My First Trip to the Hospital

Another thing to check off of my life list: I had a seizure Thursday night and went to the hospital. I'm fine now.  It took a few hours to recover completely, but luckily our local ER was crazy that night, so by the time I was discharged at 3 a.m., I was completely back to normal. 

Hospital bracelet

The whole experience felt to me like I just passed out.  My roommate Jen observed the tell-tale signs of a seizure: eyes rolled back in head, body jerking, sounds.  After describing it to the ER doctor, he diagnosed it as a first onset seizure and set me up to see a neurologist the next day. The neurologist is not convinced it was a seizure, and said we should call it a "fainting spell" instead until we get tests results back.  Sometime soon, I'll have an MRI and a brain EEG to see exactly what happened. It's entirely possible it was an isolated incident. In fact, in my medical opinion, I'm pretty sure that's what it was.


It strikes me as ironic that after years of being overweight, I've finally trimmed down and am the healthiest/fittest of my life.  And that's when I have my first medical emergency.  


The worst part of the whole thing is that I can not drive for at least a month, when I'll see the neurologist again and get the results of my tests. I've been mourning the loss of independence my car brings. I love to drive.  I'm sure this is just some stupid isolated incident and the worst part will be the not driving, but I hate that. 


I'd love to use this as an opportunity to becoming a biking commuter, except that my bike got stolen last week.  I went bike shopping yesterday, but they are so expensive and I know so little about bikes that it was overwhelming.


Stay tuned tomorrow for more on how my weekend just got better when strong winds blew my glass-topped picnic table over.

Fabulous Farm Fresh Friday

I've had an eventful past 24 hours, but I don't have the words to describe it right now.  Stay tuned for more later this weekend.

Today, though, is one fabulous farm fresh Friday.  First, a recap of last week: I ate all of the vegetables from last week by WEDNESDAY of this week! Yay!  I had some help when I invited Amie and Daniel over for dinner Wednesday night and we sauteed squash and beans, roasted potatoes, boiled corn, ate the tomatoes raw and the cantaloupe, well the cantaloupe was bad when when I sliced into it.  I ate a few pieces and had to throw the rest out. Sad day.

Today's haul.

But today.  Today, we had blackberries!  and cherry tomatoes!  and a cucumber! and a carrot! and green onions! and another beautiful tomato! and more corn!  and more squash! and more zucchini! and more cantaloupe!  and more radishes! and kale. (At our drop off location, they have a box for the unwanted vegetables to go to a local shelter.  Let's just say I hope they like kale, because I think a lot of the veggie connoisseurs are sick of it.)

The blackberries are amazing and the cherry tomatoes were so great I ate them all at lunch today. I also already ate the entire cuke.  I've got a great new recipe for a squash casserole too.  This is more what I was envisioning when I signed up for this box o' veggie delivery system.  Fabulous!

Next Challenge?

After finishing my first triathlon, I've been thinking a lot about what my next physical goals should be.  They're easier to focus on than weight loss goals and easier to achieve because I can control my outcomes, instead of being at the mercy of the scale.

At first I looked for another tri to do, but wanting to do an ocean swim really limits me.  There just aren't as many and I have to drive and stay in a hotel to do most of them. The next one on Jekyll Island is the Tri Red sprint triathlon (where I did my first and where I have a built-in fan base) is on October 8, so that is a possibility. I have a friend getting married October 8, but I think if I really wanted to do the tri, I could make it back in time for the wedding.

My friend Daniel wants to do a tri with me, but he does not enjoy the swimming.  So I found this Heels N Wheels duathlon in August, which involves a run-bike-run course.  Currently, I am sans bike as mine (really my sister's, which I was long-term borrowing) was stolen while I was at the beach. Yes, folks, vandals have rendered me bike-less.  So whether or not I will be able to enter this August 27 race remains to be seen.

Then I got the kind of crazy idea to do a mud run.  There are a lot of these types of races; they are usually shorter but involve obstacles.  The most common one around here is the United States Marine Core Mud Run. I know a few people who've done it, and they say it is crazy challenging. I like the idea of it because it is not just straight running.  Plus, you work in teams.  One post on Facebook about it and I had enough people interested that I could've formed two teams. We'll see if they're all still committed as we draw closer to the October 15 race date.

