Trying again

Trying to get back on track with a bit of exercise. I’m a little afraid to try running again, as I don’t want to mess up my shoulder. Not entirely sure what to do! But I've started with sit-ups this morning.

Also, have started tracking my nutrition again. Did pretty good here I think—all hail smoked mussels, a great source of iron!

Teeth

Well, it hasn’t been much of a fall. After the thing with my shoulder I gave up running, and I haven’t really replaced it with anything. Need to fix that. I am still riding my bicycle daily though, that is something.

anyway this morning i thought of something i can/should do—brighten up my teeth! i bought these aquafresh white trays back when I got my braces off, and used one before I realized you weren’t supposed to use them for two weeks before or after getting any dental work done. Whoops. And it’s a good thing too that I didn’t use them all back then, because after the cleaning I got done this fall—it was a doozy—I think all the whitened bits would have been scraped off and I’d have been left with teeth looking a little patchy.

(I must say, I’ve started using the soft piks instead of trying to floss around my retainer wire, and it’s made a world of difference. That is, I do it. I was barely flossing at all before, because of the hassle and pain of the threader. Now I soft pik & floss my uppers all the time.)

I’ve been thinking of my teeth lately too, because that pesky 12 looked like it was popping out again. sigh. My ortho told me I don’t need to wear my upper essix all the time anymore, “Just make sure you can still get it in and you’re fine.” Well, I think I need to wear it at least once a week, lest that 12 get a mind of its own.

Anyway. Every night I see the box of white trays as I stumble off to bed, and think, “But I want to fall asleep now, I don’t want to have to get up in 45 minutes to go spit out the tray and rinse out my mouth.”

So this morning I thought, why not now? I usually get up an hour before anyone else, and I’ve been experimenting with leaving off drinking coffee till I get to work, so why not do it in the morning?

So here I sit, mouth full of goop, feeling a bit odd, but hopefully making some tiny steps towards self-improvement.

The new normal: back to the old normal

As if it wasn’t already obvious, I am taking a break. My neck was bothering me all weekend, I can’t turn my head to the left fully, my shoulder is up, and I started getting all those weird random pains again that I used to get—a sudden sharp pain like being stabbed, very local, and in odd spots—the back of my right hand, the midpoint of my shin. Anyway, no more running, no more sit-ups, no nothing new until the problems have been dealt with. I still have my cycling though, so it’s not like I’m getting no exercise at all.

Also, note to self: start taking a vitamin D supplement again. The days are getting shorter. Wonder if that could be part of my problem?

In other news, here’s what I ate yesterday, pretty good I think!

Revelation?

This morning I lay in bed for a minute before starting my sit-ups. And I thought, maybe sit-ups are the problem not running? It makes more sense for sit-ups to hurt my neck than running, but I’d done sets of sit-ups semi-regularly through the summer, with no problem. Maybe it’s some combination of the two? Anyway this morning sit-ups really hurt my neck and shoulder! So I only did six. I think I’ll look up safer situps, or maybe find some other indoor exercise to do that doesn’t take a lot of space.

Running

I think I’m not going to follow the c25k path. I think I’m just going to run at my own pace.

The neck pain last week really freaked me out. Actually what freaked me out was not so much the pain as the loss of mobility. I couldn’t turn my head enough to touch my chin to my left shoulder. I need to be able to do that to ride my bike. So I’m going to let my body be my guide, and go at the pace that doesn’t cause me damage.

I skipped running on Friday because of my neck, and Monday because I overslept and we had a teenager staying in the house and it was a holiday. but today, I ran. That’ll do.

c25k week 4: Unscheduled day off

Couldn’t sleep at all last night because my neck was bothering me. My left hand is sore and achy this morning too, bah. So I opted not to drag myself out of bed today, and instead spent some time doing stretches. Thinking I should probably go see angus again to see if he can fix me, or more importantly help me stop making things worse!

Just to be whiny for a moment, it seems unfair that when I finally get myself on the road to getting back in shape, I start hurting again. Wah wah, poor me.

Hrm.

Well, I’ve had a pretty good day today—ate what I was supposed to eat, drank lots of water, got exercise—but this pain in my neck has been bothering me. I first noticed it a couple of days ago, and today it’s bothering me more.

Now, about a year ago I saw a pain specialist who theorized that I have thoracic outlet syndrome. he ordered a million billion tests (blood tests, ultrasounds, you name it) and gave me some exercises to do, and some diet/supplement recommendations which made a world of difference. So much difference, in fact, that I didn’t follow up and find out what the ultrasounds revealed.

Annyhoo, today I googled thoracic outlet syndrome again, to see if the running could somehow be causing something to go wrong, and I found this page with some exercises which might be useful. It also has a diagnostic exercise your doc might try on you, the EAST test or “hands-up” test. Basically, you hold your hands up in the air, “elbows slightly behind your head,” for 3 minutes, opening and closing your hands. So I thought I’d try it. It’s certainly tiring - anyone holding their arm up in the air is going to find it tiring, but not so bad, I thought. “Maybe it’s not TOS after all,” sez I.

Then—whoa nelly! I start to realize I can't open my left hand all the way. I have a shooting pain in the base of my thumb. It still hurts. And it’s so tired/heavy it just dangles. My right arm is fine.

So, I’m going to get back to doing the stretches and exercises which helped in the past, which I (foolishly) got lazy about doing. And add some new stretches to my arsenal. and be more careful about posture. And never forget my fish oil. And I might just go to bed with a heating pad right now.

ETA: I just found an article on PubMed describing a variant of Charcot Marie Tooth which “may be misdiagnosed as thoracid outlet syndrome.” Ack! My mother had CMT, and it’s hereditary. Time to pack up the google and go to bed!

c25k week 4: Rest day

No run today, so I did 20 sit-ups and flossed my teeth.

Flossing sort of feels like a workout. It’s just as arduous, and takes just as long. Because I have a retainer wire along my lower teeth along the lingual side (or inside, for people who don't know ortho lingo), I can’t just floss like a normal person. I have to thread the floss under the wire. It’s tedious, and because my teeth are still pretty tight on the bottom, hard to get the floss through there. Blecch. So I don't do it as often as I should.

I wear my essix retainer without fail, though. Mainly because I can feel my teeth start to move if I forget it even one night. And moving teeth is the worst thing ever! After all my suffering, I will not let them shift back if I can help it!

c25k week 4: Run 2

Today’s run was the same as Monday’s: 1/4 mile run, 1/8 mile walk, 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk, 1/4 mile run, 1/8 mile walk, 1/2 mile run, bracketed by a 5-minute walk before and after.

About 2/3 of the way through the first running chunk, I thought, “ugh, I don’t want to do this.” But I could see the end up ahead, so I knew I could do it. The second chunk, I saw I was about to get a red light, so I put on a burst of speed. Wow! What a great feeling! Did that again when I was almost home, just for the fun of it.

