Happy New Year! A Resolutions List.

I realize that we are now 8 days into the New Year, but blogging is one of my New Year's resolutions.  And I was already waylaid in that resolution by the flu.  UGH.

So anyway, Happy New Year!

If anyone is still reading this, I will be floored.

Every time I go back and look at what I've written in the past, I'm kind of proud of my little blog.  I miss blogging.  I got so bogged (blogged) down in the idea that my blog has to have a focus that I got stage fright and just quit.

So, resolution #1: Blog.  A minimum of twice a week.  I gots stuff to say folks, and this is the platform on which to say it.  Also, there's no point in being really anonymous anymore.  I'm not going to give out my address or social security number, but my name really is Heather and I really do live in Nashville.  And there will be pictures.

Work-smirk.  Yay.

 Resolution #2: Lose 60 more lbs.  I've lost 47 lbs since the beginning of July, thanks to eating right and working hard at the gym.  It's a struggle, I'm not going to lie.  Food addiction is a bitch.  But I KNOW that I can do this because I've already come so far.  So I plan to keep it up in 2013.

Resolution #3: Go to 80% plant based foods.  I'd like to go 100% but I know times are going to come when I want cheese or a BURGER dammit, and I don't want to feel like a failure.  Vegan is such a strong, negative word.  I don't want to use it.  But I do want to follow the principles of Forks Over Knives and Eat to Live.

Resolution #4:  Twitter?  I was looking through my Twitter feed last night and dammit I am funny.  I should tweet more.

Resolution #5: Dating.  Admittedly I started this in 2012, but I've been on Okcupid for several months now.  I have had several first dates.  Some panned out and some did not, so we'll see where it goes.  It is good for me to get out of my comfort zone and meet people.  Also, I am a fantastic first dater.  Seriously, if you go on a first date with me, you will want to go on another one.  I am fun!

In my head #2 and #3 go together (lifestyle choices), and #1 and #4 are a pair as well (internety stuff).  So it's kind of like I only have 3 resolutions instead of five.  That feels a lot more reasonable.

Any resolutions from my non-existent readers?  Tell me all about it!

I'd Like to Patent Fingernails, Please

So today at work I had to find documentation about something we've been doing for YEARS, way before some genius put a patent on this something, so that we don't get the pants sued off of us. I can't say what the patent is, but when I read it I had to laugh out loud. It is so BROAD. Seriously, it's like someone deciding to patent loose leaf paper or air. If you knew, you'd laugh- everyone else has. I seriously don't think that our sue-ers have a leg to stand on, but I'm pulling documentation left and right anyway. This is what we call Job Security.

On the exercise front, I hit a real wall about a month or six weeks ago. I got bored with my routine and then I didn't want to do it and couldn't figure out what to do instead. So I thought maybe I'd join Curves, which seemed like an okay idea. The place is right on the way home from work, so it's really convenient and there would be no excuse to not go. I went for a trial workout and it was fast, but really repetitive. Curves is just the circuit and I think I'd outgrow that workout in about 3 months. Apparently my Curves person forgot that I didn't pay to join yet so she was like, "Bye! See ya!" after my first workout there and so out I walked. I've worked circuits before, but at places where there are other machines for bumping up strength in various muscles and cardio equipment. On top of that, Curves has really strange hours. I do, however, like the Curves Smart program. It is a little card that you use with the machines so they can tell you how hard you should be working for a good workout, and that all gets relayed back to a computer where you can track how hard you worked your major muscles, if you hit your targets, how many calories you burned, stuff like that. I really do appreciate some numbers on a spreadsheet so I thought this was really cool. Not worth paying $50-a-month-cool though.

I did some research and found a local gym that had decent reviews online. I called from the parking lot to see if they had a minute for me to come in- the place is a little weird to get into and I wanted to make sure I was going to the right place. Walking in is impressive- they have all kinds of cardio machines (bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, etc), weight machines, free weights, a big classroom with a good schedule of classes, a walking/running track, a pool, a hot tub, dry and steam saunas... for about 2/3s the cost of Curves. The building is old but everything looked clean and well-maintained. It didn't take me long to decide that this was the way to go! For less than it would have cost me to join Curves for a year, I joined the local gym, and signed up for a month with a personal trainer to get things kicked into gear. And the best part- this gym didn't feel intimidating (yeah, Gold's Gym/Urban Fitness- I'm talking to you!). It felt like people were there to work and to get healthy. The ages ranged from 20s to 80s. There were big people and small people. There were even people who were there for physical therapy.

