What a Month- can I call a do over?....

Wow- what a month.
Things kind of came to a halt when I had two medical issues rear their ugly heads.

The first week of June had me sidelined by a sneak attack of Diverticulitus  . If you've never been subjected to this consider yourself lucky. Talk about throwing a wrench into things.

I had to start restructuring my diet which had become a nice balance of well developed, well rounded meals with nutritious high fiber snacks such as: raw veggies, nuts, seeds & fruits like strawberries.

Wanna take a wild guess at what I had to take off my meal plan list? You guessed it, all of those wonderful, easy, fiber filled , protein enriched goodies that are easy to throw in a lunch box and go.

Once again, my 30's and the ever changing flora and fauna of my internals have thrown me a surprise party that I really could have done with out!

needless to say all blogging production came to a stop as I convalesced.

I have a back log of reviews and posts to tend to, which I WILL GET TO! Really I swear it, just let me crawl through this recent mine-field of medical emergencies!

While recovering from tummy issues I had my latest battle with PCOS . If you're unfamiliar with PCOS, please familiarize yourself with it as it affects up to 10% of women of childbearing age and is responsible for 70% of infertility issues!


I've been diagnosed with PCOS since my late 20's , but it's been a struggle to really figure out what that means. PCOS or  Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is:

[ PCOS is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, also known as Stein-Leventhal Syndrome, and is one of the most common hormonal endocrine disorders in women. PCOS has been recognized and diagnosed for seventy-five years. There are many signs and symptoms that a woman may experience. Since PCOS cannot be diagnosed with one test alone and symptoms vary from woman to woman, PCOS has been known as the “Silent Killer”. Early diagnosis of PCOS is important as it has been linked to an increased risk for developing several medical risks including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Many women may experience weight gain or obesity, yet there are others who may be very lean. Multiple cysts on ovaries in a "string of pearls” pattern is also an indicator for PCOS. In addition, this hormonal imbalance can cause Insulin Resistance, which is also a prime indicator that you may have PCOS. Women suffering from PCOS may experience high testosterone levels, which cause other signs and symptoms such as Hirsutism (excessive hair growth), male pattern baldness and acne. This high level of testosterone can also prevent the ovaries from releasing an egg each month.] - from PCOS.org

However, it means something a little different in each woman who has it.

  For me it means: Fertility issues & never having a regular period. I often have terribly heavy periods that either happen once every few months, or periods that are constantly happening with an occasional break.

This is interlaced with rupturing cysts or excruciating pain in my lower back and legs. It also means digestive issues, facial hair, high cholesterol, high blood sugar levels, difficulty loosing weight and....increased stress.
 Now, not only do the symptoms cause stress, but the simple fact that many women with PCOS have a malfunctioning production of a hormone that your body releases to help cope with stress, instead it releases more testosterone which actually increases your stress levels and furthers to deplete your immune system.

Personally this has left me with a very tired and run-down immune system. I'm very susceptible to infections and viruses. I get any bug that's going around. Taking anti-biotics with steroids further depletes my system and over all makes life very difficult from time to time.

My mission as of late has been to reduce stress and I'm on a good path.  A good work out and better eating habits surely help. I've out of the gym for a little over two weeks know and I can really tell the difference in my body. More aches and pains, less energy- the whole sha-bang!

I'm antsy to get back, but I'm trying to make sure I'm not going to pass out on the gym floor.

I had two cysts rupture last week, this caused extreme pain and blood loss. I felt as though I had a uterus filled with broken glass- not fun, as you can imagine.

That paired with the effects from the antibiotics I had been on caused a whirl-wind of digestive issues which currently have put recovery on stand-by.

After some research I found a good probiotic that should help. I'm on that now and will post reviews in a week or so.

Well, hopefully this explains my recent absence.

More to come-

J.D.

Quick Post: Fur Baby and first 5K!

While I have some tweaking to do on a couple of posts before they're scheduled, I thought I'd let you know how my weekend is going thus far.

Friday I came home from work to find that my hubby was home early! -YAY!
...but, he informed me that our elderly cat had lost the use of her hind legs.

She's had a myriad of health issues lately and the vet bills are crazy. There was just no way that I could afford to take her in again.

We did monitor her for a while and other than not being able to put weight on her back feet she seemed fine. She wasn't lethargic, still had an appetite and was dragging herself to come see us.

 We made a pack a few months back that although she's really getting up there in age, we are not considering putting her down until we see her quality of life change dramatically. After all, she's our fur baby! Much of the day revolves around taking care of her, and I'm fine with that. She's such a sweetie.

