Pencil Thin

You may have read my previous post where I lamented about not seeing any results from my extensive workout regimen. I have been working out every SINGLE day of the week since early April and the scale has only inched down ever so slightly. In that time my clothes have gotten considerably looser and my body more defined but truth be told I am a scale “junkie”. I need to see movement on the scale to keep my motivation level at its peak. Today, after a long hiatus from weighing myself, I succumbed to my insane urge to weigh myself and step aboard my very high tech implement of torture. What I saw made me feel as good as if I had just won a membership at a vacation international points club! I now weigh less than before I became pregnant with my son.

Any mommy out there can appreciate what I am feeling because it means that I am no longer carrying around “baby weight”. There is just something about breaking past that last five pounds of maternal girth, most of us are gifted from pregnancy, that feels like you truly have accomplished something. This makes my next fitness goal finally seem attainable. I was starting to think I was the only person in the world who could work out regularly and watch my diet and not loose an once of weight!

In the beginning God created the heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Devil said, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit,” and God saw that it was good. And the Devil said, “There goes the neighborhood.”
And God said, “Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth.” And so God created Man in his own image; male and female did He create.
And God looked upon Man and Woman and saw that they were lean and fit.
And the Devil said, “I know how I can get back in this game.”
And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
And the Devil created McDonald’s. And McDonald’s brought forth the 79-cent double cheeseburger. And the Devil said to Man: “You want fries with that?” And Man said: “Supersize them.” And Man gained 5 pounds.
And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair. And the Devil brought forth chocolate. And Woman gained 5 pounds.
And God said, “Try my crispy fresh salad.”
And the Devil brought forth Ben and Jerry’s. And Woman gained 10 pounds.
And God said, “I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them.”
And the Devil brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained 10 pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.
And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
And the Devil brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained another 20 pounds.
And God said, “You’re running up the score, Devil.”
And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
And the Devil peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And the Devil created sour cream dip.
And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol. And the Devil saw and said, “It is good.” And Man went into cardiac arrest.
And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.
And the Devil canceled Man’s health insurance.
Then God showed Woman how to peel the skin off chicken and cook the nourishing whole grain brown rice.
And the Devil created light beer so Man could poison his body with alcohol while feeling righteous because he had to drink twice as much of the now-insipid brew to get the same buzz. And Man gained another ten pounds.
And God created the life-giving tofu.
And Woman ventured forth into the land of Godiva Chocolate and upon returning asked Man: “Do I look fat?”
And the Devil said, “Always tell the truth.” And Man did.
And Woman went out from the presence of man and dwelt in the land of the divorce lawyer, east of the marriage counselor.

Author Unknown

Today was the first day since the weather started to warm that our temperatures broke into the 90s. This was a bit of a shock to my system after months and months of cold and damp weather. I got to thinking as my children splashed about in the pool what exactly were the signs of heat exhaustion? This is what the consensus seems to be~
Although partly due to exhaustion — and feeling like exhaustion, as the name implies — heat exhaustion is also a result of excessive heat and dehydration. The signs of heat exhaustion include paleness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fainting, and a moderately increased temperature (101-102 degrees F) which, in this case, is not truly a fever, but caused by the heat. Rest and water may help in mild heat exhaustion, and ice packs and a cool environment (with a fan blowing at the child) may also help. More severely exhausted patients may need IV fluids, especially if vomiting keeps them from drinking enough.

Obviously you should do everything you can to avoid getting sunburned given the increasing rates of melanoma but when it does happen these are a few home remedies that might prove relieving:
Aloe Vera Gel
For sunburn there is nothing better than aloe vera gel; it is antibacterial and deeply healing for burns in part because of aloectin B, which stimulates the immune system. Aloe vera gel is used in hospitals for burn victims. Aloe Vera comes from the aloe vera plant, and the gel may be squeezed from its leaves, or you can buy pure aloe vera gel as a product in most health food stores.

Vitamin E Cream
One of the antioxidants, vitamin E creams, ointments and oils, can help heal sunburn damage and shorten its effects.

Increase Your Vitamin C
Another antioxidant, increasing your vitamin C intake while sunburned will help you heal.

Black Tea Sunburn Soother
The tannins in cool black tea will help sooth a sunburn.

Baking Soda Bath
Have a cool bath to which 1/2 a cup of baking soda has been added.

Calendula Creams
Calendula is one of the most healing plants. The flowers are emollient, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antiviral. They are immune system stimulants and rich in carotenoids. Look in your health food store for calendula creams and ointments.

Avoid Petroleum jelly, as it will hold in the heat.

A friend of ours sprained his ankle at our church softball game this weekend. It seems everyone has a different opinion of how best to care for this type of injury. I decided that should this happen to one of us again someone should know exactly what the proper care of this type of sports injury involves. My research concluded that the recommended treatment of a sprain is:

* Apply ice to the injured joint during the first 24 hours. Place ice in a plastic bag and separate it from the skin with a thin towel. Hold it against the joint for up to two hours at a time, either constantly or intermittently, depending on your ability to tolerate the cold. Continue the ice treatment at two-hour intervals for 24 hours while awake.
* After 24 hours, you may switch to heat.
* To use heat either soak the joint in warm water or apply heat for 15 minutes every two hours or whenever possible. Do not apply heat during the first 24 hours. It may increase bleeding and swelling and may prolong the healing time.
* Compress with an elastic (Ace�) bandage.
* Whenever possible, elevate the joint (especially while sleeping) so fluid can drain and decrease swelling.

In previous posts I noted that about two and a half months ago I became dedicated to working out. This was a fairly easy choice to make knowing that at long last our family is complete and at long last my body is mine again. In this period of time I have slowly begun to see definition to my arms and legs. My clothes are fitting much better with the exception of one problem area. If I could I would get liposuction for my entire mid-section and cut to the chase. It is so frustrating to see everything else firming and toning up except my stomach.

The reality is that I am probably going to have to devise a very targeted workout plan if I am going to see any results on my own. Everything I read suggest that I really need to add a strength training component to my workouts. Yoga and Pilates also seem to boast good results for toning the entire body or targeted areas. These are the three best ab exercise as indicated in a recent study:

1. Bicycle maneuver
Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head. Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Breath evenly throughout the exercise.

2. Captain’s chair
This was one of the few on the “most effective” list that involves gym equipment. Start with legs dangling and slowly lift your knees in toward your chest. The motion should be controlled and deliberate as you bring your knees up and return them back to the starting position.

3. Crunch on an exercise ball
Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll back slowly and lie back until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees. To work the oblique muscles, make the exercise less stable by moving your feet closer together.

My big worry now is that what I am seeing is excess skin or something that is not going to change no matter how hard I work out. This would lead me to give strong consideration to surgical intervention. I supposed only time will tell.

My Mother was recently determined to have very high cholesterol. Given the generally good status of her health she initially disregarded her physician’s advice to take steps to control her cholesterol. Subsequently at her follow-up appointment when her levels had failed to improve she was placed on medication to work in conjunction with the dietary changes she was being advised to make to lower her cholesterol. To find out more about her medication I visited the pharmaceutical companies informational site. Contained on this site is a wealth of information about the medication, general cholesterol information, and also a link to the In addition to the information I gleaned from this site and others I was able to really offer my Mom information she could use to understand why addressing her cholesterol is so important.

Did you know that:

Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease.

There are a number of impact that high cholesterol can have on a person’s health and well-being but for my Mom this really provided an incentive to serious changes to her lifestyle.