I have felt a few twinges in my left foot at night, but that’s it so far, thank goodness.

And boy was I tired yesterday! Holy cow. Didn’t help that I did not get enough protein during the day - it was a going away party for my boss, so I had cake for lunch. By the end of the day when my son and I were getting back on the bicycle to ride home from the library, I just wanted to lie down. then we drove downtown for dinner, and I almost fell asleep at the table! Got the kid to bed early so he could have extra reading time—and I fell asleep! woke up to him yelling “Mum, I’m done my book,” went to turn out his light, and then back to sleep again.

Today I will do better. I am bringing salmon to have for lunch, with some salad (lettuce, mayonnaise, and celery) and some fruit to snack on. I’ve also set up reminders in my calendar at work so I will snack at regular times rather than waiting till I’m ravenous.

c25k: Day off

Today is a day off from the c25k, so I did 20 sit-ups this morning instead, which gave me a chance to really look at my legs. My left calf is still noticeably smaller than the right. It’s been 2 whole years now since I broke that foot! I’m amazed there’s still a difference. Half-tempted to dig out my old aircast and wear it on my right leg to even them out, but really I’d rather shoot myself. I guess I’ll just stay lopsided, and probably no one will notice but me.

Speaking of my broken foot, it did give me a few little twinges, last night as I was falling asleep. But that is it, thankfully!

I’m just doing the math in my head now… The back/shoulder chronic pain started fall of 2009 (I got a few twinges in my shoulder yesterday during my run, actually) but currently seems to be manageable with fish oil supplements. Then in the winter of 2009/2010 was the horrible time, when I got less than zero exercise and ate a terrible diet and put on a ton of weight. Then in spring of 2010 I ran a 5k and was slightly killed by hills, and then had all of the breathing tests done and the puffers and whatnot. And september of 2010 I broke my foot and got my braces.

Still climbing back from all of that. But slowly, slowly!

c25k week 4: Ha ha!

ok so this morning I did the actual week 4 of the c25k plan, and yeah, that is not what I did last Friday! Kidding myself.

But not really. I did the week 4 this morning no problem, feel good! One of the big differences between what I ran this morning and what I ran last Friday is that today I had longer walking intervals. on friday, my walking intervals were basically crossing the street. I was terribly stiff the next day! today I did the proper amount of walking intervals, and stretched a bit at the beginning and end of each one.

So yeah, week 1 to week 4. I kind of want to get through the rest of it by the end of the month. Which is close to doable considering I skipped some early weeks, but probably not a good idea…

c25k week 1: aka I did it!!

I did it!

Instead of just procrastinating, I did it.

I had trouble sleeping last night and was lying in bed, tossing and turning, and finally I looked at the clock—5:42. so I got up, put on my jogging pants and runners, and went out there.

Didn’t follow the official c25k plan for a first run, as I’ve run before, and I also knew that if I took the time to look it up, I’d be done. I’d be sitting at the computer, and then it would suddenly be 7 o’clock and I’d have to make breakfast for my son. I just looked at the official plan now, and you’re supposed to have a warm-up walk that lasts a full 5 minutes, which I didn’t do. I walked to the end of our street, then ran 2 blocks, then walked crossing the street, then ran a couple more blocks, etc. All in all, 6 chunks of running, a small amount of walking, 2km over 20 minutes.

Amazingly my left foot feels fine, while my right foot felt a little funny. Hope I wasn’t favouring the left. I didn’t even think of it till I was almost home. We’ll see how they feel tomorrow.

Next time I will wear my bright yellow shell instead of a dark grey one though. I must have been invisible in the dark!

ETA: I just checked the c25k plan and what I did was more like week 4. Can I skip ahead?

And now I must stretch!

another monday

Another Monday. Super tired, due to a &*$*( car alarm going off under my window, two nights in a row! Argh.

So I still haven’t started the c25k yet. bad me, bad me. But, in my defence, I have been cycling to work every day, and picking up the kiddo from school 2 days a week, which involves both going up a steep hill, and fighting an extra 50 lbs of load (more leg work when I’m pedalling, more arm work when I’m braking—he only seems to pedal when I want to stop!)

Anyway, I just recorded my planned intake for the day, and I’m pretty pleased with how close I am to hitting my nutrition goals for 1,747 calories. Not worried about the low vitamin D; it’s a sunny day today! Will try to think of a high-iron, high-potassium snack to get those levels up where they belong, too. Although I did manage to get loads of iron yesterday, due to the magic of smoked oysters.

School daze

The young fellow is back in kindergarten, and I’m back on the bike!

The summer was spent driving him to & from distant preschool, which was maybe for the best as it was super hot and humid here—hard to breathe just standing still, I’m sure I would have been wheezing and clutching my chest if I’d had any kind of real exertion. The evening swims were just the right kind of exercise for the weather.

Now though, due to a childcare nightmare (isn’t it always the way), I find myself on the bike a lot. I ride to & from work, and on two days a week, I spend lunch hours riding to the kiddo’s school, riding him over to his afternoon minder, then back to work, and then I pick him up on the bike after work, we ride to the library or wherever, then home.

I encourage him to pedal too, but really I do all the work! Sigh. It’s better for me, though.

I am pleased to say I managed to get some dinners & lunches made and put in the freezer, including a great kale/white bean/sausage/tomato soup, which is great. Today’s lunch was leftover black bean/corn/avocado/tomato salad. yum. And I’m back on the take-2-pieces-of-fruit-to-work track, also good.

Next challenge: get running! Got my shoes, got a schedule where I can fit it in, Now I just need to get on it!

Back at it after ten days away

Well, after ten days at the cottage and one on set, I am back to the daily grind. And a sinus headache. I was sick before we went away, and felt blecch again on our return, so I figure it has to be allergies. I’ve started taking cetirizine again, which seems to be helping.

Our time away was filled with all sorts of treats. I made three batches of cookies at the cottage—not counting the brownies and shortbread I made before we left town—as well as peach pie, marshmallows, pancakes for breakfast on at least four occasions, and other treaty stuff like popcorn with melted butter. Yum. There was also a fair amount of time spent relaxing with books and knitting.

But we did also eat a fair amount of healthy stuff: fruit, veg, and meat purchased from farm stalls. And, went swimming and for hikes and even a (short) canoe trip.

