So...let's start back at last Thursday.
Dwayne's mom called and said she had been sick for a few days, finally went to doctor, he did blood work, got the results back and called her and told her to check herself into the hospital on Thursday afternoon. She called Dwayne to take her in. I followed him over to her house and picked up her 13 year old dog, Sasha, to take care of while she was in the hospital.
She had surgery Friday morning with the surgeon saying that was the worst looking scenario he'd ever seen....that her body was full of poison from infection. Come to find out, she had been seriously ill and on her couch for 3 days, refusing to go to the doctor until the workers finished remodeling her kitchen. She wanted it done before she could be bothered with a gall bladder attack. She's damn lucky to be alive. They are finally letting her go home today.
Due to having all 3 dogs here Thursday night, my two and hers, it was a pretty chaotic night. I tried to lay on the sofa and get some sleep but it just wasn't happening. Dwayne finally got home about 1:30 Friday morning and I went to bed with Sasha and Scarlette. Sasha snored loudly and Scarlette is jealous, so slept right on top of me. I remember seeing 3am on the clock before I finally fell asleep. I got up at 7am with the alarm clock to get ready for my job interview.
The interview was fabulous. It was, by far, the best one I've ever done. I interviewed with 3 managers for an hour and before leaving, they told me they had one other lady to interview on Monday and that I'd hear something soon after that.
Less than an hour after I got home, one of the bosses called to say that they were so impressed with me in the interview, that they felt like interviewing the other lady on Monday would just be a waste of their time, and they'd like to extend an offer to me right now. Ummm....ok!!! lol
I got a dollar more per hour than I asked for. And I got BETTER hours that I asked for. It's 36 hours/week...Mon - Thur is 7:30a-3:30p with a half hour lunch in there, and Fri is 7:30p-2:00p! How fabulous is that? This allows me to stagger my work hours with Dwayne's, so that Boomer will only be crated about 7 hours, instead of the 10 hours. And who wouldn't love to get off work by 2pm every Friday?? I am extremely happy. I discussed the offer with Dwayne and it only took 10 minutes to call the guy back and tell him I accepted his offer and am ready to go to work. Due to him being out of town, he asked that my first day be Wednesday, June 8th, so he'll be back in town to start my training.
The eating has been somewhat on the fly since his mom has been in the hospital. Not totally horrible, just not as healthy as it could have been. I have been getting all my water in though, and taken all 5 of my meds each day. We finally got back to walking last night....2 miles at the park. And I fianlly saw a new low on the scale a couple of days ago...236.4. It's coming off very slowly, but it's coming off.
Dwayne is at the hospital with his mom now, waiting on her release. He's going to call me when they're almost back to her house so I can take Sasha over. I'll be glad when things get back to normal here. Sasha wasn't a lot of trouble, just needs a lot of care. She's 13 so that's 91 in human years!! She's half blind and half deaf and can't walk very well. My house has 3 sets of stairs in it, so she has to be carried everywhere, she can't go up and down the stairs by herself. Also, she hasn't wanted her dog food that Judy sent, so I've had to give her people food just to get some calories in her. Dwayne and I have both been praying that she doesn't pass while in our care...it really doesn't seem like she has much longer, so things have been stressful in every direction for the last several days.
I went out this morning and had my fingerprints done for the new job. I also filled out some background check paperwork and confidentiality agreement. I got an email back from the Operations Manager inviting me to come in the office tomorrow at 11am for a Compliance Meeting. It's not mandatory, but would give me a jump on what they do there and allow me to meet some of the other team members. Naturally I said I'd be there. I need to go by a store at some point to pick up a couple of new clothing items and maybe a pair of shoes or two. I also need to get some Ebay stuff wrapped up before the week gets away from me.
I'm going to try to get back to my normal blogging pattern in the evenings starting tomorrow. I need to start taking pics again, too. I think it makes the posts more interesting. Hope everyone had a lot less stressful weekend than we did. Here's to getting back on track! :)
Monday, June 29, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Stressed
I didn't post last night because I simply forgot. I was busy tending to Boomer and giving him lots of love after his surgery, which went extremely well.
Tomorrow morning is my job interview. A couple of hours ago Dwayne got a call from his mom. Apparently she's been vomiting the last couple of days. She went to her doctor who ran some bloodwork. He called her today and told her to check herself into the hospital today, that her liver enzymes were seriously high and her gall bladder didn't look good. She will most likely be scheduled for surgery.
So she called Dwayne to come over and take her to the hospital. I followed him over in my car so I could pick up her little dog Sasha. I got back home with Sasha, and Boomer was in his crate. He's never met Sasha before. He started growling and freaking out in his crate like he wanted to kill her. So I'm a little scared to let him out. I still haven't. I guess I'll just hold her while I let him out to pee outside, and then see how he reacts around her while she's in my arms. She's 12 or 13 years old now and hobbles everywhere she goes. She really can't handle too much stress so I pray Boomer behaves.
I have no idea what the sleeping situation is going to be for me and the 3 dogs tonight. Boomer normally sleeps in his crate but he's been sleeping with us the last few nights. Sasha is used to sleeping in her mom's bed, which obviously isn't an option tonight. And Scarlette is jealous of everybody. I have a feeling there won't be much sleep at all tonight. I sure hope I do okay in that job interview.
Tomorrow morning is my job interview. A couple of hours ago Dwayne got a call from his mom. Apparently she's been vomiting the last couple of days. She went to her doctor who ran some bloodwork. He called her today and told her to check herself into the hospital today, that her liver enzymes were seriously high and her gall bladder didn't look good. She will most likely be scheduled for surgery.
So she called Dwayne to come over and take her to the hospital. I followed him over in my car so I could pick up her little dog Sasha. I got back home with Sasha, and Boomer was in his crate. He's never met Sasha before. He started growling and freaking out in his crate like he wanted to kill her. So I'm a little scared to let him out. I still haven't. I guess I'll just hold her while I let him out to pee outside, and then see how he reacts around her while she's in my arms. She's 12 or 13 years old now and hobbles everywhere she goes. She really can't handle too much stress so I pray Boomer behaves.
I have no idea what the sleeping situation is going to be for me and the 3 dogs tonight. Boomer normally sleeps in his crate but he's been sleeping with us the last few nights. Sasha is used to sleeping in her mom's bed, which obviously isn't an option tonight. And Scarlette is jealous of everybody. I have a feeling there won't be much sleep at all tonight. I sure hope I do okay in that job interview.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Job Interview
This morning kinda' sucked. I went to the park at 10am and walked 2 miles. But everything hurt. My hips, back, knees, feet. Everything. So I was a little discouraged that I've been walking every day for 3 weeks now and it doesn't feel any easier yet. It doesn't help that it's June in Georgia and that means mid 90 temps with a nasty humidity to match. It might not have been that hot yet at 10am but it was certainly uncomfortable.
Breakfast was another homemade egg mcmuffin. Lunch was a philly cheesesteak of sorts. I had some thin sliced steak. I sauteed that as well as some mushrooms, onions and red bell pepper. I didn't really plan ahead for the bread for this so I used a leftover hot dog bun from Dwayne's smoked sausages last night. I also didn't have any mozzarella, so used some provolone. It was pretty tasty albeit a little dry.
After lunch I ran out to Goodwill to purchase some inventory for my Ebay listings...
Then a quick stop at Wal-mart. Right before I got out of the car, I got a call from a guy at Principal Financial Group asking me to come in this Friday morning for a job interview. It's an Administrative Assistant position as an independent contractor assignment. My good friend Lori told me about it...it's her old position, she's moved on to bigger and better things.
I've been doing Ebay for about 3 or 4 years now and to be honest, it's a struggle. The money keeps my part of the bills paid, but I can say I do not enjoy the stress of always wondering if you're going to make enough each month. There's definitely not much extra and the stress of that can be draining. It would be nice to work at a job outside the home again for the sole purpose of having a check you can count on. Well, sort of. At least count on for a little while. I say that because I was laid off from my last 2 Accounting jobs, so nothing is ever guaranteed. But it would be nice to have a little break from the weekly stress that comes with sales.
I will continue to do my Ebay sales on the side. If I happen to get this job, and for some reason it ever ends in the future, I want Ebay to be up and running. I do not want to have to build another store from the ground up. So we'll see what happens. I've discussed it with Dwayne and there are a couple of parameters that need to be met in order for me to accept on offer.
