kapachino

Category: health

  • My Return To Exercise: Wii Fit Plus Style

    Right before my miscarriage my doctor told me to stop exercising. Because two drastic health events followed that, I’ve been hesitant to start up again. But with a lot of rest, medication, and supplements, I’m finally feeling strong enough. There is a sprint triathlon in August that I’m shooting for, and I’ll start training for that in a couple months. Until then, I want to build up my strength and get back to my baseline of fitness.

    I mentioned before that the folks at Brand About Town chose me to be a Nintendo Enthusiast. I was extremely excited to find a Wii, Wii Fit Plus, and a book called The Triathlon Training Bible in the mail one day.

    Total score!

    I immediately hooked it all up, created my Mii, and did a body test. Then I started reading the book. This time, I want to have a thorough understanding of triathlon training before I begin.

    Last week when I had off work I decided that it was the day to begin exercising again. Due to my recent blood loss and stomach issues I’m at a healthy weight for me, one that I want to maintain, but I have lost all muscle tone. Here I am in my workout clothes for the first time in forever:

    I may or may not be wearing the shirt I slept in last night

    I thought that the Wii Fit Plus was the perfect way to ease back into working out, and it’ll be nice to have in the summer months when it’s just too hot to go outside.

    I started out by doing another body test. It weighs you, and then has you do a couple of mind and balance tests. I am TERRIBLE at the balance tests. I mean really. Terrible. Then based on a combination of your actual age and your performance, it gives you your Wii Fit Age. I did the body test three separate times before I got an age that I felt acceptable to display to the Internet.

    Much better than 38

    One of my 101 goals was to unlock all the exercises in Wii Fit, but the Wii Fit Plus doesn’t have any exercises locked. I am therefore editing my goal to read: try all the exercises in Wii Fit Plus at least once. I jumped right in a started playing around, although it was a little hard to do when I had this to deal with:

    Oliver needs to attend a 12-step program for codependency

    First I did a little jog. You don’t have to run on the balance board, you just hold the controller or put it in your pocket. I like to hold things when I run anyway, so I didn’t mind. Running in place is kind of awkward at first, and it works my calves more than I’m used to (which might be a good thing). I was sore for DAYS afterwards. It’s not a replacement for actual running, but it’s still a nice aerobic exercise.

    Awkward picture of me running in place, taken by my camera on self-timer

    Next I did some yoga stretches. One of the changes to Wii Fit Plus is that you can put together your own routines. So instead of just doing one yoga pose at a time you can kind of simulate a flow, although there is still some transition time.

    My ridiculous triangle pose

    And since I love to ride bikes, I tried this new addition called Island Cycle. You pick your feet up and down as if you’re riding a bike (but not really) and hold the controller horizontally to steer. You hit all the checkpoints and return to the starting point. It was fun!

    Wish I had a place to ride like that in real life

    The last thing I did was create a profile for my dog Cleo. I think it’s so cool that you can do this! (Works for kids & babies too.) Not only do you get to see a cute little puppy on screen that will show up in your activities (she followed me around when I was cycling), but you can track your pet’s weight. This is actually really helpful when you have a dog who is bordering on obesity and you need to know what dose of heartworm pill to give her.

    She's so cute!

    Looks a lot like her, don’t you think?

    Too bad you can't do the training with me, little Cleo

    So my goals are to do a body test once a week for at least 12 weeks, and try all the exercises once. I’ll decide which ones work best for me, and use those on the days where I can’t make it outside.

    Anyone else have a Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus? How do you use it, and what do you think of it?

  • a weekend like that

    Y’all. I had such a great weekend. I didn’t even realize how much I needed some time off where I wasn’t having my insides ripped out of me, puking my guts out, or recovering from either of the above, but I can tell you now that I needed it. I know because today I am happy, and I didn’t even mind getting up at 4:30 a.m. on Daylight Savings weekend to go to work. It was such a great weekend that I am about to relive it right here – not for YOUR benefit, per se – but for my own.

