barrier to staying on top of health issues. For women (or at least their "girly parts"), many local and state health departments offer free Pap and mammogram tests for women over 40 (call your local or state health department or Google for the information). I have volunteered to help out at these events for many years and thought it was a good service, I didn't realize how, when you get scary test results back, these free services aren't just a nice idea but critical for a woman's future health.


2. Exercise daily. When all of this happened, I decided I needed to take better care of my health starting ASAP. Since that day, I have launched myself out of bed every morning and walked three miles, every day, seven days a week. Walking is free and it isn't hard to do but I used to be so busy/lazy that I would make excuses not to exercise or even walk around the block. Now I walk three miles each day rain or shine (outside or on the treadmill or at the mall when it is rainy). Best of all, this is FREE!


3. Take vitamins every day. This is another thing I was usually too lazy to do, but how hard is it to take one multi vitamin a day? Now I put the vitamin jar (and a couple of other supplements that I need) right next to the water I will drink when I get back from walking.


4. Food, part 1. Don't drink your calories. I had heard this phrase somewhere but--as I was sipping on my Starbucks--disregarded it. I figured that I drank maybe 500-800 calories a day what with my daily Frapuccino and other beverages. Now it is water and the occasional green tea. Only. I am happy to report that since I initially got the results of my abnormal test back, I stopped Starbucks cold turkey (and probably saved about $200 a month by doing so).


5. Food, part 2. Eat as close to natural food as possible. Now when I look at the food I eat, I think "is this the healthiest food I can eat or is it available in a more natural format?" This has resulted in me eating lots more fresh fruit and vegetables (raw, sometimes steamed, never fried, but I'll make an exception when I come across fried green tomatoes), no refined sugar/flour/other refined products if at all possible, and better quality food.


6. Food, part 3. I stay away from food that I know doesn't work well with my body. This includes gluten (most flour products are out), dairy (I love dairy but I was having way too much of it, now it is a treat and not a daily staple), chocolate (in my case, this creates instant zits...ick), and caffeine (I had such mood swings when I used to eat coffee ice cream for example, that it was clearly not good for my body). Note: not eating junk food gives you much more energy and saves a lot of money too!


7. Get all the sleep you need. Fortunately all of this occurred during a down time. Since I am not working right now, I have all of the time in the world to sleep and getting eight hours is much easier now than when I had early morning meetings, project deadlines that caused me to work late hours, or stress that would interrupt my sleep.


8. And then there is stress. Since my email dropped from more than a hundred messages a day to about five, I haven't had to look at my calendar in over a month, and (other than this health scare), literally nothing is happening these days, my stress level has dropped considerably. For my health, this is a good thing.


9. Positive people can have a positive impact on your health. Most books on health include a chapter on having a social support network as this has been shown to improve health, reduce stress, and make you happier overall. Quitting work has allowed me to drop all of the office drama and people problems and now I am surrounded by a few fun, happy people so I couldn't ask for more in this department. The hubby is also an amazingly positive, happy person who keeps me positive and happy as well.


10. All the other good-for-health stuff: on a daily basis I get plenty of fresh air, sunshine, and fun new experiences. I read Daily Word and pray each day (spiritual health is important too), and try to keep a positive attitude.

Here's to your health!

A Bundle of Home Remedies

I am firmly of the mind that you should exhaust all home remedies before seeing a doctor (disclaimer: I am not a doctor and if you are having serious symptoms, by all means call 911!).
p.s. I learned many of these tricks from my grandmother who didn't see a doctor for 50+years (the time between having her last baby and breaking her arm when she was around 75 years old).