So, maybe it all evened out? I certainly have no intention to go back in time and try to track my input & output. But my first day back is looking pretty good nutrition-wise:

And I remembered my vitamins!

a good day, nutrition-wise

well i'm coming down with something, currently lurking in my sinus and making me feel headachey and nauseated, but i managed an almost perfect day nutrition-wise yesterday, so that's something to cheer about!

so far, so good

since noticing a strong correlation between my crabby moods and forgetting to take my supplements, i've been making a really concerted effort to remember them every day without fail. which has meant a few pukey days where i had a handful of vitamins on an empty stomache, and there was one day on the weekend (thank goodness i was home) when i was feeling like a supergrouch and thought vitamins! and took them that very minute.

it may be just the placebo effect, but if it works, i'll take it. and it seems to be working. i've had a couple of really stressful days at work (if only everyone would listen to me and me alone, and do my bidding at the drop of a hat), but have been able to bear them with something resembling grace.

in the interests of posterity and illumination, i take a b complex, c (500 i think), 2x ferrous gluconate, e (200 or 400, depending on which bottle i pick up at random), and 2 teaspoons of carlson's best norwegian fish oil with natural lemon flavouring (i tried norwegian gold capsules before and they did nothing for me, but carlson's makes a difference). in the winter i take vitamin d as well, but considering the burn i got at the pool on the weekend (normally the kiddo and i swim in the evening, but on sunday we were swimming for 3 solid hours in the afternoon) i think i'm getting my daily dose from the sky.

after dinner snack? sure!

so i am verrry hungry and want a snack. actually i want junk. thinking about rooting through cupboards. then i remember there is watermelon in the fridge. here's what my nutrient intake for the day looks like before the snack:

low in potassium, e, and iron (among other things), which always seems to be the case. but look at the numbers after i add a slice of watermelon:

who knew it was so nutritious?

oh, my brain

i'm in classes all this week - asl immersion! - and boy is my brain tired. i keep thinking of a presentation i saw on diversity, taking about how brains run on glucose. i haven't been doing a great job of eating enough (our breaks are so short! only 30 minutes for lunch!), we had a tiring night on monday (i had asked tg to make dinner since i was taking the kiddo swimming, but he forgot - so after 45 minutes of wearing ourselves out in the water, i then had to scramble to make dinner for a cranky kid, and we ate late), so our mornings have been disorganised, and i've been forgetting my supplements.

a couple of weeks ago i was in a terribly foul mood, and forgetting my supplements, and i made a concerted effort to remember my supplements, and everything in life seemed that much easier. my mood improved.

anyway i've been in terrible spirits this week - overtired and overwhelmed - so i'm going to make sure that i do! not! forget! to take my vitamins and fish oil. and see if it helps as it has in the past.

we had dinner out last night - "family pizza night" at the evergreen brickworks, $3 gets a slice of pizza and some straight-from-the-garden salad. that helps too.

you'd think i would have learned by now!

challenge of the week: coffee

i drink too much coffee, there's no way around it. and my current schedule (with the commute, i'm averaging 12 hour days every single day) is making me supertired, which makes me want more coffee, which makes it harder to sleep. i'm not cutting out altogether though, as that would just be setting myself up for failure.

so the challenge i've set myself this week is to stop drinking coffee after my morning dose is done.

i typically make a pot of coffee at home (and i've experimented with making half-caf, doesn't work), have a cup there, rest goes into a thermos which i take with me and finish en route or at my desk. i had gotten into a habit of refilling from the office coffee pot when the thermos ran out. now, i'm making a point to fill my water bottle at the beginning of the day, and drinking that instead of coffee.

so far i've done ok this week. and, i've been taking my magnesium an hour before bedtime. and i've noticed i'm sleeping better. i think it's working!

Hot hot hot!

Well I haven’t done any cycling in weeks, I’m afraid. I had a grand plan of taking my spare bike up to the subway stop near the kiddo’s pre-school, and then at least cycling that chunk of the journey. But when I dragged the bike out I found it needs new tubes, and it has been too hot and humid for me to ride anyway! My little lungs can’t cope.

We have managed to go swimming a few times, though. I don’t get to swim as much as just run in the water, but running in water is pretty taxing, I think. Let’s call it “resistance training.” although really, it is mainly “trying to fulfill the always be an arms-length from your child rule.” He is faster than I!

Anyway on this record-breaking temperature day, which may or may not end in a thunderstorm, we took our lunchtime yoga class up the many steps of Casa Loma to the gardens of Spadina House. And there, in the shade of a chestnut tree, did some cooling breaths as the breezes swept around us. It was lovely! Can’t think of a nicer place to be, or nicer way to get some exercise on a hot day.

more downs, and ups

i have been sadly off the bike for a couple of weeks, due to school being out and the kiddo being back at his old preschool which is waaay uptown, which has changed my commute time from a daily 30-40 minutes by bicycle to 3 hours of driving + public transit. yuck. and, because it's summer time and the heat makes people crazy, i was involved in a minor fenderbender last week (smart guy thought it would be a good idea to cross a solid line & pull into oncoming traffic to pass me as i made a left turn), which thankfully did no real damage, but did cause my back to say "what's this? best we go into spasm!" resulting in me staying home from the kiddo's first ever camping & canoe trip.

so the good news? well, it got me taking my fish oil again (which habit i'd gotten out of, due to eating breakfast in the car), which seems to have helped. also had a great yoga session the other day, outside in dappled light, and a giant earthworm crawled across my mat. i swear, it was the healthiest earthworm i have ever seen.

spoke to soon?

lovely ride today, and lovely swim. i'm tuckered out, which is to be expected, but my foot is so sore which i didn't expect at all! i did a fair amount of running in the water, could that be it? maybe i hit the bottom funny dropping in to the shallow end, and didn't notice with the water to "catch" me? in any case it felt almost like a strain when we got out of the pool, at one point i thought my toe was swelling (but it wasn't), now it just has that same burning in the middle of the sole of th ball, which i had forgotten about, but a flood of memories are coming back... think i'll try to keep it elevated tonight.

back on the bike

i have new brake pads and the oppressive humidity has lifted for the time being, so i'm happy to be back on the bike!

took a new route to the kiddo's karate school yesterday - my usual path up the hill is under construction, so i took a windy side street. it was steeper than i remembered! but if i'm going to be climbing a hill, better to do it where there is no traffic, lots of shade. next time i'll be ready.

tonight the plan is to ride the "big bike" (my bike + kiddo's half-wheeler) to the pool for some swim time. we went for about 10 minutes last week - before the pool was closed due to a thunderstorm - and it was lovely while it lasted. also got some swimming in at the cottage over the weekend.

my foot has really been bothering my of late, so i am very keen to get more low-impact exercise to get in better shape cardio-wise before i start running! (and yes i'm aware it's just another in a long line of excuses...)

It’s amazing

How keeping up with the blog and maintaining good diet/exercise habits go hand in hand. I don’t know which inspires which, but I certainly need to make more of an effort with both!

So this morning I did 20 sit-ups, remembered my supplements, replaced the brake pads on my bike, and rode to work. Whoo! Oh, and instead of grabbing a coffee when I got to the office, I filled my water bottle.

Had a healthy lunch yesterday (green salad, organic swiss cheese, cherries, carrots, and an orange) and will have a similar lunch today (except an apple instead of an orange). Should get more variety I suppose, but it’s a challenge grocery-wise.

