THE REALITY IS....

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The reality is...

1. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less food.

2. It helps if you exercise.

3. If you want to have a clean home, avoid creating piles of stuff.

4. Attack A PIle Today!

5. If you want to lose weight, you need to commit to a healthy plan.

6. If you are going on a trip, your mother-in-law will get sick so you can't go.

We are gong to see our younger son and his family tomorrow for 4 days. Looking forward to it, however,I took my mother-in-law to the doctor yesterday for a check up after a fall on Saturday. She has had a cold and cough also so after 3 hours of xrays and blood tests and picking up the anti-biotic, I finallly made it home. I have to take her back today and we leave at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. Sometimes I think the elderly do it on purpose, get sick that is when you are preparing for a trip. They don't consciously do it but I think they might be sick prior to the trip and stay quiet and hope it goes away.

Two years ago we had a trip planned to see the same son. We were at the airport all checked in when we got a call from Senior Home Health that she had been taken to the hospital. Got up, retireved our bags and left. No trip that year. Three or four years ago, we were getting ready to go to a conference and the same thing, hospitalization for a week. They put off telling us so that we can go on a trip but then things are bad, so they have to give in anyway. It's like waiting till Friday afternoon to complain of an illness so you have to go to the emergency room instead of getting a doctor's appmt.

So today I will get the results of the x-rays and see how she is doing. We ARE going on that trip. Later.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

NADINEL 10/14/2011 10:12PM

I know what you mean. They don't do it on purpose. But why do they (and we) seem to get sick at vacation time? PS: I am currently on vacation. LOL. And my throat is getting scratchy. Aaaarghh! Report Inappropriate Comment

BUGGYS 10/14/2011 7:31AM

I am chuckling a bit because when my MIL was still living, I swear she got sick the moment we even mentioned a trip. I remember taking my kids to camp for a week and my DH and I had planned to travel to northern Wisconsin to spend some time on a favorite lake. The minute we got home from dropping the kids off ( we were packing up our car to leave) the phone rang and it was the nursing home telling us that she had passed away! Of course we felt terribly guilty but still laugh because she did it to us again!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

FIFIFRIZZLE 10/13/2011 12:32PM

Awwwwww, no fair. Poor you. Maybe next time if you just don't tell mil it will be alright? Can you go in the trip and DH stay and take care of his mother? that way you don't both miss out. Comment edited on: 10/13/2011 12:34:30 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

RESTLESS LEG AND CPAP PROBLEMS

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Well, last week I got a CPAP machine to try out for possible sleep apnea. I snore, so hubby says and now that things are quiet, except for the gentle hum of the machine, he won't let me sleep without it.
Trouble is, I can't get to sleep quickly with that thing stuffed in my nose and around my head. It bothers me. Once I go to sleep then I'm fine for the night.]
Last night, I tossed and turned and finally took the thing off. I kind of drifted off but I was completely aware that my legs were kicking themselves silly. They would cramp and I would kick. Then I started snoring I guess and hubby kicked me to put that darn thing on. So I did and then I slept. I guess I sleep well with the air being forced into my nose but I'm just not comfortable with it.
There is a little disc that goes into the machine that records whatever is happening. So in another week or two, I will be taking that disc into the doctor to see how I fared. When I took the sleep study, I stopped breathing twice an hour but kicked my legs 99 times in an hour. Doesnt' that equate to exercise? My results were not bad enough to warrant my insurance company paying for the machine so I have a loaner to test it out.
The doc said if I would lose weight I would help myself. So maybe that is what I should do. Yes, we all know that is what I should do so why don't I do it? That is the question.

I have a lot of office work to do today and now I am groggy and not rested. Hope I don't make any mistakes. Later.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SPBEAR 10/17/2011 8:04AM

I have restless leg syndrome that sometimes affects my arms and back as well. Right now my dr and I are using prescription strength folic acid and vitamin B. I have slept ok the last 3 nights. Report Inappropriate Comment

DAP1313 10/14/2011 7:02AM

I was lucky to get used to the CPAP right away. Now I can not sleep without it. Hang in there because it really makes a difference. If you had stop breathing twice during your sleep study then I think your insurance should pay for it. When I did my sleep study, I stopped breathing several times, and my doctor said it had nothing to do with my being overweight. It fact my being overweight was a symptom of sleep apnea. Report Inappropriate Comment

GAILRUU 10/13/2011 9:11AM

Good luck with getting used to the machine. I know it is a life saver. Report Inappropriate Comment

NINAVEE 10/12/2011 2:35PM

My sister uses a CPAP. She has been losing weight and I told her I have heard losing weight helps with sleep apnea and if she loses enough, she might be able to stop using the machine. Well ... you would have thought I was trying to steal her puppy! She had a hard time getting used to it, but now believes she couldln't get along without it, sleep apnea or not. She swears it makes her sleep like a baby and she wouldn't want it any other way. She has schlepped it to Europe several times, as well as all around the US. It's a part of her -- a part of her she likes. So if you decide you need to get one, hang in there. It might take time but apparently once you get used to it, you'll like it. A good night's sleep is worth a lot! Report Inappropriate Comment

MROSE61 10/12/2011 1:03PM

It took me about a month to get used to the cpap. I always felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen when I first put it on. it really does make a difference in one's daily life to get good quality sleep. I have more energy, don't need to get up in the night and my husband gets a better night's sleep also. I'd say, it was worth the initial discomfort using the machine to get the benefits of it! margie Report Inappropriate Comment

A BLOGGIN' DAY OFF

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I skipped my blog yesterday because I was busy otherwise. Saw a client in the a.m., went to lunch with a friend, and had bloodwork done in the afternoon. Hubby cooked dinner. WE had kitchen sink meatloaf. I saw him mixing it up and wondered what the heck he was putting in there. He had added a jalapeno pepper and it was spicy but tasty just the same.
Business has picked up which is good because August was deader than dirt. When I get busy with clients and orders, other stuff goes by the wayside. Looks like I will be hitting my sales goal for the year and best year I've had in several years. So I am grateful. When people aren't moving to new homes or spending money on big trips, they tend to decorate their homes as they are sick of the 4 walls they live in. Thank goodness.

