Legal Cocaine

I know you are all wondering if I have drowned in the streets of Boston... despite flood warnings galor I am suprising upbeat! The magic? LEGAL COCAINE (AKA a MULTIVITAMIN!)

My stomach disorder makes me prone to nutrient deficiencies which makes me tired and weak and lightheaded... which brought me to Dr. Google who diagoised me with secondary anemia! All that means is I am low on iron which is actually pretty common in females. I took my "prescription" to CVS and got One a Day Teen Advantage. I am technically not a teen but I heard that some people get naucious with multivitamins so I figured it would be gentler and it had all the same vitamins/minerals as the woman pill except MORE vitamin C and more pills for the same cost. I love a good deal.

So I have been taking these magic pink drugs for almost a week now and I feel sososo much better. Much less irritable, unable to regulate body temp. and all the other annoying symptoms! YAY :-) I do not know why I was so against vitamins... I guess it felt like cheating? Now my mom wants me to jump on the fish oil pill boat, but I don't think I am ready for that yet :-P

What is really on crack is this season of Dancing With The Stars! This cast is crazy! Anybody else watching this unfold?

And speaking of dancing (like my segways today?) here are some pictures inside the club in NYC I went to:



ahhh the good days.

Doctor's Update

So many things happened at the doctors!

1) I convinced her to give me anti-anxiety pills for when I fly! Normally I shake the whole flight... I even am sore the next day as if I had been working out. PATHETIC! Now I get to pop a lil pill which will bring instant ZEN to my body for 4-6 hours :-) I also was advised to take one on a day I have literally nothing to do so I can see how my body reacts. How fun! A day of zen for no reason whatsoever!

2) The following conversation:
DOC: Are you still with the same guy?
ME: Yes
DOC: Do you wear a seatbelt?
ME: Not always... (Wondering why the doctor is speaking in child code)
DOC: **Shakes head**
ME: Well see it has really only been the one guy for six whole years so...
DOC: **Smiles/Laughs** OH! haha Sorry! I changed subjects and I didn't tell you.
ME: O! Real seatbelts? Yes. It is the first thing I put on when I get in a car! **Face SO red**
(Now really? What did you think she meant?)

3) They took my blood. Apparently, they are not convinced I am getting enough nutrients. Seems like I am either eating pure CRAP all day, or there's something wrong with me and my body isn't absorbing anything. This is not the best news... BUT they took my blood :-) So with every problem, comes a solution! I will find out next week the latest what my lazy body has done to itself AND I have officially been prescribed 1-2 TUMS a day as a calcium supplement. Strong bones.. here I come!

4) The nurse who took my blood decided to go on a fishing expedition after already sticking me with the needle! Not the funest experience. It took her literally 3 minutes (I timed her) to decide which vein to poke... after all that debating she picked one that was too skinny so she had to have the needle JUST RIGHT (Goldylocks style) to get it to work. This apparently requires her to spin the needle around my arm hoping to run into a blood supply. Thanks nurse. When she finished she says, "Wow I really made my paycheck on that one!" Hmm... Exactly what are you egtting paid? Because if that was quality why do I have a bruise the size of my fingernail where you inserted a teeeny tiny needle?

5) To end on a good note... I have 20/20 vision :-) All these years of staring at a computer screen hasn't gotten to me yet! Woohoo! (Except ever since Halloween I have been secretly wishing I needed glasses, but I guess that will come with time anyway).

Good things that have happened today:

1) I have discovered a new guilty pleasure... Fur vests (Check out Express! So soft! I would get it in brown.
2) I got a free T-shirt at work! Free T-shirts stop me from buying real workout clothes... so I may look homeless at the gym, but I will look fab. everywhere else I go!

Goodbye Income...

Today is my last day at work. I have recycled all papers that were on my desk, cleaned the surface, and now I just need to finish out the day. Lunch yesterday went very well. Everyone was in a good mood and my boss gave a nice little goodbye toast.
I got bowtie pasta and cheese in a white wine sauce (the whole dish was called something fancy and Italian that I forget). It was delicious and easy to eat because it was not long spaghetti and there was no red sauce!

I go by the motto "You only live once", but this theory is making me eat like a 500 lb. man so I am changing it to "You are only young once" so that I know I need to fix my eating habits before my metabolism slows down and everything catches up!

I am saying final goodbyes to my family tonight and staying when they go to the airport tomorrow to use the pool. Let's feel sorry for them one last time.
10 Day Weather report for Greece:


Tear. They will be so miserable. NOT!

Breathe

AHHHH OK so WORK thought it would be beneficial to offer a stress releving and breathing class today. I had a deadline that I had to make so I rushed (added stress) then went to the class and "released" it. Except now I am stressing out even more. Apparently I eat "dirty" not "clean" because I eat man made products not only natural stuff. I also have "stale" air in my lungs because I do not practice deep breathing on a regular basis. AND did you know that you only breathe through one nostril at a time? The nostril you breathe out of indicated the hemisphere of your brain that you are using. I only use the "left hemisphere" AKA logic, analysis, STRESS. "Right hemisphere" channels creativity, arts, relaxation. By telling me this... my stupid "left brained" self over analyzed it and is stressing out... go figure.