Another challenge is this weather—hot & humid. It’s meant to be like this all week, then cool off a bit on the weekend. looking forward to that—I find I get short of breath quite a bit in this weather.

Next step will be buying some new sneakers. I don’t even know where to begin—what brands are good/bad? I’m concerned as much about the ethics of the company as performance—actually I’m not really concerned with “performance” at all so much as support. My foot has been sore a lot lately—due I think to walking more in inappropriate shoes, and then favouring it. I need a bit of a heel, not a lot, but I tend to feel like my foot is being bent upwards, if that makes any sense. I would assume that is related to the soft tissue damage? Who knows...

Baaah

Oh, what is with me. I keep falling off the wagon and struggling to get back on. Breathing is difficult lately, and I don’t know if it’s the summer weather or just that I haven’t been getting enough exercise.

I haven’t been biking, because I need new brake pads (actually bought some, but they are the wrong kind). I have one in my handbag today though, so hopefully will get it taken care of!

On the weekend I had a good search for my running shoes but failed to turn them up. Don’t know what I’ve done with them! Argh. it may however be time for new shoes... I’ve had mine forever, although I am so lazy about running, they don’t show much wear!

The good news, is that the garden is flourishing, and this year I had the good sense to plant fewer wait-forever-for-veg-that-won’t-ripen things (tomatoes, I’m looking at you) and more harvest-as-you-go things (lettuce, spinach, arugula) so I’ve started grabbing a few leaves for salads, and packed workweek’s worth of leaves & home-made vinaigrette this morning to keep me going all week (I hope).

And, summer also means lots of lovely fruit, so we are fully stocked with cherries and apples and watermelon and things. Yum. If nothing else, I will have all the vitamin c I need!

summer is almost here!

aside from anything else, that means a different route to work - instead of the kiddo taking a school bus in the morning and being minutes away from work & home in the afternoon, i'll be driving him uptown to preschool. it's about 10km (7 miles) uphill, and not easy to do on transit either (i would need to take 4 routes from home to preschool, then 3 more to get to work). yay, traffic.

but what i'm thinking is this: we have a spare bicycle, which isn't ideally sized for me, but which i could certainly leave uptown all summer. then, i could drive up the kid up to preschool (against traffic, not so bad), then bicycle either 1.5km to the nearest subway or 5.5km to one that will mean i don't have to transfer at all. leave the bike at the station, transit to and from work, thus avoiding driving in traffic, and getting some exercise besides.

there will be kinks to work out obviously, but i think it's doable! and with my big new basket, i'll be able to bring my knitting with me for the subway portion of the trip.

We did it!

Well, we didn't quite reach our goal of raising $2000 for the canadian hearing society, but we did raise almost $1400 and thoroughly wore ourselves out!

I took the TTC this morning because my legs are still sore. Must start that c25k program right away. I just did the math, and not counting the times we took the TTC and all the time spent doing challenges (some physical, some not), I ran about 3 3/4 miles on saturday, or about 6 km. That was spread over almost 3 hours, though. So I know it is possible for me to run 5 km, but I also know I am not ready to do it all in one go.

Part of the problem was not wearing proper sneakers... I didn't think we’d be doing that much running (seeing as my team erred on the side of middle-aged, with the exception of my 5-year-old son... not exactly a team designed for maximum efficiency), so I was wearing sandals. But then, our name was picked for expert help: we were joined by amazing race contestant Luke Adams! So that was some added inspiration to get running and going fast!

We didn’t win by any stretch, but had a great time, raised some money, and got a little bit fitter, or maybe a little more aware of the need to get fitter.

The CHS Quest site will still be accepting sponsorships for the next 2 weeks if you care to make a donation!

a childhood dream come true

as a child, i remember reading the sears catalogue religiously, especially the christmas wishbook, and one of the many things i wanted but did not get was a "furkati" - the sears cheap-o polyester version of a flokati rug. oddly, my parents didn't think white shag would be a good match for my childhood standards of cleanliness, not sure why. anyway.

i was at ikea on the weekend, and saw this:

well! who could resist at under $40?

now, what does that have to do with the general theme of this blog, which is supposed to be about regaining health and fitness after a few setbacks? another recurring theme is me making excuses for myself as to why i'm not doing more. example: i keep saying i'm going to start the couch to 5k plan, but then my headphones didn't fit my mobile. also it's so sticky these days i find it hard to breathe walking, let alone running. blah blah blah.

anyway one of the things i was going to do "if only" was to start doing some calisthenics at home. a friend of my husband's does 20 situps every morning, has done for years, and you know what? it doesn't exactly make you a triathlete or anything, but if you do 20 situps every single day of your life, you're going to have better core strength than if you didn't. "but i have no where to do situps." we have hardwood floors, which are hard.

so i got the rug, which is about the size of a yoga mat, and not only is it lovely-squishy-under-the-toes when i get out of bed in the morning, but today when i got up i did 20 situps.

and you know what? it wasn't even hard!

yahoooooooo

tadah!

my implant is out (that hurt a bit in the moment, but was basically fine immediately after, yay), my 12 is sorted, i only have to wear the retainer at night, and i can "taper off" wearing the upper over the next couple of months! yaayy! it was so great at the ortho yesterday to say "have a great summer" because i won't be back there for 3 months!

and just for fun, here's a pic from earlier this spring when my 12 got out of joint:

...and, here's the "before" photo my ortho took way back in september 2010:

another new beginning (number 62 in a series of a million)

ok, after a difficult week with some difficult news and a general lack of energy and bad mood after a spring of difficult anniversaries and a nagging cough since that lung infection i had a while ago, i've gotten pretty slack about taking my supplements and stuff. part of it is that when i'm sick or stressed i get nausesated, and the idea of swallowing pills or fish oil is enough to make me want to vomit. anyway, as of today, i am back on that particular wagon. and, i took an allergy pill this morning, because while i keep talking about it, i haven't really tested the "maybe this lung thing is an allergy thing" theory.

i've also been eating more junky food (went on a bit of a binge when i got my braces off - can't blame me for that!), but today i brought a healthy lunch (leftovers from a healthy dinner a few nights before - pasta with garden-fresh rapini) and two pieces of organic fruit. so that's another step in the right direction.

on the upside, i have been very good about riding my bike to work every day, and on tuesday the kiddo and i walked to the pool (about a mile) and swam for 45 minutes. and yesterday i had a rare evening to myself, and walked a total of 5 miles - was really feeling it by the end!

but, what i really really need to do is get on the c25k. i just checked and my earphones don't fit my mobile, so i guess step one is getting that taken care of... although i can really do it without someone telling me when to run and when to walk, can't i? first week is fairly simple; 5 min warmup walk, followed by 60 sec run/90 sec walk repeated for 20 minutes. i should be able to figure that out, surely... no more excuses!

