In Search of My Body....Not the One I ATE! Vol. 5: Goddesses are Always on Top!

[DISNEY4XMAS]

You two are so cute

So, challenge results. Its not pretty Im afraid:

Tracking - Every Day
Exercise - None
In-Laws Killed - None (Imaginary killings don't count right?)
LOVE THIS!
So, the no exercise. Im afraid Im having major problems with my back again

In July 2005 I had surgery to repair a disc in my back that has split open, and to scrape away the pieces that had flaked off and started to attach themselves elsewhere (nice!). All went well, and Ive been *pretty much* pain free - still the occasional twinge, no hardcore exercising etc.

Well now, the pain is back. Not regular pain, but the pain pain. Im back on the extra strong painkillers and Im struggling to walk. Sitting down, lying down, standing up all hurt
Im worried they will want to do more surgery. Im hoping for physiotherapy again, even though it didn't do a huge amount of good last time. Anything to avoid being laid up for 4 weeks - its so boring!

Sorry for the rambling post - thanks for listening!
Hope everyone is having a great day. We put our clocks forward one hour on Saturday night/Early Sunday morning, man do I miss that hour!

Oh Kelly that sucks! Nothing worse than your back being in pain! I hope you feel better

Oh--and here is some exciting OT news! I wrote a grant proposal last semester and just found out that I got it! Now, it isn't a huge grant, only $3,000. But it is all to be spent on technology to further the advance of online education. So yes, I get to go out and buy $3k worth of tech gadgets! SO fun when the money is free! I am thinking of getting an iMac. I have never been a Mac person, but I understand that things like digital photos, movies, and music are all so much easier on a Mac. Thoughts?

OK so Last year my PC DIED in the ice storm. We went to best buy and were looking around and The girl showed me stuff and I said do you guys have MAC's and she lit right up! Her whole family are MAC users. I was sold on it when she said that They don't get virus quite as often. The kids have Mac's in school so they new everything about them already. So we got it! OMG I love it. It is very easy! I have made movies and power point shows and NOW I WANT A MAC BOOK! You can get all you microsoft word power point and excel for it!
The only down fall ( shouldn't concern you as your using it for work) there aren't many games for the mac. itunes is right there, it is Wi-FI ready. there is also a time capsule that is an automatic back up (separate cost) So YES GET ONE I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


OK so I caught a cold this weekend! Not surprising from being around all the little kids! I am off for a walk and then back to the doctors for them to look at my wrist. Blister are going down, still sore though.
Ok I have a puppy whining to go!
later girls and guys

 

[3DisneyKids]

Oh Kelly! So sorry for the pain! Keep us posted!

Amiee--glad you had a spontaneous week-end away with the kids! SUCH fun. I love doing stuff like that.

Oh, advice needed here. So the cruise is like 5.5 weeks away. The kids don't know. They know I won a cruise, but we told them at the time that we didn't know if we would be able to go or not. And strangely, they seemed to have forgotten about it and haven't mentioned it.

So, we are thinking of surprising them. But we ALWAYS surprise them in some way. The last trip, they knew we were going, but thought we were leaving on Friday when we really left on Tuesday or something. They thought I picked them up early from school to go to the dentist. Then when we turned on the highway, Kelly asked, "Why are we taking the highway to the dentist?" I said, "Because we are going to the airport and to Disney...right now!" The shrieked and howled the whole way. It was awesome.

Other trips have been total surprises. They didn't even know we had one in the works and then all of a sudden, we were driving to the airport.

Truthfully, one of the main reasons we surprise them is so that they SLEEP the night before. I don't want them so excited that they can't sleep. Traveling with 3 over-tired kids is no fun.

Anyway, thoughts? Surprise? No surprise? Partial surprise like telling them we are leaving a certain day but are actually leaving earlier?

 

[3DisneyKids]

Steph! Forgot about the rash thing you have going on. When you went to the doc, did you tell him/her that you have been tanning??? That is likely the culprit right there. Those things are toxic for your skin.

Sounds like no fun--hope it heals quickly!

