Just drained.

It's close to the end of my semester and I'm just drained.

Mentally - I have 3 exams still to take, 1 PPP to put the finishing touches on and 2 reflections to write.  In one week.  Ugh.

Physically - The dang scale isn't doing what I was hoping it would do, and so I reluctantly started looking through some of my old Weight Watchers stuff.  I'm still running 2-3 times a week, but I know I need more.

Financially - Ugh.  Just ugh.  Kid activities are tough on the wallet.  This month is registration for cheer, football x2, and summer swim team x3.  Not to mention a while new batch of books for the upcoming new semester.

Emotionally - I can't help but dread Good Friday coming up.  That will mark one year since my mother passed away from her Neuro-Endocrine Tumor.

I'm taking my vitamins, and drinking my water.  I'm aiming to get about 8 hours sleep a day or night, but it isn't all at the same time.  But my diet is likely a problem.  Too many foods with barcodes on them.

This week, I've been juicing more.  Primarily because I may have gone overboard on some of the fruits and veggies.  But also because it gives me a better burst of energy than coffee does.  As I think about my mother's health, it makes me think harder about how I am treating my body.  I've been reading alot about Alkaline Foods, and have been trying to work more of those into my diet.

Source: Google Images

So, I'm trying to create more of an alkaline environment for all of the health benefits that come along with kicking crap out of one's diet.  

There is a lot of interesting information about Alkaline foods here . 

Motivation

I need some motivation if anyone has any extra laying around.

It's 2pm and I haven't showered, yet, today.

I have a huge paper due this weekend.

That is all. 

12 Miles a Week

That's my goal.  That's what I'm going for.  12 miles a week.  Even if I have to drag my sorry self around the park.  And you know what?  It's been easier than I thought.  

Yesterday - 3 miles - done

Today - 3 miles - done

Tomorrow - 3 miles - planned 

Thursday - 3 miles with a friend already on the calendar

That leaves me just Friday or Saturday to pull out another 3 miles.  

I hate getting started but I love getting finished.  Looking at the time and calories on my HR monitor is so rewarding.  I'm not signing up for any other races until Mid-March.  I really want to focus on getting back to running the full 5K without looking/feeling like I'm sucking wind the whole time.  

Lady Track Shack 5K

This morning, I participated in the Lady Track Shack 5K with Megan (8 years old).  It was cold and I was not feeling well.  In fact, I ended up in a local doc-in-the-box place for a strep test just a few hours later and am now on the couch full of night time cold medicine, so forgive me if my thoughts ramble.  

We ended up walking the whole thing for a miserable 18 minute mile and 56 minute finishing time.  Ouch.  Really, I wish I felt good enough to run it, since it's easier to cover 3 miles in about 35 minutes than it is to do it in an hour. 

The trail for the run was mostly cobblestone roads through wealthy neighborhoods on closed streets through "old" Winter Park, near the high school.  

The post-race booths were spectacular with a Planet Smoothie sample and Kind bars.  

No-Spend Week

This time last year, my mom was sick.  Real sick.  Like, multiple doctor appointments weekly sick.  Which meant that I spent much of my time on the road between my house and hers and then to doctor's visits with her and back to her house to translate it all out for her.  I cherish that time I got to spend with her, because she passed away after a very short battle with cancer.

During that time, my family at home began to rely on quick meals.  Maybe Taco Bell here or there, or a $5 pizza from Little Caesars, or deli sandwiches from Publix.  

You know what adds up?

Well, the obvious answer is calories - as evidenced by the weight I have to lose, piled on to more weight I had to lose before this happened.

But really, what adds up, is the cost of our food budget.  Ouch!

Now that we have slowed-down and spend more time at home, we were still spoiled by the bevy of hot/fresh/now deliciousness just a few streets away.  This week, I put my foot down dramatically.  I emptied our main checking account (the one we keep the debit cards to for every day spending) leaving a nominal amount of money in there for anything seriously urgent.  Flipped money over into savings and dropped the bomb on the family.  From last Friday to this Friday - I declared a no-spend week.  Sure, Sunday through Saturday would have been fine, too, but I knew I would be getting paid this Friday and thus doing things like grocery shopping, putting gas in the minivan, and other pay-day chores.