Then again, I've also always been drawn to doing a half marathon.  While 13.1 miles sounds crazy to me at my current running level, you get a MEDAL if you finish.  All you have to do is finish and they give you gold.  Plus, you can put one of those super cool 13.1 stickers on your car.  My friend Stefanie does the Disney Princess Half Marathon every spring (at least every spring until she collects all the different princess-themed race bibs) and I really can't imagine a better half marathon experience than running through the Disney World parks, being greeted by characters along the way. Plus, I'd have a free place to stay. The jury's still out on this one.  It's at the end of February, 2012.

Finally, there's always the option of not having race-related goals.  I want to be able to do a pull up someday. Right now, I'm using the assisted pull-up machine at the gym (not literally right now, cause right now I'm on my couch with a laptop in front of me), and I need A LOT of assistance.  So I'm thinking it could be awhile on this one.

Along the same lines, what about being able to do 100 pushups?  There's an app for that -  an app for a training program to help you do 100 pushups, which I have downloaded, so this is probably already a goal, though I have yet to start.

Of course, I could do all of these, but that could get a little expensive...must narrow down list of challenges. Advice/thoughts welcome. Am I missing anything?

Book Review: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance

Last week I read this funny memoir, really more devouring it, rather than reading. It's the story of a girl who is dealing with weight (and significant weight loss), dating, identity and how to live all that while staying true to her faith. Oh, and at the same time, it is hilarious.

Let's just say it is making a whole lot of sense to me right now.I identify with several with aspects of her story, and it feels good when someone else says some of the things out loud that you've been thinking or wondering.  

The only thing is it totally glosses over the whole weight loss is hard thing. She loses 80 pounds in the span of one chapter (in a unhealthy, but doctor supervised manner it took only 5 1/2 months).  But really, I'm okay with her not dwelling on it, goodness knows I dwell on the "weight loss is hard" theme enough here on this blog.  Plus, then it gets to the meat of the story, which is how she deals with life and dating and her faith after she loses the weight.  

Before she lost the weight, she was always "the funny one." After she lost it, she struggled because she felt like she was losing her funny girl status, but she still wasn't winning the title of "the pretty one" either.  

She ends up falling for an atheist, which really challenges her faith.  I was so engrossed with the struggle that I had a hard time deciding how I wanted the book to end. I certainly didn't want her to give up her faith in order to live happily ever after with the guy.  But he was also so perfect for her and she had to kiss a lot of jerks before she met him that I didn't want her to give him up either.  You'll have to read the book to see which she chooses!

If you have ever tried to stay true to your faith in a faithless world, looked everywhere for love and not been able to find it, tried to figure out who you really are and what you really believe, or been a girl, I think you will love this book. Seriously. I checked it out from the library and had two other people read it while I had it out, because I loved it so much.

Thanks to M.Carter @ the Movies for recommending!

Catch Up

I know it's been awhile since I've posted. I partly blame vacation, but also my thoughts on diet, health and exercise have really been running the gamut lately. It's been hard to clarify these myriad thoughts into some digestible morsels. Here goes:

-I hate running, but I love the way it makes me feel when I actually complete a running workout.  I've been falling out of the habit lately, but starting today, I'm back to making running a commitment in my life.

-I've been feeling a little aimless lately because I have no future races/goals on my calendar.  I'm looking for a new challenge. I have a few possibilities that I'll share with you later this week, hopefully.

-I've been wildly "off track" with my dieting. So much so that I am afraid to weigh. I haven't weighed since I went skydiving at the beginning of May.  Despite not weighing, I can tell that I am gaining some weight back and it feels uncomfortable.  I feel better when I'm eating right and exercising, why can't I remember that?

-I hate blogging when I'm "off track." I either complain about being off track or I blog about other things and don't tell you I'm off track. The first option is depressing and the second makes me feel like a fraud. I don't want you all thinking I'm this successful weight loss story when it continues to be a struggle for me, and some days are better than others.  To that end, I may not be as consistent a blogger in the future. I don't want to give it up completely, but I don't know if I will continue posting daily.

