Holidays on the horizon...

I think my cat wants me to gain weight. Each morning, the second my alarm clock goes off for the gym, he jumps into bed and gets all cuddly with me. Last week, he won twice. I mean really, could you resist this???







So, the big 3 holidays are fast approaching: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I am not a huge candy person, so Halloween isn't as harmful to me as Thanksgiving and Christmas are. If you ARE a candy person, you may find this article interesting and helpful. This info really shocked me:

-3 miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have more sugar than a glazed doughnut
-Half a pack of Skittle has more sugar than a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Cookies & Cream ice cream (that one really killed me!)
-9 Twizzlers carry as many calories as a Wendy's Double Stack Burger (WHAAAAT?!)

I have no exciting news on my diet/exercise front...weight has stayed the same, still exercising 4-5 times as week although not with the same gusto as during the summer triathlon training.

More teeth stuff and other news

This blog is about me being healthier all around - mentally, physically, etc. Seems somewhere in there, I forgot about your teeth. So here's my PSA: GO TO THE DENTIST. Today I got my first teeth cleaning in a year and a half, and it took forever because I had so much tartar build up (I know, I know, I sound oh so attractive right now!)

In the past, I've never really had issues with my teeth, so I was surprised to find out about a host of problems today. I had to have 2 fillings on the upper right and an old one replaced in the upper left. My gum line is not looking good - some areas (mostly the lower area) are very recessed, which is mainly attributed to aggressive brushing. This was the 2nd or 3rd dentist telling me to get an electric tooth brush, because I will likely not break my aggressive brushing habit on my own. I had to agree - I'm usually rushing to get in done and am ramming that tooth brush all over the place. The dentist's office had a deal on an Oral B brush - after my mail-in rebate (I hate those. I am hoping this one won't take forever), the brush only costs me $50. I checked online and even on Amazon, it doesn't go for less than $99. It's $130+ in most stores.



I've never tried one before, and I'm sure it will take my impatient self some time to get used to using. I'll have a review after a few uses ; )

So besides teeth news, I've been doing a good job the last couple weeks with working out in the morning. I thought this summer was busy, but the fall seems even crazier! For work last week, we attended a large trade show at McCormick Place. This meant driving on I-55 for a few days, and I gotta say, don't know how people do that every day! I swear I'd rather be unemployed then be in traffic for 3+ hours a day roundtrip. I knew I'd be exhausted by the end of the day and so I planned to get my workouts done in the morning. Even though I was tired, I did manage to work out Sunday through Thursday last week. I've kept up the morning workouts this week, and even though I hate waking up early, it is nice to have it out of the way if I don't feel like going later that night. With the season change, once it's dark outside, I tend to be a hermit and not want to leave the house for the evening.

I've continued selling items on eBay - they have FREE listings until January, so anything that doesn't sell the first time can just be relisted again. Happy to report I've maintained my weight for all of September, there was usually just a pound to pound and a half fluctuation some days.

I slept in this morning, so now it's time to get to the gym. Later!

And when you smile...

I'm a little bummed right now. I went to get a second opinion on an Invisalign consultation I had a couple months ago. I had braces 4th through 6th grade, but my parents didn't keep up with taking me for my retainer and that combined with my wisdom teeth coming at 19 moved my teeth.

See the tooth?





That tooth is the bane of my existence. Or, at least the bane of my smile. It's on my right side. I hate being photographed from the right. I hate people seeing my laugh from the right. Basically, I hate that tooth. I was very much hoping I could get Invisalign, but my 2nd opinion tonight told me the same as the 1st - I need traditional braces. Invisalign will straighten my teeth, but it's not going to move that tooth back down in line with my other teeth.

My options are:

1. Invisalign and then get a binding/veneer on the problem tooth to make my teeth appear in line. This will take longer than braces and be more costly.
2. Traditional braces
3. Leave them be. They may continue to worsen over time.

Both told me I would only need the braces for about 12 months, and then would need to keep up with a retainer the rest of my life. I am not sure what to do. A lot of people tell me my smile looks great, that they barely notice it, and so on. But my shifted teeth really bother me, and a year is not that long - hell, I don't even know where this year went. I'm sure it would be over before I know it. I really don't want my teeth like this in my wedding photos, either.

Thoughts?

Lighten up

Tonight I went to boot camp, though my back isn't 100% yet. I told the instructor at the start of class, and it seemed like she did a very easy class today. I've been using 5 and 7.5 pound weights, this week I lightened it up to 2.5 and 5 pounds. I realized tonight how foolish it was to do the heavier weights last week after missing 2 weeks of class. Not sure how I feel about class tonight - it's hard for me to tell if it "worked" or not. For some reason I equate a good workout with lots of pain/aching, so since I'm not totally wiped out I feel like it wasn't a good workout. That's probably a mentality I need to switch out of.