I am really excited. I haven't belonged to a gym in four years, and it's something I've always liked to do because it is so motivating. My body builds muscle fast, and I like to see the changes. I spent 2 hours last night loading up my MP3 player with lots of good workout music (Black Eyed Peas and Cher both have a strong contingent) for walking the track and using the cardio machines. Bring it on! (Oh, we'll bring it!- sorry, had a little moment there....)

Healthy as a Horse

Well this has been an interesting couple of days. I finally sucked it up and went to the doctor because of this really annoying cough I have. And while I was there I also brought up the fact that I've been having this fluttery feeling in my chest every now and then. Sort of like my heart is turning over or doing Olympic Gymnastics or something along those lines. Exactly the same feeling I had when I was on a new birth control pill for all of 2 weeks and my heart started doing really fun stuff like skipping beats every 10 seconds, except this time my heart wasn't skipping. Just fluttering. So my days were something like this: Flutter, cough cough, flutter, cough, nothing for 2 hours, flutter cough. It honestly didn't feel like a big deal, and guess what? It wasn't. After blood work and 24 hours of heart monitoring and an EKG what do I have? Allergies.

So now I get to take Mucinex DM until the bottle is gone, Zyrtec until that bottle is gone, and Doxycycline until that bottle is gone, which means 10+ days of drugged up FUN but I should be able to breathe without coughing so that works for me. I have zero symptoms of any heart trouble: no shortness of breath, no chest pains, no dizziness or fainting, no swelling of my ankles. My blood pressure was a little high but I whipped out my blood pressure diary to prove that my blood pressure is always normal at home and always crazy at the doctor's office so I have to monitor that and go back in a month. I will LIIIIIIIVE. I'm so glad.

I also learned that I am allergic to penicillin, and not codeine as I had previously thought. When I had my bad reaction over a year ago everyone had assumed that Lortab was causing the breathing difficulties, but no. Yesterday I took my Augmentin and 2 hours later was feeling all dreamy and forgetting to breathe again. So that was the end of that. I was scared to take it last night so my doctor gave me something else today and it is game over for me and penicillin based antibiotics. Which is great because now I won't have to be scared of codeine based pain killers... unless I am allergic to BOTH. Then we've got some problems.

Is anyone else completely repulsed by Mucinex? I thought the name was bad enough, but the smell of that medicine gets me every time. It is NASTY. And the commercials are awful but not nearly as bad as the ones for the toenail fungus where the little devil dude LIFTS UP A TOENAIL AND JUMPS UNDER IT. God I got chills just typing that. Lemme see if I can find a video so that everyone else can share in the horror.... You need only watch the first 10 seconds!

(What did I tell you! It is appalling isn't it?? I've watched it five times in a row and the involuntary shudder happens every time, I swear.)

And while we are on the subject of irritating commercials, has anyone seen the new Stayfree commercial where the girl wakes up in white pajamas and bounces out of bed and on with her day which has presumably been made 80 times better because she didn't have any overnight "oops" moments resembling a Quentin Tarantino film? I hate that commercial. She's so annoying. We would never be friends in real life because I'd probably hide her green tea and she'd hide my tampons and that would mean WAR.

And 'Round and 'Round and 'ROUND It Goes

Hey World. So work has been stressful for the past couple of weeks and because of that I haven't been sleeping. And when I don't sleep I'm really tired when I come home after work and I don't exercise as much as I should. And when I don't exercise I don't sleep as well. And when I don't sleep as well I become overwhelmed with stress. And I don't sleep well some more. And then I don't exercise. And then I don't make good food choices because I'm not aware of my body and what it needs. And then....

Gosh do we see a pattern here?

The really funny thing (okay, not funny, just weird) is that I should see these things coming a MILE away. I should be really aware of what is going on and the balance I need, but somehow it sneaks up on me. You would think that after almost 30 years of life on this planet I would think to myself, "Okay HK!" (That would be me. I realized the other day that when I talk to myself I refer to myself by my own initials. Odd.) "I know I'm getting put through the wringer here, maybe it's time to do some deep breathing and some yoga. And going to bed at 10:00 would be a great idea because the system is getting out of whack."