 

[zigzagzerr]

Paula,
You look wonderful! Such a change.

LisaV,
A full price offer -- that's great news.

Kelly,
Hope the docs can help with the pain -- so sorry to hear that your back is hurting.


Challenge:
Well....overall I am still in the hole for this challenge. 1st week I gained 1.8 lbs, this week I lost 0.6 lbs, for a delightful net gain of 1.2 lbs. I know what I need to do, though, so I'm jumping back on the program wagon right now.

Makes me feel a little better to know that I'm still down 6 lbs since I started this thing in February. Just a little....

So my plan for the week is to exercise 4 times, snack healthy, and to carry all this good eating and exercise through the upcoming weekend (instead of this food frenzy that the past few weekends have become).

Hope everybody has a great Monday!

 

[goofyfan-12]

You two are so cute

So, challenge results. Its not pretty Im afraid:

Tracking - Every Day
Exercise - None
In-Laws Killed - None (Imaginary killings don't count right?)

So, the no exercise. Im afraid Im having major problems with my back again

In July 2005 I had surgery to repair a disc in my back that has split open, and to scrape away the pieces that had flaked off and started to attach themselves elsewhere (nice!). All went well, and Ive been *pretty much* pain free - still the occasional twinge, no hardcore exercising etc.

Well now, the pain is back. Not regular pain, but the pain pain. Im back on the extra strong painkillers and Im struggling to walk. Sitting down, lying down, standing up all hurt
Im worried they will want to do more surgery. Im hoping for physiotherapy again, even though it didn't do a huge amount of good last time. Anything to avoid being laid up for 4 weeks - its so boring!

Sorry for the rambling post - thanks for listening!
Hope everyone is having a great day. We put our clocks forward one hour on Saturday night/Early Sunday morning, man do I miss that hour!

Kelly - yikes about the back pain... Please take care of yourself and do what the docs tell you. We want you to be well!!!!

Oh and no need to apologize for rambling. That is what we are here for...

Happy Monday!!!

Challenge results--get 'em posted and I will post the chart tonight then we will all be back on track together! WOO HOO! Monday! Love it.

Erika - Congrats on the grant!!! That is cool. I know nothing about Macs so I am deferring this to Liz our resident Mac expert. I'm sure Kat can give you lots of cool tech advice as well. Not me though (and I'm strangely ok with that). The pain this is not cool. Hopefully, the running coach can work that out for you and soon.

Sunny - so happy you like your meeting, but the travelling leader thing has got to be a little frustrating...

Steph - so how was the ice show?

Amiee - glad your weekend trip away went well. Petting baby sharks - cool!

Lyz - speaking of trips, how did yours go?

Liz - are we all rested today?

LisaPR - congrats on the long run!!!! Given the crappy run you had last week, you so deserved a good long run.

LisaV - hope you are feeling a little better today.

LisaZ - Hi!!!! How is life in your neck of the woods?

Stacey - don't work too hard and remember to breathe.

Ronda - you little running machine. Look at you go. Awesome!

Roddy - guess we will all have to deal with the fact that you are going to eat across the rainbow and not turn any one color...

Nancy - has Becca forgiven you yet for going to meet a stranger?

Kat - hope things have calmed down a bit from the weekend.

Amy - hope the trip back to FL was a good one and you are enjoying the humidity again.

Dawn - still staying dry out there in Minnesota? Hope so. Way too much work done in your house to let it get wet now right?

I think that is everyone (or at least I hope that is everyone).

Thanks for all of the positive comments on my progress photos. When you look at it that way, it is amazing what losing some pounds can do to your appearance. I am thrilled with the results so far and am now pysched to keep going.

Happy Monday (even though it is raining here today)!!!!

I'll post my challenge results after I weigh in tonight.

Paula

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

Steph! Forgot about the rash thing you have going on. When you went to the doc, did you tell him/her that you have been tanning??? That is likely the culprit right there. Those things are toxic for your skin.

Sounds like no fun--hope it heals quickly!