The rest of the week is going to be a pretty crazy schedule. My company is exhibiting at a show at McCormick place Wednesday & Thursday. Set up starts tomorrow, and from what I hear, McCormick is a huge pain in the butt to bring your booth material to, so I don't know how long it will take us to get our stuff in and out of there. I'm going to try really hard to get to the gym in the morning, because I have a feeling that by the end of the day I'm not going to want to go to the gym.

Yesterday I unpacked most of my fall/winter stuff, but found myself throwing a lot of it into the "eBay" or "donate" pile - and not really because the clothes were or were not fitting. I've been holding onto a lot of stuff from sophomore year of college, and it's just not my taste anymore. I remember that during soph year of college, I purged my high school clothes for the same reason. Seems my taste goes through a change every 4 years or so!

Almost forgot I want to rave about a tea I've discovered - actually, my boyfriend discovered it first and then I went and bought some : ) I'm not a big hot tea drinker, and definitely not a big green tea drinker. But this Lipton cranberry-pomegranate green tea is SOOOO GOOD! I don't add sugar to it or anything.



Check it out!

Back update

Have I mentioned on here before how I hate going to doctors? It always feels like a waste of money, especially when paying the $40 specialist co-pay. I always feel like I'm being told what I already know. My visit to an orthopedic doctor yesterday felt much like my visit to the podiatrist back in June. She had me do a bunch of things - walk on my toes, walk on my heels, stretch to my toes, etc. - and nothing was wrong or causing me pain. I was starting to get paranoid and think, "She probably thinks I'm a hypochondriac."

One of the reasons I wanted to see the doctor was to get another MRI. I had one when I was 12 because I was having pain in my lower back and down my leg. The whole outcome of that situation is still sketchy to me. Initially, they said there was nothing wrong with my back. Then for some reason, 6 months later, they contacted my mom out of the blue and said, "Actually, she does have a slight bulging disc." I've never understood why my MRI was randomly being looked at, because we had not contacted them to look over it again. Anyway, I haven't had anything checked out since then.

Of course, my naive self who is still transitioning to "being a grown up" when it comes to health insurance and things did not realize how much MRI's cost. The doctor did take some X-rays, which are not going to show the actual disc cushioning because they are soft tissue. However, they are able to see my vertebrae and how much space is between each one. The space lessens over time as your spine compresses. She did note that the space between my bottom vertebrae was a bit decreased for my age, but that was why she had me do some other things to assess if I have having nerve issues. She doesn't feel I am showing any signs of that, which is good.

But I still feel like I don't have a real "answer" as to why this pain has occurred 3 times this year already. I guess my back and core muscles are just weak? She did recommend that I go to physical therapy for a couple weeks, but that is going to cost me $20 per session. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it yet. I'm going to talk with Nels' cousin Heather and try to get some pointers from my friend Lisa's brother, as both are therapists. I also don't have an answer as to why I sometimes experience pain in my back and a bit into my leg at random times. I do know that I am susceptible to straining my lower back, so I need to be more careful. I am going to continue with boot camp, but take it easy on some exercises and also talk to the instructor first to let her know about my back. Some people in the class have knee issues, and she always tells them a modification or different exercise to do if we are working on one that causes strain to the knee.

So...that's the update. I guess it was worth it to get it checked out, but I hate spending money on doctors!

Let's resurrect this blog

So this blog has been dead for almost 3 weeks now. Sorry, readers! I've been pretty busy lately and haven't felt like blogging. I had a great Labor Day weekend with Nels, especially the day we spent on his cousin's boat with his family:



Had a fun night out with Robin and Nels at Saddle Up:







And attended Cheryl & Keith's wedding:











Cheryl looked absolutely GORGEOUS.

I also went on a business trip throughout Ohio with my boss. It was fun and a productive trip, but WOW I didn't realize traveling could be so exhausting!! We were in a different hotel every night. By the last day, I was completely fried. I also hadn't been home for almost a week, what with being by Nels Thursday - Sunday and then being gone for the trip Sunday - Wednesday. It felt so great to come home, especially to my kitty who missed me very much! Right away he climbed on my suitcase and gave me a look that said, "Don't leave me again!"



On the health side of things, I've been maintaining my 15 pound weight loss - even after the triathlon. I've held steady at 133-134 pounds, which is good. I'd like to get a bit under 130 if possible, but haven't been dedicating myself to additional weight loss. I've been giving a good chunk of my paycheck to New York & Company since Labor Day or so. They've had some awesome sales, and I was in need of all new dress pants for work since NONE of mine fit. I was very happy to purchase their pants in a size 8 and 6 : ) That made my day. But when I went into Aeropostale wearing my size 9 jeans I had purchased there 2 years ago and tried fitting into a 7, I could barely pull the jeans over my butt. That made me not so happy : ( I know that all store sizes are different, but still, it's aggravating. So I didn't bother buying any jeans there!

