Blog Changes

So, I’ve finally decided what I want to Blog about, and I’m joining the legions of healthy and fit bloggers. Yes, I’m finally going to commit to my health. I have started a new blog, One {Healthy} Change. Join me there for most of my blogging. I might return to this one occasionally for that random post I’m known for. I am really going to focus my efforts on this new blog. I waste way too much time watching TV and being sedentary. So I might as well be productive and blog after I’ve gone out and done something healthy for me!

And I switched to blogger. I’ve found it more user friendly for me, plus they have totally awesome backgrounds (which I’m sure to change as often as I changed this one!)

“what i want” wednesdays

WHAT I WANT…

is to be healthy:

• to get over this stupid pneumonia
• to not cough or hack my lungs out
• to not have people walk 10 feet away from me just because I’m coughing (hello, I’m not contagious!)
• to not wake up tired
• to not tire from walking up the stairs
• to get back into the gym and work my ass off
• to get back to my social life
• is this all really too much to ask?

is a great shirtdress for fall:

Ralph Lauren Shirtdress (image via Macys.com)

is a cute purse to go with the dress:

barrow street anabel by kate spade

love and honor

Today, I’m linking up with Lindsey at Running Down A Dream on a topic near and dear to me, FOOTBALL! I was so excited to see this as I haven’t seen too many other women’s blogs that talk much about football. I love football, I mean love it. From Thursday night college games (and even when they have Tues/Weds. games) all the way to Monday Night Football my TV is glued to football. I really prefer the college game, but the pro games aren’t that bad either.

So, who are my favorites? Well for college it is, of course, my alma mater, the Miami University RedHawks!

image via kentuckysportsradio.com

Yes, there is another Miami and it is in Ohio, NOT Florida. Oxford, OH is the perfect small college town and football Saturdays kick ass. Unfortunately, I live 2,199 miles from Yager Stadium so I do not get back as often as I’d like. I try to catch them on the road, but even that can be difficult. So I settle for games via internet radio, ESPN3.com, Miami All-Access, and the occasional ESPN TV game (that would be the Tues/Weds. night games I reference above!). So we don’t have a national presence like an OSU, Texas, USC, Florida, etc. but we have a great group of loyal fans and I am so proud to be one. I worked with the team during my undergrad days as a student athletic trainer, so my seat was always on the sideline. That was always the best vantage point, and it took me several years to adjust to watching a game in the stands. I was lucky to work with some of the best that Miami ever had, conference players of the year, NCAA record holders, and future NFL starters. I even spent some time working with this guy…

image via cleveland.com

(just in case you don’t know who this is, it’s Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers QB)

One of the highlights of my undergrad years was road tripping to Virginia Tech during my sophomore year. We got to see our RedHawks take down the Fighting Gobblers (I think it was 21-17). They were ranked #12 and we came in and beat them at their own game, a fake kick. I have a great pic from that day, but unfortunately it was a time before digital cameras and I don’t have a scanner to scan it in. You’ll just have to trust me on this one. Also in college, I took a course in football coaching theory. It was one of my favorite classes, seriously. While I have no desire to coach football, it helped to better understand what was going on on the field. It helped from an athletic training perspective to understand the plays, the moves, and the strategies. It was taught by the coaches at the time, and I loved every minute of it.

So here are a few images I’ve been able to find of me and Miami football (and some other college games) over the years.

COLLEGE DAYS

Me, Megan, and Leah prepping for the game

working hard during the game

the best ever student athletic trainers the night before a big game!

POST-COLLEGE GAME DAYS

tailgating at Ohio State v. Miami game...we shoulda won that game

Miami's O-Line wearing my company's knee braces!

Miami v. Northwestern, Oxford, OH 2006

The 'Shoe

At the Rose Bowl for a UCLA game

So, there we have it. I’m a huge football fan of my alma mater. People often ask me if I’m a fan of a bigger team, like an Ohio State or a Michigan. I’m not, I just am not that invested in major programs. Now don’t get me wrong, I still watch the games, and I love conference championships and the bowl games, but my heart will always belong to Miami. Love and Honor! (Miami’s Fight Song)

While I love living in San Diego, I really miss those fall football weekends of tailgating, cornhole, freezing our butts off, and drinking. Now, if only I could get that private jet to be able to travel the country to follow my beloved RedHawks!

feeling better

Well, I survived my first day back at work after staying at home all last week with pneumonia. And I made it, well almost. It was 3:30pm and my boss said, “why don’t you go home?” I replied, “I’m trying to clean up some old e-mails.” And he says, “Like I said, why don’t you go home?” So he left, and I followed shortly thereafter. So my boss clearly thought I had had enough for the day. That’s the beauty of my job, I can be flexible, just have to be sure I get my work done. And right now, I have a few projects that aren’t on my boss’s radar but are high on mine. But I still felt like leaving early today. I was just done, but not like wiped out. In fact I was driving home thinking that I should do short little 10 minute workouts until I get back up to speed. Maybe a little walking, a little biking, a little playing with the dog. So that’s what I’m hoping to do over the rest of this week. (I’m having some GI issues now, or I would totally start tonight.)