YES, I told them I was tanning as if they couldn't tell either! I haven't tanned since thursday! They actually think its a burn! Since most rashes itch and this doesn't this one BURNED. Then they put hydrocortisone cream on it and that made it worse. I have been putting neosporin and Bactine on it both with pain relieves in it and it has been ok.
The only thing with the thought that it is a burn is that I don't remember burning it. And it spread to three of my fingers, baby and middle on left hand and ring finger on the right hand. SO I haven't a clue. And it's a weird shape well no there is NO real shape ???? I am sparing everyone the pictures of here! It's quite nasty looking.


Ok you can tell spring is in the air because Mocha just ran, Right into the road, some nice guy stopped to help me. Thank god she knows her commands for sit and stay! Because that was the only way I could get her. I kept telling her to sit and then she would sit the run as I got close. I told her she was a bad puppy and she ran into the house and went to her kennel al by herself!

I have weight watchers tonight since I still have blisters and can't work! So I will let you know how the week went for me!

 

[princessrunner]

Hi everyone!!! Glad to see you all up bright and early this morning. It gets kind of lonely here early AM.

Kelly, sorry about the back pain and that you don't need more surgery!

Steph, forgot about the rash too. Another possible culprit is impetigo from the tanning bed. Stranger things have happened....

Erika, I was supposed to do 20 then 22 then 14 in taper week. After talking with the lady who has done BM a few times, she said not to do more than 20 two weeks prior so I may switch it up and do 22, 20, 14 or I may go 20, 20, 14 depending on weather, timing, etcetera. Shelby has a field hockey tourney in Mass this weekend so that factors in too. Sorry about the pain. I read back and missed it. Can you refresh?

Lisa, knowing what you did wrong is more than half the battle. Awareness is key. I just have trouble with the follow through.

Yay Paula found her groove again!!

 

[adsrtw]

Oh Kelly! So sorry for the pain! Keep us posted!

Amiee--glad you had a spontaneous week-end away with the kids! SUCH fun. I love doing stuff like that.

Oh, advice needed here. So the cruise is like 5.5 weeks away. The kids don't know. They know I won a cruise, but we told them at the time that we didn't know if we would be able to go or not. And strangely, they seemed to have forgotten about it and haven't mentioned it.

So, we are thinking of surprising them. But we ALWAYS surprise them in some way. The last trip, they knew we were going, but thought we were leaving on Friday when we really left on Tuesday or something. They thought I picked them up early from school to go to the dentist. Then when we turned on the highway, Kelly asked, "Why are we taking the highway to the dentist?" I said, "Because we are going to the airport and to Disney...right now!" The shrieked and howled the whole way. It was awesome.

Other trips have been total surprises. They didn't even know we had one in the works and then all of a sudden, we were driving to the airport.

Truthfully, one of the main reasons we surprise them is so that they SLEEP the night before. I don't want them so excited that they can't sleep. Traveling with 3 over-tired kids is no fun.

Anyway, thoughts? Surprise? No surprise? Partial surprise like telling them we are leaving a certain day but are actually leaving earlier?

Oh E I am right here! This is my thing to do ~ queen of surprises. I wouldn’t give them any hints that a trip is coming up, just head to the airport and make ‘em guess.

I have a few suggestions for ya that I have used in the past.

•A riddle on cute paper and made them guess what the answer was. I think Michael’s has some treasure map style paper. You could just hand them a roll at the airport and viola!
•10 or 20 questions ~ oh my gosh you should hear some of the questions I would get, lol.
•Oh cute one that I came up with just now ~ A cute basket with cruise essentials (new sunglasses, sunscreen, the basket could be a sand pail??). You could put it in their bedroom after they have fallen asleep.

