March 27th 2013

-----Author's Note----

The following and all proceeding entries have an air of melancholy and defeatist. They are full of excuses, and were written by a depressed me. More recently I've taken control of my mood and I CHOOSE to be positive from now on. I will leave the previous entries published so that I can remember where I came from and where I don't want to go again. (There were some good days, but not many.) 

It's been a few weeks now, since I said I'd write this, but I am just now finding the time. My homemade deodorant project was a failure. Yes, it took a while to fail, but ultimately it did. Had some of my personal variables not been what they were, it may not have failed, but some things cannot be helped. For instance; if I had not started exercising again after I switched to my homemade deodorant, my armpits may not have become irritated by my sports bra rubbing them, and then would not have been susceptible to the pain and suffering that was to follow.
I did read about a few experiences from people who had similar experiences as me. So I knew this outcome was an actual possibility before I tried it. But I was hoping I wasn't one of the few to have to go through this.
As I stated above, my armpits became irritated when I started exercising again. They were fine with the homemade stuff up to this point. After a few days of exercising the redness started becoming a little bit painful. At one point my left pit turned brown, like it was scabbing over, after that is when they started to sting and burn. It was about a week or so after I started exercising again that I finally determined that I could NOT use the homemade stuff. And the pain was so fierce that Puese and I rushed out to buy something less abusive. I'm still not wanting to put aluminum on my armpits, so we picked up an aluminum free Tom's of Maine deodorant. It took a little while for the pain to cease, but after about a week, my pits were back to normal.
I am a little disappointed that the homemade stuff I made didn't work out. I know there are other recipes out there that I could try. Maybe one day I'll make another attempt at it. Until then, I'll stick with what I've got and hope for the best.

In other news: Yesterday was Day 30 of my Beach Body Challenged. However; with going crazy during the week before the Engagement Party, and now being emotionally exhausted after it, (Plus all of my aches and pains and whatnot's I mentioned the other day) I haven't been exercising at all. I am going to take today to clean up the Engagement Party pile that is taking over the dining room, and then maybe work on my creative project for the week. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to exercise again.

March 21st 2013

-----Author's Note----

The following and all proceeding entries have an air of melancholy and defeatist. They are full of excuses, and were written by a depressed me. More recently I've taken control of my mood and I CHOOSE to be positive from now on. I will leave the previous entries published so that I can remember where I came from and where I don't want to go again. (There were some good days, but not many.) 

This week has not been going well. I'm also going to start "this week" on last Saturday. But for now, I'm going to work backwards....
Does anyone want to know why I don't like it when someone is watching me exercise, in person? I'm good if they're doing it with me, or if they watch it after the fact. But if they're watching me while it's happening, they're judging me. If they're judging me; I am almost definitely going to mess up. This happened today. While doing Day 25 of my Beach Body Challenge schedule, and "rockin out" to Disco Groove, I twisted my ankle and fell over. My small toe is still numb, and when it happened; I swear all of the joints/bones in my foot cracked. So I'll be taking a break for a while, if not until tomorrow. Which is fine. I was planning on recording today, but the required equipment is now unavailable to me today, so that's not happening.
Yesterday, I woke up feeling gross, and then for Day 24 I was scheduled to do my least favorite of the Rockin Body  classes: Rock It Out. Mostly because I feel weak when I cannot do all the pushups. I also didn't make my shake for breakfast yesterday, but opted for cereal instead. It seems that my body is getting used to the shakeology as fuel for it in the morning, and so I was not feeling up to the strenuous exercise that was this version of weight training. So I stopped halfway through because I was so tired and played Animal Crossing instead.
Tuesday; I don't remember Tuesday. I know I did what was scheduled for me, but that's it.
On Monday, it was Puese's first day of his new job. I was up with him before 7am, I did my Beach Body Challenge without incident, and everything was happy go lucky. Puese's old job issued him a weird card instead of a last paycheck, and our bank didn't know what to do with  it, so all of the money is still on the card. Which really sucks because we did our food shopping for the party, and I wasn't anticipating having to spend the money in the account on that, but we figured it out, and it't now fine.
Sunday we did our usual grocery shopping/meal planning, but we also had to finish purchasing all of the items he needed for work, and all the items we need for our engagement party this coming Saturday. Neither of us wanted to go shopping again, we get shopped out pretty fast, and we'd already been several times since the week before. After trying several stores for slacks that would fit my tall man, and medium sized button up shirts that would fit his long arms, we finally got all of his items. Once we got to find the stuff for the party; I just grabbed a bunch of items I thought we'd need without thinking it through much, and got out of there... By this time it was after church hours and all grocery stores are packed. Trader Joes is NO EXCEPTION. Not only was I not wanting to be in any store packed with people, they also didn't have everything we needed. So in the midst of shopping, Puese and I had to compromise and agree on what we'd eat this week. Then my debit card didn't work. Neither did my joint account with my mom. Turns out, not all of our money was where it was supposed to be, so after some creative financial maneuvering on my part, we finally got out of there with all of our groceries in tow. After that I had the lovely task of finding out exactly where my money was, and how to get it into the correct places.
Saturday was my day of stressing out about the Engagement party. Not only did I realize that I hadn't planned on what I was going to wear to it, but I kept getting these really annoying questions that I thought we'd already worked through from people. Turns out stating a request twice on an invite with two requests, means people will only focus on the first requested. So; if everyone is like this one family member; then the only food we'll have at our party is the cheese and crackers and meats platters that I am bringing. Otherwise on Saturday; we once again had to go shopping.
On top of all of this; I am feeling really low because I am not seeing results from this Beach Body Challenge. No visible changes.