The result:
Well, some tough conversations with the hubby about needs vs wants.  Really, I know those shorts I picked up for him at Costco are nice and comfy but really, is it necessary for me to go back and pick up 2 more pairs?  Really?  Because you have a huge drawer full of shorts.  The compromise is that he'll go through and donate all the shorts that don't actually fit, but are taking up space in his drawer indicating that he has way too many clothes.

Food choices for dinner meant we were eating at home all week, which ashamed as I am to admit it, we don't do nearly as often as we should.  Of course, if I had actually menu-planned, our meals would have been a little better, but for the most part it wasn't too bad.  I've menu planned for this coming week already and while it won't be a technically "no spend" week, I'm aiming for a mostly-at-home-meal week.

I almost broke the rule myself!  I was put "on call" Wednesday night from work.  So instead of going in from 7pm-7am, I was to hang out at home and they would call if I was needed.  Sure enough, my phone rang at 10:45pm and I was told to be come in and be ready, since I may be heading with a patient into surgery.  As crazy as it sounds, that's actually one of my favorite parts, because I think I'm pretty good at it.  After all, I had 3 c-sections myself and understand some of the disappointment that comes along with it, so I try to make it as much of a mother/baby led process as possible.  So I whipped my scrubs on and grabbed my car keys, and then paused at the door.  I turned right around and made a PB&J to eat in the minivan on the way there since I obviously wasn't going to ruin my no-spend streak by running through a drive-thru for a coffee.  I find I get the same "lift" by eating a high-protein snack, so instead of a sugary coffee (yes, I'm aware that non-sugary coffee exists, but it's gross), I'd rather some healthy fuel.

We survived and will do it again next month!! 

45 Degrees is Really COLD for Florida! Brrrr...

Hard to believe I spent the first decade of my life in New England.  Even harder to believe I spent 5 years living in remote Alaska.  However, I guess these last nearly 5 years in Florida have turned me into a sniveling little girl that puts the heat on in the minivan the second the temperature drops below 73 degrees!  

So this week, I was really proud of myself for getting out there at working out in the chilly weather.  

This week, I only logged 6 miles total.  While it's not fantastic, it's more than I would have logged if I just stayed on the couch.  Truthfully, I walked more than ran this week.  The cold weather seems to make my knees hurt something fierce, so walking it was.  And I spaced both times and forgot my HR monitor, so I have no idea what my pace was or calories burned.  

I did make it to the gym once this week, working around my crazy work/school schedule.  And tonight I allowed Jillian Michaels to beat me up just a bit with the 30 Day Shred, which is a great workout.  

Since I had a birthday this week and was not conscientious of my food intake at all, I'm giving myself a free week without looking at the scale.  I've been on a steady decline for about a month now, and I know seeing the number go up with be difficult for me mentally.  

Today, my BFF took me to see a movie and this little video came on during the 30 minutes of previews...while ordinarily loathe the Cartoon Network, I did find humor in this because my 10 year old son loves running errands with me, even if it means he has to help pick out a shirt for his little sister from Justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz75oAkPTPM

Baby it's Cold Outside!

I'm not sure I ever posted a recap of the Tower of Terror 10 Miler, so I'll do that sometime soon.

School keeps me busy, as well as the kids' activities and working night-shift.  I'm now officially nocturnal, as it's nearly 2am and I can't sleep.  Of course, I'm "on-call" for the hospital tonight, so it's nights like this that I can't sleep for fear of missing my phone ringing.

This week the weather has been so odd.  It started out way too hot...which meant treadmill running.  And now, as I listen to the wind howling, it's a brisk 50 degrees outside.

I've "run" 3 miles twice this week.  Not quite run non-stop, as my knee is killing me...a sure sign I may need to bite the bullet and invest in another pair of new shoes.  But anywho, I was moving forward rapidly for 3 miles in a row twice this week.  Monday night I hit the gym to run on the treadmill and strength train.  And Wednesday morning, I met my BFF at our favorite park and we did our thing for 3 miles.  We'll meet up again tomorrow morning, even though it's supposed to be quite chilly!  I've already got my clothes set out and am ready to go.