So, I did what any other Mom would do, fur baby or not...set out on a mission to fix the issue. I searched on the net for a few hours and determined that most likely this was not related to a serious health issue. Her circulation seemed fine and if we put pressure on those legs there was still resistance.

I wanted to treat it like inflammation or strain. Off to the natural food market we went where we found a natural Liquid treatment for rheumatic/joint care by Newton Homeopathic for pets.

We started on her drops Friday evening and noticed that in a few hours she started putting more weight on her back legs. She couldn't stand up on her own, but was putting more pressure on them.

Although I wasn't completely satisfied, I was willing to hear out the hubbs when he suggested that we continue with our plans for the following day- RE: Our First 5K!


I was still a little uneasy about leaving her alone for a couple of hours. To ease my mind we decided to confine her to a smaller space where all of the necessities were near by. By Saturday Morning she had at some point climbed in and out of her box to do her biz, which meant continued progress.

Now, full steam to the 5K!
We signed up at the last minute because we got a deal from living social. The hubs really wanted to try a fun 5K run/ walk and this was a color run being put on by charity bomb. Unfortunately,BOMB was the operative word here.
There was little actual information on their web page for the event, which I thought was a little odd., but what the hell it was half price!

I really wanted to attend an official COLOR RUN put on by: THE COLOR RUN, but had gotten my wires crossed and ended up signing up for the knock -off event.

We spent over an hour just getting to park. There was also a biker event going on at the same location and traffic was a night mare with NO ONE controlling it! Once getting in and PAYING TO PARK we learned you had to WALK HALF THE COURSE TO GET TO REGISTRATION!

OMG! seriously? My trainer also signed up and wanted to meet up with us. She's such a sweetie and although she could have ran the course and smoked us both, she decided to walk it with us!

When we finally got to the registration area the line was almost a mile long. This was promised to be the hottest day in the OC thus far and there was no relief from the sun @ this event.

Even after putting SPF 100+ Sport  spray, yes they make it- see!

 I still got the worst sun burn on my shoulder!...And after another hour to get our number flags we FINALLY where able to start.
By the time we got to the second COLOR STATION they were OUT OF COLOR!I ask, how do you run out of color on a COLOR RUN  after the first heat?  @ 11/12 pm the temp was already in the mid 90's F and with zero shade the sun was brutal!

Honestly the best part was getting to chat with my awesome trainer and knowing that she's really there with me to help me through this journey. Although she's practically young enough to be my kid, she's very intelligent and has an old soul!

As we happily rounded the corner where we remembered seeing the water station we noticed that they were turning people away- THEY RAN OUT OF WATER ! Really?, on the hottest day of the year so far in direct sunlight, after the first heat with about 4 more to go? OMG!

It was also about then that the medications I've been on let me know that my race day was over. My vision blurred, my balance was challenged and I felt light headed. I made it to the last color station back near the parking lot and once it was determined that I had indeed already walked 5K I called it a day!

I didn't sign up for a 7K and there was no way I was dragging myself back though the course to walk through the "Official" finish line only to double back again to go home?! No- thank -you!

I thanked my trainer for being there and sticking it out with me. We found our car in the sea of dust and motorcycles and then promptly sat in traffic for another hour trying to get out- What a mess!
I hope there were no serious medical emergencies yesterday, as I don't think they could have handled such a thing.

Lessoned learned we made it home, I made it into the shower to cool off and low and behold the cat was walking again. She was still a little wobbly, but so much better! This morning she has continued to improve, my sunburn is healing with help from our trusty aloe plant and all in all it's shaping up to be a lovely Sunday!

Toodles-
J.D.

Operation -B.Y.C.Z. #2

#2 on the path to broadening that comfort zone? This was my favorite!

Give yourself permission to have some focus time... on you!

This was a tough one for me to come to grips with. Like a lot of you out there we often put others before us, but by doing this are we helping or hurting others?

I started on this particular part of the journey by getting myself a membership to Massage Envy !

This was seriously one of the best things I could have done ! Not only was it a gift to myself, it was also a gift to my husband. When you are stressed and run-down it often rubs off on your other half.

I don't thing I realized how much stress he was carrying over my deteriorated health. He purchased a few gift cards for Christmas a few years back, but I never used them. After one session with my now massage therapist I was hooked! I signed up for a full year that night and it's been a gift to us both ever since. It seems like such an indulgence that I failed to see how therapeutic it actually is.