First of all, it's a pretty bad commute. It will be at least an hour each way in metro Atlanta traffic, if not more. So Dwayne said it needs to pay at least $17/hour to make it worth it. Secondly, Boomer our Labradane puppy is only 7 months old. With an 8 hour work day for each of us, and a 2 hour commute each way, that would leave him in the crate for 10 hours. Neither of us are comfortable with that thought. That's way too long to expect him to hold his bladder, plus it's just sad that he's used to being out and playing with Scarlette during the day, out in the back yard, all over the house, etc. Dwayne shocked me to death. He actually told me that I'm "so awesome" and "do so much for the family". That he has grown to appreciate me working from home because I'm here to take care of the house and the dogs, etc. Me doing these things takes the load off of him and he's thankful. I was blown away. I'm pretty sure that's the first time he's ever voiced his thoughts on that.
So...they would have to agree to let me work from 7a-3p or 7:30p-3:30p in order to stagger my hours with Dwayne. He doesn't leave the house until 9:15a....so this would put Boomer in the crate about 6.5 hours instead of 10. That is much more doable.
I've been a nervous wreck since I got the call this afternoon. I haven't interviewed in quite a while. I caught myself wondering if I could remember how to do basic admin duties. Can I load paper in a printer? Fax something? Scan a document???? Dwayne came home from work and I was still freaking out and he just laughed at me. Told me to chill and stop freaking, that everything would be fine...it's just a simple interview. We don't even know if we're going to accept the offer, so just do the interview and don't worry about the next step. He's my rock....my calm to the chaos that is my brain.
Dinner was a little late and not very well planned out because I was too busy freaking. I mean, I knew I was making bbq chicken, but didn't bother to make any sides. After he got home, I realized this, and threw a potato in the microwave for him. Covered it with salt, pepper and butter and he was fine. I went with raw veggies...cukes, tomatoes and carrots.
I had "bake egg cups" on my menu plan for tonight so I just pulled them out of the oven. A lot more green in them this time. I used yellow squash, spinach, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, a little bit of steak leftover from lunch and a sprinkle of cheese...topped with Egg Beaters. I bake mine at 375 for 20 mins and the consistency is perfect every time.
I didn't take a pic of the finished product because I started typing this post while they were still in the oven...but you've seen them before. :) Boomer has to go to the vet in the morning to be neutered. He's starting to hump everything in sight and that just can't be tolerated. I will be dropping him off at 7:30a and picking him up sometime before 5p. I've been worried sick all week. What if he's allergic to any of the meds? or the anesthesia? I just hate it when my babies have to have surgery....even one as common as this one. I'll be happy when I get him back home and on the couch, and just cover him up with Momma hugs and kisses. He's gonna need his Momma. Sure do love my babies.
Dwayne took off work Thursday and Friday to be home with Boomer, too. He said one of the reasons is for the physical fact that I can't lift him if anything were to go wrong, he had to go back to the vet and lifted to the car, etc. The other reason is because he's a big softie and loves his boy as much as I do. :)
Breakfast was another homemade egg mcmuffin. Lunch was a philly cheesesteak of sorts. I had some thin sliced steak. I sauteed that as well as some mushrooms, onions and red bell pepper. I didn't really plan ahead for the bread for this so I used a leftover hot dog bun from Dwayne's smoked sausages last night. I also didn't have any mozzarella, so used some provolone. It was pretty tasty albeit a little dry.
After lunch I ran out to Goodwill to purchase some inventory for my Ebay listings...
Then a quick stop at Wal-mart. Right before I got out of the car, I got a call from a guy at Principal Financial Group asking me to come in this Friday morning for a job interview. It's an Administrative Assistant position as an independent contractor assignment. My good friend Lori told me about it...it's her old position, she's moved on to bigger and better things.
I've been doing Ebay for about 3 or 4 years now and to be honest, it's a struggle. The money keeps my part of the bills paid, but I can say I do not enjoy the stress of always wondering if you're going to make enough each month. There's definitely not much extra and the stress of that can be draining. It would be nice to work at a job outside the home again for the sole purpose of having a check you can count on. Well, sort of. At least count on for a little while. I say that because I was laid off from my last 2 Accounting jobs, so nothing is ever guaranteed. But it would be nice to have a little break from the weekly stress that comes with sales.
I will continue to do my Ebay sales on the side. If I happen to get this job, and for some reason it ever ends in the future, I want Ebay to be up and running. I do not want to have to build another store from the ground up. So we'll see what happens. I've discussed it with Dwayne and there are a couple of parameters that need to be met in order for me to accept on offer.
First of all, it's a pretty bad commute. It will be at least an hour each way in metro Atlanta traffic, if not more. So Dwayne said it needs to pay at least $17/hour to make it worth it. Secondly, Boomer our Labradane puppy is only 7 months old. With an 8 hour work day for each of us, and a 2 hour commute each way, that would leave him in the crate for 10 hours. Neither of us are comfortable with that thought. That's way too long to expect him to hold his bladder, plus it's just sad that he's used to being out and playing with Scarlette during the day, out in the back yard, all over the house, etc. Dwayne shocked me to death. He actually told me that I'm "so awesome" and "do so much for the family". That he has grown to appreciate me working from home because I'm here to take care of the house and the dogs, etc. Me doing these things takes the load off of him and he's thankful. I was blown away. I'm pretty sure that's the first time he's ever voiced his thoughts on that.
So...they would have to agree to let me work from 7a-3p or 7:30p-3:30p in order to stagger my hours with Dwayne. He doesn't leave the house until 9:15a....so this would put Boomer in the crate about 6.5 hours instead of 10. That is much more doable.
I've been a nervous wreck since I got the call this afternoon. I haven't interviewed in quite a while. I caught myself wondering if I could remember how to do basic admin duties. Can I load paper in a printer? Fax something? Scan a document???? Dwayne came home from work and I was still freaking out and he just laughed at me. Told me to chill and stop freaking, that everything would be fine...it's just a simple interview. We don't even know if we're going to accept the offer, so just do the interview and don't worry about the next step. He's my rock....my calm to the chaos that is my brain.
Dinner was a little late and not very well planned out because I was too busy freaking. I mean, I knew I was making bbq chicken, but didn't bother to make any sides. After he got home, I realized this, and threw a potato in the microwave for him. Covered it with salt, pepper and butter and he was fine. I went with raw veggies...cukes, tomatoes and carrots.
I had "bake egg cups" on my menu plan for tonight so I just pulled them out of the oven. A lot more green in them this time. I used yellow squash, spinach, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, a little bit of steak leftover from lunch and a sprinkle of cheese...topped with Egg Beaters. I bake mine at 375 for 20 mins and the consistency is perfect every time.
I didn't take a pic of the finished product because I started typing this post while they were still in the oven...but you've seen them before. :) Boomer has to go to the vet in the morning to be neutered. He's starting to hump everything in sight and that just can't be tolerated. I will be dropping him off at 7:30a and picking him up sometime before 5p. I've been worried sick all week. What if he's allergic to any of the meds? or the anesthesia? I just hate it when my babies have to have surgery....even one as common as this one. I'll be happy when I get him back home and on the couch, and just cover him up with Momma hugs and kisses. He's gonna need his Momma. Sure do love my babies.
Dwayne took off work Thursday and Friday to be home with Boomer, too. He said one of the reasons is for the physical fact that I can't lift him if anything were to go wrong, he had to go back to the vet and lifted to the car, etc. The other reason is because he's a big softie and loves his boy as much as I do. :)
Monday, June 22, 2015
Chugging Along
Today was a good day. That's saying a lot for a Monday, lol. I didn't get out for my "morning" walk until noon. Boy was it hot and humid. I really did not want to do it today but I managed to do 4 laps, which was 1.3 mi. According to the Runtastic app, I burned 390 calories. I took a pic, ever so thankful for these 2 little patches of shade on the track.
Breakfast was an egg mcmuffin, made at home. I used a 100 calorie English muffin with 18g of net carbs, an egg, 2 slices of Canadian bacon and a sprinkle of cheese. I had a small side of hashbrowns with it. Lunch was a bowl of my deliciously chunky lasagna soup. Holy cow this is soooo good.
I did lots of chores around the house today, as well as my normal Ebay listings. At some point I had this snack plate to take one of my 5 meds with. Turkey, cheese stick, baby carrots and cukes.
I had these in the freezer so I thawed them and sauteed 2 of them, then mixed them with the leftover grilled veggies from last night. I also had a leftover ear of corn with it. The corn served as my dinner carbs. I roasted some sausages in the oven for Dwayne and served them on buns with a side of baked fries for his dinner.
