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Tuesday Water Wonderings

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It is water because I’ve already had coffee. And water is healthy. You know of late I am all about HEALTHY.

Today the scale said 158.5 and I was so shocked I got off, reset it, then got back on again. Holy pounds-be-gone….I’m down 28 pounds!!! Only 18 pounds to go until I reach my goal weight. 28 pounds of fat, gone in 2 months time. If it wasn’t happening to me I’d be skeptical. Heck I was very skeptical when my friend took off her 93 in 9 months (she has kept that off 3+ years). My daughter-in-law is now down 53 pounds in 3 months.  Again and again success stories in our Facebook group and across the nation in other groups. It works.

I still have anxiety every morning when I go to pull on jeans, fearing they suddenly won’t fit anymore, becoming tight. But alas, they are getting too big again. I’m out of all my skinnier-me jeans, all too large. Time to go shopping soon I suppose. Until I hit goal I will shop at thrift stores, no sense in paying full price for something that won’t fit a month from now. And health coaching is going amazing. I love it. I’m going to start studying to make it as a certified coach next month. This is too good not to share and help others accomplish.

Yesterday, and today really, are testing my ability to stay on plan. Mom ended up back in the hospital and it was freaking me out. But I have noticed water is my new comfort/coping mechanism, so I indulged in extra water. I made it through the day without caving in to the desire to go jump in a pint of ice cream. In fact the thought of that made me ill. My sister made the dreaded error of eating a nice, sugary, fat filled cup cake one day last week after 6 weeks on plan and eating totally healthy, and it DID make her physically sick to her stomach for 48 hours. Several folks I know have experienced this, as once you detox from crap your body is not real happy when you introduce garbage to your digestive system again.

I’m taking on clients as a coach now, you don’t have to be local to achieve serious results. This is NOT a diet, diets have a start and end. This is changing your lifestyle, it starts but never ends and the results therefore will hold! Contact me and we can talk and see if this might work for you.

 

Helping Others Find Health

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3 years ago I began a new career taking care of our elderly in long term care and dementia/ Alzheimer’s communities. At 51 this took a serious toll on my body, the long shifts, being on my feet all day, bending, squatting and lifting. My blood pressure was at an all time high averaging 145/95 and even higher. 2 days of back to back 16 hour shifts and I thought I was going to drop over. I felt like a slug trying to push through my days and my left foot developed a case of plantar fasciitis that was incredibly painful. On top of that I was bouncing between 187 – 195 pounds. I knew I had found my heart’s calling in healthcare but I also knew something had to change before I ran myself in the ground.

B and A.jpgI had been following a friend’s journey to better health and watched her transformation from a very unhealthy weight with a multitude of health issues, down 93 pounds and to amazing health minus those issues that were making her so sick. My daughter-in-law then began her own move to better health and went from dragging through the day with 3 kids to energy and stamina and so far 45 pounds lighter. I knew I was physically ‘sick’ and had to make some changes so I reached out to them. My own journey began at 186.5 pounds and feeling physically exhausted and mentally fatigued. After only 40 days of making healthy changes in my life my blood pressure is averaging 115/65, my foot is no longer hurting, and I’m 21 pounds lighter. I have the energy of a teenager and plow through my days with stamina. I sleep solid and wake up refreshed, and I’m just getting started.

In my job I care for those at the end of their life journey, walking beside them as they are writing the final paragraphs of their life, trying to help make this time as wonderful as possible. My heart is in helping people and I realized I can help those currently in the early chapters or middle of their life’s book by becoming a health coach and helping them find some of the physical health changes they are seeking. If you are looking to make some healthy, life long changes in your story, I’d like to pay this gift I’ve been given forward. Please contact me and let me walk a journey with you toward a better life.

My Journey To Healthy ~ Day 33

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Looking down at my scale this morning I was SO excited. The number looking back at me from down yonder was 167.8! That is 18.7 pounds GONE FOREVER! That means only 27.3 pounds to go to hit my goal weight, I’m almost half way there! To say there was a bathroom happy dance would be understating the truth.

