Category: Health

Allergies

On By Michel McDonaldIn Health, PetsLeave a comment

I don’t know if it’s allergies or if i’m coming down with a cold but I’ve been sneezing all day long, my nose is so stuffed up and it itches. I’m not feeling like I have a cold, you know that feeling where your skin hurts and you are groggy and just don’t feel like getting out of bed.

I think it might be allergies instead. I think it’s the dog because ever since we got her I’ve been sniffling more than normal and blowing my nose a lot and sneezing. I think it’s her. I’ve taken 4 claritins today and I’ve used doctor prescribed nasal spray and that’s not even working at all. I refuse to use 4-way nasal spray because I become addicted with that stuff and there is no end to it.

I wouldn’t say addicted, I would say that it helps at first and then you are using it more and more because it works for so long and then every time it works less time and you use more and it just goes on and on until you are on it for 6 months and you can’t stop because if you stop then you can’t ever breathe unless you use it. And when you do decide enough is enough you have to suffer for days until you can breathe normally again. No thank you. I will just cut out the middle man and suffer now rather than wait 6 months.

Jump Rope

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I bought a $8 beaded jump rope today and boy is that hard work lol. I’m going to use it to relearn how to jump rope and to get used to using one then I am gonna give this one to my neighbor’s daughter Devan then I want to buy one that’s a little more expensive that is the kind that is faster and thin so I can do it better.

I thought this was the better kind for me because I was afraid the rope would be too thin and light and trip me up but frankly this does that to me too lol. I haven’t used a jump rope since I was like 10 years old and watching me jumping rope is kinda funny, I look like a child just learning.

I used to be really good at it and was able to just lightly jump inches off the ground and was so fast but now I’m like a clumsy 6-year-old. Oh and my leg muscles are sore from 2 minutes lol. And after 2 minutes I’m out of breath and need a drink of water. I really need to relearn this because it is excellent exercise. It burns about 32 calories a minute and works all the muscles in the body.

Sparking Up Again

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

In October 2007 I was on the SparkPeople diet which is really not a diet but they teach you how you should be eating the right foods and the right portions. They tell you what foods to eat which include the food pyramid and you eat veggies and drink water all day long and you tell them exactly what you ate and they tell you how many calories, carbs, fats etc you had for the day.

This is really helpful in losing weight. It’s not a diet because you are eating foods you are supposed to be eating anyway. You can eat snacks just as long as they aren’t too fatty or have a lot of calories. Eating an apple for a snack is good, or carrots, hey my mom used to give that to us for snacks and celery with peanut butter. And they tell you to exercise and you can log your cardio exercises in there so it can tell you how many calories you have to burn 3 days a week. The program has 4 stages too.

In October 2007 something changed in my life a few weeks after I started this diet and I ended up slacking off because I was too depressed to continue with it. I started out on October 1st at 225lbs and lost about 13lbs. Since I quit I gained 30+lbs.

I can’t tell you how much I need to lose this weight. I am having trouble breathing, my back is breaking all the time from carrying around 93lbs of extra weight, I have sleep apnea, if I don’t get thin I will be diabetic and that is no joking matter. I need this to work.

I’m going to try to get a jump rope today because apparently that is really good cardio. I was using the treadmill a couple years ago and the calorie loss in 1 hour is the same or more for 30 min of jumping rope. When I was a kid I jumped rope for hours so hopefully I can get back into it and lose the weight.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Sometime last year I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. up until now I have been OK with crocheting and typing but I have to start using a voice recognition software and a microphone to type with.

I had to stop crocheting completely because my hands get numb and my right hand feels like there something pinching in there. I have to say that it’s really not fair because I really enjoyed crocheting.

I enjoyed typing too but I do love being able to talk into a microphone and have all my words come up as typed words. it does make a few mistakes here and there but I really don’t mind. for example the first word in each sentence is not capitalized. But that’s quite all right I really don’t care.

SparkPeople

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

I was doing a search on the internet for diets because I really need to lose some weight and I found this website www.sparkpeople.com and I’m really happy with it so far.  I signed up on October 1st (technically I signed up on 9/30 but this website goes by Eastern time so to them it was after midnight) and I’ve been following their direction for the last week.  They tell me, actually tell me what to eat.  Even though I know I’m supposed to eat fruits and veggies etc. I never really do it because I don’t know what kinds to eat so I just don’t.  I know that is a sucky excuse but it’s true.   It’s like if I am not told what to eat then I will just eat whatever I want to and I know that’s bad.  But I’m learning from this website how to live better, healthier and to eat the right portions.  It will help my stomach to shrink so I can lose weight faster because the portions they give me will actually make me full and maybe I will get to the point where I wont eat the amounts they say to eat because my stomach will be too small to fit it all.

Check out their website.  They give you a meter that shows your progress.  I’m on there as Xanapus.  I’m putting a link on my site in the menu called My SparkPage.  I will update it at every weigh in.