 

[adsrtw]

Oh Kelly that sucks! Nothing worse than your back being in pain! I hope you feel better


OK so Last year my PC DIED in the ice storm. We went to best buy and were looking around and The girl showed me stuff and I said do you guys have MAC's and she lit right up! Her whole family are MAC users. I was sold on it when she said that They don't get virus quite as often. The kids have Mac's in school so they new everything about them already. So we got it! OMG I love it. It is very easy! I have made movies and power point shows and NOW I WANT A MAC BOOK! You can get all you microsoft word power point and excel for it!
The only down fall ( shouldn't concern you as your using it for work) there aren't many games for the mac. itunes is right there, it is Wi-FI ready. there is also a time capsule that is an automatic back up (separate cost) So YES GET ONE I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


OK so I caught a cold this weekend! Not surprising from being around all the little kids! I am off for a walk and then back to the doctors for them to look at my wrist. Blister are going down, still sore though.
Ok I have a puppy whining to go!
later girls and guys

Stephanie, I am channeling my grandma right now. I can't believe I didn't remember this when you first talked about it. Agh! I am usually a real Cliff Clavin. Pine Tar Soap ~ smells like something the cat dragged in, but it helps (sunburns too even).

 

[lisaviolet]

Sneaking on for a second to say "Paula!!!!" "Paula!!!" "Paula!!"

That's it.

No, Paula I saw it before you posted with the picture of that chick who looks pretty hot herself. I could see it in your cute face immediately. And then you posted your before and after. WOW!!!!!

Also, your hair is cute short but since you have such fantastic curls I want to know if you have ever had it long for a period? Probably, eh? I'd love to see that.

Also, guys I'm fine. Thanks for everything. The reason I put all my feelings out here is because I don't want to put them on other people. If I own them maybe they won't seep out to others. Plus, I'm just learning how to hold two different feelings at once - which is normal. But often society wants us to choose - happy or sad, thrilled or disappointed blah blah blah. And I refuse to now. Not every single moment is so flippin' black or white.

Okay, got to run. Much more to say about others later. And no glasses so hope this all reads okay.

Paula - gosh you should be so proud. What an accomplishment.

 

[goofyfan-12]

Sneaking on for a second to say "Paula!!!!" "Paula!!!" "Paula!!"

Lisa - thanks for the gushing.... I am pretty amazed at the accomplishment. I thought about this for so long, but I never thought that I would be to actually do it. I am enjoying laughing about it now though...

As for my curls.. It took me years to accept and embrace them. Once I did that, I just go with them. I can't do long hair though. Once it gets beyond my ears in length, the weight of the hair starts to pull my curls out and I end up with wavy hair for the first 3" from my roots and then the ringlets start. It ends up looking foolish. So - short to medium length hair is what I am left with.

Nancy is a cutie though isn't she? She looks great and I love that we swap trainer stories and the love / hate relationship that ensues.

Glad you are feeling a bit better about things.

 

[AKASnowWhite]

As for my long run, I copped out and did it on Saturday instead. It was a great run for me. All 18 miles at once with an average 11:11 pace.

AWESOME Lisa

We also had a Scrabble marathon going most of the weekend with games going with whoever was not busy. Still the reigning queen I have to say although David at 7 beat me (darned 3 letter words that you can't build off!!) and was pretty proud of himself.

We're a Scrabble family too. When Nate was in 7th grade he played in the National School Scrabble Tournament. There were 100 teams (2 per team) of middle school kids from around the country. Lots of fun!

Then the teacher who was the Scrabble "coach" got married and moved to Rhode Island

Liz, Nancy & Paula, thanks for your thoughts on my goal weight. I think I will just go with the maximum weight for my height, but I'm not going to commit to it until my leader asks.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to NOT have a specific weight goal. For me, a goal of "this week, I'm going to stick to my plan" is perfect. It's small enough to be achievable, yet powerful enough to see results when weeks are strung back-to-back, and yet still flexible when for whatever reason your "plan" requires some kind of modification.

So, the no exercise. Im afraid Im having major problems with my back again

Ugh. Kelly, I'm so sorry. My fabulously wonderful SIL just had back surgery in Jan for a herniated disc. The pain that she was in before was just debilitating. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Nancy--love the pic! Great picture of both of you. And Becca is a riot! Love that kid.

She is a freakin' riot. For a 13 year old girl, she's alright. (usually )

As for me...I am STILL sore! Unbelievably and painfully SORE. I can hardly walk sore.

