Monday, February 18, 2013

Moving On Up!

Hi friends! So sorry that I have been absent for so long from the blog, but I didn't want to keep writing on a blog that I was eventually going to move over to my own hosted account. Today I finally started a new walking blog and I'm more ready than ever to hit the pavement!

I wanted to updated you that since Thanksgiving (i.e., the end of November), I have gotten much more consistent with exercise and weight loss. So far I have lost 14 pounds- and that is even with my falling off the wagon a few times! I'm dedicated to trying to eat even more healthy and increase my exercise so that I can lose even more!

I've been walking a lot, in between my personal training and sessions and at the gym. I even recently went on an international vacation where I walked, walked and walked through rainforest and other great places. I can't wait to share it all with you! Please head on over to my new blog and join me on my new journey!

I won't really be writing here anymore, so if you were following my blog here, you probably should follow my new blog on Facebook or twitter so that you can have easy access to updated! I can't wait to network with you over at my new home!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Getting Back on the Healthy Track

I'm happy to announce that I have been doing pretty well with my health for the past couple of weeks. One morning I woke up and I just couldn't take it anymore. I looked at myself in the mirror and I just couldn't tolerate how much weight I have gained. I huffed and puffed putting my clothes on in the morning and walking from the car to work, and I decided then and there that something needed to change in my life. I decided to get back on the wagon again and start anew.

I first started with walking for about 20 minutes, which then increased to walking 30 minutes, then to 45 minutes, and now about an hour. I even bought new walking shoes this weekend. I also went back to the gym and tried out the elliptical machine, starting first with 20 minutes and then 30 minutes the last time that I have used it. I've really only used it a couple of times, but I am looking forward to trying to push myself to stay on it for at least 45 minutes a couple of times a week.

I've walked in the morning a few times before work and I noticed that I had a noticeable difference in my energy level. Last week I started to get really bad PMS and I felt horribly bitchy. However, the more that I walked and got on the elliptical, the bitchiness went away. PMS was pretty much tolerable this week, and for the first time in a long time my bitchiness was minimized and my energy levels weren't as low as they usually are during times of PMS. I'm so proud!

I started to try to go to bed early on a couple of days, but on certain days I stayed up pretty late. Even though I went to bed late, however, I have been waking up super early in the mornings-at least an hour and a half, sometimes even two hours, earlier than I normally wake. Waking early is pretty significant because I am NOT a morning person, yet I've been laying in bed very early in the morning. Obviously I know that is has something to do with exercise.

I'm not doing as well as I could with healthy eating, but I have definitely been cutting back. I am trying to be more conscious with what I am eating and I am trying to make healthier food choices. I am going to commit to making small changes here and there that in the long run will add up. My goal this week is to not have any sodas or juices and I plan only on drinking water or unsweetened coffee or tea. Along the way I am going to make other good decisions about food, but I am going to commit to sticking to the no soda or juice rule on Monday through Friday. (I go to Las Vegas on Saturday, so I will reevaluate my soda/juice rule then and I will allow myself to make not so good of a choice then. Maybe I will get lucky and decide to stick with the rule on my Vegas trip).

I'm feeling very positive and good about the past couple of weeks and I look forward to even better healthy lifestyle choices that I will be taking!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Trying the Gluten-free Lifestyle

Last week I watched Dr. Oz and he had a special about Celiac disease. It was really interesting to learn about all of the ways that wheat/gluten find its way into our bodies--through food, but also through shampoo, lotions, soy sauce, salad dressings, and other products. During the show I looked at my shampoo and I discovered that my very own shampoo had wheat in it!

I'm still a little confused about the symptoms of celiac disease because it appears that it changes from person to person. Some of the symptoms are: gastrointestinal problems (check, I've got that), rashes (check, I've got that), fatigue (check, I've got that), anemia (don't know if I've got it), migraines (check, I've got that) and a myriad of other symptoms. What I gather from reading about it is that it is an autoimmune disease and that your body is allergic to gluten.

I started thinking back to when i was in high school and I used to work at the local pizza shop. I walked around with large rashes all over my arms and hands after making pizza dough and my mother used to wonder if I was allergic to the dough. A couple of years ago she mentioned that as a child I was tested positive for being allergic to wheat, but I haven't listened to her much because her memory often changes over the years.

Last year I was having really strange symptoms. My acupuncturist told me that I had a lot of inflammation in my body, and after tests from the doctor it was confirmed that I had a lot of inflammation. He ran a number of tests on me to see if I had lupus, and I tested positive on many of the tests but negative on a few. So it's clear that I have some sort of inflammation or possibly autoimmune problem, but I don't know what it is. So when I watched Dr. Oz last week I figured I'd try to cut out wheat to see if after a week I felt any better.

Well, let me tell you, being gluten free isn't easy. I haven't been able to do it-contrary to really trying all week and precooking soups and other food that don't have wheat. Wheat is in everything. And it's really hard when you are addicted to certain things-like I have suddenly realized that I am seriously addicted to bread and pasta. And I really like pasta.