We waited until 8pm to head to the park to let the sun go down as much as possible and still give us enough time to see for our walk. We had intended to walk 5 laps starting today but lost count and ended up accidentally walking 6, which was 2 miles. My app said I burned 557 calories. Combined with my earlier walk, that is 947 cals burned for the day. Yay me. :)
Breakfast was an egg mcmuffin, made at home. I used a 100 calorie English muffin with 18g of net carbs, an egg, 2 slices of Canadian bacon and a sprinkle of cheese. I had a small side of hashbrowns with it. Lunch was a bowl of my deliciously chunky lasagna soup. Holy cow this is soooo good.
I did lots of chores around the house today, as well as my normal Ebay listings. At some point I had this snack plate to take one of my 5 meds with. Turkey, cheese stick, baby carrots and cukes.
I had these in the freezer so I thawed them and sauteed 2 of them, then mixed them with the leftover grilled veggies from last night. I also had a leftover ear of corn with it. The corn served as my dinner carbs. I roasted some sausages in the oven for Dwayne and served them on buns with a side of baked fries for his dinner.
We waited until 8pm to head to the park to let the sun go down as much as possible and still give us enough time to see for our walk. We had intended to walk 5 laps starting today but lost count and ended up accidentally walking 6, which was 2 miles. My app said I burned 557 calories. Combined with my earlier walk, that is 947 cals burned for the day. Yay me. :)
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Never Perfection...Always Progress
This weekend was better than the last in the way of eating and exercise and I'm damn proud of that. Last weekend I had 3 restaurant meals out. This weekend I had 1 lunch out, eating 5 out of 6 meals on Sat and Sun at home. Last weekend I did one walk on Sat and none on Sun. This weekend I did 2 walks on Sat and 1 on Sun. I took a few food pics to show the delicious meals I had. Last weekend the meal plan was in my head, not solid and written down on paper as it should be. This weekend I wrote it, edited it, re-wrote it and hung it on my fridge. I even took into account the fact that Dwayne will be home this week on Thursday and Friday, and scheduled breakfast and lunches for him as well as me.
Saturday's lunch was the most delicious wrap I've ever made. I mixed up some solid white albacore tuna (1 can) with some mayo, onions and dill pickles. I put it on a Joseph's flatbread (10 net carbs) with fresh spinach, tomato slices, cucumber slices and sliced orange bell pepper. Oh my goodness was it delicious. It had just the right amount of crunch with the peppers, cucumbers and pickles. I found something at the store I'd never bought before...Pepperidge Farms Pretzel Thins. I had a handful of those with my wrap instead of the Doritos I served to Dwayne.
About 3pm or so I finally made it to the park to walk. Dwayne downloaded the Runtastic App to my phone that Biz uses and it's pretty cool. It measures your time, distance, calories burned, etc. I've been doing 4 laps around the track (3 laps is 1 mile) and said I would bump it to 5 laps on Monday, but I decided since I was by myself with no dogs and no Dwayne that I'd go ahead and do 5 laps. It took me 35 mins, was 1.75 miles and said I burned 499 calories. When I got back home I had a snack plate of turkey slices, a cheese stick, baby carrots and baby tomatoes. The dogs helped me eat 1/3 of this plate. They're always willing to help Momma shave some calories of my daily intake. :)
I decided to make jambalaya for dinner. The only traditional item I leave out of it is the green bell pepper. Dwayne will tolerate SOME tomato based dishes once in a while, but anything green is out of the question. I used andouille sausage and some cajun spice and it had just the right amount of heat. I also cut up and sauteed 2 boneless chicken breasts and shrimp. I cook the shrimp separately and then add it to the whole pot when it's totally finished cooking.
You'll just have to forgive my crappy pics...I have zero photography skills. Just trust me when I tell you this was AMAZING.
After dinner I decided to take Boomer to the park and walk with me. Boy was that difficult for the first couple of laps. He finally got the hang of "heel" about 2.5 laps in, and we ended up doing 5 laps altogether. The app said it took 38 mins and I burned 533 calories, so just a little longer and more difficult than the earlier walk that day. It was another 1.75 mi for a total of 3.5 miles for the day. Go me! Who am I?? I don't even recognize myself!
When I got back home I checked out my meal plan for the week and saw that I had lasagna soup scheduled for Sunday's lunch....time to make the soup! Now I made this last week for the first time after getting the recipe from Biz and I followed it almost to the "T" last time. This week I decided to make it my own. I wanted a chunkier soup. Last time I cooked the pasta separately and stored it that way in the fridge, only mixing the soup and pasta into an individual bowl when I was ready to heat some up. This time, I decided to buy a bag of smaller pasta at the store (not the rotini I used last week), and mix it in with the soup. I measured out 6 oz. of ditalini. I used petite diced tomatoes instead of the fire roasted tomatoes (smaller pieces) and I used chicken broth instead of chicken stock (cheaper). I also used about 5 TBSP of tomato paste instead of the 2 TBSP it called for, because I wanted a richer, deeper flavor this time. Oh, and I used about 3x the amount of oregano it called for. I only had 2 of the hot Italian sausage links left in the pack from last time, that I had in the freezer. I knew I needed more meat, so I used 2 of the Andouille sausages I had leftover from the jambalaya. I sauteed these 2 meats together and it added just enough heat to my pot.
I had a small bowl when it was finished and it turned out just as good as I had hoped. I believe I'll be making it like this from now on. I was supposed to have it for lunch today but those plans got trashed. We went out to buy new shoes...
And then Dwayne wanted to go see that new Jurassic movie. Well that was 2.5 hours away from the house I wasn't planning on, so we had lunch out first before we headed to the movie. The movie was decent. We headed home afterwards and hung out a bit before grilling pork chops for dinner. I also had him grill some veggies while I roasted some corn in the oven. Everything turned out so tasty...grilled is my favorite way of cooking, but Dwayne is way better at it than me. I really need to learn...Biz is my grilling hero, lol. I need to ask her for some tips. :)
I was seriously thinking about taking a rest day from the walking...I figured 6 days in a row was enough reason for a break. Then the guilt set in. A break from what? It's not like I did anything strenuous or grueling today. No reason not to walk. I love walking at the park, although the scenery is growing a bit boring. But tonight I decided we'd walk around the neighborhood with my new app. I wanted to know the distance, but was also curious to know if the GPS in the app would measure elevation and difficulty based on that. There is a horrible part of the walk that I call the Hill from Hell and I absolutely hate it. I can walk up it now without stopping but it is the slowest walk you have ever seen. I am putting one foot in front of the other the whole time I'm trudging up, without stopping, but it's so slow I'm pretty sure a turtle could pass me and leave me in the dust. It is so hard to breathe and I'm just huffing and puffing the whole way. Dwayne just walks straight up it w/ no obvious effort or pain (I so hate that) and I fight and claw my way up, many feet behind him. So we were doing it this evening and about 10-12 steps before I reached the crest of the hill, teetering on the brink of death, the app says out loud "GPS Has Lost Signal". Without missing a beat I blurted right out loud "F*CK YOU!!!" I didn't stop...I kept on going just in case it recorded ANY part of the walk, but man was I pissed. I nearly wanted to cry. We made it on home and the app said it was .94 of a mile, it took 22 mins and I burned 324 calories. Well that calorie burn is just about the same as it as walking laps at the park, with no hills, so apparently it does NOT measure difficulty based on elevation. Therefore I see no need to ever walk that hill again. EVER.
When we got inside I fixed a small bowl of cottage cheese with blueberries to take my 5th pill for the day. I dislike having to take so many meds. I'm hoping by focusing on eating better, fewer carbs and exercising regularly that some of the meds can be reduced or cut out after my next lab appointment. At least that's my personal goal as well as the goal I set for Biz's Summer Challenge. Hope everyone had as nice of a weekend as I did. It really feels great when you make the right choices MOST of the time. Never perfection....always progress.
Saturday's lunch was the most delicious wrap I've ever made. I mixed up some solid white albacore tuna (1 can) with some mayo, onions and dill pickles. I put it on a Joseph's flatbread (10 net carbs) with fresh spinach, tomato slices, cucumber slices and sliced orange bell pepper. Oh my goodness was it delicious. It had just the right amount of crunch with the peppers, cucumbers and pickles. I found something at the store I'd never bought before...Pepperidge Farms Pretzel Thins. I had a handful of those with my wrap instead of the Doritos I served to Dwayne.