this is a long weekend, so i hope i get a chance to rest & recharge & get back on track. of course, we have guests in from out of town, and a party to go to, and some family coming over for a bbq, so maybe not!

a whiter shade of pale

today i begin my experiment with whitening trays. i meant to start last night but forgot, so i thought "heck, i'm usually first into the office, i'll just plunk them in at work." because it's really either now or a longish wait; you're supposed to wait 2 weeks after dental work before using them, and i'm getting my miniscrew anchorage implant out next week, so this is my only available week for almost another month.

i went with aquafresh white trays for a number of reasons - cost ($36.99 instead of $54.99 for crest), duration (a month seemed too long to wait, but the expensive superfast ones seemed too fast somehow - like they must be super harsh, or my "transformation" would be too sudden and awkward a la ted baxter's hair dye on the mary tyler moore show).

so far so good, i guess. the goop has a mild minty flavour, and the trays are certainly less annoying than my retainers! we'll see how well they work.

deja vu

once again i am saying i am going to do the couch to 5k. "this time i mean it," of course.

anyway, charting a route using trails.com's google map, so i can figure out when to jog and when to walk, i'm flashing back to 4 years ago, when we were new to the neighbourhood, and i tried to get in the running habit. it just doesn't seem to stick with me, for whatever reason.

but, still i make my little plans, because if i don't at least try once in a while, how will i ever get anywhere?

i have done a fair job of making biking to work part of my routine, so that is something. i've toyed with the idea of saying "if i ride every day for a month, i'll treat myself to a fancy new bike." but realistically, as long as the kiddo is in swimming lessons, i won't be riding those days.

maybe that can be my incentive for running though? i need to come up with some kind of effective motivational treat!

meanwhile, this weekend i will start my white trays (after reading the instructions, i discovered you have to wait 2 weeks after getting dental work done - no chemicals on my tender gums, thank you! then on the 22 may, i'll get my miniscrew anchorage implant out. cannot wait for that!

retainer time

got my retainers yesterday! oh the excitement. the lower one only needs to be worn at night, but the upper is meant to be worn all the time, to nudge my 12 back into position. of course i forgot to put it back on after having my "after" photos done, and went without it all day. i did think of it at one point, but decided to give myself one last day of freedom, since yesterday was such a looong day (started with doing promo for chs quest at a subway station, where i hollered myself hoarse). then i forgot after dinner, although i remembered them for bedtime. it's weird to have my teeth not meet! one at a time is much better. i put in the upper after i got to work this morning, after a coffee, and then some brushing and rinsing. maybe this will help me cut down on my coffee habit. and my snacking habit. cross fingers.

it's also giving me a headache of course - the sinus ache that comes with the shifting. i guess at least that means i know it's working?

back to the supplements

ok i have fallen far off the wagon, but am determined to get back on track.

the past few days have been an orgy of crunchiness and chewiness, some healthy (apples! celery! carrots!) some not so healthy (bagels, almond roca, nachos). i think that's allowed though, considering i've gone without so many things for a year and a half.

but what's just silly is that i haven't been taking my supplements. and that, combined with not getting to do yoga last week had led to a return of back pain and limited mobility in my neck.

so as of this morning, i am back on the fish oil.

today for lunch, we feature crunchy and chewy and sticky and stringy

they're off! i am officially debraced, for reals this time! i can scarcely believe it, but it's true. i sort of wish i had read up on debracing a bit (i read nothing) because it seemd to involve hours of threading floss through my wires, applying gross tasting stuff (solvent?), the weird light-gun thingy, and bleeding gums. also, i now get why they only did one impression last time - it was for the retainer wire. yesterday they took two impressions, top and bottom, for the essix retainers. i should be able to pick up the lower on monday; the upper might be later in the week because there is tweaking to be done to nudge my 12 back into position.

but the main point is they're gone!

after i left the office i went off to buy poppycock but couldn't find it. instead, i got smartfood and almond roca. feel a bit ill today. also got whitestrips, but haven't used them yet as my gums were bleeding last night and i didn't think it would be a good idea.

(the bleeding gums are also why i have no "after" pics yet.)

right now i'm on my lunch break, enjoying some crunchy and chewy takeout from the annex hodgepodge:

Thin slices of oven roasted smoked turkey with seasoned tomato slices and Swiss cheese drizzled with avocado aioli, all grilled in a Swiss rectangle panini

Baby spinach leaves mixed with tangy dried cranberries, candied pecans, sliced almonds and a triple creme Brie tossed in a sweet vinaigrette

tomorrow morning, i'm heading to the bagel house for the montrealiest bagels in toronto.

then for sunday's breakfast i'm baking some kouign amann.

i'm still having trouble making myself bite down with my incisors after so many months of being unable, but i figure i'll get a lot of practice this weekend!

is today the day?

it's hard to get particularly excited about it, but today i'm supposed to be getting my brackets off. of course, i said that six weeks ago too. so it's hard to get particularly excited about anything. also, i only got an impression done of the bottom done last time, so i don't know how he plans to make the essix to nudge my upper incisor back into place - guessing it will mean yet another appointment.

if i do get them off though, the first thing i'm going to do is buy a tin of poppycock and scarf it back in about five minutes!

the agony and the ecstasy

it's been a rough week or so here breathing-wise. after being sick easter weekend (but still having to drive for hours and root through a dusty basement) and for about a week following that, i had a good week or so before a cough set in - it';s a lung thing not a throat thing (although my throat does get sore after a big coughing fit). i've started taking a daily cetirizine in the hopes it will help - the otc version i got is only 10 mg while the prescription one was 15 mg, so i might start taking 2 every second day or something to see if that makes a difference.

i am proud to say though that i have managed to ride my bicycle every day, and i think that helped with today's event!

i signed up for a fundraiser here at work, which is taking place in may. it's called chs quest, and it's a smartphone scavenger hunt and race - i was thinking more scavenger hunt, until today when we had a "mini quest" event at work. definitely a race! i ran just over a mile, with 3 breaks to do "challenges" (sawing a log, identifying herbs by smell) and it took me half an hour afterwards to catch my breath, but i did it!

and our team won!

blood is definitely pumping now. hope i have enough energy for the ride home in the sleet...

they're coming off, sort of.

not too happy with my visit to the orthodontist yesterday. the ortho & the assistant were all cheery, "getting ready for debanding, excited?" and all i oculd say was, didn't you pay any attention the three times i called over the last three weeks or so saying that the elastics messed me up? sigh.

after a fair amount of hemming and hawing and toying the idea of adding more braces to my uppers for an additional 3 or 4 months (!!!) he suggested he could nudge that tooth back into position with essix retainers. which i would have to wear 24 hours a day. not really the freedom i was hoping for.