• For digestion problems, take an acidophilous pill (found in the vitamin aisle, it replenishes the bacteria in your stomach that helps you digest food; these little bugs can be wiped out by antibiotics, stress, foreign bugs, etc).
• For constipation, drink a lot of water, eat rolled oats (the long cooking ones, not the instant ones), and exercise vigorously (like take a brisk walk for an hour). Repeat.
• If you are cold at night (grandma didn't have central heating in her home, just a wood stove in the living room and kitchen), put a pillow over your feet while you sleep.
• If you are tired, take a nap instead of jolting yourself with caffeine.
• Take vitamin B12 for a couple of days in advance of heading out comping, it will help ward off mosquitoes.
• If you get sunburned, cover the burned area with Noxzema. Grand dad used to put vinegar on sunburns but I think Noxzema works better.
• Take a multi vitamin every day.
• If you feel a cold coming on, double up on the vitamin C until it passes.
• If you are sick, stay in bed in a cool room with a bunch of blankets over you until you feel better (this works well for me and I usually kick any kind of malady in a day or two).
• Tea tree oil works great to disinfect scrapes, abrasions, and other potential infection sites.
• If you feel a urinary tract infection coming on, drink quantities of cranberry juice mixed with water.
• Don't take antibiotics unless you have a BACTERIAL infection that hasn't resolved after a bit of time.
• Your basic germs are actually good for you, they help boost your immune system.
• Make sure your vaccinations are up to date.
• Don't eat heavy meals except on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Do a headstand/handstand each day. For some reason, the body likes to be inverted.
• Remind yourself to stand up straight (I heard this about a million times from grandma), it makes you look better and it is better for your skeleton and internal organs.
• Congestion or sore throat? Drink tea and/or soup broth.
• Blood problems? Boil beef bones and drink the broth.
• Fast for a day every once in a while.
• Don't lay down/sit down after eating. Take a walk first. If you must lay down (ie: you are ill), lay on your left side.
• If you are constantly chewing on ice, it may be a sign that you have low blood iron levels; a doctor can diagnose this definitively.

Results of My Health Month

Here's an update on my goal list:

Day 21
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: blueberries, granola with raisins and milk
--snack: watermelon, dried apricots
--lunch: prime rib skillet
--dinner: chicken, rice, beans, pickles
--dessert: corn chips, watermelon

Day 22
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: scrambled eggs, red potatoes
--snack: strawberry smoothie
--lunch: rice, dahl, chicken tikka masala, kheer (Indian Restaurant buffet)
--snack: corn chex and milk
--dinner: tiny bit of chicken, baked beans, corn, peas

Day 23
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: banana, corn chex and milk
--lunch: pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy
--snack: watermelon, corn chips, granola bar
--dinner: turkey and swiss rollups, tomatoes
--dessert: granola and yogurt

Day 24
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: kiwi, corn chex and milk
--lunch: tiny piece of steak, salad, potato salad
--snack: watermelon, corn chips
--dinner: fried rice, rice noodles, chicken, green beans, bok choy, stir fried broccoli

Day 25
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: corn chex and milk
--lunch: two thai spring rolls
--snack: corn chips and salsa
--dinner: cottage cheese, shrimp
--dessert: popcorn

Day 26
--took all vitamins
--lunch: fish, chips, coleslaw
--snack: strawberry smoothie, cottage cheese
--dinner: corn chex and milk

Day 27
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: kiwi, corn chex and milk
--snack: strawberry smoothie
--lunch: tiny piece of steak, potato, scrambled eggs
--snack: corn chips, granola bar
--dinner: cottage cheese, turkey and swiss roll ups, tomatoes, cucumbers
--dessert: dates

Day 28
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: kiwi, corn chex and milk
--lunch: granola bar, applesauce
--snack: granola bar, applesauce
--snack: cucumbers, tomatoes, turkey and swiss roll ups
--dinner: corn chex and milk

Day 29
--took all vitamins
--lunch: hot sour soup, shrimp fried rice, shrimp ball dim sum, sweet bean cakes
--dinner: corn chex and milk
--dessert: dates

Day 30
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, corn chex and milk
--lunch: cottage cheese with dill, raw vegies, granola with raisins and milk
--snack: strawberry smoothie, granola bar
--dessert: popcorn (at the movies)

Day 31
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, cheddar and onion omelet
--snack: granola bar
--lunch: salmon and salad
--snack: strawberry smoothie
--dinner: chicken, rice, steamed vegetables

So that's goal #30 completed
I also completed goal #28, get a physical, last week and all was well
My ending stats include: lost four pounds, blood sugar was 84, and blood pressure was 126/80.