About 3pm or so I finally made it to the park to walk. Dwayne downloaded the Runtastic App to my phone that Biz uses and it's pretty cool. It measures your time, distance, calories burned, etc. I've been doing 4 laps around the track (3 laps is 1 mile) and said I would bump it to 5 laps on Monday, but I decided since I was by myself with no dogs and no Dwayne that I'd go ahead and do 5 laps. It took me 35 mins, was 1.75 miles and said I burned 499 calories. When I got back home I had a snack plate of turkey slices, a cheese stick, baby carrots and baby tomatoes. The dogs helped me eat 1/3 of this plate. They're always willing to help Momma shave some calories of my daily intake. :)
I decided to make jambalaya for dinner. The only traditional item I leave out of it is the green bell pepper. Dwayne will tolerate SOME tomato based dishes once in a while, but anything green is out of the question. I used andouille sausage and some cajun spice and it had just the right amount of heat. I also cut up and sauteed 2 boneless chicken breasts and shrimp. I cook the shrimp separately and then add it to the whole pot when it's totally finished cooking.
You'll just have to forgive my crappy pics...I have zero photography skills. Just trust me when I tell you this was AMAZING.
After dinner I decided to take Boomer to the park and walk with me. Boy was that difficult for the first couple of laps. He finally got the hang of "heel" about 2.5 laps in, and we ended up doing 5 laps altogether. The app said it took 38 mins and I burned 533 calories, so just a little longer and more difficult than the earlier walk that day. It was another 1.75 mi for a total of 3.5 miles for the day. Go me! Who am I?? I don't even recognize myself!
When I got back home I checked out my meal plan for the week and saw that I had lasagna soup scheduled for Sunday's lunch....time to make the soup! Now I made this last week for the first time after getting the recipe from Biz and I followed it almost to the "T" last time. This week I decided to make it my own. I wanted a chunkier soup. Last time I cooked the pasta separately and stored it that way in the fridge, only mixing the soup and pasta into an individual bowl when I was ready to heat some up. This time, I decided to buy a bag of smaller pasta at the store (not the rotini I used last week), and mix it in with the soup. I measured out 6 oz. of ditalini. I used petite diced tomatoes instead of the fire roasted tomatoes (smaller pieces) and I used chicken broth instead of chicken stock (cheaper). I also used about 5 TBSP of tomato paste instead of the 2 TBSP it called for, because I wanted a richer, deeper flavor this time. Oh, and I used about 3x the amount of oregano it called for. I only had 2 of the hot Italian sausage links left in the pack from last time, that I had in the freezer. I knew I needed more meat, so I used 2 of the Andouille sausages I had leftover from the jambalaya. I sauteed these 2 meats together and it added just enough heat to my pot.
I had a small bowl when it was finished and it turned out just as good as I had hoped. I believe I'll be making it like this from now on. I was supposed to have it for lunch today but those plans got trashed. We went out to buy new shoes...
And then Dwayne wanted to go see that new Jurassic movie. Well that was 2.5 hours away from the house I wasn't planning on, so we had lunch out first before we headed to the movie. The movie was decent. We headed home afterwards and hung out a bit before grilling pork chops for dinner. I also had him grill some veggies while I roasted some corn in the oven. Everything turned out so tasty...grilled is my favorite way of cooking, but Dwayne is way better at it than me. I really need to learn...Biz is my grilling hero, lol. I need to ask her for some tips. :)
I was seriously thinking about taking a rest day from the walking...I figured 6 days in a row was enough reason for a break. Then the guilt set in. A break from what? It's not like I did anything strenuous or grueling today. No reason not to walk. I love walking at the park, although the scenery is growing a bit boring. But tonight I decided we'd walk around the neighborhood with my new app. I wanted to know the distance, but was also curious to know if the GPS in the app would measure elevation and difficulty based on that. There is a horrible part of the walk that I call the Hill from Hell and I absolutely hate it. I can walk up it now without stopping but it is the slowest walk you have ever seen. I am putting one foot in front of the other the whole time I'm trudging up, without stopping, but it's so slow I'm pretty sure a turtle could pass me and leave me in the dust. It is so hard to breathe and I'm just huffing and puffing the whole way. Dwayne just walks straight up it w/ no obvious effort or pain (I so hate that) and I fight and claw my way up, many feet behind him. So we were doing it this evening and about 10-12 steps before I reached the crest of the hill, teetering on the brink of death, the app says out loud "GPS Has Lost Signal". Without missing a beat I blurted right out loud "F*CK YOU!!!" I didn't stop...I kept on going just in case it recorded ANY part of the walk, but man was I pissed. I nearly wanted to cry. We made it on home and the app said it was .94 of a mile, it took 22 mins and I burned 324 calories. Well that calorie burn is just about the same as it as walking laps at the park, with no hills, so apparently it does NOT measure difficulty based on elevation. Therefore I see no need to ever walk that hill again. EVER.
When we got inside I fixed a small bowl of cottage cheese with blueberries to take my 5th pill for the day. I dislike having to take so many meds. I'm hoping by focusing on eating better, fewer carbs and exercising regularly that some of the meds can be reduced or cut out after my next lab appointment. At least that's my personal goal as well as the goal I set for Biz's Summer Challenge. Hope everyone had as nice of a weekend as I did. It really feels great when you make the right choices MOST of the time. Never perfection....always progress.
Friday, June 19, 2015
On My Own
These two turkeys got in trouble yesterday evening.
They ripped the guts/stuffing out of every soft toy they own. They created a sea of white fluff in the living room floor. Boomer also got a hold of an extension cord that was behind a table and thankfully not plugged in. He chewed both ends/plugs off of it. If that wasn't enough, Dwayne stepped on an egg shell walking through the living room. I wondered where that went!! Boomer can reach everything on the counter now and often steals food items while I'm moving around the kitchen trying to simultaneously cook and wash dishes.
Well the egg shell sent Dwayne over the edge and he decided he wasn't walking last night because he had to clean up the nasty living room. No problem. Be pissed off. I'll walk by myself. And I did! I took myself to the park and walked 4 laps on my own. I will continue to do this through the weekend and them bump it up to 5 laps on Monday evening.
I made beer brats on buns for his dinner last night w/ a side of baked steak fries. I could have eaten my chicken sausages on buns since I can have 50g of carbs per meal, but decided not to. I figured I'd try to get in a few veggies instead. I sauteed 2 links with mushrooms, onions and yellow squash. I sprinkled in some Tuscan seasoning while cooking. After plated, I added some small tomatoes and some grated Parmesan cheese. So delicious!
Had some cottage cheese, blueberries and walnuts for a snack...
And Boomer said to tell you to have a "chill" weekend. He plans to. ;)
They ripped the guts/stuffing out of every soft toy they own. They created a sea of white fluff in the living room floor. Boomer also got a hold of an extension cord that was behind a table and thankfully not plugged in. He chewed both ends/plugs off of it. If that wasn't enough, Dwayne stepped on an egg shell walking through the living room. I wondered where that went!! Boomer can reach everything on the counter now and often steals food items while I'm moving around the kitchen trying to simultaneously cook and wash dishes.
Well the egg shell sent Dwayne over the edge and he decided he wasn't walking last night because he had to clean up the nasty living room. No problem. Be pissed off. I'll walk by myself. And I did! I took myself to the park and walked 4 laps on my own. I will continue to do this through the weekend and them bump it up to 5 laps on Monday evening.
I made beer brats on buns for his dinner last night w/ a side of baked steak fries. I could have eaten my chicken sausages on buns since I can have 50g of carbs per meal, but decided not to. I figured I'd try to get in a few veggies instead. I sauteed 2 links with mushrooms, onions and yellow squash. I sprinkled in some Tuscan seasoning while cooking. After plated, I added some small tomatoes and some grated Parmesan cheese. So delicious!
Had some cottage cheese, blueberries and walnuts for a snack...
And Boomer said to tell you to have a "chill" weekend. He plans to. ;)
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Wednesday Already???
Man this week is flying by!!
Short post tonight...just the facts. No walk this morning due to early morning errands that ran until 2pm. No walk at 2pm...I convinced myself if I did, I would surely die of a heat stroke. Got home and put some chicken in the oven that I'd been marinating in the fridge. Tuscan and parmesan spice blends with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I went ahead and poured the marinade over the chicken and put the lemons in there, too. I also added some fresh mushrooms and a few leftover stalks of asparagus to make sure they didn't go to waste. I am really loving marinating with fresh lemon...the fresh taste just can't be beat. So sunny and delicious.