How do I know this is weight gone forever? Because I refuse to go back to the way I was eating and living my life. I am not returning to that sluggish feeling every morning, that mid-afternoon crash into sleepy and hungry. This is a lifestyle CHANGE for me, to a healthy mind and body. I went back and looked up my blood pressure records from before I began this journey, 145/96 is NOT GOOD! When I saw that one I nearly flipped out. Now? well today it was 117/59 and 118/72.  I also have to order new scrub pants for work, as the large are too loose and when I hang my walkie and pager on the pockets or waist I’m at risk of them falling down. I only have one pair of medium that I bought, accidentally, before this journey began. They were skin tight, but that is no longer the case at all. I’m wearing them to work today and they look GREAT!

I’m now beginning my journey as a health coach too, so I can pay this forward and help others. Let me know if you would like to hear more, 20 minutes on the phone could be the start of your major life change!

My Journey To Health ~ Beginning Week 5

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Do y’all mind if I do a happy dance? Like jump up and down, kick my heals up and squeal kind of dancing? THIS is a day of celebration for me. 4 weeks ago I began this journey all skeptical still about the hoped for results. My close friend Tracy had lost 93 pounds and kept it off for 3 years now, and my daughter-in-law was down 30ish at the time in 2 months (she is now down 42), but could I do this?

Well as of today I am down 16.5 pounds, with only 29.5 to go to reach my goal. But it is way more than just saying good-bye forever to the weight, it is about my health. My blood pressure was getting up there, like it as hanging around 140/90, sometimes higher. I’m in the medical field, I take vitals before giving meds, I know what that means and it isn’t good. I stumbled out of bed limping with plantar faciitis in my left foot, which was horribly painful for the first hour of my day. And my knees…I spend a lot of time on them at work, up and down changing Depends on my residents while they sit on the toilet, getting eye-to-eye level if they are in wheel chairs, and it took serious effort and agony to get up off them. I needed the bar on the wall as much as they did to pull up! Not to mention just feeling blah all of the time.

All that is changing now! My blood pressure has dropped to 119/71, pretty darn pleased with that! The plantar faciitis is GONE. No more limping around in pain 🙂 for this girl, and since I’m on my feet all day that IS awesome sauce. And those knees, I am up and down off them with much more ease! 60 pounds of pressure is off of them (4 pounds for every pound you lose) and I’m not having so much trouble with all of the up and down. Energy? Oh my, that of a 12 year old kid again, my coworkers accuse me of bouncing around like a ping-pong ball, I cannot sit still. I even can now wear a pair of jeans I haven’t been able to get past my thighs! YAAAAHOOOOO!

To think, I’m not even to the goal weight and optimal health yet, but I’m so amazed I’ve decided to become a health coach so I can pay it forward and share this gift of health with everyone and anyone who wants to know about it!

Here are my current before/after photos, and I cannot wait to reach my goal and post those!

170 pounds and loving life, living MY dream!

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My 2nd Shift Life

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When I started this job on  April 13th, I said I would be willing to work on 2nd shift until the new neighborhood opened in our community, then I’d move to 1st shift. That was great until I actually worked on 2nd shift for a few weeks and realized that this is like having 2 full days in one! Sure, I have the same amount of time awake in a day as if I were working 1st shift, but it is very different in how it plays out. I’ll explain.

Working 1st shift, putting in 8 hours right out of the gate, left me tired and not wanting to do much after work. I had 5 or 6 hours before bedtime but my job is physically labor intensive so I was wiped out and spent the rest of the day trying not to fall asleep. Usually I’d dose off while crocheting or reading. Writing a blog post didn’t even cross my sleepy radar!