So tomorrow is another day. Hoping to take another step to getting healthy.

back to work tomorrow

After a week of battling pneumonia, I think I am feeling well enough to go back to work tomorrow. I’m a bit nervous, since I have been running a few small errands over the weekend, and I got so tired afterwards. I’m just hoping it is the residual effects of my illness, and not something else altogether (like just being lazy;) or eating bad for you stuff). So I’ll take the day as it comes, I know I have a lot of stuff to catch up on as last week was not the ideal time to be off sick from work. My boss was pretty understanding, but I was able to do some things from home. I know he can’t do a lot of stuff without me there, so we’ll see how backed up he is tomorrow.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got the energy for right now. I’m just going to focus on taking care of myself, which includes eating better!

missing in action

Kind of how my xrays looked...Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been sick. I went to the doctor and they took x-rays and I have, of all things, pneumonia! I’ve been just a little bit out of it.

When the PA I had to see said I might have pneumonia, so let’s go get xrays, I couldn’t believe it. I started thinking, will I have to go to the hospital? Really I’m not that bad am I? don’t most people with pneumonia have to go to the hospital??? Well, pneumonia in someone like me that’s fairly healthy, does not mean a stay at the hospital. Phew!(Yes, I’m one who always thinks the worst!)

Just an antibiotic and if I feel as thought I’m getting worse, I should see my doctor again. And to get chest x-rays in 4-6 weeks to make sure I’m all clear. So, I’m could have this annoying cough for a few more weeks, ugh!

What have I been doing since I got sick? Being a lazy bum, that’s what! My couch now has a permanent indentation, I’ve cleared out 50% of my DVR, and I’m officially sick of Jamba Juice smoothies. Oh, and trying to do some work whenever an important email pops up or my boss calls.

I feel like God might have been trying to tell me something with me getting pneumonia. I had thought that this week, the first week in August, would be a good week to take a vacation (a staycation that is). As it got closer, important work things were put on the calendar and I thought, ok I’ll just wait a couple more weeks. My boss has a trip planned that goes Thurs. to Tues. so I’ll take those days off, plus the rest of the week, for a total of 11 days off! I’m not so sure i can do that now. But I do still plan on taking a full week off, with no work responsibilities on me! Maybe just in September instead. Oh, back to what God was telling me. He was telling me that I desperately needed some time off! So I hope when I go back on Monday I will be at least a bit refreshed, not like if I had the full week off and I was healthy, but at least somewhat refreshed.

Ok, I’ve rambled long enough. I might do some periodic posts while I get caught up on life and work and friends.

weekly goals #7

{Sunday, July 24th – Saturday, July23rd}

I’ve sort of fallen off with my weekly goals. I’m not even going to review my weekly goals #6, because I don’t think I met any of them!

I’m really not sure what happened, I guess life just got busy. I haven’t recorded my food or exercise in almost a week. Maybe this past week was just loaded with too much to do and too much opportunity to screw it all up. So here I am, admitting I’ve fallen off track, but determined to get back on track. Starting now!

Eats

• track all food at fatsecret.com
• eat at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day
• at least 64 oz. of water a day
• stick to meal plans for the week
• no chocolate/ice cream/candy on during work trip
• limit liquid calories to no more than 500 per day on work trip
• try a new food (trying out Greek Yogurt, I know, I’m so far behind the bandwagon, but I’m not a big yogurt fan)

Activities

• 2 x RPM classes this week (Mon. and Weds.)
• Try Sh’Bam class on Tues. at 5pm
• Workout when I get back from work trip (one of my downfalls is to not work out when I get home, even though I get home early enough to fit some activity in!)
• Go to summer book study on Tues.

Spends

• Returns to Wal-Mart and Nordstrom Rack
• Exchange to Bed, Bath, and Beyond
• No eating out! (exception…during work trip, since it gets reimbursed)
• No spending on clothes, jewelry, music, books, etc.