Biz's Burger Salad post inspired me for tonight's dinner. I already don't eat my burger on a bun when making them at home, but added a few cucumbers and carrots on top of the normal tomato, onion, lettuce and dill pickle. Along w/ a swipe of mayo and my all important ketchup. Totally delish.
So I told Dwayne that we needed to walk more than a mile at the park in the evenings. 3 laps is one mile. He said he's concerned the dogs wouldn't be able to do 2 miles in this heat and humidity, so we're stepping it up slowly to see how they do. I think the dogs will be fine, but I'm so tickled that he's still walking with me every day that I'll do whatever it takes to keep him happy. So slowly it shall be. Tonight we walked 4 laps instead of 3 and will do so the rest of the week. Next week we will bump it up to 5 laps, and so on.
Tomorrow morning I have to head back to the tanning salon to do the red light therapy for the NLD on my legs. They told me it will take 90 days for a full restorative cycle and to see a major difference. Then they told me if I buy this $99 bottle of "effector" to rub on my legs, that it will cut that time in half. Hmmmm. 45 days. Is it worth it? I don't know yet. The fact is, I've been living with this crap on my legs for 7 years now. It's doubtful that I'm spending $99 on a bottle of anything. But we'll see. I may get impatient and buy it. When she saw me waffling, she gave me a $20 tanning pass that she said I could use as a coupon towards the effector, so now it's $80. Maybe if she can get it down to $50, we'll talk. :)
Short post tonight...just the facts. No walk this morning due to early morning errands that ran until 2pm. No walk at 2pm...I convinced myself if I did, I would surely die of a heat stroke. Got home and put some chicken in the oven that I'd been marinating in the fridge. Tuscan and parmesan spice blends with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I went ahead and poured the marinade over the chicken and put the lemons in there, too. I also added some fresh mushrooms and a few leftover stalks of asparagus to make sure they didn't go to waste. I am really loving marinating with fresh lemon...the fresh taste just can't be beat. So sunny and delicious.
Biz's Burger Salad post inspired me for tonight's dinner. I already don't eat my burger on a bun when making them at home, but added a few cucumbers and carrots on top of the normal tomato, onion, lettuce and dill pickle. Along w/ a swipe of mayo and my all important ketchup. Totally delish.
So I told Dwayne that we needed to walk more than a mile at the park in the evenings. 3 laps is one mile. He said he's concerned the dogs wouldn't be able to do 2 miles in this heat and humidity, so we're stepping it up slowly to see how they do. I think the dogs will be fine, but I'm so tickled that he's still walking with me every day that I'll do whatever it takes to keep him happy. So slowly it shall be. Tonight we walked 4 laps instead of 3 and will do so the rest of the week. Next week we will bump it up to 5 laps, and so on.
Tomorrow morning I have to head back to the tanning salon to do the red light therapy for the NLD on my legs. They told me it will take 90 days for a full restorative cycle and to see a major difference. Then they told me if I buy this $99 bottle of "effector" to rub on my legs, that it will cut that time in half. Hmmmm. 45 days. Is it worth it? I don't know yet. The fact is, I've been living with this crap on my legs for 7 years now. It's doubtful that I'm spending $99 on a bottle of anything. But we'll see. I may get impatient and buy it. When she saw me waffling, she gave me a $20 tanning pass that she said I could use as a coupon towards the effector, so now it's $80. Maybe if she can get it down to $50, we'll talk. :)
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Up To 2 Miles
I finally made it on my morning walk today. It was 11am and about 95 degrees outside, but I managed to eek out a mile. It took me 25 mins.
Afterwards I dashed home to await the mobile groomer. She took good care of my babies and we'll be using her again. I took a couple of pics of them when she finished grooming them:
Scarlette was only 11 lbs to start with and now it looks like she weighs 5 lbs!! I don't think she's ever had her hair cut that short, but it will be nice and cool for the summer. Boomer got a bath and his ears and toe nails done. Thank God because those things were starting to look like talons. They were like weapons on your bare feet.
I took pics of us on our walk at the park tonight but apparently my camera ate them. Tomorrow is another busy day...lots of errands to run. I will most likely be having lunch out away from home but no idea where yet...that part isn't planned. The goal is not calorie counting though...not right now. The only goal right now is low carb until I make it to my next lab appointment. I'm working very hard on getting used to eating the right amount of carbs so that it eventually becomes second nature. When I've got that down, I'll go back to focusing on losing the rest of this weight.
Afterwards I dashed home to await the mobile groomer. She took good care of my babies and we'll be using her again. I took a couple of pics of them when she finished grooming them:
Scarlette was only 11 lbs to start with and now it looks like she weighs 5 lbs!! I don't think she's ever had her hair cut that short, but it will be nice and cool for the summer. Boomer got a bath and his ears and toe nails done. Thank God because those things were starting to look like talons. They were like weapons on your bare feet.
I took pics of us on our walk at the park tonight but apparently my camera ate them. Tomorrow is another busy day...lots of errands to run. I will most likely be having lunch out away from home but no idea where yet...that part isn't planned. The goal is not calorie counting though...not right now. The only goal right now is low carb until I make it to my next lab appointment. I'm working very hard on getting used to eating the right amount of carbs so that it eventually becomes second nature. When I've got that down, I'll go back to focusing on losing the rest of this weight.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Busiest Day Of The Week
I had a to-do list a mile long today and I got just about everything on it accomplished....except the morning walk. I fully intended to. I told everyone I was headed out the door to get it done. And then I decided to do this one little chore real quick. And then create a word doc that someone was waiting on. Then assemble some receipts an Errand Fairy client was waiting on. And this and that and before you know it, the clock said 3:30pm and my morning had escaped me.
I'm more than a little irritated with myself but then again, I should have never said I'd start that on a Monday. Those are always my busiest days...I always squeeze just as much as I possibly can in on a Monday so that by the end of the week, my load is a lot lighter. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day! And I already have my walking shoes in the car, lol.
My first errand tomorrow is the tanning salon to use the red light therapy for the NLD on my legs. I want to get there as soon as they open. The treatment only takes 12 minutes but it's a good 20-30 minute drive from my house depending on traffic. Next I'm headed straight to the park, which is only half a mile down the road from my house. Then I have to be home by noon...we're trying a mobile groomer for the first time. I hope she works out well and does a good job since she's the same price as the grooming salon I've been using the past few years. It would be nice to have someone come to my house instead from here on out. We'll see how she does.
No pics of anything today. Will try to take some tmrw...probably the dogs since they'll be freshly cut/washed. Love my babies...can never have too many pics of them. Oh, and we just got in from our evening walk. I'm thankful that it's been over a week now and Dwayne is still doing this with me. That may be some kind of record for him.
I believe it was last Monday when I got on the scale and found a 3 lb. drop from 242 to 239. I jumped on this morning fully expecting to see some sort of gain, if even just from sodium, due to 3 restaurant meals over the weekend. What I found was 238.8. So virtually the same. I'm completely shocked, but ever so thankful. My food was good today and I got one good walk in. Drank all my water and took all my meds. I'm going to bed satisfied that I'm one day closer to reaching my Summer Challenge goal of better lab work in a couple of months. Nite Nite. :)
I'm more than a little irritated with myself but then again, I should have never said I'd start that on a Monday. Those are always my busiest days...I always squeeze just as much as I possibly can in on a Monday so that by the end of the week, my load is a lot lighter. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day! And I already have my walking shoes in the car, lol.
My first errand tomorrow is the tanning salon to use the red light therapy for the NLD on my legs. I want to get there as soon as they open. The treatment only takes 12 minutes but it's a good 20-30 minute drive from my house depending on traffic. Next I'm headed straight to the park, which is only half a mile down the road from my house. Then I have to be home by noon...we're trying a mobile groomer for the first time. I hope she works out well and does a good job since she's the same price as the grooming salon I've been using the past few years. It would be nice to have someone come to my house instead from here on out. We'll see how she does.
No pics of anything today. Will try to take some tmrw...probably the dogs since they'll be freshly cut/washed. Love my babies...can never have too many pics of them. Oh, and we just got in from our evening walk. I'm thankful that it's been over a week now and Dwayne is still doing this with me. That may be some kind of record for him.