Now I rise after 8 to 9 hours of sleep, have 5 or 6 hours before work to crochet, read, run errands, hang out with my mom, daughter etc, then I go to work. I tackle that physically draining job on the last 8 hours of the day, then come home and I am ready to sleep. No insomnia (my brain and body are ready to seek the sandman), and I sleep SO deep and restful. I accomplish so much more in a day that it feels like I’ve had 2 full days in one!

Having the mornings free means I can do a lot of things, like zoo trips, shopping, etc., before work. These things were usually pushed off to my weekend off (every other weekend). And I can make it to church every Sunday even though I work every other weekend because I have time to go in the morning before I have to head off to work!

This works well for me because I no longer have children to raise, they are adults with kids of their own. I know it would not work well for a mom of school aged little ones as they’d not see them much, but for the person of the empty nest it is ideal!

One coworker is moving to 1st with the new wing opening and wanted me to join her, but I just cannot see myself giving up my current situation. Maybe when all the weight is off and my health is back in line to where I have energy all of the time like I do now. But right now, 2nd shift works wonderfully for me!

 

Wine & Cheese ~ 1st Serving 2017

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wineandcheese2Most Wednesdays I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times. I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs. I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well. I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal. If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just search past postings. Sit back and join me now for a serving of some whine and cheese!

 ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

 WINE WHINE

😦  I know, I know, it has been WAY too long since I wrote a Wine & Cheese post! In fact I couldn’t find a single one from 2016 when I searched my archives….oops! So, since it was my most read post(s), I’m bringing it back!

😦  Figures that I’m off work today, because the past several have been beautiful, sunny days but not today. No, today it is overcast and spitting rain now and then. This is not making me very pleased.

😦  I was so hoping my new pedometer would arrive before I had to go run errands, but not yet.

😦  Seriously, I know that some things are not visible, and there is maybe a reason someone is parked in a handicapped spot that is not evident, so this isn’t about you. But darlin’, if you can park there, then walk the entire super-sized grocery store, mall etc, you do NOT need that spot. Or if you park there only to leave said person who does need it, sitting in the car the entire time you are doing the shopping, SHAME ON YOU! Some of us have to wrestle a wheelchair out of the car and get between our car and the next one to get someone out and into that chair. I get that some folks need it on one day and not the next, but if it is not the day you need it, or your handicapped passenger is remaining in the car, then please, find another spot so those who do happen to need it that day can use it!

CHEESE

🙂  Enough of that, time to smile! I’m celebrating today, it is #woohooWednesday and I have a woohoo! I’m down 14 pounds today, the end of week 3 in my program to take back my health! That means 56 pounds of pressure is OFF of my knees! I have energy like you cannot imagine, I can barely sit still! And it is all science based eating, no supplements/pills, just food!

🙂  I’m rocking this 2nd shift life of mine! It is like having two full days in one! On first shift I’d come home and be tired, didn’t feel like doing much of anything. Or I’d fall asleep while trying to do some reading or crocheting. Now I get 8 hours of great sleep a night, rise by 8am, have 6 hours to knock it out of the park with whatever I need to do, then go to work! I have a ton of energy at work, thanks in part to my new lease on health as I drop the weight, and I’m ready to sleep when I get home! I LOVE this!

🙂  My job..what can I say? I love working in health care, love being and STNA/MA-C and I love my sweet dementia residents! I never imagined loving a job as much as I do this one!

DESSERT

The struggle is so very real!

crochet-pattern-addiction

 

Thursday Shop Talk

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I’ve been busy the past few days making some new items for the shop.  I actually have more to get in to the inventory, but time is limited to spend time taking photos, cropping them and getting listings set up.

~*~*~ shop now at http://www.byhookandbyhand.com ~*~*~

New cup cozies and wash/dish cloths are now stocked in some bright colors for the spring/summer season, head on over and see what you think!

Also, between now and midnight, Saturday 5/20/17 you can save 17% by using code BIRTHDAY17 at checkout!

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The Plague Has Arrived

. A Day In The Life, Uncategorized . , , ,
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My daughter’s first find of the cicada infestation.