The hubby and I watched "Fat Head" this week on Netflix.  It was great to really talk about the food we are putting into our bodies.  Let's face it, with 3 kids in sports, full-time graduate school and full-time work...I don't always have the time/energy to make a real meal, and we find ourselves grabbing food on the go quite a bit.

I've also had ZERO soda this week at work.  Soda at work seems to be my weakness.  I like the caffeine/sugar rush to keep me awake when I'm getting tired at 3am.  I've been sticking to my ice water in my Patriots tervis tumbler.

Overall, it's been a pretty successful week for exercise and diet.  Tomorrow is Friday, I am planning to walk/run 3 miles in the morning and possibly hit up the gym for some strength training.  I have a date with my 7 year old son for dinner tomorrow night, and haven't quite decided where we are going.

10 Miler Training Update and Shreddin' it!

It's been hot.  Like 105 degrees in the muggy, humid weather hot.  While that's really no excuse, because I have a gym membership, it makes things difficult for my friend and I to meet up together at our usual park to add miles to our training.  So I'm trusting that we are both training individually.  I'm still following the training plan for the most part.  This past week or so, I've been having really sore knees, and I think it's because I'm biking on my cross-training days, which means that my legs don't really rest.  So, I've taken up swimming at night doing laps in my pool and imagining that I look like Dara Torres.

Today, I did Day 1 of the 30-Day Shred by Jillian Micheals.  I was feeling antsy, and didn't have enough time for a run, but did have about 20 minutes to fit something in, so I grabbed my DVD and put on some workout clothes while she talks about the intro part for a couple of minutes.  I can tell I'll be somewhat sore tomorrow, but for now, I feel good.  Accomplished is more like it.

I also took BEFORE pictures.  Yeah, that's right.  Because there WILL be an after.  Wait for it....

Black Bean Burrito Bake

Trying to transition the family away from meat, while still having an adequate source of protein for all of the growing bodies in my home, I find myself getting re-acquainted with black beans.

Picture credit: Google Images

We are are also trying to reduce the amount of dining-out that we do.  Really, it's just so much easier to drive down the road to pick up take-out than it is to have to cook something.  How lazy does that sound, right? I'm proud to say that today was a no-spend day and that I made all of our meals at home.  I can imagine I'm probably getting lots of eye-rolls from people who eat at home all the time.  I work full time (estimated 37 hours a week) and go to school full time (estimated 40 hours a week), add in sleeping (I aim for at least 7 hours in a 24 hour period - even if it isn't always at once, or always at night since I work the night shift), spending time with the kids, spending time with the hubby, cleaning, laundry, trying to exercise, paying bills, etc - well, I start to want to outsource something, and providing food for the family is an easy thing to outsource.  

Tonight, I made a Black Bean Burrito Bake.  I had the recipe for a while, but I had to tweak it to make it something we'd all like, since I am not a short-order chef. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 c. sour cream

2 cans black beans

1 bag frozen corn

12 flour tortillas 

2 c. salsa

Shredded cheese

1.  I mixed some taco seasoning in with the sour cream and set that aside while I turned the oven on bake 350 degrees.

2.  After rinsing the beans (some day I'll learn to soak beans and not use cans), I pureed one of the cans and then added both cans to a bowl (not the sour cream bowl).

3.  To the bean bowl, I added the frozen corn (which hubby asked me to leave out next time - he has digestive issues and corn does mean things to him) and then stirred the sour cream mixture in.  

4.  Add a scoop of filling into the middle of each tortilla, sprinkle with some cheese, roll up, and place seam down in a greased baking dish.  I like mine fat and had two different baking dishes for a total of 12 burritos.

4.  Pour salsa over the top of the burritos and cover with more shredded cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake another couple of minutes to make sure the cheese on top is all melty. 

I served this with some homemade corn bread muffins and some sour cream on the side.  

Everyone loved it, except for the request to ditch the corn next time.    

10 Mile Training - Wrapped up Week Two

I don't always have time to write, likely because I'm studying or exercising!  But know this...I wrapped up Week Two and I feel great.  I'm having a hard time not eating a lot of crap in my diet, and I think my raging PMS might have something to do with that.  Excuses, excuses, right?

My Wednesday weigh-in yesterday was 170.  That's down 3 pounds for the week.  See, I really have been exercising and drinking my water.  :)

Grumpy, tired and out of shape

I did not stick to my work-out plan today and I'm getting upset because I'm falling behind.