I believe it was last Monday when I got on the scale and found a 3 lb. drop from 242 to 239. I jumped on this morning fully expecting to see some sort of gain, if even just from sodium, due to 3 restaurant meals over the weekend. What I found was 238.8. So virtually the same. I'm completely shocked, but ever so thankful. My food was good today and I got one good walk in. Drank all my water and took all my meds. I'm going to bed satisfied that I'm one day closer to reaching my Summer Challenge goal of better lab work in a couple of months. Nite Nite. :)
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Wobbly Weekend
Well, I had a plan. It just didn't work out. Unexpected things happened on both Sat and Sun that led to one lunch eaten out as well as two dinners. We did manage to get ourselves to the park on Saturday evening and get a walk in. I finally saw a little sign that said 3 laps around the track is one mile, so at least now I know how to track how far I'm going.
I've got a new plan to start walking one mile in the morning with one of the dogs, and another mile in the evening with Dwayne and both dogs. I'm looking forward to getting started with that tomorrow morning. I've got a jam packed day planned for tomorrow so it will be nice to start it off right with a walk at the park.
Friday's lunch was the best I've had in a long time. I had a few things to use up in the fridge, so I put them together and came up with this...
I had a couple of squash and a little bit of asparagus and a handful of fresh mushrooms. I sauteed them with a new Tuscan spice I picked up a couple of weeks ago when the McCormick spices were BOGO at the store:
In a separate pan I sauteed about 8 oz. of shrimp with some fresh basil and then combined them. I had some fresh fruit on the side and the rest of my baby carrots. Sooo good!
One of my favorite snacks continues to be the cottage cheese and fresh berries:
Friday's dinner was chicken fettucine alfredo. For myself, I took 2 oz of noodles and tossed with an entire bag of steamed broccoli and a few mushrooms. I topped it with a sauteed chicken breast that I cut into pieces. This was delish but I left at least half the broccoli on my plate. Silly me forgot to put half of the bag in a separate bowl to use for another meal...I shouldn't have dumped the whole thing in this dish!
Last night I made my batch of egg muffins for breakfasts for the next few mornings. I sauteed some yellow squash, mushrooms, onions, a couple of pieces of deli ham and few little breakfast chicken sausages I had opened earlier in the week:
I am not a big cheese person, but decided to buy something new and try it on sandwiches last week. Turns out I do not care for havarti cold or "raw" as I like to say. However, I didn't want to waste the whole pack so I broke up a couple of slices and put a little square on top of each cup of goodness for my egg muffins. This cheese tastes MUCH better melted. It was the perfect touch!
After adding the cheese, I used one of the small cartons of Egg Beaters and poured over top of all 12 cups and voila!
Baked at 375 for 20 minutes....breakfast perfection. :)
As I said, all plans fell apart this weekend and a lot of unexpected stuff had to be taken care of, so I didn't get my meal planning OR my grocery shopping done. I haven't even had time to look at the sales ad yet. Those 3 of the things on my list to do tomorrow morning after my walk....check the sales, meal plan for the week and grocery shop. Hoping this week goes a lot smoother than the weekend did, and I look forward to doubling my exercise this week from last week with adding in the morning walks. Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. :)
I've got a new plan to start walking one mile in the morning with one of the dogs, and another mile in the evening with Dwayne and both dogs. I'm looking forward to getting started with that tomorrow morning. I've got a jam packed day planned for tomorrow so it will be nice to start it off right with a walk at the park.
Friday's lunch was the best I've had in a long time. I had a few things to use up in the fridge, so I put them together and came up with this...
I had a couple of squash and a little bit of asparagus and a handful of fresh mushrooms. I sauteed them with a new Tuscan spice I picked up a couple of weeks ago when the McCormick spices were BOGO at the store:
In a separate pan I sauteed about 8 oz. of shrimp with some fresh basil and then combined them. I had some fresh fruit on the side and the rest of my baby carrots. Sooo good!
One of my favorite snacks continues to be the cottage cheese and fresh berries:
Friday's dinner was chicken fettucine alfredo. For myself, I took 2 oz of noodles and tossed with an entire bag of steamed broccoli and a few mushrooms. I topped it with a sauteed chicken breast that I cut into pieces. This was delish but I left at least half the broccoli on my plate. Silly me forgot to put half of the bag in a separate bowl to use for another meal...I shouldn't have dumped the whole thing in this dish!
Last night I made my batch of egg muffins for breakfasts for the next few mornings. I sauteed some yellow squash, mushrooms, onions, a couple of pieces of deli ham and few little breakfast chicken sausages I had opened earlier in the week:
I am not a big cheese person, but decided to buy something new and try it on sandwiches last week. Turns out I do not care for havarti cold or "raw" as I like to say. However, I didn't want to waste the whole pack so I broke up a couple of slices and put a little square on top of each cup of goodness for my egg muffins. This cheese tastes MUCH better melted. It was the perfect touch!
After adding the cheese, I used one of the small cartons of Egg Beaters and poured over top of all 12 cups and voila!
Baked at 375 for 20 minutes....breakfast perfection. :)
As I said, all plans fell apart this weekend and a lot of unexpected stuff had to be taken care of, so I didn't get my meal planning OR my grocery shopping done. I haven't even had time to look at the sales ad yet. Those 3 of the things on my list to do tomorrow morning after my walk....check the sales, meal plan for the week and grocery shop. Hoping this week goes a lot smoother than the weekend did, and I look forward to doubling my exercise this week from last week with adding in the morning walks. Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. :)
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Progress With The NLD
I mentioned before that one of the diabetic related issues I have is something called NLD (Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum). It's a skin condition that is very rare and there's no cure. It's basically a collagen deterioration that cannot be explained. It causes bright red marks on the lower half of your legs and can be very painful if you touch it too hard, scratch an itch too hard, your dog sticks a claw in it, etc. I have been searching and searching for some sort of treatment to lighten it and maybe have it go dormant for a while, which I have read online is possible.
I have an old blog friend from my previous blogging days that has the same condition. She was telling me that red light therapy or photo facial therapy helped her. I finally found what I thought was it at a medical spa, and scheduled an appointment for a free consultation this morning. Turns out, the photo facial is actually a laser treatment called IPL and you have to be licensed to administer it. It's anywhere from $150-$300 per session/treatment, depending on which spa you choose.
I told her about my friend and the red light therapy she used. She said that's something totally different. People use that for wrinkles because it boosts collagen in the skin, and sometimes you can find it at tanning salons like my friend did. There just happened to be a tanning salon 2 doors down from her office, so we walked down together and spoke to the person there. They used to have that type of unit, but not any longer. I told the guy I had called multiple tanning salons and couldn't locate one. He said he only knew of one salon locally that had what I needed and gave me their name.
I called that salon and they DO have it....they call it the "Beauty Angel Unit"...I have no idea what that's all about. She said she's running a special right now...$39/month for unlimited use. She said I could go every day like she does if I wanted to. I'm not sure about every day because I still don't understand the technology. My friend said it doesn't burn...it heals. But I still think I will stick with every other day for now...3-4x per week. I had too many errands to run today so I will start at the salon tomorrow. I hope I have finally found the right solution to this problem!
Kim came for dinner tonight and I made BLT's with a bowl of lasagna soup on the side. Boy was it delicious...both of them! She had a migraine so she didn't walk with us as previously planned. After she left, Dwayne and I took the dogs for what is becoming our nightly stroll around the neighborhood. It only takes about 25-30 mins though so I really need to start doing a morning walk as well.
I will be honest...the walks do hurt. What used to be so simple back when I was losing weight is just ridiculously tough now. I feel like I'm 80 years old...pain in my feet, legs, lower back, even my butt! But I'm trying to keep things in perspective. I could be in a much worse position like my Dad, who has MS and can't really walk at all and is confined to either his motorized chair or his bed. I know that he would much rather endure a little pain like I have if he could just have back the freedom of movement. When I'm midway up the Hill from Hell, everything hurting and feeling like I'm gasping for my last breath, I quickly change my attitude and tell myself, "Shut your trap Tammy & get your ass up this hill...at least you CAN walk...MOVE IT!!"
I was away from home 6-7 hours today and the eating was BAD. Period. It sucked. Getting right back on track tomorrow. I think the only errand I have away from home is the spa for the NLD treatment so should be out and back within an hour. All meals will be eaten at home.
Oh and one more thing. I mentioned yesterday that I finally got to talk to the nurse at my dr's ofc. She left free samples for me at the front desk that I picked up today of a THIRD diabetic medicine I am now taking. Between the diabetes, the triglycerides and the hypothyroidism I am now on 5 pills per day. To put a positive spin on that, I am thankful that the pharmacy gives me the metformin for free, and thankful the doctor gave me 6 weeks of free samples on this latest med. I am to start taking it today and go back in 6 weeks from now for more bloodwork.