Exercising to Improve Physical and Mental Health

Today's Guest Post is from Melanie Bowen; Awareness Advocate for Natural Health. To find more of her work go HERE or search for her at www.Mesothelioma.com. 

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Exercising to Improve Physical and Mental Health

We have pretty much all heard how critical exercise is in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The benefits associated with regular exercise are immense and can prevent illness and sometimes even cancer. For those who have already experienced the tribulations of cancer or have just been diagnosed, exercise is even more essential. As you read this article, you'll learn more about how beneficial exercise can be for those who are battling cancer or those who are in remission.

The fact that exercise can provide health advantages isn't recent news. Exercise can extend the average life expectancy, prevent diseases and illnesses, promote healthy internal bodily function and even ward off cancer. In the past, medical experts recommended that cancer patients maintain a restful lifestyle with minimal exercise. However, nowadays, physicians tend to emphasize the opposite of bed rest. Cancer patients often battle daily fatigue, lethargy, bodily aches and often depression.

Luckily, exercise can help assist in such side effects. One particular study conducted by scientists at the Duke Cancer Institute demonstrated that cancer patients who exercised regularly had a longer survival rate than sedentary patients. Scientists involved in this study went on to say that this research could produce substantial medical breakthroughs where exercise is accompanied by traditional cancer therapies.

The National Cancer Institute promotes regular exercise for cancer patients in order to improve one's quality of life. Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, of the University of Pennsylvania's Abraham Cancer Center, states that it's important to exercise both for those undergoing cancer treatments and for those that already have undergone therapy. Dr. Schmitz goes on to say that many cancer patients often feel physically unattractive as a result of cancer treatment therapy and that research has shown that physical activity can drastically improve one's own body image and therefore, the quality of life. This article also specifically addresses cancers that are known for significant weight and muscle mass loss, making workouts that contribute to the building of lean muscle mass even more imperative. For example, those with mesothelioma often have decreased appetites and need mood boosts, making exercise a critical component to one's attitude during and after cancer therapy treatment.

Clearly, exercise is vital to one's every day routine and can result in tremendous health benefits. For cancer patients, exercise has the miraculous potential to increase the length of survival, one's overall quality of life, and more.

March 12th 2013

-----Author's Note----

The following and all proceeding entries have an air of melancholy and defeatist. They are full of excuses, and were written by a depressed me. More recently I've taken control of my mood and I CHOOSE to be positive from now on. I will leave the previous entries published so that I can remember where I came from and where I don't want to go again. (There were some good days, but not many.) 