Here's what I learned:

• I totally fell of the exercise wagon the last 11 days. Somehow I need to incorporate more movement into my day because I just can't seem to set aside a particular time to exercise.
• I saved probably $150 by not going to Starbucks daily.
• I did take my vitamins every day and this cured my anemia.
• Looking at my food log, it has Aspergers written all over it. I tend to go on "food kicks" and can literally eat the exact same foods every day for a month. I need to change this.
• I love fruit but seriously need to eat more vegetables.
• It is HARD to lose weight! Now I know why people are so fat...it's easier and much more enjoyable to eat what you want.
• I didn't eat any wheat and I think this improved my digestion.
• Overall, an interesting experiment, I've never logged my food before.
• I wish I would have lost more weight!

Days 11-20 of my Health Month

Here's the update on my health month so far:

Day 11
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: banana
--snack: trail mix, watermelon smoothie
--lunch: phad thai, rice
--snack: rice crackers, potato chips
--dinner: beef brisket, salad, corn, baked beans
--dessert: yogurt, granola
--exercise: yard work
--comment: I'm amazed my period wasn't so dramatic this month like it usually is...must be the diet

Day 12
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: banana
--snack: handful potato chips
--lunch: salmon, salad, little bit of rice
--snack: watermelon, potato chips, granola bar, dried apricots
--dinner: sweet and sour meatballs, rice, tomatoes, cucumbers
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: none :(
--comment: I'm sooo lazy today...and hungry

Day 13
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: granola, raisins, milk
--snack: cheese, raw vegies and dip
--lunch: pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy
--snack: watermelon, potato chips, granola bar
--dinner: KFC chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes
--exercise: none
--comment: eating on the run all day today

Day 14
--took all vitamins
--brunch: watermelon, phad thai
--snack: trail mix
--dinner: chicken adobo, rice
--dessert: strawberries, swiss cheese
--exercise: painting for three hours
--comment: I'm sunburned

Day 15
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, fried eggs, baked beans
--snack: strawberry smoothie
--lunch: salad and salmon
--snack: watermelon, lychees
--dinner: two homemade tacos
--dessert: dates
--exercise: paint for 1/2 hour, mall walk
--comment: something is giving me a rash..the vitamins?

Day 16
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, egg
--snack: yogurt
--dinner: corn chips, rice, spinach burrito in a corn shell
--exercise: none, driving for eight hours
--comment: I need to exercise more!

Day 17
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, granola, raisins, milk
--lunch: rice, beans, spinach burrito, four bites deep fried cheesecake (gift from friend so couldn't turn it down)
--snack: tangerine, watermelon, granola bar
--dinner: salad
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: none :(
--comment: the taste of sugar in the cheesecake was overwhelming

Day 18
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, granola, raisins, milk
--snack: watermelon, granola bar
--lunch: fish, chips, coleslaw
--snack: 1/2 Baskin Robbins Blast
--dinner: beef steak, rice cucumbers
--dessert: dates
--exercise: walking but not much
--comment: epic fail on the diet today because I couldn't resist the Blast which I shared with the hubby but instead of giving up and going back to eating, well,...everything, I decided to try to stick with the diet for the rest of the month (usually when I fall off the diet wagon, I give up and go back to my bad eating habits but maybe allowing for a bit of failure but continuing to eat as nutritiously as possible is a better option)

Day 19
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: granola, milk, raisins
--lunch: beef nachos
--snack: watermelon
--dinner: small piece of chicken adobo and rice
--dessert: dried apricots
--exercise: none
--comment: still feeling the affects of yesterday's caffeine

Day 20
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: blueberries, two hard boiled eggs
--lunch: salmon, rice, salad
--snack: watermelon, yogurt and granola
--dinner: rice, teriyaki chicken
--exercise: none...again
--comment: I need to eat more vegetables; I totally OD on fresh fruit during the summer when it is in season

That's it so far...nothing spectacular and while I feel a bit better, it doesn't seem like I have lost much weight. We'll see how the next ten days go...
p.s. I am totally craving a Starbucks Green Tea Frap!!

Days 1-10 of My Health Month

One of my goals this year is to be as healthy as possible for a period of one month...no junk food, exercising every day, watching what I eat, etc. A second goal is to make a doctor's appointment for my annual physical which I have skipped for the past few years. These two seemed to be quite compatible so I decided to schedule my doctor's appointment 45 days out from July 1st and do my "health month" right up until my doctor's appointment. Ideally this will mean I end up with good results from my medical exam and it gives me a really good reason to stick to my goal of being healthy for a month. Here's my update from days 1-10.

