Yay for my eyes not being eaten!

Eaten by my plaquenil, that is. I've been having headaches for the past two weeks about and I thought that the plaquenil may be the culprit. Obviously, this was a scary thought for me as I prefer taking plaquenil to other, more damaging drugs. But, after a trip to the eye doctor and a round of that horrid stuff that dilates your eyes I was told that wasn't the cause. Thank goodness!
So, I'm supposed to make an appointment with my primary. I'm due for a physical anyway (blech) so I guess I'll schedule it after I return from Spokane.

Also, I had another kick ass day at PT. I rocked some deep water work to get my heartrate up and I used the bands to add a different dimension to my arm workout. It was a good time. Oh, and I chatted with a lovely old lady about arthritis. She was very nice.
I think I'm okay with being seen by this oother water therapist but I do worry that she's holding me back a bit. But, who knows, maybe I need to be held back for my own good?

Speaking of good- I'm going out to the pub tonight to meet some friends. I hardly ever do the bar-thing, so I think it will be fun for a change of pace. One of my friends is threatening to take me to a hip hop club afterward... which will NOT happen.

I leave for Spokane on Friday... I'm so excited!

Fantastic Weekend!

This past weekend was just super fun-packed! It's so nice to be feeling great so I can do fun stuff with my hubby.

On Saturday we made it to the California State Fair. We went in the evening to prevent sunburn. It was the perfect date- cute baby animals, BBQ food, fun rides, and Kevin won me a stuffed penguin. I'm very lucky to have such a great guy.

Sunday I finally caved in and went for a bike ride with Kevin. I used to have a road bike but it was stolen. Kevin recently bought me a new one. Biking is pretty difficult for me on account of the fact that I find it kinda boring. However, I'm trying to enjoy it. But first my neck has to get used to craning up to see where I'm going and my hands feel like they're bruised from the handlebars. Also, I bought some padded bike shorts after the ride too. I bet you can guess why I got those.

So, yes, I'm feeling pretty spunky. I'm stoked that I have these streak of feeling good going on. I had PT today and got in a great arm work out. I'm still working hard to not overdo it, but I'm hopeful that I'll feel awesome for seeing my nephews in a few days. :)

2nd day of working out!

I'm super proud of myself. I only did 30 minutes but I think it's great. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical doing the cross-training reverse mode and then 15 minutes on a bike. I took one of my thesis research books with me. I've found that one of the largest barriers to me going to the gym this past year was that I would tell myself I should spend that time doing homework. I'm doing my best to ignore myself when I talk myself out of getting exercise.

One of my favorite post-gym meals (when I go to the gym I do two small breakfasts) is half a whole grain and flax English muffin with a tablespoon of peanut butter and a drizzle of honey. I realized this morning that there are 200 calories in that meal. Kinda crazy! Stupid peanut butter. But, I have to keep in mind that my metabolism was increased from working AND I did burn 250 calories. I'm still only at 450 for the day.

I'm also planning to do a bit of housework today which, according to my wiii fit, counts as exercise. Hell, maybe I'll even take out the wii fit. I can't remember the last time we used it. I don't like it because it makes me sad when it tells me I haven't used it in awhile, I've gained weight, lost some balance, etc. Also, it makes this little "oh!" sound when you step on it. Not cool.

So, should I start using that thing or not? I've purposely not been weighing myself to keep my self esteem up. I've beeen feeling good about myself, that's all that matters....

,...right?

Wonderful day!

Today is looking like one of the best days I've had in weeks!

I woke up at 7 and I actually wasn't tired! Then I spent a few hours working on my thesis without any annoying hand/wrist pain. I still have a bit of a headache, but who wouldn't have one after 3 hours of reading and typing? If this continues to be a thing I'll make an appointment with my eye doctor. I think I'm due to be checked out anyway (Plaquenil and your eyes sometimes don't get along well).

I went to PT today. Since nothing in particular was bothering me today Don just worked some knots out of my neck/shoulders and ran me through some stretches. Then I got in the pool and actually got a workout! I did mostly arm stuff with a few minutes of deep-water work (all while chatting with Mary about eating naughty food while on vacation). It's amazing how much strength I've lost these past few weeks. As a result, I'm now tired. But it's fantastic to be tired because I DID something. Yay!

So, here is my mantra for the next couple weeks while I get back into things:
Don't get discouraged!
and
Don't over-do it! (I'm bad at this one!)

I REALLY wanted a burger for lunch but I resisted. Instead I had the SmartOnes Savory Steak and Ranch flatbread. It was no burger but it was pretty tasty. Six points for those of you watching those things.

I'm off to take a quick cat nap with Spartacus before diving back in to my thesis.

Today appears to be better :)

After going all day and night with a mind-splitting headache, an on-again-off-again fever and general crankiness I finally managed to fall asleep with the help of some NyQuil. The tylenol just wasn't working for me. I took two every eight hours(which I never do) and it helped my fever but not the headache. It was crazy.

I woke up this morning feeling TONS better. My throat is only slightly sore still, pretty much no headache, and no fever. Woot!

I'm hoping to go for a walk tonight with Sparty tonight in the sunshine (yesterday I couldn't tolerate light). I think it's going to be a great day today.

So, I've been writing down my calories each day on a notepad. I figure that if I'm honest with myself about what I eat I can see what my pitfalls are. Yesterday I was pretty bad. I was eating saltines all day to stave off nausea and a large amount of ice cream ("to soothe my throat". Yup, that's what I'm going with).

Anywho, my grand total for yesterday only came up to around 1800 calories. While my goal is 1500 (to lose weight), that's pretty good. I think it could have been worse. Luckily I prefer water and green tea sweetened with splenda. Also, I keep healthy microwaveable lunch food around in the event that I don't feel up to making myself a sandwich. Yesterday was SmartOnes Chicken Teriyaki with mixed veggies. Meh, but I ate it.

Today I'll get back on track- no ice cream and I'm going to make myself a sandwich with lots of veggies.

Have a good Wednesday!

To taper or not to taper...

My doctor decided not to taper me off of steroids since I had only been on them for a week. Yet, here I am with a killer headache, a fever, and nausea. Blech.
This is my first time on steroids, so I suppose it's best that I know now how my body reacts to them. Next time I'll taper off the drugs if I've taken them over three days.
I ended up canceling PT for the day. Tomorrow I'll start up physical activity again.

Thanks, steroids!

I went off steroids yesterday when my doc heard I was feeling better. Yesterday I also began developing a sore throat. Super. It's still bugging me a today and my glands are a bit swollen. So, I'm a bit cranky. C'est la vie.

PT at 11:30.