 My massage therapist specializes in cranial sacral massage . It's a non-evassive way to relieve the stress and tension in the bones of your head, spine & sacrum. I found it not only relived stress, but some chronic pain that I had experienced.

It works perfectly with my work outs. I've learned a lot about alignment and things that I can do before and after my work-outs to lessen the stress on my body while my muscles build memory. Now I have two wonderful Ladies that are on my "Team". I'm more educated than I've ever been and that will only strengthen my resolve to continue!

Stay tuned for #3

J.D.

Celebs Rockin' their 30's!

I made an interesting discovery today-
 There are some amazingly stunning women in the lime light rockin' their 30's!

Some I knew, and some I was a little shocked! I'm going to post my top 10 and you tell me what you think...


1) Charlize Theron
Born: Aug 7,1975

2) Claire Danes
 Born: April12,1979

3) Isla Fisher
Born: Feb 3,1976

4) Alyson Hannigan
Born: March 24,1974

5) Christina Hendricks
Born: May 3,1975

6) Alicia Silverstone
Born: Oct 4,1976

7) Drew Barrymore
Born: Feb 22,1975

8) Kate Winslet
Born: Oct 5,1975

9) Anne Hathaway
Born: Nov 12, 1982

10) Elizabeth Banks
Born: Feb 10,1974

These were my picks, but the list roles on. Seriously, these ladies are holding their own and giving the 20-somethings a run for their money ! I'm inspired to keep on rockin', how about you?

Til Next time-
J.D.

Quick Post : Meh days...they're bound to happen...

I have to say, Life has been on a pretty good roll of "ups" I guess I'm bound to have a "down" day here and there. Unfortunately it seems like a pendulum, my life tends to swing from one extreme to another.

So how do you bring about balance? I guess part of of bringing balance is accepting that now and again you're going to have a MEH day. One of those days where it's just better to settle in, find a good book, open up Pinterest or find a favorite show to "marathon" on T.V.

Today is one of those days folks, or should should I say yesterday night into today?

I had a perfectly lovely weekend. I spent some time with the hubbs and my sister, painted my nails, watched  {Big Bang Theory} and had a very chill time of it!  Yesterday I decided to splurge on some fantastic gelato that just happened to have some whole espresso beans in it.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered I have Diverticulosis . It's incredibly painful and makes it necessary to cut out certain foods that are more difficult for your system to digest. Apparently Espresso beans need to be added to the list! :-(

An otherwise lovely day turned into a terrible evening of tossing, turning and drug induced half sleep. Eventually the cramping stopped, but the feeling of being kicked repeatedly in the gut remains...henceforth the MEH day I'm experiencing today. 

So far I've taken a long bath, had a semi marathon of {Gidget} on T.V. Land and now I'm catching all of you up on this quickie post.

So, what's my point to this post? Well, besides the fact that an adorable Sally Field can make almost any day a little brighter, I figure every once in a while you have to give yourself the ok to not be at your best.

Just don't let it get you down to the point where it ruins your whole week!  Nope, i'm determined to recover and move on.  

...Now back to our regularly scheduled program!

Toodles-
J.D.

OPERATION COMFORT ZONE RE-DESIGN- STEP #1

Ok, so I've talked about pushing out the walls of your COMFORT ZONE, but how am I putting that into practice over these last several months?

I think the first step for me was really a matter of coming to grips with the current Enemy #1= STRESS. After being on medical leave and off of work my body was exhausted from illness, but the biggest culprit was STRESS! It kept my immune system dragging, my energy low and basically built a little cubby where depression could settle down in and grow.

Once I was able to identify this with the help of a very dear friend, I was on a mission to eradicate STRESS from my world...or at least knock it back to a healthy level.



1) START WORKING OUT!
 I had been attempting to find a workout that would be beneficial to both my husband and I. We went from gym to gym, work out dvd to work out DVD...very little held our attention. I eventually realized that this was the path we had been on since before our wedding...4 years ago.

Nothing was working and no matter how much we supported each other we did not support ourselves. 
That my friends was a HUGE realization for me. It wasn't that we didn't want to be healthier, thinner, have more energy or just in general feel good.

 Nope, it came down to the fact that the MIDDLE GROUND we were trying to meet on to achieve these goals was too far away from the tools and motivation that we needed as individuals to stay on track.

Sometimes you need to do your own thing people. I fought the decision initially because honestly, We are only interacting with each other 3-5 hours a day as it is.  Taking away another hour from our together time 4 days a week seemed crazy.