I'm tired and I can't figure out when I should sleep and when I should stay awake.  I'm not a huge fan of working night shift, but it has to work for now.

My IBS is pretty unhappy with the change in sleep pattern and additional stress of school.  My Wednesday weigh-in was a whopping 173 pounds this week, and looking at my food journal, I could see that I'm perhaps on the constipation swing of the IBS pendulum.  To help my situation out, I had a cup of Senna Tea last night and am sipping on one tonight.  If you follow the link to the tea, you'll need to scroll down past some other teas until it comes up.  It's actually called Chocolate flavored Smooth Move.

I'm struggling because I like easy to eat items like PBJ sandwiches, granola bars and other hand-held snacks that I can eat while I'm on the go.  My problem is that those things are not gluten free, and so I'm not doing myself any favors.

I'm waiting on my Learning Team member to get off work in a couple of hours, then we are going to talk on the phone while we finish a collaborative paper.

3 Grad School Classes = 45 Assignments on the Calendar

This semester started July 9 and ends on September 21.

During this time, I have 45 assignments on my calendar.  These assignments include graded assignments such as papers, open book quizzes and exams.  Also included on this list, so that I would not forget to watch the recordings for any sessions that I might miss are the BBCs - BlackBoard Collaborate Sessions, which take the place of a conventional classroom, allowing us to all watch and hear the instructor.  The BBCs are recorded which is a blessing for someone like myself who might be either working or sleeping during "class" time.  There is no penalty for not showing up live.

Not included on this list are the steps to completion for projects.  That would be things like my contribution to the study team for Pathophysiology, or the weekly progress check-in with my Learning Team partner for The Role of Midwifery, or my almost daily emails with my Learning Team partners for Theories.  

I'm a check-list person.  And I'm a very visually-gratifying person.  I enjoy folding laundry and washing dishes by hand because I like to see evidence of my progress through a task.  Which brings me to the above color-coded assignment sheet.  Each class is given a color and the rows are for due date, assignment, class, date turned in, and grade.  I like looking over my shoulder to see where I am at and having a visual reminder of what I need to be working on to help me prioritize. 

I think the hardest part of distance-learning for me so far is the amount of time I spend on my computer typing notes, drafts, etc.  I'm an "outside" person and try to do as much away from the computer as possible when the kids are up.  As soon as they go to bed, I (*ahem*) settle the husband down for the night, and lock myself into my study room with some water and healthy-ish snacks.

A little something to keep me motivated, and because my husband despises the work "can't"...

Photo credit: Pinterest

10 Mile Training - Week 2 Day 2

I'm struggling with this transfer to the night shift.  On Tuesday, which should have been my Day 2 of this week, my daughter showed me an infected looking area on her arm.  Funny, we just went through this with her leg.  I finally decided enough is enough and got her in to see a new pediatrician.  I will say I'm disappointed in the office for not having any nurse practitioners on staff, but I've heard great things about this ped, and it's an all-women physician group and my daughter is very shy about her modesty.  It was a great visit and we now have to make a few follow ups to get to the bottom of this issue.

So, having to work Tuesday night, I chose a nap over a run and called Tuesday a wash.

Moved Day 2 over to Wednesday (yesterday).  We were hopping at work all night Tuesday and so by the time I feel asleep Wed morning, I slept hard.  Woke up at 3:30 and sat outside talking to the hubby while the kids were in the pool, then decided to go for a run.

Plan: 3 Miles
Actual: 1 Mile

Temperature outside: 97 degrees.

Mental note: That gym membership is not just a monthly donation, please consider running indoors if you are really serious about following this plan.

Strawberries - cleaning 'em and eating 'em

We had company for lunch on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  Now, even when we have company, my kids know that our rule is one fruit and/or veggie with each meal.  Usually it becomes fruit with breakfast and lunch and then veggies the rest of the day.  Recently, I've been reading about eating fruit separately away from the rest of your meal, but I can't remember all of what that was about, so it's on my list of things to look up again sometime when I have time (which is usually never). 

Target had containers of strawberries on sale for $1 per container this past week.  So I picked up 3 and set to cleaning the berries in my non-measured vinegar and water solution.