I'm not really sure that I want to go gluten free, or I really even need to. But I am trying to go through the process of elimination to see if after cutting it out I feel better. I do admit that after eating gluten free for one day, I ate bread and crackers the next day and I had a stomach ache and felt bloated all day. But then again I also ate cheese. So that's another thing that I later have to eliminate to see if dairy is causing stomach issues for me as well.

This week I am going to continue on, trying to do the gluten free lifestyle as a way to try to identify if I am having problems with wheat. I know that it's going to be hard, but for the past couple of days I have also noticed that although I am eating enough that my metabolism is raging and that I constantly feel hungry-so this might also be the needed weight loss jump start that I needed. Perhaps too much bread, etc has been bogging me down. Only time will tell!!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Staying on Track

Last week (and even still this week) I have been feeling a bit blue over my weight. I have been on the wagon since the end of October when I traveled to visit a friend. I've been eating better (but I'm still not nearly where I should be), and I've been increasing my exercise. I've had a depressed attitude over it as I've struggled to get to that milestone of losing the first ten pounds.

Today I noticed that I am only half a pound away from meeting my goal. I feel inspired. I feel like getting to my desired weight is actually an achievable goal. If only I can capture and hold on to this moment, because I know that it will be fleeting and will only come again after much struggle.

Please wish my luck as I am gearing up to try to arrive at my 15 pound milestone.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Getting Back on the Wagon Yet Again!!!

I still haven't gotten around to setting up my new blog, but instead of not writing anything I figure that I should just keep writing here until I am sure that I am ready to start the new blog.

I've been really trying to get back on track lately. Since I went on vacation about six weeks ago, I started exercising and have been trying to continue. I also have been trying to improve eat well also, but that is also a tough task. I still haven't been able to get over that ten pound mark, but I'm convinced that any day I will be able to move past ten pounds of weight loss.

I've been walking, but I also have been going to the gym and using the elliptical and the bike. I occasionally get on the treadmill. I hate every minute of it, but I am more sick of being overweight, unhealthy and tired. I just want to feel better again.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Health Update!

I've had a rough couple of months, health wise. Luckily it appears that it has been nothing really serious.

Starting in July I woke up in the middle of the night thinking that I was choking and dying. My thoughts spiraled out of control and I couldn't get back to sleep because I was convinced that I was dying. At first I thought that I couldn't breath possibly because I am overweight, but then I began to wonder if I was having panic attacks. Over the months I think it's safe to say that I have been having periodic panic attacks, and I have no idea why the panic attacks just suddenly started.

A couple of months ago, I went to the get a massage and afterward I felt dizzy. I was dizzy for almost a month, primarily when I laid down. It wasn't just the dizziness that was worrisome though. Every time that I laid down my heart would beat hard and flutter periodically. During the day and night, my arms would tremble and I was convinced that something might have been seriously wrong.

I went to the doctor and he confirmed that I had vertigo, and claimed that the shakiness and heavy heartbeat was due to anxiety. He gave me some temporary anti-anxiety medicine and after about a week of using it, I stopped shaking, my heart wasn't beating so hard, and my vertigo eventually disappeared. I can't figure out if I felt better due to the anti-anxiety meds or if it is due to exercise and eating better.

After about four days of taking the medicine, I suddenly felt that my body felt absolutely great. It was then that I realized that stress is going to kill me if I don't get it under control.

Starting in January, I feel off the wagon for about a month and started eating crappy food. And then I suddenly started feeling dizzy and had the shakiness again. I went back to the doctor and he eventually checked my heart by giving me an ekg, and gave me the anti-anxiety meds again. They also cleaned out my ears, and I apparently had a blockage in my right ear, which I am hoping caused the vertigo. The meds didn't work so quickly this time but the vertigo is gone and I am feeling a little better. I am trying to cut back to taking the meds every other day, and I'm doing pretty well with walking and doing yoga.

Wish me luck that when I go off the meds again in about a week that I can try to manage the stress with my exercise, sleep and healthy eating!

I can't wait to tell you about some health books that I have been reading. I'm just about to go on a "21 day plan" for getting more energy. I will blog about that soon!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

How Many Times Can You Get Back on the Wagon??

I've been neglecting this blog and I haven't been on in a while. I would think that it is safe to say that I have also been neglecting myself for a while now.

I just signed on and I saw many of the lovely comments that people have been leaving, and I really am going to commit this year to trying to be more consistent with my blogging. And my healthy habits.

I've been meaning to move this blog over to my own hosted domain but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I will soon though! I'm just trying to figure out if I want the blog name to remain the same or if I want to have a general title about my goals for just being healthy in general, and not necessarily about walking. I am working on a couple of other web projects, so meanwhile I will just keep writing here until I can get the other blog up and ready to go. My goal is to have the blog up ready to go by the end of February.

I've been doing a little better lately, trying to be more consistent with walking. I started yoga and I've been trying to eat better. I have been having a few health issues, but that is something that I will update you on in another post!

In my next post I am going to tell you what was happening with me health wise, and then I want to tell you about some of the feelings that I started to recently have when started taking yoga classes again this month. See you soon!

Oh, by the way, I will be also be spending some time over on facebook and also linking there when I update her! Join the Walking Queen Facebook page!!
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