it didn't really occur to me until i was leaving that we only did impressions of the bottom row, not the top. how do you make a retainer without an impression? what do i know...

the whole thing just makes me feel tired and sad.

boo.

an hour later, still miserable. guess it's a cold.

cetirizine!

that was the name of the allergy med i took before. just bought a pack to try (along with a box of tissues) to see if it helps. according to the box it should start working in as little as 20 minutes; it's been about that long now, hope it kicks in soon! my sinuses are killing me.

whoo!

i feel almost lightheaded. just had our weekly lunchtime yoga session. we do a lot of breathing, which i hope is good for my poor lungs!

i've been fighting a cold for a week, which feels like it's landed in my lungs now after a hectic weekend of 5-hour drives and dusty-basement delving. also trying to remember the name of the allergy med i took before - i had a prescription version, but there is an over the counter version available as well in a slightly lower dose. i just have to remember which one it was... the main thing i remember is the otc one made me verrry sleepy, which the prescription one did not. maybe there are different otc versions, with different additional ingredients which might be better or worse for me? will have to do some research. but i think i'm in for a rough spring with an extended pollen season, and i need help!

i will pat myself on the back though for cycling this morning, despite not feeling great.

wah wah wah

what a 24 hours i've just had! last night i took a tumble on the stairs - well, almost - i didn't fall all the way down but grabbed the railing. i landed awkwardly with bruises on both legs, and also on my sternum/ribs. back is sore i think from the wrenching when i tried to "save" myself.

then tonight i dropped something heavy on my toe! not the same toe i broke last year, but it still hurts a lot. i've been icing it.

it's barely 7 o'clock here and i'm ready to go to bed!

nooooooooooo

last night as i was replacing my elastic, i wondered how i hadn't noticed this before:



when did this happen?? it's a truly terrible photo (i took about a dozen even blurrier) but i think you can see that one of my uppers is sticking out. last night i wondered if i had been attaching my elastic to the wrong tooth, but i'm certain that's not the case.

and i'm supposed to be doing a tv shoot with my son on monday, so i don't even want to see my ortho in case he wants to put brackets on the front or something. i know i should just bite the bullet and call, though.

i could weep!!

whew.

thumb not hurting this morning. it's a bit swollen, and has a shiny part where the fingerprint is sort of smoothed out, but i was still able to ride my bike!

uh oh

i may not be able to ride to work tomorrow. i had a bbq accident this evening, where i burned my thumb not to blistering stage, but past that to the cooked-through stage. i have a disturbing shiny dent in my thumb, and it's a bit swollen on either side. couldn't hold my cutlery at dinner, not sure how i'll do on the bike! i have bus tokens, so maybe i'll just take transit tomorrow morning for a rest, and do a trial ride tomorrow night.

reminds me though - it shouldn't stop me running, and that's something i need to start!

a treat for me!

decided to treat myself to a new helmet, since my old one is very old and beat up, and i think bicycle treats are a good incentive to ride my bicycle more, and yakkay helmets are on sale at curbside! i got this one, the paris in herringbone. i may treat myself to an additional cover, if i'm good. i'm thinking maybe every week that i ride my bike to work every day i can earn something? that sounds fair...

i also remembered my *&$#* inhaler this morning, and my supplements. go me.

whee!

rode my bicycle today! what a gorgeous day for it. spring has come early, i couldn't be happier. we might even do yoga outside tomorrow!

a new era in personal injury

well, not really i hope. but two trial runs with the kiddo this morning (not even half a block each) left me a little skittish! i think we'll start by doing tuesdays & thursdays after school, which is one level street, and get used to that before we do monday/wednesday/thursday when he goes to karate, which means more traffic, more turns, and more hills.

i did it!

i didn't think i could, but...

after a week of a lot of driving and no exercise whatsoever due to the kiddo going to his old distant preschool during march break, today we had breakfast at a neighbour's house. the highlight is his climbing wall, which the kiddo loves (we even bought him his own harness). there was a bit of "you should try it" and a bit of "oh, maybe if there was no one around to watch and laugh" type of banter.

then this evening, i dropped by to pick up a couple of items that got left behind. and he said, "hey, no one's around, why don't you try an ascent?" and after all the warnings about my lack of fitness and strength, i tried it.

and i did it!

i made it up to the ceiling and down again, and then i went across the wall and up to the ceiling and dropped down. it was fun! and since the kiddo loves it, and we can practise now and then at our neighbour's house, i'm sure i'll do it again!

boooo.

i tried some gishy goo on my new lingual hook, because my tongue was hurting, but it was still sore from the elastic slicing into it. then my elastic popped off last night when i was out and about, and i decided "maybe i'll just leave it overnight so my tongue has a chance to heal" (previous inside-of-cheek sores usually got better after a "night off," and i wouldn't even need wax after). but my tongue is still sore! it's ok as long as i don't eat or speak, but as soon as i try to do anything, yikes. i'm going to give it till tonight before i put the elastic back. crossed fingers.

one thing after another...

did i mention my subconjunctival haemorrhage? could be worse i suppose; the other explanation for a sudden blood spot on the eye are a lot more detrimental and permanent. this is basically a popped blood vessel caused by the strain of coughing.

i just feel like it never ends some days!

bad case of "the sighs" today

sighing and yawning and unable to catch my breath! i should confess i haven't taken my steroid inhaler for the last couple of days as my throat was feeling a bit rough and i was worried about getting thrush. but i guess i should get back on that for a little while, at least.

i don't like inhalers! don't wanna! wah, wah, wah.

on a more positive note...

i do think i have recovered more quickly from my traditional spring lung collapse quicker than i did last year or the year before, so i have to believe the supplements are helping! i've also been doing some of the "nerve flossing" that angus taught me, and i think that's helping too. a week and a half ago my left shoulder was 2 inches higher than my right; today they are about even.

need to keep thinking good thoughts, to distract myself from the squeaking sound my elastics make anytime i move my face...

boooo

i'm not getting my braces off next week. i didn't get impressions done today. ortho is still not 100% happy with my 4-6, so i now have elastics for a month. it didn't seem so bad when i was leaving, mainly i guess because i wasn't moving my mouth at all. then i tried eating. waah. i am allowed to take them off when i'm eating, but they'd rather i didn't. "the more you wear them, the faster they can work." blah blah.

this day started out crappy and just went downhill from there.

impression day!

going to see my ortho today for impressions - the countdown to debracing has begun! only 7 more days!

something proactive

we signed up for delivery of an organic veg box, and the first one came today! great inspiration to get creative with produce.



tonight, i made a salad of red leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, and baby sweet peppers, to go with pizza with a home-made organic whole-wheat crust, topped with tomato, rapini, rowe's farm italian sausage, and organic mozzarella.



then i spent about ten minutes with the water pik getting it all out of my braces. can't wait to get these things off! 10 more days!