A nice little bath and then a rinse in the colander with some cold water and the result is clean berries.

My sweet daughter and Sunday's fruit tray - strawberries, fresh pineapple, and orange wedges. 

After having 5 kids and 4 adults eating lunch - there was no fruit left.  I'd call that success! 

10 Mile Training: Week 2, Day 1

Alright - week 2!  That must mean that I made it through Week One!

Today's plan was for Strength and Stretch.

I did about 15 minutes of yoga stretches this morning when I got out of bed, and wow, it felt great!

A few hours ago, I remembered that I had not done any strength training, so I grabbed my kettlebell and did a few swings with is, and then got on Netflix to look for a video.  I settled on an old-school Crunch video with a boot camp type workout.  It felt good and I know I'll be sore in the morning.

Tomorrow - a 3 mile run.  It's also my first night working night shift, so I'm trying to figure out when to actually run.

10 Mile Training: Week 1 Day 8

Did you see what I did there?  Day 8?  Just making sure you are paying attention.  I've actually added today as a day of 30 minutes of cross-training, because even though today is Sunday, the actually training schedule I'm using has Monday as the first day of the week.  So there.

So that I wasn't a slacker today, I did laps in the pool after the kids went to bed, and wow, that's quite a work out.  I was so tired.

I'm out of shape.
But not for long.

10 Miler training: Week 1 Days 6 and 7

Friday was Day Six - I'm kindof off schedule, since Day Six was a "rest day".  However, I ended up doing a walk/run of 2 miles.  I'm still doing more walking than running, but as they say, I'm lapping everyone on the couch!

Saturday was Day Seven - Since we went to church and then had friends over, I flip flopped Six and Seven and took yesterday as my rest day.

Diet wise, I went to the movies last night and indulged in way too many sugary treats - twizzlers, coke and half a pack of junior mints - which makes for a really icky feeling tummy this morning.

Understanding ABGs on the Run

Having been a nurse for 14 years, I've been pretty knowledgeable about interpreting various lab results with the perspective of communicating abnormal values to the appropriate member of the multidisciplinary team.  I'm blessed to be coming into my patho class with a strong understanding of acid/base balance and blood gases.

Other than my amazing textbook (nerd alert: I love my big heavy Pathophysiology textbook), I have come across two helpful resources.

Seattle Pacific University's Advanced Clinical Pathophysiology course lectures is located for FREE on iTunes University. I have listened to a couple of lectures while running, and have watched a couple of lectures while on the stationary bike.

Another great resource for a quick and dirty explanation of blood gases is Hansen Nursing's site.

I'm cautious to be aware of time bandits sucking away at my precious study time, but I promise, these to resources are worth it!

10 Mile Training - Week 1, Day 5

Today's training plan was to do 2 miles.  I only did one mile, but I gave it my all.  The sky darkened and the thunder and lightening started, and I knew it would be too dangerous to continue.  Overall, I have to say I was pleased with my progress, since even though I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor/watch combination, I still knew I finished the mile in under 15 minutes.  I'm sure that's not too impressive for people who really run, but for someone like me...it's freakin' fabulous!

10 Mile Training - Week 1 Day 4

I didn't write last night, so I'm catching up now.

Yesterday was Day 4 of my training and I fell off the wagon big time in the food area, but did much better in the exercise area.

It was a day off of work, and I allowed myself to be wooed by the hubby.  I had early morning errands to run and stopped by Chik Fil A for breakfast.  My word, it's so good, but yet, so bad.

Then because I was stressed about getting school work organized, I failed to notice it was 1pm and nobody had lunch yet.  The hubby was out working in the yard, so he lost all track of time.  Having a serious lack of groceries in the house meant either a trip to get groceries and then make food, or a trip to hunt and gather lunch.  The latter won out and off to Jersey Mikes went I.

I ate a salad for dinner, though, because I was feeling guilty.

My training plan (I'm following Hal Higdon's 15-K training Guide for Beginners) had yesterday labeled as a cross-training day.  I went to the gym and did 15 minutes on the bike and another 15 minutes climbing uphill on the treadmill.

While those around me watched the various evening shows on the televisions, I pulled out my iPhone and watched a podcast on electrolytes.  I love iTunes University.