-I started a book called "Intuitive Eating" this morning as I was eating breakfast. It sounded like a load of crock to me, but the first chapter hooked me. It described me perfectly as a "professional dieter" who goes through endless cycles of dieting and then not dieting/preparing for the next diet. Because the diet is restricting, you end up going through cycles of dieting and then when you're "off-diet" eating horribly. The professional dieter knows a lot about how to eat right and knows the nutritional content of all foods, but it feels forced.  Anyway, I only got through one chapter this morning, but I will definitely see about reading the rest. I'll let you know if I reach any revelations.

PS. I didn't do a Farm Fresh post last week because I was on vacation, but my vegetable buddy delivered my goods to me yesterday and guess what? I got a cantaloupe! I've never been particularly fond of cantaloupe, but I was so excited to see fruit that I think I will not have a problem eating it all up.  I also got a bajillon beans. I shelled them all last night (which took forever) and the actual amount of beans I got out this huge pile was less than 1/4 cup.  I should've taken a picture so you would understand, but I'm a bad blogger.  Crazy, though, the things people will go through for some beans.

Farm Fresh Friday, Week Six

Time for another installment of Farm Fresh Friday.
This week I got:
Collards - Again! if I never see another green again, I would be pretty happy about that.
Zucchini
Squash - Although they are white?  Not sure why.  V. confusing.
Tomatoes-Green!  I've only had green tomatoes fried before...wondering if I can eat them plain.
Cabbage-5th week in a row! I think I might attempt cole slaw this time.
Potatoes
Corn- Exciting new vegetable! Of course, I have enjoyed corn before now, but it is new to the box.
Bay leaves- These were provided by a Winthrop gardener. I didn't want to take them, but the ladies at the CSA drop off said I should.  I said, "I don't know what to do with this." They said, "Just hang them up to dry and then put them in a jar."  I did not want to further embarrass myself by saying "Then what?"  but someone later told me to "Put them in sauces."  We'll see about this.

I should mention that my parents seem to be embarrassed about my lack of vegetable knowledge and even resorted to quizzing my younger sister to make sure she knew her veggie facts.  (She fared only slightly better than I.)  I can only respond that I can not help it if radishes are always on our family's veggie trays, and I never chose to try them. I'm sorry about that, as they were better than expected when I tried them for the first time two weeks ago.  Also,  I have never seen a whole head of cabbage in our family fridge, so how was I supposed to tell the difference between it and a head of lettuce, which is also green?

Anyway, I'm taking my veggies and heading to the beach, so you won't see posts from me for a week or so.
In the words of Zac Brown Band, I'll be:


Knee deep in the water somewhere
Got the blue sky breeze and it don't seem fair
Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair
Sunrise there's a fire in the sky
Never been so happy 
Never felt so high
And I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise

Adios and via con dios!  

A real, green tomato

This is how I feel about cabbages.
They are eclipsing my existence

Fresh bay leaves

Words I overuse

Words I overuse:
Amazing
Awesome
Tired
Ridiculous
Funny

If something is even partly good, I always go for amazing or awesome as descriptors.  I think it lessons the impact of these words and I would like to expand.  After a quick thesaurus hunt, I found the words "marvelous," "fascinating" and "astonishing." Plus, I've always wanted to incorporate the word "classic" into my vocab more after watching some Hugh Grant movie. It was either About a Boy or Notting Hill (thinking it was Notting Hill, though.)

Tired is overused because I'm always tired.  I already sleep 8 or 9 hours a night, so I hardly think I need more sleep.  Not sure what I could do to put a little pep in my step.

Ridiculous might just switch to absurd or bizarre.

Funny.  Is there any less colorful word out there to describe things that really are marvelous?  I also thesaurused it and found loads of better words:
Absurd
Amusing
Comical
Humorous
Farcical

Why does this concern you?  Well, you read my words so often, I thought you might want to have a say in the ones I choose. Let me know if you have any suggestions for good words in the comments section below!