Low and Behold - It's BETTER!

We have MORE ENERGY and spend more time ACTIVELY ENGAGING EACH OTHER rather than CHECKING OUT while happening to be in the same room. We enjoy telling each other about our work outs and sharing our current "battle wounds" :-).

I started back at CURVES, which was the last gym that really worked for me. I'm currently doing the CURVES COMPLETE which enlists the help of the trainers and a program called "curve smart" that actually tracks your work out on the machines and raises or lowers the PSI in the machine according to your performance. It raises the intensity of the work out when you are on your game. Curves Complete also includes a meal plan that's customizable to you.

It's working out for me so far! I'm using it as a stress relief tool right after work 4 x a week. I'm down inches, pounds and body fat, but most importantly I'm DOWN IN STRESS and up in ENERGY!

As for the Hubbs, he found an awesome trainer through my trainer.  Anderson Fitness Institute 

He's doing more of a customized low key version of Cross fit. no fancy machines, which he hated! His work out involves things like resistance training, cardio and weight training with kettle bells and medicine balls. Sometimes he may be flipping tractor tires, but for him that's fun! Aaron, his trainer, is an awesome motivator.

In fact, in one week, we'll be doing another first! Our First Race TOGETHER! Walking in the COLOR BURST 5K :-)  talk about EXPANDING YOUR COMFORT ZONE!

you have to take these steps one by one, and that's how I'm going to share them with you!

Did you take any steps to redesign your comfort zone? Let me know!

Till next time! :-)
-J.D.

Time to Broaden your Comfort Zone

The last several months have offered me a real lesson in change. I've taken a close look at the decade passed and thought about the years to come. In doing so I came to a conclusion...it's time to broaden my comfort zone!

That really should be the progression in life, not to step out of your comfort zone, but to expand it's boundaries.

I grew up an EXTREMELY shy kid. It was a constant struggle for my parents to coax me out of corners and untangle me from their arms. As I got older I slowly forced myself to open up to people.

In school I joined performance art classes to help bring me out of my shell, or at least give myself permission to be someone else for a while. For a couple of hours a dayI could be someone who wasn't afraid to speak in public or start conversations with people I didn't know.

Because of those changes I've really had an interesting life so far. I have to remind myself of that every now and again and challenge myself to push my personal boundaries further than I believe I can.  I can see now that I'm the sort of person that can get too comfortable, too easily.


Now, I'm sure most of us are guilty of this to a certain extent. As I'm starting to approach my late 30's I've noticed that time has just flashed by. One minute I was engaged and now I'll be celebrating my 4th wedding anniversary with the hubbs in a few months. 

I think one of the reasons why time flashes by as we age has to do with the fact that we are no longer regularly altering our lives on a large scale. Let's think about this for a second...

In our teens changes are plentiful. Everything from jumping from junior high to high school, to dating, to finding your "Style" keeps your year so full that it's hard to see the next year coming.

By our mid twenties most of us have finished school, had many relationships, gone through several personal "style" changes and probably several jobs. We have moved from our parents house, to a dorm, to our first apartment. 

As we enter our 30's we've begun to "settle down".  You start looking for things like stability and dependability.

All of these things are great, but somewhere along the way we forgot to keep growing, experimenting and basically built the walls of our comfort zones.

Now that I've realized I was stuck in "Ruttsville" I'm no longer depending on my  internal G.P.S.
I've decided not to step out of my comfort zone, but rather make some nice additions.

In the last couple of months I've made a commitment to myself to start learning again. Not necessarily by school or reading. It's more about opening my eyes to the world around me and giving myself permission to examine it and my role in that world. I'n not just thinking about the role I'll play now, but the role I'll play 5 years from now. 

I've started working out again. I'm re-discovering the beauty and fashion industries. I have revisited some old hobbies and taken up a few new ones.  

What I have found is that the word possibilities has re-entered my vocabulary. 

Not only do I feel I'm moving in the right direction, but so is my health, my marriage and my future.

So- give yourself permission to try one new thing this month. It could be as small as a new lip color or restaurant or as big as going on vacation to a foreign country. We're 30, we're not dead right? 

I've also noticed the same spark within my husband. It's so much fun to be on this adventure together!

Over the last several months/ weeks I've tried lot's of new things and I'm so excited to share them with you!

There's lots more to come. I hope you'll share with me what you've done to build onto your comfort Zone!

Don't be a stranger :-)

J.D.