I've been cutting the carbs and taking the pills religiously for 3 weeks now. I can already tell that my sugar has come down. I can now sleep 5-6 hours straight w/o having to get up and pee...used to be I couldn't make it longer than an hour or two, so I was up all night and my sleep was horrible and nearly non-existent. Also, I used to drink 3-4 (32 oz) glasses of water a day, no problem, due to my constant thirst. Now, I'm having a hard time remembering to drink at least 64 oz because the thirst is gone. This is encouraging! I'm headed for bed so ta ta for now. :)
I have an old blog friend from my previous blogging days that has the same condition. She was telling me that red light therapy or photo facial therapy helped her. I finally found what I thought was it at a medical spa, and scheduled an appointment for a free consultation this morning. Turns out, the photo facial is actually a laser treatment called IPL and you have to be licensed to administer it. It's anywhere from $150-$300 per session/treatment, depending on which spa you choose.
I told her about my friend and the red light therapy she used. She said that's something totally different. People use that for wrinkles because it boosts collagen in the skin, and sometimes you can find it at tanning salons like my friend did. There just happened to be a tanning salon 2 doors down from her office, so we walked down together and spoke to the person there. They used to have that type of unit, but not any longer. I told the guy I had called multiple tanning salons and couldn't locate one. He said he only knew of one salon locally that had what I needed and gave me their name.
I called that salon and they DO have it....they call it the "Beauty Angel Unit"...I have no idea what that's all about. She said she's running a special right now...$39/month for unlimited use. She said I could go every day like she does if I wanted to. I'm not sure about every day because I still don't understand the technology. My friend said it doesn't burn...it heals. But I still think I will stick with every other day for now...3-4x per week. I had too many errands to run today so I will start at the salon tomorrow. I hope I have finally found the right solution to this problem!
Kim came for dinner tonight and I made BLT's with a bowl of lasagna soup on the side. Boy was it delicious...both of them! She had a migraine so she didn't walk with us as previously planned. After she left, Dwayne and I took the dogs for what is becoming our nightly stroll around the neighborhood. It only takes about 25-30 mins though so I really need to start doing a morning walk as well.
I will be honest...the walks do hurt. What used to be so simple back when I was losing weight is just ridiculously tough now. I feel like I'm 80 years old...pain in my feet, legs, lower back, even my butt! But I'm trying to keep things in perspective. I could be in a much worse position like my Dad, who has MS and can't really walk at all and is confined to either his motorized chair or his bed. I know that he would much rather endure a little pain like I have if he could just have back the freedom of movement. When I'm midway up the Hill from Hell, everything hurting and feeling like I'm gasping for my last breath, I quickly change my attitude and tell myself, "Shut your trap Tammy & get your ass up this hill...at least you CAN walk...MOVE IT!!"
I was away from home 6-7 hours today and the eating was BAD. Period. It sucked. Getting right back on track tomorrow. I think the only errand I have away from home is the spa for the NLD treatment so should be out and back within an hour. All meals will be eaten at home.
Oh and one more thing. I mentioned yesterday that I finally got to talk to the nurse at my dr's ofc. She left free samples for me at the front desk that I picked up today of a THIRD diabetic medicine I am now taking. Between the diabetes, the triglycerides and the hypothyroidism I am now on 5 pills per day. To put a positive spin on that, I am thankful that the pharmacy gives me the metformin for free, and thankful the doctor gave me 6 weeks of free samples on this latest med. I am to start taking it today and go back in 6 weeks from now for more bloodwork.
I've been cutting the carbs and taking the pills religiously for 3 weeks now. I can already tell that my sugar has come down. I can now sleep 5-6 hours straight w/o having to get up and pee...used to be I couldn't make it longer than an hour or two, so I was up all night and my sleep was horrible and nearly non-existent. Also, I used to drink 3-4 (32 oz) glasses of water a day, no problem, due to my constant thirst. Now, I'm having a hard time remembering to drink at least 64 oz because the thirst is gone. This is encouraging! I'm headed for bed so ta ta for now. :)
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
The Doctor Said No - Round 1
A bit of good news. The downpour last night was fast and furious, but short lived. We actually made it out the door with the dogs at 8:30pm for a 30 minute jaunt around the neighborhood. Getting out and walking 2 days in a row made me feel SO much better mentally.
A bit more good news...we just walked in the door from tonight's walk around the neighborhood so hooray for 3 straight days of exercise. :) Tomorrow we'll be walking at the park again. My darling friend Kim is coming over for dinner and a walk. And to see my babies of course. I think she loves those little turkeys as much as we do, and I love that about her! She's going to be walking the Peachtree Road Race 10k here in Atlanta on July 4th weekend. She says she needs to get a little practice in before the race, but the truth is, she's been doing this 10k for several years in a row now and she always finishes just fine. She's in WAY better shape than I am, that's for sure. She inspires me. Love you girl!
On to the crappy doctor news. I had expressed concern that I thought he may be trying to drop me since he referred me to an endocrinologist. I was pretty much right. I called the dr's ofc today and instead of leaving a FIFTH voicemail, I stayed on the phone with the receptionist until she went and got a nurse and put her on the phone. Finally!
I found out that yes, the dr most certainly did intend for me to follow up with the endocrinologist for further diabetes and thyroid care. I mentioned before in this blog that my last labs were really bad. The nurse said the diabetes was starting to affect my kidneys in a negative way, and the doctor, being a primary care, didn't feel well enough equipped to continue treating my diabetes and thought an endo would give me more specific treatment and care.
However, what he did NOT know is that I already talked to the endo's office, found out an initial visit is $350, and with my $4500 deductible, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to pay that much per visit with a specialist. It's just an impossibility. So once the nurse found that out, she said she would relay it to the doctor and try to get my meds refilled.
While I had her on the phone, I mentioned a couple of other things. One, that the Januvia he prescribed was rejected by my insurance...they refuse to pay for it. And two, I have serious concerns about my thyroid. I told her I've been on synthetics like Synthroid for 13 years now and yet I still have a list a mile long of hypothyroid symptoms, as though it's not being treated at all. I told her to ask the Dr if he would prescribe a natural treatment such as Armour or Nature Thyroid. She said I can already tell you NO on the Armour. I asked why. She said most doctors just won't prescribe Armour. I said, "But do you know WHY?" She said they just don't think it works and won't prescribe it.
Alrighty then. My first rejection. I do wonder how many more there will be before I find a doctor who will give me a natural med for this. From the books I'm reading, I pretty much already knew the answer would be no. There is absolutely nothing progressive at all about my doctor. I knew he was traditional, so I was ready for it, but I had to ask to make sure before moving on to someone else.
Here's the really annoying thing about it. I doubt I'll find any primary care doctor to approve it. I think it will take a specialist of some sort. And now we're back to specialist prices that I can't pay. Not sure how it's going to work out. Just going to pray that the Lord's will be done and that he'll point me in the right direction and open the doors that I need opened.
On a brighter note, I made the lasagna soup that Biz makes like every other week, lol. I keep seeing her pics of it and I finally decided to make it today. I only made the soup part....I haven't made the pasta yet. I will do that tomorrow. She said to make them separately so the pasta doesn't soak up all the liquid by combining them. She gave me the original recipe and I did not make the cheesy part...I'm just not a huge cheese fan so I'm not one to put it on everything I eat. And I must say it is absolutely delicious without it. So spicy and flavorful. I used hot Italian sausage links...3 of them. I think it called for 1.5 lbs of sausage. I didn't bother measuring the links on the food scale...the package had 5 links in it and I just decided to scramble up 3 of them and froze the other 2 for next week's batch. ;) Oh, and the fresh basil! Oh my Heavens...that fragrance is divine! I don't remember the last time I put fresh herbs in something but there is just no substitute! Ahhh....so good. I can't wait til lunch tomorrow. :)
And finally, I dropped 3 lbs. FINALLY. When I started eating better and seriously cutting the carbs and axing the Cokes altogether, I just knew I'd drop like 20 lbs in a couple of days. At least that was my hope. Well, not only did I NOT lose last week...I GAINED 2 lbs. Went from 240 to 242. This morning I stepped on and finally saw 239. I'll take it. And hopefully it's just enough inspiration to spur me on to get as far away from the 240's as possible and keep myself focused on reaching the 220's.
