Here’s to You Moms

by Heather Posted on May 12, 2012
Enjoying my buddy in February in the Dominican Republic

 

Being a parent isn’t easy. I never thought it would be. I knew that little lump of love didn’t come with an instruction manual when we left Sister’s Hospital. All I knew is that I would try really hard.

I have been a Mom for almost 5 years. Logan will turn 5 on Friday. I am a mother of one child and I’m fairly new to this world. Yet, I think I’ve learned a lot in these years that I have had the title “Mom”. In honor of Mother’s Day I would like to share some observations, celebrations and a little wisdom that I have gained through being a Mom and having a Mom.

1) I rarely read books on parenting. I trust my gut. I swear by a sleeping book that Joe and I have followed to a tee and it has never failed us. But the last parenting book I read was “What to Expect” and we are doing just fine.

2) When I don’t have the answer I ask my Mom. Or my mother-in-law. They always have the answers. And when I still can’t figure it out, it usually means he’s going through a growth spurt or getting sick. True.

3) Some days as a parent I can yell, cry and laugh all in the matter of an hour. And yes, I yell. So be it. I’m only human.

4) The greatest moment of my week is on Saturday and Sunday mornings when that big head shows up next to me at 7:01 (He knows he can’t get out of bed until it’s a 7 or an 8) and climbs into bed with me and puts his cheek to mine. That’s better than an early morning work out any weekend.

5) When I do something, or something happens to me, where I used to make fun of my mother I call her up and apologize. Case in point: I got stuck in an elevator last week. Almost 15 years ago the same thing happened to my Mom. At the time, I made fun of her because she was scared. Last week, I had a panic attack. I called her within the hour and apologized. I look forward to the day when Logan makes that same call. Maybe he won’t.

6) Most Moms feel like they are an island and in reality we are more alike than different. Tell your story more. Moms need to hear them.

7) I don’t write enough down. I don’t take enough pictures and I never videotape except for Christmas and Easter. I will regret this someday I’m sure.

8) When Logan talks all the time all I feel is empathy. Empathy for my parents, brother, husband, co-workers for putting up with me and my mouth. God I talk a lot. And I am so sorry. Do us talkers ever stop talking? How annoying.

9) I’m an anti-social parent to other school parents. I’m not in to being in the clique. I don’t want to compare, make small talk or have play dates. I would rather have play dates with MY friends, drink wine and let our kids run around the backyard. Is that mean or wrong?

10) When Logan dances on the front porch for the entire neighborhood to see, I feel nothing but pride. One day he may be in the “Wizard of Oz” and get a thrill from it just like me. Maybe he is a dancer. Or not.

11) He loves music. From Fresh Beat Band to Jimmy Buffett. From Elvis to U2. He is a mirror of his parents and can still be a kid at the same time. That is pretty cool. And music really does tell the story of our lives.

12) If you lead with healthy foods from the beginning, they WILL eat them. We truly did that right. He asks for salad. AMEN!

13) I can pray for bedtime to come because I just want to be alone and then crave him within an hour of going to bed. Irony, I know.

14) There is nothing more amazing than watching your husband turn into the the best father you could ever imagine. Joe, you are such an amazing Dad. And most of the time, the better parent. THAT is true.

15) The best gift is the craft made at school telling you that he loves you better than his Hungry Hungry Hippo game. Nothing beats it.

16)My Mom told me that gardening relaxed her. I thought it was annoying. I spent 4 hours in the dirt today and feel like I had a massage. She was right.

17) Best advice ever: Bath, Bottle, Book, Bed. Thank you Amy. You were right.

18) Balance doesn’t exist. It’s in categories called: Fairly sane, sleeping, on vacation, insane, who cares and I give up. We strive for something that is relative to our reality. Embrace what you have. Aim for sanity.

19) When he screamed for 5 hours straight and wouldn’t stop crying as a baby I put in him his crib, closed the door and went outside. And probably 10 other women have told me the same story. Do it. You are normal. They will be fine.

20) I will ball like a baby the day he gets on the bus for kindergarten. And I totally regret the day I went and never looked back and barely waved to my Mom. Again, I’m so sorry Mom. That was terrible of me.

 

But most of all, I wish all the Moms reading this a Happy Mother’s Day. We really should take one day a year to celebrate our amazingness. We take care of our loved ones, try our best as Moms and still manage to stay true to our fabulous selves. Thank you to Logan for showing me that the world is more clear through the lens of motherhood and thank you for making me laugh. Your love makes me a better woman.

Here’s to you, Moms. And yes, here’s to me. I rock. And so do you.

