Good Riddance 2011

I don't know what 2012 holds for us, but I can only hope it's better than 2011.

Happy almost new year.

Today was a productive day. Erik's working on cleaning the office up, and we'll rearrange the office to make it more productive. I am getting my hair done tonight and that will help. Haven't yet heard about my lab results. And we signed up for the 5 mile run on New Years day.

It takes 30 days to form a habit.

And I'm only on day 10. Must keep writing, must keep writing.

I have an idea to do a werewolf themed stop motion animation. It'd be pretty easy to do.
Ingredients:
1. Corkboard
2. Cardstock
3. Pins
4. Camera

I'm going to go to Michael's today to get the stuff that I need for this venture.

I need to work on storyboarding the idea. And making the werewolves. :) And the viking houses.

We bottled our Double Honey Dubbel last night- I'm excited about it!
Oh, and we found out that our very first beer- the American Amber Ale- tastes just like Red Trolley Ale. Wooo!

Oh, how I love Jimmy Kimmel

I don't watch the show- I only really look at youtube videos of the good stuff- rather than watch the whole show. Which is late at night and I'm too tired to stay up.

Any who, I like his skits and I like the "Hey Jimmy Kimmel I did something that you told me to do and posted it on youtube" compilations. Like- tell your kids you ate all their candy. Or give your kids a terrible Christmas present. The reactions are hilarious.

Now- I'm wondering if the kids will be traumatized for life- I was reading another blog about Christmas traditions and I was amazed at how, for some reason, Christmas is always internalized and critical. Like- do you tell your kids about Santa? If you do, it's because you either had a magical childhood, or you had a traumatic childhood and you want to make sure that doesn't happen for you. If you don't, it's probably because you were disillusioned as a child and you now don't want your kids to feel like that.

I think I'll keep the Santa myth alive when I have kids. I also think that I'll enforce a 1 gift from each person for my kids- no need to go broke. Kids don't need 1000 presents, they only need a few memorable ones.

Starting the day off right.

Yesterday I ran/walked. Erik signed us up for the Los Gatos New Years Resolution run- a 5 mile run with hills.

Today, I started breakfast off with tea, and a veggie omelette, and fruit salad. I'm feeling virtuous. Let's see if I can keep this going.

I'm hoping it's quiet today so that I can go home early. We'll see what happens.

Day after Christmas

Had a nice day off work. Played 'Rock of the dead', which didn't have many zombies in it. Oh well. Ran this AM. It was neat to see the fog. I am out of shape though- I'm excited to see what happens with crossfit. Working on weaning myself off carbs and sugar. So far, with limited success.

Merry Christmas

Made it to today. Have been getting a ton of rest, so I'm doing ok. Erik and I are going to see the Clips play the Warriors tonight. Should be fun. And we are going to go on a short run today. I think I'll sign up for the Los Gatos New Years Resolution run. 5 miles, half of it uphill.

I made a good breakfast today- kale and mushroom frittata and bacon. I hope that starts me off on the right foot.

Vacation!

I've got a few days off from work this week and a short work week next week. I'm taking this time to get some rest, and see how I feel with more sleep under my belt. I have been getting 10 hrs of sleep the past few days, and I was still exhausted last night. We'll see how I feel Monday.

Christmas Eve Eve

Well, yesterday was better- wasn't feeling quite so tired- but then I got 10 hours of sleep and didn't have a long drive anywhere. Which was nice.

Today- holiday!

I'm going to go to the store, get Christmas dinner fixings, and make a turkey. Should be tasty.

I was looking at supplements last night- I need to up my vitamin routine, but I'm not entirely sure what to do and what to take. Things I know I need to boost up:
1. Vitamin C
2. Omega 3
3. Need to support adrenal function

If I'm anemic, I'll also need to look into what other supplements I need to take. Iron- but iron interacts badly with my blood pressure medicine.

So this weekend- we'll get on the paleo wagon, get started on that so when I start cross-fit- I'll be over the "I feel like crap" first week that every new diet has- caused by withdrawal from the crack that is sugar and carbs.

On a side note- someone recommended that I look into the HCG diet. I'd really love it if people recommended healthy diets to me. A 500 calorie diet a day will make me lose weight, rather rapidly. But I get really lightheaded and sick feeling when I eat that low each day. And that can't be long term and sustainable. I worry that a lot of my problems go all the way back to when I was a teenager and took phentermine- the upper portion of the phen-phen diet, not the downer. I lost weight doing that, but I have been on a yo-yo weight rollercoaster ever since.

Of course, I didn't know any better back then. I just always hated being the fat, ugly daughter. It's one of the things I love about Erik- he told me straight up that he thought I was more beautiful than my sister.

None of this really matters, though. All water under the bridge. But I am taking charge of my life. I know what works for me. Eating clean, NO SUGAR. I've got this sugar thing where if I eat even a little bit- I go overboard. It's my trigger. If I make it through this year, I'll be golden for the rest of my life.

Going Paleo

So this weekend it's Christmas. Yay Christmas! So I'm going to make a large paleo meal. Sweet Potatoes, Green veggies cooked in coconut oil, and a Turkey. I'm going to eat that all weekend, so I don't have to cook. And then I'll get a lot of paleo meals set up for ease during the week. Cut up meat into 5 oz portions, cut up veggies into easily cooked portions... it'll make things easier.

If I can lose a few pounds before I join crossfit, that's going to be better for me.

Could I be anemic?

Erik asked me to look at the symptoms for anemia last night, since the doctor was testing for it. I haven't gotten my labs back yet, so I'm hoping that I get those results soon. Part of me is hoping for a diagnosis- because if it's something that's treatable, then at least it's not because I'm fat and lazy and depressed. Anyhow, per Web-MD, yeah, I could have anemia. Mostly it'd be just a deficiency- like Iron or B-12. But. I am exhausted, I do get dizzy, and I have an irregular menstrual cycle. If my thyroid is out of whack, well, that's a symptom too. Oh, and anemia can cause heart murmers. So, January 24th I've got my echo-cardiogram, and hopefully in the next week or so I'll get the results from my lab work.

Of course, the caveat to all of this is that Web-MD typically says that "Oh my god, you're gonna die" to anything, so let's see what Real-MD says first. Trying not to put the cart before the horse here.

Feeling so run down

I'm a morning person. I'm *that* person, you know the type. The one that's annoyingly cheerful in the morning, the one that chirps "good morning, lookie, a rainbow! And Unicorns!"

Lately, though, I have been struggling to get out of bed, and to get going with the day. In the morning, it's two or three cups of coffee before I'm even remotely "well, at least it's not raining."

The Dr. is checking my labs to make sure that it's not a medical condition that's causing this. I'm looking at you, thyroid.

Possible non-medical problems: Stress. I'm under a lot of it. Depression. This move has been very challenging- it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Weight Gain. Yep. Stupid stress, depression, sugar.

That's why this new year's plan is so critical. I have to start spending time on me, and my health. Everything else has got to take a step back.

And you know, I'm going to go get a hair cut. That would help make me feel more together.

New Years Resolutions

I haven't been feeling well lately. I know why. And I know what I need to do.

Here are my resolutions for the new year. This blog is a personal record of how I'm doing.

1. Write daily.

2. No sugar. Sugar is my trigger. I don't need it.

3. Go paleo.

4. Join crossfit.

Here's my plan. I've found a gym that I'll join Jan. 9. I'll start Paleo Jan. 1st. I've got this blog.

I can do this. This year is going to be awesome.