eta: i figured out what turbos are!! they are the weird blobs on the back of my front teeth. can't wait for them to be gone.

pizza (serves 4)

crust:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tbs salt
1 5/8 cup water
2 tbs olive oil

topping:
1/2 bunch rapini
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 italian sausages
1/2 cup tomato sauce of your choosing
2 cups shredded mozzarella

crust:
in the morning, combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. stir in water and olive oil. cover (i use a butter wrapper, but you could use waxed paper or oiled foil or a damp tea towel) and leave somewhere warm for 8 or 10 hours.

topping:
bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add the rapini. boil for 2 minutes, then drain.

crush the garlic and saute gently in olive oil. add the drained rapini to the pan, and toss with the oil. cook 5 minutes over medium heat, then scoop all into a bowl and set aside.

add the sausages to the pan, and cook over low heat 10 or 15 minutes, till cooked thoroughly. slice into coins just under 1/4" thick. set aside.

assembly:
knead dough lightly for about 2 minutes then roll out to cover a 14" pizza pan. prick all over with a fork. combine rapini and tomato sauce, spread over crust. top with cheese and sausage.

bake for 20 minutes at 450f. yum! lots of nourishment in there too - one serving has more than 16 grams of fibre and 36 grams of protein. go whole wheat!

wowsers

well, today i had some unexpected exercise: lunchtime yoga (which i had kind of forgotten) and then i missed the bus and had to walk as quick as i could to the library to meet the kiddo. it's kind of sad when a brisk walk gets you huffing and puffing! but i guess that just shows how much i need the exercise.

for dinner, we had liver & onions with mashed potatoes & bacon. now, i knew the kiddo would probably would not want to eat the liver, but i thought i'd try it on him. after all, i liked liver as a child, maybe he's weird like me! no dice. so i ate his piece as well.

so, how nutritious is liver?



very! all my iron, selenium, b complex, everything! well, not c or e or potassium. i can never manage to get 100% of everything every day. i try to work it out so that everything hits 90% or more if i average it out over a week. forget last week, i was sick and all i could stand was toast. but this week i think i'll do just fine!

tuesday update

forgot everything this morning - inhaler, keys, travel mug, everything! bah.

by the end of the day yesterday i was pretty tired and breathless, so i decided against experimenting with the bicycle today. don't want to get worse before i get better. but i got off the bus two stops early this morning, and will meet the kiddo at the library and walk home from there, so that's something. not a lot, but something.

once i get through this, i am going to make a serious effort to try the couch to 5k thing. need to be strong to keep up with the little guy!

stupid lungs

well, for the last couple of years i've had chest pain/sickness of some sort the first two weeks of march, and this year it's come early along with the early spring (also known as lack of winter). saturday night i started feeling something and sunday i had a dry cough, chest pain and low fever. thought i'd stick it out, but monday i was feeling worse and the fever was slowly creeping up - it had passed 100 by the time i was on my way to urgent care after dinner (note to women in toronto: urgent care at women's college hospital is great for lack of waiting. i went there when i broke my foot, too). when i arrived, my blood pressure was on the high side (i normally have really low blood pressure) at 125 over 105 if i remember properly, pulse 76, and the bad one, blood oxygen 88. (it really oughtn't to ever be below 92).

actually probably the low blood oxygen is part of why i didn't have to wait at all. i went straight to a nice warm (80 degrees!) isolation room.

they had me blow into a thingy to measure peak oxygen, and it was in the neighbourhood of 300 or 350 (i couldn't really see) when normal for my height/age is 436.

so, they gave me basically a full day's dose of salbutamol and a full day's dose of another bronchodilator, which gave me crazy shakes/anxiety/palpitations, and then off to get a chest x-ray in a chilly room with a walk through chilly halls to get there. i must have looked quite terrible, as the radiologist was very sympathetic and told me i should ask for a pre-warmed blanket when i got back to my room (i didn't need to, the room was lovely).

of course, all of these things - the peak oxygen test, the inhalers, the exam, the x-ray - were all things they wanted me to breathe deeply for, and that's the hardest to do! i find being very still so i don't have to breathe much feels better. not the most healthy i know, but there you are.

anyway, i am pneumonia-free (yay) but taking two inhalers (a bronchodilator and a steroid) and some antibiotics for the infection (which i guess is bronchitis? i didn't even ask for the actual diagnosis, i was a bit out of it). and advil for the pain. the bronchodilator makes me shaky (i sat down at one of those pharmacy blood pressure gizmos whilst waiting for my prescriptions on the way home - my pulse was 102!) and the antibiotics upset my stomach. mainly i'm just tired and sore all the time.

and, now i'm starting to feel like i'm catching a cold (guess my resistance is low, no kidding). so i tried the neti pot this evening. not as creepy as i had feared! but weird.

i guess i do need to get sorted with a real family doctor though. i made the connection last night - my current family doctor (who i can rarely get an appointment with, and if i do she's an hour or more late, and then her office staff mess up the referrals completely) stopped being useful about the time that she introduced an "extended care" program of frills you could subscribe to for a hundred bucks a year. i didn't pay up. hmm.

the end is nigh!

i'm feeling physically quite terrible today. i overdid it on the weekend (45 minutes of shovelling snow, followed by 90 minutes of salsa lessons), and today i got me braces adjusted, which always results in a combination of sinus headache, sore neck/back/shoulders, and nausea.

but!

i'm getting them off!

just 4 more weeks!!

3 weeks from today i go in to get an impression done, and the week after that, blammo! 12 march is the day!

yahoo!!!!!

friday check-in

thought i'd do a little check-in with some stats to see how i'm doing so far. i confess i am feeling pretty cranky the last couple of days; i think being out two nights in a row (not for social fun stuff, but for a parents' group meeting and my night class) is just too much sleep interruption.

annyhoo, even with that challenge, i think i am doing ok. i am getting most of my nutrition needs met through diet (i am always low on the e and iron, so i take supplements for those - e is tricky as it seems the top source is nuts, which i find hard to eat with my braces - any suggestions for tasty-but-soft e-rich foods? i did have peanut butter for breakfast twice this week, as well as making peanut-butter cookies), and keeping my intake and output roughly balanced. although i feel like i "must" be burning more calories on my bike rides than fitday says i am; even though they're short, my heart is really pumping!

bicycling vs. the bus

passed a milestone today: left home after the bus i used to take had already gone, and caught up to it 2 stops before where i would have gotten off! yay.

i do miss the bus though. i miss my fellow riders, getting to chat, read, or knit on the way.

yesterday i left around the same time as the bus; it was just ahead of me as i came out of the garage, then i got ahead of it, then we were side by side at a stoplight. the driver opened the door and i said, "did you miss me?" and he said "yes! i wondered where you were!"

i do miss that. but i love feeling like me again, zipping about under my own power on my own time, not having to fret over whether i've missed the bus, or the bus is late.