According to this "Harvard Mental Health Letter" I recieved at the meeting/class thing, taking two 90 minute yoga classes a week for 3 moths can minimize emotional distress by at least half of the level before yoga. "At the end of the three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in percieved stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well being. Depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%." The claimed benefits of controlled breathing are very bold, such as pulling hositalized depression patients into remission after 4 weeks of 30 min. of deep breathing 6 times a week.

I can really only get myself to focus on yoga when I am in a studio. Bikram yoga is great because I love being in a sauna and bikram yoga is in a 90 degree (or hotter) room so I LOVE IT and you get deeper into poses. The only problem is it is expensive and hard to get yourself to go into a crazy hot room for 90 minutes, but if you can get there you will feel good after.

I tend to set all these goals and never follow through with anything which is why this blog is beneficial to me because I can pledge these goals here and feel like a failure if I do not follow through. Now I am trying to find my way in the world of exercise. I love dance so I am debating purchasing the following DVDs. Please let me know if you have tried/heard of anything about them to help me narrow down my choices.

Graceful:
Patricia Moreno's Yoga Dance Fusion
New York City Ballet (Two Workouts)
Balocity: Cardio with a Classic Twist
10 Minute Solution Pilates Perfect Body
AM Yoga for Your Week with Rodney Yee

Ass Kicking:
Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred
Results: 10 Days to a Better Body
The Firm: The 500 Calorie Workout
10 Minute Solution: Knockout Body! Kit
Kelly Coffey's 30 Min. to Fitness: Bootcamp

So I will find my inner exercise lover by changing up my routines. I need to make sure I do not stick to one type of excercise because this is when I fall into a slump, quit working for a year, hate myself, start back up. Time to take a step back, BREATHE, and figure out a brand new routine for after my race (about 3 weeks away)!

New Bikini Bod

Cheryl Burke from ABC's Dancing With The Stars can finally stop being called fat by the press and producers. She looks GREAT!

According to People.com: "I gained a few pounds and everybody was talking about it last year," the two-time Dancing champ says. "But taking it off was simply a matter of doing a bit more cardio to supplement my dancing. I'm also making sure I eat clean foods and healthy snacks."

Not that I thoughted she looked fat before:

But she does look more toned and it sounds like she's being healthy so good for her :-)

This Week's Workout Overview

Fitness magazine had me take this quiz to find what workout is right for me. The results? and Indo Board. Unsure of what that is? Take a look below:
http://www.indoboard.com/pages/index.php?page_id=training_indoflo_exercises

Clearly Fitness Mag does not care that I have minimal coordination skills and cannot balance when walking on the sidewalk, nevermind this flat board on a tube thing they call a workout.

Since it does not look like I am in the mood to get a replacement hip just yet, I will stay away from the Indo Board and fill you in on what I have actually been doing for workouts this week.

Monday- Walk on an incline for 30 min./Bike for 10 min./Run a mile (to yoga)/Take Yogaburn (60 min)/Run a mile home

Tuesday- Run 3 miles (26 min 15 sec)/ Walk for 20 min./ Left side plank, Right side plank, Front plank (3 sets of 30 sec. each)/ 30 push ups (in a row)

Wednesday- Elliptical 30 min. (interval setting)/ 30 push ups (in a row)/ 60 sec. plank

Thursday- Today I am running 2 miles and then doing my lean legz workout!

Friday- Meeting up with Julie after work to get some gym education from a Certified Personal Trainer pal

Sat- 4 Miles

Sun- REST!! YAY!

Please go check out Mrs. Newlywed's Giveaway! http://misadventuresofanewlywed.blogspot.com/2009/05/basically-im-jealous-of-my-own-giveaway.html

Old School

After reading Lucky with Kate Winslet on the cover, I discovered that she swears by a certain body toning creme. It was over a hundred dollars which I am sure someway guarentees better results than the $30-50 range I was looking at. I have decided to opt out of magical cremes and tone up the old fashion way.

Step One: I have been advised by my C.P.T. pal to look at food differently. What does this mean? I can no longer think that food brings happiness... which is difficult because after finding who to blame I stuck with the never fail answer: My mother. When growing up at home, I was rewarded for accomplishments with cookies and ice cream and when something went wrong I was comforted with similar treats. Long term effect? I eat when I am: happy, sad, nervous, angry, tired, hyper, bored...

Step Two: I am not only sticking to my workout from my first post, but I am speeding it up by signing up for a run before the Charles River Run. I will run a 5 Mile run at the end of May to keep me in line... (no more sleeping in).

Step Three: In order to not get bored with my workouts, I will take a class at nearby studios about every other week (they are too expensive to do weekly).

Editors note: I am not trying to loose weight (my metabolism has managed to prolong the effects of my emotional eating). I would like to begin leading a healthier lifestyle (and maybe loose and inch or two here or there). Live better feel better is the goal.

Another interesting note from the Lucky mag I was reading... Rachel Bilson now does a column in the magazine where you can ask her about anything (especially her fashion tips). Rachel thinks of this as "the best homework assignment ever".