Cowgirl Breakdown

"I'm a cowgirl, baby"  Come on, sing it with me.  You know you want to.  I wish I could say this attitude and singing thing is inspired by great stuff.  It's not.  It's more of a "laugh so you don't cry" kind of thing.  So, I have two doctors who think I'm crazy.  I think someone might have snuck a "hypochondriac" label into my medical charts.  But, one doctor didn't even read my medical charts, I'm pretty sure....maybe the label is some huge, neon-orange sticker at the front.  One of these doctors is the one who I discussed the possibility of my adrenal issues being because of PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome).  According to her, I don't have any of the symptoms of the disease.  Never mind that Shark Weeks are always five weeks apart or the cysts on my ovaries that they've seen by ultrasound or the fibrous breast tissue.  I don't have it.  Onto the second doctor...who thinks my foot pain is all in my head.  She suggested I wear heel cups in my shoes to help with the pain and ice it or soothe it with a heat pack, whichever my little mind decides feels better.  That was her stance until she saw the x-ray, anyway.  Turns out my body has decided to mutate and turn me into a real, live cowgirl.  I've grown a spur.  On my heel.  Sounds kind of cool, right?  Unfortunately, it's incredibly painful.  Here I've been thinking it was just a bit of tendinitis or something.  Nope, my bone has sprouted a spur.  Fun stuff!  I'm trying hard to not let it hold me back.  I've added in yoga, thinking it would be a gentle exercise.  It would probably be, if it didn't irritate the spur and inflame it more.  But, I power through.  I do the elliptical for about 35 minutes.  At some point, that damn spur starts to send me signals.  I choose to drown them out with a steady stream of swear words in my head.  It works for a bit anyway.  That "Cowgirl Breakdown" thingy....that was me the other night, throwing a pity party for myself, crying over all the obstacles that keep being thrown in my path.  I didn't let it last long though.  I decided I just need to change course a bit....

So, what am I doing?  Well, I've been adding in a ton of veggies.  Cutting out the majority of processed carbs that I eat.  Adding in weight-lifting/strength-training exercises.  Eating  ton of salads.  In fact, I've been doing a whole lot of experimenting.  I've started buying mixed spring greens.  It's the basis for most of my meals now.  And then I throw stuff on top of it....a handful of grapes, some small chunks of fresh pineapple, small bits of fresh apples, strawberries, a sweet dressing.  Or...if I want something not-so-sweet...tomatoes, peppers, pepitos (high-protein and high-fiber seeds), avocado, and a vinaigrette.  My weight has bounced back up and I was feeling completely defeated.  I was snacking on naughty things and just wasn't putting any effort into it anymore.  Now, I'm going all-out.  Trying new stuff.  I've cut beef down to a once-a-week thing.  We're using ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I'm cooking with raw chicken, which I just really can't stand, but I'm sucking it up and doing it anyway.  If I happen to go out to eat, I'm making smarter choices....like salads from Chipotle instead of all the amazingly yummy rice.  The salads are pretty fantastic too though!  I'm determined to keep going and making smarter choices.  I've got to keep doing this and keep making those changes that help me improve my health, even if they do suck to make!

Okay, off to go check Lily.  If anyone cares to read...you have no idea how much the comments mean to me!  I could really use a bit of support with this and I need to get back to supporting others in the DOC.  I think it just might be the glue that keeps me together some days!

I'm still here.....

I promise I'm still here and all is good.  Or as good as it can be.  The adorable new kitty went crazy one morning and knocked my coffee mug over....all over the laptop.  This is the second time it's been hit with coffee.  It survived the first, but apparently the second was just too much for it.  So, no laptop means I'm not posting much.  I'm not on the computer much.  I'm busy making up stuff for Reyna and Tara to raffle off for their wonderful Virtual 5K (you can check it out HERE).  I've got a couple of fashionable spring/summer hats done up for them and a gorgeous scarf and I'm thinking of whipping up a few kids' items too.  I love doing stuff like this!

On the fitness front...I've learned some new stuff!  The gym we go to offers a CardioPoint assessment.  Basically, you wear a mask that measures how much CO2 your body puts out while you put your heart through a series of increases in rate.  It's to tell you what your optimal heart rate is for burning fat instead of glucose.  I signed up for it and made it through the brutal assessment.  Turns out I was working out way too hard to burn fat!  The wonderful trainer who worked with me on the assessment has given me a number of different workouts to do to help my body burn fat better.  She also gave me some key points of information....number one being that if you do more than 40 minutes of cardio at a time, your body starts sending out cortisol!  That's obviously not a good thing if you're wanting to lose belly fat.  So, now I'm back to working out at a lesser degree, adding in yoga in the morning and evening and doing my cardio in the afternoon.  I just started all this and I'm giving it a month before I bother with checking the scale to see if anything is changing (or more likely, the measuring tape).  I'm doing a bit of strength-training before the cardio to keep up my muscle tone too!

Okay, beasties are running wild and we need to head to the gym soon.  I'll have to get the camera set up on the desktop so I can post some pictures of my creations (living and otherwise) next time I post!

Blah! Getting back at it

I did it again.  I signed up for the 90-day weight loss challenge at Lifetime.  I'm determined to do it right this time and actually make some progress.  The lab tests from the doctor are all coming back normal with the only exception being my phenomenally elevated progesterone levels.  So I've ordered an herbal supplement that is supposed to help balance my hormones.  We'll see how that goes.  And, in an effort to make the most of the next 90-days, I've also signed up for a CardioPoint assessment.  Basically, I get to wear a mask for about an hour while I go through several levels of increasing my heart rate and at the end, I should know how hard I need to work in order to burn fat the most effectively.  I really hope this helps!  I've been to the gym twice in the last three days and have reverted back to using the elliptical.  I tried just doing walking.  I didn't like it.  I hate the treadmill!

Other than that, life is getting busy.  We have fundraising to do for Lily's preschool.  A Kinder Koncert field trip in a couple of weeks with the same preschool.  We're working on trying to open-enroll Lily into the same school district that most of her current classmates will be going to.  She attended her first birthday party for a friend this last weekend.  Oh, what a roller coaster!  It just had to be at an indoor inflatables park.  We're doing massive carb-boosting to combat a raging growth-spurt.  Lots of temporary basals to keep her safe at school and in child care at the gym.  It's amazing the hoops this disease makes us jump through sometimes!  And yet we all just keep plugging along.  We manage and we keep on going.  And just so you can all see how much they're growing, a pic of my gorgeous little beasties:

Oh, I love those little faces!