Another thing I've been doing is going EBAY CRAZY! My mom has been selling a lot of our leftover garage sale clothing items and other things on there, and has been doing really well. eBay had another one of its promotions going on where you can post items for free, so I put a bunch of stuff up there. My mom told me I could post on hers because she has a high feedback rating, but I wanted to build up my own score. I did pretty well for my first time! A few weeks later they had a 10-cents posting fee, so I put a lot of items up then as well. I've made a little over $100 so far on about a dozen items - jeans, tops, etc. - WAY better than a garage sale! So that's been helping me buy some new clothes.

And final update - I may have to give up my beloved boot camp. I strained my back for the 3rd time this year last night. I'm going to see a doctor tomorrow to make sure everything is OK. I had an MRI done about 12 years ago and the doctors found I had a bulging disc in my lower back. I figure it's about time I get that all checked out again since I've been experiencing some slight sciatica the last few months. I'll update you all tomorrow!

Planning meals makes things a lot easier

While I try not to focus on weight alone (I prefer to pay more attention to clothing sizes and how things are fitting me), I can't help but be irked by it if it's creeping upwards. In the 2 weeks since my triathlon, that's what's been happening - it's gone up by about 3 pounds (and then somedays back down again, so who knows what's really going on!) Really though, this isn't that surprising. While I had some good workouts the week after the triathlon, last week I only got 3 workouts in the entire week. Also in the 2 weeks after the race, I've had a fewcheeseburgers...ice cream cones...Oreo shakes...etc. I decided to get my butt back in gear this week.

I've been logging my food religiously since Monday and have been planning my meals to the best of my ability for the following day. Eating during the weekdays is rather easy thanks to the structure of the workday. It's the weekend that is going to be more of a challenge.

I fall into habits of eating the same things for awhile...been that way since I was a kid. (Turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch 3rd grade through high school? Yes.) I know others need more variety, but I don't. My meals have been almost exactly this since Monday:

BREAKFAST - 7 AM:

Egg Beaters with 1/2 a slice of Colby Jack mixed in

MORNING SNACK - 9 AM:

Thomas' 100% whole wheat bagel thins - Skippy reduced fat peanut butter on one side, Philly whipped cream cheese on the other. I'm OBSESSED with this combo! Perfect mix of carbs, protein & fiber to keep me full for quite awhile. Regular bagels have too much dough for me, so I love the bagel thins.

LUNCH - 1 PM:

For over a week I was eating the Smart Ones breakfast scrambles for lunch, but I finally decided to bring some different frozen meals this week. I know that these frozen meals aren't the "freshest" or "purest" foods, but they are what is easiest for me to turn to for something healthy and easy. Tuesday I ate a Health Choice chicken pesto alfredo dinner - this was SOOOO GOOD!

I also recommend what I ate today, which was the Lean Cuisine roasted garlic chicken pizza:

This pizza was really, really, really good!!! Next time, I will have a side of marinara sauce handy to dip it in though...I did miss tomato sauce with it, though the creamy sauce was good.

AFTERNOON SNACK (3 PM):

Dannon light 'n fit vanilla yogurt w/ 2 tbsp reduced fat strawberry granola

DINNER (6 PM):

Jennie-O turkey burger with a slice of Colby jack on Aunt Millie's 100% whole wheat hamburger buns. Very tasty for this cheeseburger addict, and runs at 390 calories, 31 grams of protein and 17 grams of fat.

It's been nice to have a "dinner plan" this week. This is often where I'll mess up. I come home from work starving and am too hungry and rushed to worry about what I'm cooking for myself. Throwing one of these burgers on the Foreman grill doesn't take long at all.

Then post-workout, I have a mug of chocolate milk (fat free milk w/1 tbsp Hershey's special dark chocolate syrup stirred in).

Workouts this week have been pretty good too. VERY disappointed I couldn't get to the gym tonight. I was pumped to go workout but when I pulled into my deserted gym parking lot, I knew something was wrong. Sign on the door said closed due to power outage. Lame : (

Sunday I went swimming for the first time since the race, and still pulled out 40 laps so I felt pretty good. I've missed swimming! Monday I forced myself to suffer through boot camp - about 10 minutes into class I got the headache from hell. Every rep we did had my brain pulsating. Not fun. Tuesday, I did 60 minutes of cardio - 30 on the crossramp and 30 running on the treadmill.

Hoping I can force myself to wake up in the morning to make up for tonight's missed workout.