I'm feeling conflicted right now. On the one hand, I LOVE to dance, and I like eating healthy, I feel like I'm active, and I think I have energy. On the other hand, I'm not really seeing results. Okay, that's a little extreme. It's Day 16 of my Beach Body Challenge. I have, for the most part, been doing BOTH Rockin Body, and Hip Hop Abs. With the exception of last Tuesday, when I didn't exercise because I was still recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning. I've stuck to the exercise and meal plans, and when I can't eat what I've planned on at home, I choose healthier options when we're out for what ever reason...

Now, I know, from past experiences, that my body sometimes takes a bit longer to react. It never does anything drastically, (Unless it's blowing up 20+lbs while I'm on vacation). It's been two weeks, and I haven't really gone down in size at all. I took some measurements on the 12th of last month and compared them to today. My arms went down a collective 1" and my waistline went down 1/2". Since I do all my measurements myself, I count on there being some sort of leeway in my measurement taking. Not only do the "facts" tell me that my body's not changing, but then there's the old adage: "You'll feel it in the way you wear your clothes" Sorry hun, My clothes are still the same. I had to let out my belt a bit yesterday actually, when I switched to a new pair of jeans.

I am no giving up. I just wish my body would react a little more quickly to being shoved in the "right" direction.

March 5th 2013

-----Author's Note----

The following and all proceeding entries have an air of melancholy and defeatist. They are full of excuses, and were written by a depressed me. More recently I've taken control of my mood and I CHOOSE to be positive from now on. I will leave the previous entries published so that I can remember where I came from and where I don't want to go again. (There were some good days, but not many.) 

I was all set to write about how my deodorant is leaving rashes on my pits, and how well our eating well and my exercising is going. I even was toying with the idea of exploring my options for keeping my hair clean with working out every day, while still maintaining it's lack of plastics integrity. I was contemplating which I would write about after my lesson with Rosetta Stone, but then I almost could have died.

Forgetfulness and cooking on the stove are a combination that, I don't think, could end in anything but disaster. I know for a fact that there was no ill intent from Axure in his forgetting his food item on the stove. So I harbor no hostility towards him. But the fact is that he did forget, LOTS of carbon monoxide happened, and if I hadn't acted when I did (kinda wished I'd known to act sooner) I could be dead now. No, I didn't see my life flash before my eyes. It didn't compute as a near death experience until I was laying on the cement outside. I am glad that I was able to figure out what was going on, and how to counteract it.

It started when I was in the shower. When I came out of the bathroom, it already smelled like burnt bread. Since I've known Axure to cook bread on an open flame in the past, I took the smell to be just that. He was in his room practicing guitar and singing, so I assumed the worst was over, and he'd taken care of it. I proceeded with my Rosetta Stone lesson, as I stated before. I was a few minutes in when I started feeling woozy. I've felt this way before for other reasons, so I thought it might just be that again. But then it kept getting worse. Granted, in the past, it also got worse over time. It was much later that I realized the smell hadn't gone away, it had just gotten much worse. I was no longer able to focus, so I shut down my program and stumbled my way into the kitchen. it was then that I found a burning pot of what could have been soup on high, on the stove. My quick wit told me to turn it off, turn the fan on high, and open the kitchen window. Having been in the kitchen for the short amount of time that I had, in the concentration of the burning smoke stuff, I was now very very not well. I opened the window in the dining room, next to where I was sitting and realized I could no longer see straight at all. I tried to hang my head out the window, but my body felt to weak to hold myself up there long. I made my way to the front door, fumbled with all the locks and forced my way outside. I sat on the front stoop with my head in my hands but even that was too wobbly of an experience to I put my head down on the grass. The fresh air started to help a bit. At least I wasn't  getting any worse. But there were ants now crawling on my head (Eewe, Gross!), so I moved my head back to the steps and shut my eyes. I laid there for a good while until Puese got home from work. He found me where I lay, brought me water, and opened the rest of the windows in the house. It was a little while after Puese got home that Axure came out of his room. Me, in my feeble state, could not have said anything to him much higher than soft inside voices. Puese sat with me until I was able to sit and then eventually stand. Then helped me all the way around to the back door and into bed. It took a long while, but I was eventually able to move around without stumbling or  feeling like I was going to pass out. I did have to burp a lot (and still do). The burning was all I could smell for a long while too. It was in my system, and taking it's time to come out. To my surprise, I didn't feel worse while riding in the car later, and food did help.