    After I got let off work early on Friday I unknowingly headed straight into a traffic catastrophe that put my commute home at 2 1/2 hours. I admit that my good mood faded somewhere around an hour into the drive when I had only made it a few miles. But the ease of driving my new car and a good audiobook made it bearable. I arrived awhile later, only slightly frazzled, at my in-laws’ house to meet my husband for dinner, and we enjoyed a meal that I realized was an exact replica of the one I ate immediately before I got sick a week ago. The fact that I did not, in fact, get sick again I took to be a sign of better things to come.

    After sleeping in on Saturday morning, I indulged in something I should be ashamed of, but am not:  Farmville on Facebook. Yes, I play it; I enjoy it because it is a mindless and soothing distraction. And did you know that there are more Farmville players than Twitterers? So I promise not to be annoying about my Farmville habits if you promise to just block it already and not make fun of me. Anyway, on Saturday morning I had some time and I made a lot of changes to my farm and now it’s pretty and yeah I can’t believe I’m actually still talking about this but that’s what happens when I’m in a good mood! I ramble!

    During this time my three dogs, who were quietly sunbathing in the backyard, suddenly went into an uproar. A stray dog had approached the gate, and they were beside themselves. They got so riled up that Cleo and Oliver transferred their fury onto each other and launched into a full-fledged battle, while Eddie stood by and barked. I know a person is not supposed to get in the middle of a dog fight, but my other option was to let them kill each other or at least injure one another to the point of very high vet bills. I hate to brag, but at this point I’m kind of an expert at breaking up dog fights. Unfortunately in my weakened condition I managed to stick my leg in the wrong place and ended up with a rather painful bite to the calf muscle. Don’t worry though! Not only am I okay, but we just kept the dogs apart overnight and they made up the next day.

    Next on the agenda was a couple of extremely satisfying errands such as picking up my Nintendo gear from the FedEx office (more on that later this week) and getting a new EZ tag for my car. The EZ tag lets you breeze through the tollways in Houston, and although I’m not in the habit of using the tollway unless I must, you can understand that I was dying for one on Friday night when I was stuck on the feeder road because I didn’t have any cash for tolls. The best part was that it didn’t cost me anything because I still had money left on my truck’s old EZ tag.

    Afterwards I met my sister-in-law for the much-anticipated pedicure, and I believe this sentiment sums up my feelings perfectly:

    Then David and I made good on a Christmas present we gave to his parents and took them to eat at Friday’s (the bruschetta chicken pasta was excellent) and saw “Shutter Island” which was an extremly well-done movie.

    After a lovely church service on Sunday morning a friend of mine told me she’s pregnant and I didn’t even cry! I allowed myself to feel miserable for just a little while, but then I channeled it and went on a surprising cleaning/productive spree that I hadn’t planned. In fact, I had purposefully devoted this weekend to NOT cleaning in order to simply relax, but it turns out that my idea of relaxing is doing laundry, sweeping and vacuuming the floors, shopping for groceries, washing my truck to get it ready to sell, and wiping down every possible surface in my home. I have to say that I don’t regret it, because a clean home is better than almost anything.

    David and I finished off the day by spending a couple hours doing our taxes, and let me just say that Turbo Tax is worth every penny. We are getting a rather large tax return, which is not only a blessing but a relief because going into it I had no idea what to expect. But it turns out that if you get yourself a mortgage, pay a ton of money in student loan interest, and give a lot to charity you get a bunch of deductions. When you look at it that way it’s not near as much fun, so I’ll just continue to think of this as free money.

    Why can’t it always be the weekend?

  • I’ve Got To Find A Better Way To Use My Vacation Time

    For one reason or another, my body is rebelling against me. It has a grudge, and it is taking its revenge – very effectively.

    Maybe I didn’t give myself sufficient time to recover from the miscarriage; I don’t know. Maybe it had some unknown effect on my immune system. What I do know is that I’m sick.