As a result, my piles haven't been attacked too much but I did go through a furniture catalog this morning and threw out duplicate photos of sofas and chairs. That is always a good feeling. Have to go now. Got another appointment. Later.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

COLEENCOLE 10/11/2011 3:04PM

Good news about the added business. Report Inappropriate Comment

THE CARROT CAKE

Sunday, October 09, 2011

We went to a birthday party yesterday where the cake was a huge custom carrot cake!

Lunch was served at 1:00 and we were really hungry by then. After I ate a second helping of delicious baked beans and potato salad, I waited for the cake. The Top left corner of the cake, 4 inches square, 3 inches high came to me. It was a delectable piece with oodles of decorated cream cheese icing dripping down the sides. It was deliciously moist and I ate it down to the last crumb and scraped the fork over the plate to get the last bit of icing. By the time I finished, my stomach was stuffed! Why did I eat so much? I don't usually overstuff myself but I was so hungry that's what happened. So I thought I would go over all of the details and describe the cake as it was eaten.

I am a visual person and we all know it takes a month for something to become a habit. So If I want to eat less, why don't I visualize myself eating whatever is cooking before it actually lands on my plate? I can visualize the size of the portion and how much of the plate it takes up. I can watch myself eating slowly savoring each bite as it makes its way into my mouth. If I did this while dinner was cooking, I might eat less because I would have already enjoyed the food. I also need to visualize myself eating slowly, slowly, slowly. If I finish eating before hubby does, then I have eaten too quickly and too much.

After the lunch yesterday I felt as if I didn't have to eat again. But our friends had asked us to go to the German Fest so we went and had sausage and sauerkraut and a diet pepsi. No cake or dessert for me because after that carrot cake, I didn't need another piece of anything called Dessert.
And then after that we went to the Fiesta de Italiano to see friends and the booths only because I didn't want to venture near the food tent. Came home and collapsed.

So I am going to try and declutter my food and concentrate on what I'm eating and try and visualize it as it nourishes my body. Oh, there is so much work to do when you are trying to get organized. Later.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

COLEENCOLE 10/9/2011 3:13PM

I love carrot cake, my fave. Report Inappropriate Comment

KASEYCOFF 10/9/2011 2:06PM

I think that's what Life Coaches really do - they help people organize not papers and files, but... Life! You could have a third career in the offing, y'know... Report Inappropriate Comment

ALICIA214 10/9/2011 12:57PM

The cake looks delicious no wonder you found it hard to resist.!! Report Inappropriate Comment

DECLUTTERING IS HARD WORK!

Saturday, October 08, 2011

I would put decluttering up there with exercise and weight loss. If you do anything for a month, it becomes a habit. First you have to make up your mind to do it! I think I've decided to attack the clutter in my home but it is a constant effort to remind myself not to put something down to deal with later. To keep my piles under control, I need to put it away NOW!
Kaseycoff was my first friend here on Spark and she's had to hear me grouse about not being organized, not losing weight, not sleeping, and not exercising. That would have to be a good friend to listen to all of that grousing.

I've always said that I am organized out of disorder, able to juggle many things and still have a mess to plow through. But as I age, I find that this disorder is making me crazy and it is harder to plow through. Case in point, I've been talking about cleaning off my desk in my office but it is still not done. And yesterday, while I was dealing with the wrong cushion cover for the chaise lounge, I drove myself crazy looking for my client's folder and trying to determine what the solution was. I just had that folder in my hands but it disappeared somehow. That effort was so frustrating that it convinced me that I have to do something about it, finally!

I think it is time to call in the refinforcements for help! I'll have to schedule a time for Cassandra, my organizing friend, to come over and help me with this filing. I just can't go through another year like this, or month, or day or week. Next Friday we are going away for 4 days to see our youngest son and his family so this is a busy week. But I'm going to schedule a date with her before the end of October. See, I'm giving myself at least 3 weeks to get this done! Cassandra can you hear me?

The good part of this is that it has taken the emphasis on food and dieting away. What a relief! This doesn't mean I'm chowing down. It means I've got other things to tackle first. And if I relieve the clutter, the diet will follow! Right? And the exercise too! Right? Later.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LHLADY517 10/8/2011 4:02PM

It's good you have someone to help you. Report Inappropriate Comment

COLEENCOLE 10/8/2011 11:59AM

If I lived nearby I would love to help. I am good at helping others declutter. Report Inappropriate Comment

FCARMICH 10/8/2011 10:10AM

From a log-time rat-packer, yes its hard! Report Inappropriate Comment

KASEYCOFF 10/8/2011 10:03AM

...and KaseyCoff sez 'LOL!' The reason we click is because we have a lot in common, thinks me! Report Inappropriate Comment

PJBONARRIGO 10/8/2011 9:50AM

It sounds like a good plan- better than mine, but I am working on it LOL Good luck !! Report Inappropriate Comment