Please do not throw anything at me. But your constant pain is not normal.

Have you considered Lyme?

I have never been a Mac person, but I understand that things like digital photos, movies, and music are all so much easier on a Mac. Thoughts?

PLEASE. Tell me you aren't expecting ME to give advice

So, we are thinking of surprising them. But we ALWAYS surprise them in some way.

We've done both. Surprise and not. If it were a vacation where they could actually have some input on the planning, I'd say "no surprise" this time. But since it's a cruise, and it's all just *there* for you, I'd go with surprise.

Besides. It's kinda become a tradition for you.

So my plan for the week is to exercise 4 times, snack healthy, and to carry all this good eating and exercise through the upcoming weekend (instead of this food frenzy that the past few weekends have become).

Excellent plan, Lisa!

Roddy - guess we will all have to deal with the fact that you are going to eat across the rainbow and not turn any one color...

That reminds me of something. When my kids were in preschool they always did this little nutrition unit. Their "slogan" was "Eat a rainbow a day, and healthy you will stay".

Nancy - has Becca forgiven you yet for going to meet a stranger?

I'm not sure But she hasn't seen the picture yet, so maybe that will convince her.

Although she'll probably accuse me of photo-shopping it. As if

I have weight watchers tonight since I still have blisters and can't work! So I will let you know how the week went for me!

Good luck tonight, Steph

Shelby has a field hockey tourney in Mass this weekend so that factors in too.

Umm..where in Mass will you be?

Oh cute one that I came up with just now ~ A cute basket with cruise essentials (new sunglasses, sunscreen, the basket could be a sand pail??). You could put it in their bedroom after they have fallen asleep.

LOVE this idea. Totally and completely love it.



It's kinda gray and icky here today. Not terribly motivating, that's for sure!

 

[princessrunner]

Nancy, we will be in Greenfield, MA at Indoor Action Sports. I guess it is parents weekend for the colleges so rooms were to say the least!!

I love my 14YO I have to say. She is sensible, funny, irritating but all in all a lot of good company for me.

Erika, if I tried to surprise my kids with a trip I think they would kill me, stuff me in the trunk and go without me. Seriously. If you think I would pack ANYTHING right for Shelby on a trip you are just sadly mistaken. Fashion diva I am but I cannot even pick out the right tee and shorts to bring her for the gym.

Soooooooo, I vote for surprise because it sounds like so much fun and I never get to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[3DisneyKids]

LisaPR--nothing really to report about the pain. It literally just sort of came on. I went for a SHORT run one day and the next day I woke up and was just sore--it felt like I had never worked out a day in my life and then they day before was like I had spent the day working out on the BL ranch. Just like, WT F muscle soreness.

Nancy--I know it isn't normal! And it is really painful. As in if I didn't have to go up on campus today, I would pop one of my left-over vicodin painful. But like when I pulled the hamstring, there is no one thing I can point to. I didn't twist or torque anything. I didn't fall. I didn't push too hard on a run or try to lift weights that were too heavy. I am baffled.

And I don't think Lyme because it hasn't been warm enough up here for tics yet, but also, it is just muscle pain in my legs only. Nowhere else.

I have one thought. Nancy and LisaPR, I would love your input. So several months back I went to my running store and got fitted for new sneakers. The Sauconys that I brag about all the time. OMG, love them. Best out-of-the-box sneaker ever. Ran on them for months and had 0 problems. Never a blister. So it was time to get a new pair. I wanted the exact same shoe. I had a $25 off coupon from Sports Authority, so I ordered them from there.

And seriously, ever since then, I have been having pain of some sort. First the hamstring, and now all of the other stuff (primarily the other leg...groin, adductor, abductor, and quad). At first I thought that maybe this leg is acting up since it spent so much time over-compensating for the hamstring pull on the other leg. But now I am thinking shoes.

So I checked my shoes. And while they are the exact make and model and size I was running in (and loving) before, they are wide width. My first pair aren't. Do you think this small difference could be causing all of this?