    Last week was a roller coaster of emotions. At first it felt good to be back at work and distracted, and there were times when I could almost convince myself that I was fine. Only I couldn’t shake the sadness that was underlying it all, and I realized I had become extremely sensitive. The smallest thing could set me off into a crying fit, and this became extremely embarrassing when it happened on Saturday at work in front of everyone. That night I kind of lost it, and I was dreading going back to work the next day.

    Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for.

    On Saturday night around 11 p.m. I woke up suddenly and all I could think was, something doesn’t feel right. It didn’t take me long to realize that my stomach was unsettled. I felt like I might need to throw up, but couldn’t. After a very uncomfortable hour (or two; I didn’t exactly keep track) whatever had upset my GI tract finally started to come out – both ways. Let me just say that I used to wonder how my patients ended up with diarrhea on the walls and in their hair. I don’t anymore.

    I spent the remainder of that night either huddled on the toilet or embracing it, all the while expelling every last ounce of fluid from my body. I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t keep anything down. When I started getting muscle cramps and my condition seemed to only be worsening, I got worried. Around 4:30 a.m. I had David drive me to the ER. For the first time, I was the patient.

    I think I was there for about six hours, during which time they did tests, gave me lots of fluid, and some precious IV Zofran. Everything came back normal, and the doctor told me I just caught a bad bug which could take a few days to resolve. Once I felt stable enough, I was discharged with a prescription for oral Zofran and went straight to my bed.

    For the rest of the day Sunday I didn’t move off my back. Even turning to the side made my stomach revolt. I got a few hours of sleep and woke up with a fever of 101.3, but two Tylenol brought it down. David forced me to drink some water and Powerade, but it wasn’t easy. We watched the Oscars from bed, and then went to sleep – me propped up on pillows because I was scared to lie down flat.

    I just want to interject here to tell you how amazing David has been to me. I know he is grieving too, but he has focused all his energy on taking care of me. He stayed with me the entire time in the hospital, getting no sleep himself. When we came home he actually cleaned the house, because he knows how much that means to me. Then that night he went on several different errands for me when I decided I needed something, and all the while taking care of our crazy dogs too. I can’t imagine going through all this without him.

    Today I feel much better, just because I haven’t felt any nausea. I’m on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) now, although a toasted bagel, banana, and applesauce cup was enough to fill me up for the day. I’ve only gotten out of bed twice, and each time I do I feel a rushing headache. And all those crazy hormones and emotions? They’re still there.

    I’m not very happy with my body right now. I’m not very happy in general, although I suppose that’s normal. I will be again, one day. Hopefully soon.

  • Friday Mash-Up

    Some randomness for your reading pleasure:

    ***

    One of my very best friends, Megan, is somewhat new to blogging. Well, the truth is that she blogged sporadically for awhile, and then stopped updating. So I took her off my list of links, which apparently offended motivated her. After some hearty encouragement on my part, she took it up again. She has assured me that she will be updating frequently, and she is a woman of her word. Basically what I’m trying to say is that YOU SHOULD BE READING IT. I don’t encourage just anyone to blog. Megan is a better writer than I’ll ever be; at once witty, inspiring, thought-provoking, and hilarious. She and her husband are currently living in Scotland for the year, and they are recounting their adventures here. Megan also has a travel blog, where she is retroactively writing about her journeys across the world.

    mandp

    ***

    You may or may not know that my youngest brother works stage crew for the Alley Theatre, which is one of Houston’s premier theatres. This is awesome because it means that we get to see most of the plays for free, and the others at a discounted price. I feel very cultured. Anyway, this week we saw the world premiere of Gruesome Playground Injuries with Brad Fleischer and Selma Blair (you may recognize her from Legally Blonde, the Hellboy movies, or Cruel Intentions). Both David and I liked it a lot, which is actually rare. I even heard David laughing several times. Afterwards we got to meet the cast, which was fun because the most famous person I have ever met up until now was Derek Webb (and I was too nervous to even say anything to him).