I saw the cool quote Biz posted about this morning. And I saw where one of the girls in the challenge said she was going to post it on her wall, maybe over her desk or something, I can't remember. All I can remember thinking is if I did that and my mother came to visit, walked in and saw the "F" word hanging on my wall I'd have to scrape her off the floor...after she was done beating me, LOL. 'Nite all. :)
A bit more good news...we just walked in the door from tonight's walk around the neighborhood so hooray for 3 straight days of exercise. :) Tomorrow we'll be walking at the park again. My darling friend Kim is coming over for dinner and a walk. And to see my babies of course. I think she loves those little turkeys as much as we do, and I love that about her! She's going to be walking the Peachtree Road Race 10k here in Atlanta on July 4th weekend. She says she needs to get a little practice in before the race, but the truth is, she's been doing this 10k for several years in a row now and she always finishes just fine. She's in WAY better shape than I am, that's for sure. She inspires me. Love you girl!
On to the crappy doctor news. I had expressed concern that I thought he may be trying to drop me since he referred me to an endocrinologist. I was pretty much right. I called the dr's ofc today and instead of leaving a FIFTH voicemail, I stayed on the phone with the receptionist until she went and got a nurse and put her on the phone. Finally!
I found out that yes, the dr most certainly did intend for me to follow up with the endocrinologist for further diabetes and thyroid care. I mentioned before in this blog that my last labs were really bad. The nurse said the diabetes was starting to affect my kidneys in a negative way, and the doctor, being a primary care, didn't feel well enough equipped to continue treating my diabetes and thought an endo would give me more specific treatment and care.
However, what he did NOT know is that I already talked to the endo's office, found out an initial visit is $350, and with my $4500 deductible, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to pay that much per visit with a specialist. It's just an impossibility. So once the nurse found that out, she said she would relay it to the doctor and try to get my meds refilled.
While I had her on the phone, I mentioned a couple of other things. One, that the Januvia he prescribed was rejected by my insurance...they refuse to pay for it. And two, I have serious concerns about my thyroid. I told her I've been on synthetics like Synthroid for 13 years now and yet I still have a list a mile long of hypothyroid symptoms, as though it's not being treated at all. I told her to ask the Dr if he would prescribe a natural treatment such as Armour or Nature Thyroid. She said I can already tell you NO on the Armour. I asked why. She said most doctors just won't prescribe Armour. I said, "But do you know WHY?" She said they just don't think it works and won't prescribe it.
Alrighty then. My first rejection. I do wonder how many more there will be before I find a doctor who will give me a natural med for this. From the books I'm reading, I pretty much already knew the answer would be no. There is absolutely nothing progressive at all about my doctor. I knew he was traditional, so I was ready for it, but I had to ask to make sure before moving on to someone else.
Here's the really annoying thing about it. I doubt I'll find any primary care doctor to approve it. I think it will take a specialist of some sort. And now we're back to specialist prices that I can't pay. Not sure how it's going to work out. Just going to pray that the Lord's will be done and that he'll point me in the right direction and open the doors that I need opened.
On a brighter note, I made the lasagna soup that Biz makes like every other week, lol. I keep seeing her pics of it and I finally decided to make it today. I only made the soup part....I haven't made the pasta yet. I will do that tomorrow. She said to make them separately so the pasta doesn't soak up all the liquid by combining them. She gave me the original recipe and I did not make the cheesy part...I'm just not a huge cheese fan so I'm not one to put it on everything I eat. And I must say it is absolutely delicious without it. So spicy and flavorful. I used hot Italian sausage links...3 of them. I think it called for 1.5 lbs of sausage. I didn't bother measuring the links on the food scale...the package had 5 links in it and I just decided to scramble up 3 of them and froze the other 2 for next week's batch. ;) Oh, and the fresh basil! Oh my Heavens...that fragrance is divine! I don't remember the last time I put fresh herbs in something but there is just no substitute! Ahhh....so good. I can't wait til lunch tomorrow. :)
And finally, I dropped 3 lbs. FINALLY. When I started eating better and seriously cutting the carbs and axing the Cokes altogether, I just knew I'd drop like 20 lbs in a couple of days. At least that was my hope. Well, not only did I NOT lose last week...I GAINED 2 lbs. Went from 240 to 242. This morning I stepped on and finally saw 239. I'll take it. And hopefully it's just enough inspiration to spur me on to get as far away from the 240's as possible and keep myself focused on reaching the 220's.
I saw the cool quote Biz posted about this morning. And I saw where one of the girls in the challenge said she was going to post it on her wall, maybe over her desk or something, I can't remember. All I can remember thinking is if I did that and my mother came to visit, walked in and saw the "F" word hanging on my wall I'd have to scrape her off the floor...after she was done beating me, LOL. 'Nite all. :)
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Today would have been my 2nd day of getting back into the walking groove...except that I waited until Dwayne got home to do it and now it's pouring rain! Boo!
I have a couple of food pics. I marinated some chicken breasts in pineapple juice and jerk seasoning and grilled on the Foreman for 6 minutes. I sliced the breasts in half long ways before grilling to cut down the cooking time. 6 minutes turned out to be the perfect time. I had that with half of a baked potato w/ a pat of butter and spoon of reduced calorie sour cream as well as some baby carrots.
Hamburgers were the plan for dinner but decided to nix the bun for me and have some sauteed mushrooms and onions along with a strawberry banana Chobani. They make the best yogurt EVER.
I got my Ebay listings put up and not much else accomplished. But I did do a lot of chatting with friends who have some of the same health problems as me. I'm trying to sort things out in my head as to what I need to do to fully address each one. Oh, and I'm pretty sure my doctor completely gave up on me. After my bad lab work a couple of weeks ago, he referred me to an endocrinologist and that's the last I've heard from him. I've left 4 voicemails over the last 2 weeks trying to ask questions about different things, and haven't had a single call back. Should I take that as a major hint that I've been dropped??
My problem with the endocrinologist is that they charge $350 for the initial visit and who knows how much after that. I cannot afford a specialist. There's no way I can pay that amount per visit. Yes, we have insurance through Dwayne's job but it comes with a $4500 deductible...so it's pretty much the same as not having any insurance if we have to pay everything out of pocket up to that amount. I'm more than a little stressed over the doctor situation now and have been spinning around in circles today trying to figure out what to do about it.
It would be simple enough to find another primary care doctor, but I really want to try and get off the Synthroid I'm taking for my thyroid and get on a natural hormone, and I'm pretty sure a primary care doctor won't even go there. From everything I've read on the subject, it's basically a nightmare trying to get your meds changed from synthetic to natural by a traditional doctor. And the price of endocrinologist is just out of my reach. I'm so lost as to what to do from here. Will keep thinking about it until I figure something out I guess. I need to call my mother. She always has the answer to everything. :)
I have a couple of food pics. I marinated some chicken breasts in pineapple juice and jerk seasoning and grilled on the Foreman for 6 minutes. I sliced the breasts in half long ways before grilling to cut down the cooking time. 6 minutes turned out to be the perfect time. I had that with half of a baked potato w/ a pat of butter and spoon of reduced calorie sour cream as well as some baby carrots.
Hamburgers were the plan for dinner but decided to nix the bun for me and have some sauteed mushrooms and onions along with a strawberry banana Chobani. They make the best yogurt EVER.
I got my Ebay listings put up and not much else accomplished. But I did do a lot of chatting with friends who have some of the same health problems as me. I'm trying to sort things out in my head as to what I need to do to fully address each one. Oh, and I'm pretty sure my doctor completely gave up on me. After my bad lab work a couple of weeks ago, he referred me to an endocrinologist and that's the last I've heard from him. I've left 4 voicemails over the last 2 weeks trying to ask questions about different things, and haven't had a single call back. Should I take that as a major hint that I've been dropped??
My problem with the endocrinologist is that they charge $350 for the initial visit and who knows how much after that. I cannot afford a specialist. There's no way I can pay that amount per visit. Yes, we have insurance through Dwayne's job but it comes with a $4500 deductible...so it's pretty much the same as not having any insurance if we have to pay everything out of pocket up to that amount. I'm more than a little stressed over the doctor situation now and have been spinning around in circles today trying to figure out what to do about it.
It would be simple enough to find another primary care doctor, but I really want to try and get off the Synthroid I'm taking for my thyroid and get on a natural hormone, and I'm pretty sure a primary care doctor won't even go there. From everything I've read on the subject, it's basically a nightmare trying to get your meds changed from synthetic to natural by a traditional doctor. And the price of endocrinologist is just out of my reach. I'm so lost as to what to do from here. Will keep thinking about it until I figure something out I guess. I need to call my mother. She always has the answer to everything. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)