also, i've managed to remember my supplements every day this week so far. woohoo!

yoga: day 1

just did first yoga lunch at work. felt ok during. then right after, i got a sharp pain under my left shoulder blade. now i just feel sort of "tingly." n.b. it was very basic beginner yoga, nothing too fancy.

good start to the week!

this morning i rode my bicycle & remembered my supplements! my toe wasn't precisely hurting, but was talking to me a bit on the ride. and it was a real work-out for my lungs - even though, let's be honest, a 10-minute ride should be no big deal. i rode to niagara falls once, right up the escarpment for crying out loud!

i also remembered to bring fruit to snack on.

trying to remember when last i used an inhaler, i think it was june maybe. for the past two years i have had a terrible time lung-wise through march. shortness of breath, stabbing pains, need-to-sit-and-rest-now type of moments. i ownder if this year will be any different, with the supplements, the exercise, and also the weird weather. in previous years, the troubles coincided with the advent of spring - snow melting, etc. etc. but right now, i look out the window, it's 8 degrees and sunny, and not a spot of snow to be seen anywhere. no "seasons" at all to speak of! unless we get a late dumping of snow, that is my big fear...

i did it!

i rode my bicycle today! it took about 10 minutes, with additional time for futzing ("where's my backpack? where's my headlight?"), and i was halfway here when i realised i had forgotton my helmet. whoops! we'll get it sorted tomorrow.

meanwhile, the hot article of today is about sugar, and how it's evil.

now, i love sugar. but i was thinking about it, and aside from the obvious sweet indulgences (which don't happen every day) i don't get that much of it, really. i drink my coffee black. i make my porridge from scratch, just barley flakes, sunflower seeds, and dried apricots. most of our food is made from scratch by me, as far as that goes, so we avoid a lot of the "hidden" sugars that are added to processed foods like pasta sauce and whatnot. i don't drink pop, i don't even drink much juice (not sure if monster juice has added sugar, actually). the packaged foods i buy are mostly from the health food store, so again, no added weirdness in the peanut butter etc. basically the only foods we eat with sugar in them are obviously sugary things like jam, and of course i make cookies and pancakes on the weekends, but we don't eat that stuff every day.

so that's another bit of good news on the good news front! trying to make this blog more positive instead of just complainy.

baby steps

i've managed to walk to work on more than a few changes since i started my new job! yay.

next step: bicycling to work instead of ttc. i tried to take the bike in for new tubes on monday, but they were closed. went back last night, dropped it off, should be able to pick it up tonight. i have class tonight, which should be a good opportunity to see how long it actually will take me to ride to work. but i will definitely need to get a light first!

also, i just signed up to do yoga here at work.

another band!

after my bracket on the very back tooth popped off twice, i got a third band. more and more metal in my mouth every day! walked home in the freezing cold yesterday, and i am happy to report that my tooth didn't feel supercold, as happens someday.

also happy to report that i have walked to or from work 4 times this week so far! it's just under a mile and a half.

another boring update

yesterday i walked to work, and i was feeling all proud of myself, and then i realized that i had forgotten my supplements. this morning i walked and took my supplements! yay.

on the downside: a bracket popped off my back tooth on sunday. no worries, i had an appointment with my ortho on tuesday (yesterday) anyway. so he put it back on. but i think it was hitting another tooth because last night it popped off! it was barely in place for 4 hours! gah.

things i've learned this week

1. i really need to start prepping for the kiddo's birthday in the summer or something. because doing it all when i'm recovering from christmas doesn't work.

2. protein for breakfast is a must, or i am crabby and starving mid-morning.

3. carbs for breakfast are also a must, or i will fall asleep mid-morning.

4. someday, i must learn to pace myself! taking classes day and night while prepping for a party is all too much.

january update

what a hectic week: taking a class and preparing for kiddo's birthday party.

being in class all day (and one night) means i'm not getting to my afternoon snack - a piece of fruit. i made time today to eat a pear i'd been carrying since monday! i'm just glad it survived the trek. my brain is really burned out from thinking, and i've been up late getting stuff done around the house, but i did manage to walk to work yesterday and today took a little stroll at lunch and even did a bit of tai chi. still need to get to the bike store to get my flat tires replaced. one of these days.

i'm also getting back in the habit of taking my supplements. it's so easy to lose the habit and so difficult to get back in. but it really does seem to make a difference, so i really do need to make the effort. especially since the carpentry and whatnot i've been doing around the house (and honestly, no way could i have done that last year) is taking its toll.

here's to an eventual moment of relaxation at some point!!

a few running links

just storing these here so i can find them later...

couch to 5k at cool running

c25k.com with loads of links to podcasts, foreign language versions, etc.

link to download the mp3 of the c25k program podcast with no music, just cues to switch from walking to running etc.

i haven't run in a while, but i've done it before and will do it again! there's a run in april for the daily bread foodbank, i'm thinking that's a good place for me to start.

another new year, another set of resolutions...

actually i am afraid i will just stick with last year's, which i am afraid to look at, because i'm afraid i haven't stuck to them very well... i remember promising to do tai chi every day (didn't) and wake up at the same time every day (didn't). so i think i will reinstate those. and try to add some additional exercise into the routine. i've had the chance to walk to/from work since starting a new job, and i'm hoping to ride my bike regularly (but not today - minus 25 with windchill? my lungs would hate me!) once i really get into the swing of things.

so instead of coming up with a bunch of resolutions, here's a look at what i've learned in the past year...

1. stress is bad. since changing jobs, i'm much happier and have more time as well. it's helped with my health immensely.

2. supplements are good. i have a dumb tendency to not take my supplements (carlson's norwegian fish oil, magnesium, iron, b, c, d, e) on the weekends. fair enough, i don't have the same routine on the weekends. but starting the holidays being ill (nausea + fish oil? nope) led me into not taking supplements over the holidays at all. so by the end of the week off, i was getting back pain again. never again will i miss my fish oil!

3. protein in the morning, or else! boy do i get cranky if i don't have protein in the morning. big greasy brekkie of eggs with sausage or bacon or blood pudding, or even just french toast, and i am good to go. cereal or pancakes: forget it. today i had bran cereal, but made sure to have a boiled egg as well.

4. things are getting better! i spent a few days over the holidays doing some odd jobs around the house - mainly carpentry - as well as hoisting a 10 kilo turkey into the oven (i made my husband take it out, though). and I got through it with comparatively minimal pain! hoooo. i would not have been able to do that a year ago. i'm no longer relying on daily doses of painkillers. i no longer use an inhaler. so that is very good news!

ok, i broke down and looked at my previous resolutions, and i have to say that while i fail on the waking up and the tai chi, i get a pass for getting off the ttc and getting more nutrients from food sources. although i am sad to say our health food store no longer carries rose hip juice so i haven't had it in ages! will have to track some down.