Start date: July 1, 2010. End date: August 16, 2010.
Starting stats:
--take start and end photo (I will post these together at the end of this experiment)
--weight: 155!!! :( I'm only 5'3"!
--Fasting blood sugar: 101 (could be better)
--Blood pressure: 119/78 (good!)
--Hips 39", waist 32", chest 34" (I think I measured correctly...I'm not sure...)

Rules:
--take vitamins daily (iron, B complex, D, C, fish oil)
--exercise two hours a day
--no: chocolate, caffeine, wheat, Starbucks, refined sugar, dairy (except cheese and yogurt)
--have a fruit or vegetable and protein with each meal

Day 1
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: big handful of cherries, half apple, two hard boiled eggs
--snack: dried apricots, handful of sunflower seeds
--lunch: pot roast, potatoes, gravy, tomato slices
--snack: strawberry/banana smoothie
--dinner: chili
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: 1 hour treadmill, 1/2 hour dance, 1/2 hour weights and yoga
--motto: only 46 more days to go, I can do this

Day 2
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: big handful of cherries, three pieces swiss cheese, three pieces of turkey
--snack: popcorn
--lunch: steak, salad, french fries
--snack: grazing at Costco
--dinner: dried apricots, baked beans, coleslaw
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: none :(
--motto: I want a frap, I want a frap NOW

Day 3
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, yogurt and granola
--lunch: side salad and chili at Wendy's
--snack: trail mix and watermelon
--dinner: shrimp pancit
--dessert: watermelon smoothie
--exercise: 10k volksmarch (walk)
--motto: I can zip my pants without sucking in first!

Day 4
--took all vitamins
--brunch: watermelon, cheese and onion omelet
--lunch: baked beans, coleslaw, pancit
--snack: watermelon, trail mix, rice chips
--dinner: cucumber slices, roast beef with mustard
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: moving furniture ALL DAY
--motto: I hate moving furniture!

Day 5
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, granola with milk and raisins (I wasn't supposed to have milk but cereal and milk is a quick breakfast)
--lunch: pancit, cold roast beef
--snack: watermelon, rice chips, cucumbers, granola and peanut butter
--dinner: baked beans
--dessert: dried dates, handful of potato chips
--exercise: shopping all day for home renovation stuff
--motto: lack of impulse control, milk wasn't in the plan but I couldn't resist

Day 6
--took all vitamins
--grazing all day (all kitchen appliances have been removed and we won't have new ones for two days, installing kitchen floor, and doing other renovation work): two tacos from Taco Bell, watermelon, granola with raisins and milk, Burger King side salad and french fries
--exercise: moving appliances, runner for stuff at the home store, helping with new floor install
--motto: I dislike moving appliances too

Day 7
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: watermelon, granola with milk and raisins
--lunch: hummus with mixed raw vegies, rice crackers, banana
--dinner: carne asada, shrimp, rice, beans, corn chips and salsa
--exercise: two hours kayaking
--motto: hubby said I am losing weight and my body is looking fine! :)

Day 8
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: granola with raisins and milk
--snack: watermelon, trail mix
--dinner: green chili chicken, rice, tomato salad
--exercise: thoroughly cleaned house, installed appliances, runner to store (about 5 times)
--motto: it's too HOT to eat

Day 9
--took all vitamins
--lunch: piece of fried cod, french fries, coleslaw, big bite of cheesecake, big bite of creme brulee
--snack: 1/3 raspberry frap (no caffeine; a friend gave it to me so I was polite and drank 1/3 of it before throwing it away...she didn't know I was on this diet and I didn't want to be rude)
--snack: watermelon
--dinner: shrimp foo yung, gravy, rice
--dessert: granola and yogurt
--exercise: none :(
--motto: divorce makes you sad. When you are sad, you want to eat dessert all day long

Day 10
--took all vitamins
--lunch: salmon, rice, salad
--snack: watermelon smoothie, handful of potato chips, pecan granola bar
--dinner: phad thai
--dessert: granola and yogurt
--exercise: cleaning, errands
--motto: I can't believe my period came on without all the usual bitchiness, bloating, nausea, cramps, and headache...could it be the new diet?