Amiee--I have done a lot of those idea, thanks! I have to tell them before we get to the actual airport, since the airport is a fairly long drive for us.

The problem is that since we have surprised them so many times, if I did something like 20 questions, it would be the FIRST question they ask.

Here is an example from one of the times we surprised them. Every Sunday is family day for us, right? Has been for years. So we always have a big Sunday breakfast and ask the kids what they want to do for Family Day. And they always shout, in unison, "Go to Disney." And Jeff and I always laugh and say yeah, right, "The park or the beach, take your pic." Or whatever. Sometimes it is bowling or the movies. Small stuff. So for the surprise trip when we left on a Sunday, when we asked what they wanted to do, as predicted they yelled "Go to Disney!" So I just said, "Ok, hop in the car, we are leaving RIGHT NOW." It was awesome.

But it also means that they are really hard to surprise!

 

[princessrunner]

Okay Erika, here are my thoughts on the shoe issue.

If you don't have wide feet the wide shoes could DEFINITELY be the problems. See you shoes should be holding (cradling) your foot in place so that it has no lateral motion, rubbing, chafing etcetera. If you put a regular foot in a wide shoe, you have room for movement no matter how tightly you tie them. Do you by chance have Guides??? I ran in them, loved them and when I went back for more they only had wides. I have super narrow feet so this was just a no go for me.

Now, if the above scenario is true, here is the rest of my input. Try an innersole to take up some room if you love, love, love the shoes. If you are lukewarm on the shoes, try some new ones. Go get fitted again.

I have been on a hunt since the loss of the Guides, tried Rides, tried Asics Nimbus, loved Asics Kinsei but cannot justify the price, and happened upon the Pearl Izumis. It has been a struggle since I have wonky feet like super narrow super high arches, etcetera. The PI's are the first ones that REALLY fit my feet. No chafing, no rubbing, no break in period (ran 8 miles out of the box) etcetera. I will buy these again and again...until they change them.

So yeah, if your feet are not wide, the shoes could be allowing movement and throwing off your stride without you even knowing it.

 

[zigzagzerr]

Lisa, knowing what you did wrong is more than half the battle. Awareness is key. I just have trouble with the follow through.

I know! Follow through isn't as much fun as obliviousness! (oh, you mean I shouldn't have eaten the whole cheesecake? I had no idea!)

It's kinda gray and icky here today. Not terribly motivating, that's for sure!

Same thing here. But then again, it's been gray and icky for days......

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

EriKa - We torment our kids, before we suprise them. I'd totally tell them, they'll have to stay with grandma while Mommy & Daddy went on a cruise. Then they'll be all sad and bratty. But you "wanted a better room - so you had to spend their money on that" - . You'll tell em a day later. Then they'll be happy and relieved and believe in you again. (And Riley can start planning.) Yes - I do this to my children, without one stitch of remorse. It's fun.

Paula - love the pics. They are so awesome and such a great visual of your progress!

LisaV- You sold your house. That is great news. It's what you needed. It's bittersweet, but... And at the asking price, in these times!

Much more to comment on but time keeps on ticking. TONS to do.

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Steph - could you have a spider bite?

 

[SeptemberGirl]

Hi!

Super busy here. And I'm WIPED. OMG. So tired and I've been sleeping, too.

Weighed in. Lost! Feel like i'm on track. So challenge -

Gym 5x week - check
Tracking - check
Lost weight - check!

So far, so good.

Okay, must go. Will reply to all later!

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

So back from the doctors office. Still not sure what it is, now they are thinking maybe some type of weed that causes phytophotodermatitis which is a burn or rash caused from the sap of the plant and UV light. They put me on prednisone. Hoping that will dry it out, the PA said that it may leave a scar.....Oh well what's another scar! My other wrist is full of them from burns from the wood stove! So they took me out till next monday! I got my vacation a whole two weeks early. Which stinks!

All right off to figure out dinner... I think chicken parmaginia.

For those of you that want to see it I will email it to you!

Erika I like Lyz's idea!