Works

• Complete presentation for boss’ review
• Draft clinical message for product A
• Learn technical aspects of Product B
• Do a “last night’s dinner” blog post 🙂

And there we have it. I’ve got a lot to accomplish this week, but I’m pretty sure I can do it. And actually, my number one goal should be to print this thing out! I think that’s part of my problem is that I don’t remember what goal’s I’m striving for since I rarely look back at the list during the week (and I can’t get access to this blog at work).

Have a great week!

Listening: Cowboy Take Me Away ~ Dixie Chicks

opening day 2011

On Wednesday I took off work and headed with some friends to Opening Day at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. This is one of the biggest days of the summer for San Diegans, and I was glad to finally be a part of it! Over 46,000 people showed up. We luckily had reserved seats so it wasn’t too crazy in our area. I didn’t bet on the ponies, I’ll save that for my next trip there!

Really, Opening Day is a chance for the ladies to get dressed up and put on fantastic hats (think royal wedding, only bigger and crazier!). There were a lot of fabulous ones, and some not so fabulous ones. You can check out the San Diego’s paper photo gallery for a great selection!

Here are some photos of my day!

all dressed up and ready to go

the track

the ponies racing!

LA's fun hat!

LS and the yummy del margarita!

lovely ladies enjoying opening day!

(pardon the weird fuzzy last picture. my camera is on the fritz and wouldn’t go to the right setting to get this pic. i used picasa to “lighten” up our faces.)

All in all, it was a super fun day and I can’t wait until next year. I’m hoping to get a bigger group together and go all out! Plus there are after parties which are the real highlight of the day, but due to my crazy busy week, I passed this year. But they are definitely on my list of going to next year.

Now I get to check another item off my summer bucket list, yeah!

coming soon…

I haven’t felt like blogging all weekend, so if I get around to it, I’ll review my goals and make new ones for the week.

I also uploaded a bunch of new photos so my blog posts will be a bit more lively and colorful! And I’ll share a few more of my “last night’s dinner” cooking adventures.

I can’t believe the weekend is almost over, Sunday night came by way too fast (either that or I didn’t get a whole lot done this weekend!)

The scale moved back in the right direction on Thursday, phew! Still not to where I was before my birthday, but something more acceptable.

I’m working on checking things off on my summer bucket list: this week #5 gets marked off…opening day at Del Mar and maybe a few more.

Opening  Day is a BIG deal here in San Diego. It’s the first day of horseracing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Basically, you get all dressed up, put on a fancy hat, and drink all day. Here’s a preview of my hat for the big day! Watch for more pics from the day later in the week. (Don’t mind the poor camera quality or the lack of makeup I’m wearing, just focus on the HAT!)

My hat for Opening Day!

the scale is moving in the wrong direction

And I have no idea why! I’m up 7 lbs. in one week. I’m sorry, but that is just not possible, is it? I can understand 3 or 4, but SEVEN is just ridiculous. I was lower than I had been in probably 6 months, and now I’m almost back to where I began counting calories. Ugh!

Let’s look at some reasons as to how I gained SEVEN lbs. in one week:

• it was my birthday = more than a few drinks
• I had a work trip to downtown San Diego = lack of sleep, drinks, eating out
• Got home on Saturday, tired = bought Graeter’s ice cream and ate it
• Sunday = ate the 2nd pint of Graeter’s ice cream
• Guess I was feeling bad for myself with the ice cream eats
• Work outs = no gym time, but I did morning walks

So I don’t get it. 7 lbs. is an excess of 24,500 calories. I probably average about 2,000 calories a day when I’m not eating out, and burn about 3,000 without any exercise. Ok, I’m done with the math. I just don’t get the increase, grrr!

I guess the one positive out of this is that I have continued to try and track my calories, although I’ve gotten rather frustrated. Days and nights where I have to eat out I try to substitute something from the fatsecret database for what I actually ate. I try to err on the upper side of calories. You never know how much butter and oil they cook something in! However, when I drink a lot, I kind of forget to add up all the liquid calories. But really, 3,500 extra liquid calories a day, that would be like having 15-20 glasses of wine. (ok, no more math!) The only thing I can hope for is that I get back on the right track and the lbs. go back down. I need to refocus, get back to counting calories and increasing my workouts. I haven’t been to the gym for RPM class in a while. I think tomorrow I’ll attempt a lunchtime class.

Sorry for the rambling. I’m just frustrated. I don’t know if I’m bloated, ate an excess of salt, or my hormones are out of whack. I don’t want to make excuses, since I am the one who is ultimately responsible for my body.

Tomorrow is a new day and I’m determined to do things right. To eat for energy and fuel and to exercise to improve my mind and body.