Overall this experiment has been pretty successful so far. I haven't exercised as much as I wanted to but I have stuck to the dieting part pretty well. Day 9 was a bit challenging because I went with my friend and another friend to her divorce hearing and after that she wanted to EAT. Usually this is what we do...we go to a coffee shop and have dessert, then a frap...and it is hard to change habits in the middle of a crisis. I think something as simple as not eating wheat (and all of the junk food that has wheat in it that I love--cookies, crackers, etc) along with not having a Frap/ice cream everyday has really made a difference. The last ten days of my challenge I may try to take all fried foods off the list of food I eat as well.

Under the Weather...And Some Frugal Tips for When You're Sick

I've been feeling way under the weather this weekend which has both thrown off my $1500 challenge for a couple of days and relegated me to bed until I can get up without my head spinning. Fortunately by this evening the fog is starting to clear. Here's a bunch of tips I learned from my grandmother about how to take care of yourself when you are sick or have other maladies:

• If you have a cold or flu, sleep it off. Sleep in a cool, dark room with the window open to let in fresh air while you are covered by a stack of blankets. Come out when you feel better.
• For a headache, take a Tylenol or Ibuprofin.
• For diarrhea take acidophilous (it will repopulate the good bacteria in your stomach).
• For sunburn, cover the burned areas with Noxzema a couple of times a day; the burn will be gone in a couple of days.
• For cooking-type burns, run the burned area under cold water for a few minutes then break off the tip of your Aloe Vera plant and rub it on the wound.
• When you have the flu or a cold, lay off the dairy, sugar, flour, etc and eat clear soup (with vegies and a little meat).
• When you have the flu or a cold, drink lots of water and some ginger tea.
• If you feel illness coming on, double up on the Vitamin C.
• To keep mosquitoes at bay when out in the woods, take Vitamin B 12.
• If you are lacking energy, take Vitamin B complex.
• Do some kind of exercise or yard work every day to keep up your general health.

10 Free Ways to Improve Your Health

Good health can be practically free if you take the time (and the self control) to do these simple, free things:

1. Drink only water. Water is one of the few free things you can get in a restaurant. You can carry a water bottle around with you and not look uncool. Generally anywhere you go you can ask for free water (or a free water bottle fill up).


2. Walk. People really don't walk much anymore even though it is a great (free!) way to exercise. Try walking to do your errands this week, even if it means driving downtown and parking in a central location then walking to the bank/post office/library/etc.


3. Go to the park. Parks (city parks anyway) are also still free. Go to the park, get some sunshine, breathe deeply, walk, watch the birds, and basically chill out from your stressful day.


4. Test your blood pressure. There are many places--malls, grocery stores, fire departments--where you can get your blood pressure checked for free. Most places have the little machine you stick your arm in, hit the button, and get a read out. At our local fire department, you can walk in and ask to have your blood pressure checked for free.


5. Meditate. People are generally stressed out these days. Find a quiet place (even if it is the broom closet at your office) to take ten minutes, close your eyes, breathe in and out, and clear your mind. It will put you in your happy place.


6. Check out some books on health, nutrition, and fitness from the library. Free education, especially when it is paired with a useful topic such as health, is a win-win proposition.


7. Hug someone, or better yet, trade massages. Human touch is good for your health.


8. Exercise with the (free) things in your environment. If you don't have hand weights, lift cans of soup. If you don't have a Stairmaster, go up and down the stairs in your area's tallest building. You can make a jump rope out of an...um...rope. Play tag with the kids. Do some sit ups and push ups.


9. Choose nutritious food. If you go to a party, choose the vegie tray instead of the more unhealthy offerings. If you are at a morning meeting, choose the fruit instead of the calorie laden donuts. If you are cooking at home, bring out the vegies from the back of the fridge and the whole grains from the back of the cupboard and create something nutritious for dinner. You are paying for food anyway (or in some cases, receiving it for free at events) so choose what to eat based on what food is most nutritious.


10. Sleep. Besides being stressed, most people don't get enough sleep. Turn off the TV early and get an extra hour of sleep. Take a rejuvenating mid day nap.