But instead I start eating junk because I'm starving because I'm TIRED. And then I feel even worse. I'm assuming this is a human thing but I don't like to be un-perfect and human. I would like to be a super-human please.

Anyway, I am digging myself out of this one with some extra healthy food and good solid workouts. The sleep will follow. Work should be a little less stressful this week and then I'll be in good shape. It is March. Spring is on the way! I'm always in a better state of mind in the spring. And then I'll be back on track with the blog.

Ladies, Ladies

So today I did some exercising (I've done 23.5 miles this month, which means I'm ALMOST keeping up with my goal), and when I was done I turned the tape off and watched TV while I was stretching. Some channel was playing Ice Princess, which might be one of the worst movies EVER MADE. Joan Cusack plays the "Mean Mommy" role ("Professional athletes have a shelf life!") because clearly she just can't agree with her daughter's dreams. The most manipulative parenting I've ever seen on screen, and that's saying a lot. We all know people can't start college after the age of 18. Kim Cattrall plays the competition's mean mommy. It was really weird watching her in this role because I expected her to sleep with the judges Samantha style, all of them at once, to throw the score in her daughter's favor. I don't think she translates well to Disney fare. So I made it through about 20 minutes of that drivel, and I'm pretty sure I know the ending.

I finally finished "The Duchess" and let me tell you, that book was wayyyy better than the movie. That woman was a MESS. She gambled incessantly, and lied to her friends and banks to "borrow" money which she never intended to pay back. She was also one of the most influential women in politics ever, and it was interesting to read about those two sides of her- the political genius and the gambling wreck. Another interesting note: both she and her sister went abroad for several months to have their illegitimate children in relative privacy and no one was the wiser. It sounds like thanks to the work of the Victorian censors (who thought they were doing their ancestors a favor) it was hard to figure out just whose child was whose between Georgiana, her sister Harriet, and her "friend" Bess (who is another interesting character and probably needs her own biography). Back then it was not uncommon to go visit the continent for months (or years) and concealing a pregnancy was par for the course. Unreal. Can you imagine trying to do that now?

This weekend has been busy. Yesterday I did a two mile Walk Away the Pounds walk and then did a 20 minute dumbell routine from SparkPeople.com. (It's here if you're interested- there is also great 15 minute stablility ball workout- try it out.) I had bookclub and spent waaaayyy too long on Facebook. Today I went grocery shopping and prepped all of my snacks and veggies for the week. I even cut up chicken and froze it for quick meals later. I cleaned a lot, did laundry, walked 3 miles, and started another bookclub book. Tonight I'm making pizza for dinner and camping out on the couch to watch "Wuthering Heights" on PBS. It's going to be SO GOOD. I'm a sucker for 19th century British costume dramas.

Other things happening on Planet Heather:

• I'm thinking about getting a tattoo for my 30th birthday.
• I'm doing some excercises in the "Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook" and I think they're helping.
• I have gained almost 10 lbs since Christmas and it's making me furious. HOW? WHY???? This is why I'm hitting the exercise DVDs/videos pretty hard.

Does anybody else tend to gain weight in winter? Or is this something that just happens to me because I'm extra special?

This and That

Sorry for the sort of schizo posting lately. Being back at work for a full week was an adjustment, and things there have been slow so my brain gets sort of numb. It should pick up next week though. I'm figuring out ways to learn some new skills this year at work- I think it will pay off.

I have been reading this great book called "The Thirteenth Tale" that has me completely absorbed- it is sooooooo good! (Edited because I realized I can put my Goodreads.com reviews on here! Awesome!)

After I finish "The Thirteenth Tale" I need to read "The Glass Castle" (another book club book) which is supposed to be great. Then I have that biography that the movie The Duchess was based on- "Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire", but that I got after months on the library waiting list so I need to read that FAST because I can't renew it as it is on hold by someone else. I was going to take it back to the library and just re-join the holds list but I read the first page and it looks GREAT so somehow I'm going to have all of this stuff read in 10 days. Right. Dream big, I say. I did take back the John Adams biography because I was getting a little tired of it. And since so much was pulled from the letters he and Abigail wrote to each other I think I want to just get that book instead. Those two were insane correspondents. I don't think I've ever written so much in my whole life as they wrote to each other- school essays, blogging, letters, emails, and diaries included.

