Working hard, or Hardly working?

Have you recovered yet from your long weekend?  My wonderful students apparently have not, seeing as how I'm sitting here writing my blog instead of teaching.  None of my kids showed up for class today.  It's not like they have a state exam in a week or anything.  I know you're thinking that it's impossible that not a single kid showed up, but I was only supposed to have 3 anyway.  I teach in an alternative program (read:  all of the badass kids who have been kicked out of the high school attended by everyone else in the town).  There are only 7 of them in the program right now, but they can't all be in a room together at the same time, so we split them in half. (Read:  I wasn't kidding when I called them badass, and I didn't mean it in the "whoa that truck makes him look so badass" way).  And today the three who are supposed to be with me right now just didn't come to school.  So here I am. 

First of all, because it was just Memorial Day, and because I'm technically wearing my hat of English teacher right now, I am feeling the need to recommend a book to you.  You may have read it already, but just in case you haven't, you should.  It claims to be a work of fiction, "except for a few details from the author's life", yet it was written by a Vietnam War veteran and is so detailed and believeable that you are left to wonder exactly which parts were made up. It is raw, gritty, touching, gut-wrenching, and all of those other strong adjectives that you would expect to come with a book that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  It's about love, relationships, coming-of-age, and war.  Now go order it.  You will not regret reading this book. 

You didn't know that in my other life I'm a book
critic, did you?  Haha. I'm so not. 
But I have read a few good books in my day.
This is one of them.

Ok. Moving on.  On the health front, things are going fairly well.  I'm loving the new supplements.  Remember how I told you about my sleeping problem.  (As in, I wasn't sleeping at all because I was just never tired?)  Well, two weeks in to the new pills I'm popping, things seem to be changing for the better.  I've been starting to get tired at the very appropriate time of 10:30ish, and have been waking up around 6:30, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Thank you, Supplements!  Sleeping at normal times is kinda fun!

Additionally, the move away from dairy is proving to be a good one, too.  My nutritional muscle test a couple of weeks ago showed that I have an issue with my stomach.  But I've never had noticeable symptoms, so we didn't spend much time talking about it.  Well, I'll tell you something:  now that I've been away from dairy (well, mostly...) my stomach feels all kinds of new.  It's hard to describe, but I really do feel noticeably better.  Which is so weird, because I never thought I had problems before.  So anyway, I'm doing a pretty bad job here, so let's just leave it at this:  I have been cooking with and drinking either almond or coconut milk, have stayed away from all yogurt, have not really eaten a ton of cheese, and have avoided most other dairy.  And I feel healthier! 

Giving up dairy = good for me
Mozzarella cheese = impossible to give up

Moral of the story:  one little change can make a big difference.  TRY IT!!!! 

Here's a question for you:  (to which I'm asking begging for responses.  Don't let me down.)

What little change have you made that has made a big difference?
(Working out once in a while;  going meatless once a week; drinking more water; using sunscreen???? C'mon.. tell me!!)

Have a healthy day,

J

What I Love About Today

Dear Wednesday, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways:
1.  On my way to work today I rocked out to Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places". I knew that nothing could go wrong from that point forward.

2. It was almost 70 degrees and sunny by about 9 AM today. I drove to work with my window open.  Being in a bad mood while that was happening was impossible.

3. My baby boy is "pretend 5" today. He turns Real 5 in a few weeks, but since tomorrow is his last day of school, they celebrated it today.  Of course, I remembered at about 6:00 yesterday that I needed to make a birthday treat for him. Since I had dinner plans, I didn't to start baking until about 9:30.  But he's totally worth it.  So Wednesday, I love you because you are giving me a reason to eat a cupcake. And I love cupcakes. Especially ones that look like ice cream cones.

They looked even cuter with a little
gummy life saver on top.
But I have a 3-year-old.
Those gummies are long gone.

4. My pretend 5-year-old is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  He is funny, kind, thoughtful, and friendly. His name means "wise", and that couldn't be more fitting.  He is wise beyond his years, and impresses me every day. Happy pretend birthday, Buddy.

June 6, 2007. The day my life changed forever. (Yes, that's a tiny IV in his hand.  He was a pretty sick guy.)

September 2011.  Look at how handsome he is.

5.  Zumba.  I love Wednesday because of Zumba.  Tonight is the best class of the week. I'm excited to go get my sweat on.


6. I started my new supplements today.  I'm loving how much I'm learning lately about nutrition and holistic wellness.  I'm putting a lot of trust in my holistic practitioner.  I'm now taking fish oil, calcium, and something to help regulate my sleep cycles and help my food enzymes break down easier. I'll report back in a month to let you know whether or not I feel like a brand new version of myself.  Cheers to reaching optimal health!


That's a lot of good stuff for one day, right?  I hope you're having a day full of good stuff too.  And even if you're not, there's still time to turn it around.  Just turn your car radio to the country station and start jammin out.  Works every time.

Have a healthy day,

J

Girl Gone Crazy

I used to think that people were making it up- that "girl" issue that happens every month.  I seriously thought that people were using "that time of month" as an excuse to eat like a pig and treat everyone like a piece of trash.  And then, right after my second son was born, something very weird started happening to me.  Every three weeks or so, I turned in to some weird, freakish, alien-type version of myself.  I would randomly start crying for zero reason, freak out on anyone in my way, question things that otherwise made me very happy, and eat as if I'd never seen food before.  I tried to explain to Husband that I had PMS, but he didn't want to hear it.  No, Captain Rational instead made me feel like a complete idiot for not being able to explain what was going on.  Thank God my doctor is a woman. I now take both a calcium and a B vitamin supplement every day (well, when I remember) to even out my moods.  And so far they're working.  Well, they were.  I haven't remembered to take them in a while.  (Read:  I am currently a raging, hungry lunatic). Wanna hang out?

I have done a little bit of research and have found that PMS is a very real thing that affects 85 % of women. Bloating, cramping, fatigue, mood swings, food cravings... yep, they're all real.  (Wow, we are so attractive).

Here are some things that the experts say that you ladies can do to help ease the symptoms:

1. Eat complex carbohydrates (whole grain pasta and bread, rice cakes)

2. Avoid sugar

3. Drink a ton of water (more than usual)

4. Stay away from salt

5. Stick to a low-fat diet

6. Avoid stressful situations

7. Say NO to both alcohol and caffeine

8. Get enough sleep

9. Exercise

Seeing as how I downed a piece of pizza yesterday and some chocolate ice cream over the weekend, I'm finding it safe to say that I am CLEARLY not an expert.  (But how comforting is this:  those exact foods are craved for a reason- it's all related to imbalanced estrogen, cortisol, and serotonin.  Even though eating those things for the instant gratification is probably the worst thing you can do.  Sigh...) But I'm not letting my current state get in the way of my workouts- it was a nice sweaty Power Body class last night, and a Zumba/Treadmill session tonight!

Have a healthy day,

J

PS- Since I missed GSM yesterday, here's the condensed version today:
Goal 1- Don't gain 10 pounds this week.
Goal 2- Keep the crazy B*#&* somewhere deep inside.


The source for today's info:  http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56732