 

For whatever reason, the 17 year cicadas that hit our area have decided to grace us with their noisy presence 4 years early this time. I don’t pretend to have any scientific knowledge as to the why, and not certain the scientist/professor at Mt. St. Joe college nearby does either. He studies them and asks if you are in the greater Cincinnati area, that you email photos and locations to him at cicada@msj.edu to help him in his study.

Being that this is Cincinnati, it isn’t a real shock that this is going on, after all we’ve been known to have the heat on in the morning and the air conditioning on in the late day. One week, in January, we had snow, then warmth, thunderstorms and tornadoes, then back to snow. Yes, in a one week period. We do weird here very well.

While incredibly creepy looking, they are harmless. They do not bite and pretty much all they do is provide a great deal of deafening noise with their little mating calls, and food for birds. It does freak one out if hit in the head as they fly past, and they seem to really lack navigational skills because you will frequently be dive bombed. And they are EVERYWHERE in the areas they emerge.

As a child, I was deathly afraid of them, but my brothers found them rather fun to play with, pulling off wings before squashing them. As an adult I was known to learn who was afraid, then catch them and put them in their office while they were at lunch. The unsuspecting victim always assumed it came in on their clothing. As a child of 4 years old, my son and his buddy across the hall in our apartment building would catch them and feed them to his friend’s piranhas. This was a source of endless amusement to them both.

Catching them is very simple, just pinch their wings together and pick them up. But be prepared as they will try to fly free, causing a strong vibration in your fingers and if you aren’t anticipating it you will let go on impulse.

My yorkie, Penny, when she was alive for one infestation, used to try to sneak them into the house to play with, but her mouth was so small we’d see the little legs wiggling out the sides. I admit, I look forward to letting one in the house to see how the cats deal with it, supervised of course.

Some folks in these parts actually eat them! Cooked, chocolate covered, even raw. BLAH! No thank-you I believe I will pass on that, um, delicacy.

So, as they are beginning to emerge, it will only get way worse before it gets better!

 

My Journey To Health ~ Day 7

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I’m SO excited! Today is day #7 of my journey and this morning I was down 7.1 pounds. On day 4/5 you enter fat burning, which is awesome because those pounds of lard have got to go! Today I moved 7 diamonds over to the Pounds Gone Forever wine glass, only 39 are left and I’m not stopping. This plan truly is great and if you stick to it, it does work. I’m so stoked that once I get further along I’ll be working to become a certified health coach myself, this is the best I’ve felt in years. And I felt good!

I get to eat amazing, healthy food on this too, like zucchini boats with shrimp…7oz of said shrimp which left me stuffed!

boats.jpg

What is not to love about this?

Last night one of the nurses had brought in $3 a piece cookies that were huge, loaded with caramel and brown sugar and I had zero temptation. I looked, contemplated my health and goals, smiled and said, “no but thanks so much for offering!” and moved right on by. Cookies in the break-room, same thing, just didn’t have a desire to reach for one.

Want more information? I will hook you up with my health coach, my wonderful daughter-in-law, she is down 37+ pounds in 2 months and has just 22 to go until she reaches her goal. Doesn’t she look fantastic?

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My Journey To Health – Day 5

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It is Day 5 and I’m feeling fantastic! On Thursday I’ll be posting my weight loss, but I’m here to tell you that I already have been on the scale and lost over 5 pounds so far. I’d say it was all water, but I already was a huge water drinker so I doubt that it can be said it is all from water leaving me!

My daughter-in-law, who is my coach and one of my inspirations, has lost 37.5 pounds in 2 months time. I LOVE THIS! And my friend lost 93 and has kissed it good-bye forever, 3 years ago now.

My goal is HEALTH, and losing some weight. So, inspired to use a visual like my daughter-in-law has done, I made one, and every week on weigh day I will post a picture of my diamonds making their transition from one glass to the other. My goal in getting healthy is to get all 46 diamonds to the other side and KEEP THEM THERE!

glasses of diamonds