Last night I went out with one of my friends from work. We had dinner at PF Chang's where the waiter told us about all of the celebrities who come in (some lead singer of some band was there at the bar but I didn't really know who the band was so I didn't care). Then we went to see Gran Torino, which was a fantastic movie. I love Clint Eastwood films. They are exactly what I look for in movies. There's a good story, guilt, redemption, nice big sweeping themes tied into fairly small stories, and the pace is right. And they always feel a little old school to me. He was great in this movie. Go see it.

I've sort of tweaked my exercise New Years Resolution. I'm going to see if I can keep my number of miles walked at or above the day of the year it is. For example, today is the 11th day of the year and I've walked 11 miles. Ta Da! So far so good. I can do 2 miles every other day and then on the off days do strength training. I think strength training is the big weight-loss secret for me. I love to do it because you get results so fast (is that a bicep I see?) and you really feel like you're DOING something when you're so sore for the next 48 hours. I love that.

I know, I know, nothing major going on to write about. It could be a while before my next post. Winter is never a good time for me to keep up with this stuff. I'm more into reading and hibernating than writing or creating. So, sorry in advance....

Adventures in Neti-ing

I should warn you, this post turned out a little grosser than I intended....

The first time I ever heard about neti pots, my first thought was "Eeeuuuuwwww!" Gross! Why would somebody do that? If you don't know what one is, let me enlighten you. It's a little device that looks like a stretched out tea pot. You put a warm saline solution in it, lean your head forward, place the spout in your nostril, tilt your head to the side, tip the pot up, and wash out your nose. THE WATER GOES THROUGH YOUR NOSE AND OUT THE OTHER NOSTRIL.

EUUUUWWWWWW

Oprah calls them Nose-Bidets.

EEEEEUUUUUWWWWWWW!

So I thought all that was some kind of horrifying new-agey crap. But then I started hearing murmurs of the fantasticness of neti pots. How your nose felt so good after you used one. How they cleared out your sinuses. How you could breathe easier and life was better. I got curious. VERY CURIOUS. Especially when my mother tried one (at my urging, I evilly wanted her to be the guinea pig on this one), and she said it worked great.

Well. The time had come. Not to mention I have a cold and I'd like to breathe.

I thought I had to go to a health food store and get some expensive ceramic pot and some sort of expensive solution to wash my nose out with. Not so. They sell these at Walgreens people. The Drug Store! I found one for about $15, and it came with little packs of dry saline solution. The pot is plastic, and came with a cheap-o plastic spoon to mix the solution with.

So I read the instructions about 12 times. I brought the kit into the bathroom. I used 1/2 a packet of saline and mixed it with some lukewarm water in the pot. And then I had nothing left to do but try it. I leaned over the sink. I tilted my head to the side. I made sure to breathe through my mouth (drowning was not on the schedule for today). I put the spout in my nose and tipped it up. Nothing happened.

Well, I hadn't tipped it up enough- no water was coming out of the spout. Duh.

So I tipped it up some more and I could feel the warm water entering my nose. It seemed to go into my sinus cavity and I felt like my eye was going to pop out. And there wasn't any water coming out the other side. Hmmmm... I leaned my head over more and then PRESTO! Water started draining out of the other nostril. For what felt like forever. Finally I quit and straightened my head out, water poured out of both nostrils into the sink. I blew my nose and repeated on the other side.

After some nose blowing and sniffling, and a whole lot of giggling (seriously, this is not something you want to try in front of people- it just looks so ridiculous), I assessed the outcome. Not bad! I could breathe easier and was amazed at what came out of my nose. I'm not getting into that. It was not uncomfortable, aside from a brief moment at the start when the feeling was the same as getting a little water up your nose at the swimming pool.

This morning I woke up with a super stuffy nose. I blew several times and huge chunks of gross came out of it, and I am wondering if all of that got loosened up with the neti pot and worked itself out of my sinuses. Who knows? I really liked the feeling that my nose and sinuses were clear. I think I'll probably take it with me when I travel because I always have sinus problems for a day or so after I fly.

So, there you go. If you have sinus problems or a cold, I'd recommend this. It could work really well as an alternative to cold drugs.