Today, I still am feeling the symptoms of it a bit, and was not up for exercise, so I spent most of the day sleeping. I've found that I can see straight, but if I move too quickly, my wooziness kicks in a bit. I hope I feel better tomorrow, and can get back to dancing. From what I know about exposure to carbon monoxide and smoke, I am a little worried about the possibilities of permanent damage to my brain. I feel like I seem okay, but only time will tell with that.

I've also been a little introspective today, but I suppose that is to be expected. What's not been expected is that I don't think I'm reacting to this the way that some people would, or I've heard about. My introspection has been more about why I've reacted the way I have, instead of how I'm going to act from now on. I kinda am not in the mood to do anything.

March 2nd 2013

Not every day is sunshine and roses. Some days are just sunshine. Some days are partly sunny. Some days you don't want to get out of bed to find out. Yesterday was Day 5 of my Beach Body Challenge, and for the most part, it's been going quite well. There are a few things to consider however, when determining how well things are going. On Thursday, Puese didn't want to stick to our healthy eating plan. He didn't want to help me cook when he got home from work. My Thursday was rather productive, but when he started acting like a stink, my mood dropped considerably. But he got over it, we made dinner, and both our moods improved. Yesterday, I was feeling good. I though it was going to be a sunshine and roses day. I got up, went to the dentist, (it was a wonderful experience) then came home, had lunch and exercised. I also felt splendiforous enough at the time to record my exploits for the day. All 3 classes I did. Then the day started getting cloudy. All signs of roses had vanished at least. My computer hadn't recorded any sound, and it was getting increasingly loud the more I tried to focus on syncing up the sound on those clips that did have sound. Which, if you're trying to listen for a matching audio visual que, it's not good to have lots of noise around. But I eventually got it all pieced together, re-recorded what needed audio, and exported it. Then I talked to my mom on the phone for a long time. There was lots and lots said. And I was exhausted by the end of it. Because I was talking to her, I missed my snack, and so when we set out for the farmers market, I was downright hungry. It was already time to start making dinner when we got there. Since Puese and Axure aren't as strict on this Challenge as I am, they both help themselves to a tasty treat of shrimp cocktail. A very very spicy shrimp cocktail, no less. So I was tired, and hungry, and cranky, and there was nothing to be done about it. It was well into dinner time, and I wasn't going to want to help cook when I got home. I would have rather just gone to bed early. But that wouldn't have been allowed. So I rented an action movie, put on my pj's when I got home, sat on the couch, and waited for dinner to happen if it ever would. Puese and Axure put dinner together, and much too late in the evening I finally got to eat. It was very tasty, but it was too spicy, so I didn't enjoy it. The reason I don't diet, or eat spicy food, is because I like to enjoy my food. I am a foodie. But at that late hour, I was very glad that dinner had been made and I could eat. With dinner and the movie, my mood did improve. I set the last of my videos to upload and went to bed.
It was dark this morning so I slept in, which made me cranky, and I had a shake for breakfast, which had too many chunks in it, so that made me cranky, and then when I went to my computer, the internet had gone out in the night, so all uploads had failed, so that made me cranky. So instead of exercising, I had to finish my chunky shake and fix the youtubes. But then when that was done. I danced to my videos, and that makes me happy. But now I am blah. Puese just brought home deli sandwiches for us, which I appreciate, but it's smothered in things I'm not eating right now, and Axure turned the water off when I was about to go to take a shower. I'll probably feel better after eating something and taking a shower. I don't always have such severe mood swings, but I have the last coupla days. Maybe it's my body protesting the change in my health and fitness levels/routine.