    gpiprodpage

    ***

    One of my coworkers introduced me to the website mygrocerydeals.com. It basically has all of your local grocery store sale flyers in one place, and it will e-mail you when a new one is available. You can browse by store or by category, create a shopping list, and print it or e-mail it to yourself. I love it and it has already revolutionized the way I shop.

    mgd-logo

    ***

    I got the H1N1 vaccine today. I did it because I am a direct caregiver to many people who are at high risk for contracting the virus; people who, if they got it, would get very very sick and perhaps not make it through. So the vaccine is more to protect them than to protect myself, because I know that my body could handle any kind of flu. I have to say though, I was nervous. For some reason my old fear of needles came back to me, and I was not feeling up to getting stuck. I think it’s because I’ve given two intramuscular injections this week, and both times I’ve seen the muscle quiver. It kind of gave me the shivers. Anyway, I looked away and barely felt the needlestick, although my arm is quite sore now.

    vacc

    ***

    I wrote most of this post early in the day, then forgot to finish it until now. I almost went to bed without posting it, and now I’m barely squeezing it in. I’m super tired. Good night!

  • A Bunch Of Only Slightly Related Things

    My morning has already been quite busy, and before I get on with the rest of the day (which will mostly involve cleaning) I simply must share with you these trivial thoughts.

    First of all, go on over and visit Lauren From Texas for her 6-month blogiversary! She’s having an adorable giveaway. Go ahead, go. I’ll wait. Now onto the randomness.

    Our dog Eddie hurt her leg last night trying to jump up onto our insanely high bed. She’s not putting any weight on it at all. We’ve been giving her children’s aspirin and trying to get her to rest. This has happened before, and after a couple weeks the leg got back to almost-normal. Here’s hoping it will heal up again without veterinary intervention (which is not exactly in the budget right now).

    Speaking of budget, David and I finally made one for ourselves and we’re starting in November. We’re getting serious about saving, people. I want to go to Scotland to visit my friend Megan, I want a new car, I want to have an emergency fund, I want to be debt free, and I want to be able to comfortably retire eventually. That means more cooking, eating leftovers, less eating out, no Starbucks, no random trips to Target, and no new furniture for awhile. I’m even getting crazy and attempting to make my own cleaning supplies, and other such things. It’ll be hard, but so worth it! Share your frugal tips or frugal living blogs, please and thank you.

    I rarely buy myself anything, but with the impending doom of tight budget looming I made one little splurge. I’ve been searching for a dainty little choker for awhile now that I can wear with pretty much anything, and that I can also layer it with other necklaces. I found it at Jeneri Jewelry. It’s perfect and I love it.

    DSCF2583

    This morning I forced myself to go run before it started raining. I was very impressed with myself not only that I actually went, but also because I ran the farthest that I have run in…well I can’t even remember. I have a 5k in a little over a week and I don’t want to pass out mid-stride. Also, I don’t want Maggie to leave me in the dust. When I set out this morning I told myself that the only reason I’d stop to walk is if I felt like I was going to throw up. That didn’t happen, and although I had to battle myself mentally not to take some shortcuts home, I’m calling it a success.

    After running I hurriedly showered and dressed and set out to meet my sister-in-law Vanessa and my nephew Lucas for their Kindermusik class. I’m not used to any kind of mommy or baby activities so it was a little strange for me, but Lucas (and the other kids, but mainly Lucas) was sooooo adorable and he obviously enjoys it. I love that little boy so much.

    nablo1109.120x200Finally, I’ve decided to take on NaBloPoMo this November. The only requirements are to sign up, and then post every single day for a month. This is one of my 101 goals, so might as well get it over with. It seems I usually post 2-3 times a week, so this will definitely be a challenge. Let me know if you’re doing it too, because I could use the encouragement and solidarity. I’m going to try not to fill it up with cop-out posts, but I guarantee there will be some of those mixed in. I’m making a little theme for myself though, which will hopefully yield some direction for me and some semi-quality writing for you. I’ll tell you all about it on Sunday, when the challenge starts.

    So that’s what’s on my mind, how about you?