 

 

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Rebirth

by Heather Posted on April 8, 2012

It’s Easter Sunday. And me, much like many of you, overindulged today and I’m feeling sluggish to say the least. Gross really. Too much of everything. While we had a lovely day filled with our family and such great memories of my little man, I couldn’t help but think of one thing today. Rebirth.

Easter Sunday celebrates renewal, rebirth and a rising again. I couldn’t help but think to myself, like an angel whispered in my ear- “rebirth”.

Last week I was given great health news. My esophageal ulcers had healed. I had another scope and they became pretty and healed for me. Hooray :-) Awesome news. And as the spring begins to cross into summer many people are thinking tank tops and I have been thinking “health and life”. How am I ensuring I am living my most full life? Am I working to be my healthiest?

Rebirth.

And then tonight as I was plugging in my work outs into my weekly calendar I googled “obesity, cancer and esophagus” and there this was:

“What is known about the relationship between obesity and esophageal cancer?- Overweight and obese people are about twice as likely as people of healthy weight to develop a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma. However, overweight and obese people are more likely than people of normal weight to have a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease or Barrett esophagus, which are associated with an increased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is possible that obesity exacerbates the esophageal inflammation that is associated with these conditions.”

A healthy esophagus deserves a celebration and a body that respects it’s healing. And by understanding what’s possible, I can work to help ensure it doesn’t happen.

Rebirth. Treadmill. 5:15 am.

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Like Your Own Best Friend

by Heather Posted on March 19, 2012

This past weekend I was reading The Buffalo News and came across this article. The basis of the article was how girls, as young as 8 and 9, are obsessed with their body image and many times it’s in a negative way. 50% of girls that are between the ages of 8 and 10 years old report feeling negative about their bodies.  Half. Negative. Not good.

Couple this with a recent interaction I had with a cashier at Wegmans. (Holler out to Wegmans! My love :-) ) Here was a nice young woman in her college years chatting with me. It comes up that she is heading on a cruise with her entire family, including her Grandparents to celebrate one last time as her Grandma is getting dementia. Then she says “I just can’t imagine getting in a bathing suit. I feel so fat. And my Mom, she won’t even get in a bathing suit and she’s thin and beautiful.” And there it was. This young woman is hating on her body and so was her Mom. My next sentence to her was “you know, us women do so many amazing things and we continue to beat ourselves up over our bodies. Crazy don’t you think?” She looked at me, thought about it and said “You are right.” But deep down we both knew that we were our own worst enemies.

When does it start, this self-hatred of our bodies? I can only remember one day in my life that I didn’t think I was fat. You know what day that was? My wedding day. Yup. True story.

Growing up I was a dancer- and thought I was fat. Now, I see pictures of myself then and think “HA- I wish!” The reality is yes, I am the heaviest I have been in a long time but I’m also pretty amazing. As is every single woman I know. These hips have carried a baby and have carried me through life. I think I should celebrate them a wee bit.

Just recently for work we had an amazing event. We had a professional photographer come and get shots of the people at the party. Almost every single woman that saw the pictures said to me “God, I look terrible” or “That is a terrible picture of me” and I would honestly say right back to them ” I think it’s great”. These are some of the most amazing and successful women I have ever met, hating on themselves in pictures. I will be honest, I saw the pictures of myself and thought, yeah you could lose a few pounds but you still look pretty good and wasn’t it such an awesome night! (Hooray for progress!)

And all of these interactions have come together for this post. I think we really need to try hard to stop it. When I interact with my nieces I always tell them how special they are, how beautiful they are, how smart and kind they are. Do we say that to ourselves? I often think to myself, would I talk to my best friend the way I talk to myself? Hells no.

I think all the negativity and self-hatred weighs us down physically and mentally. We are extraordinary beings that balance everything that life throws our way and we get hung up on a fold of skin that appears weird under our chins. Seriously? If you really think about it, the craziness is just that, crazy. Yes, I wish I looked like JLo some days, but I also think I have a better philosophy on relationships than she does. Trade off. :-)

So, I vow to talk to myself internally, and out loud, in a positive manner as much as I possibly can. If you catch me doing otherwise, slap me upside the head and tell me to stop it. I ask you to try to do the same. If someone pays you a compliment say “Thank you.” and graciously listen and take it. Take it in.

Let’s all try to talk to ourselves like we would our best friend. Make health your priority. Work hard to be our healthiest. I go every where with myself so I should like myself, and so should you.

 

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Namaste

by Heather Posted on March 4, 2012

In my last post  I jumped right into my vacation and all the wonderfulness that went into it, and came out of it. Yet there was some news right before we left that I just didn’t talk about.

Remember that test I had a few weeks back? I’ll spare you the pictures but I did get all of the results and an earful right before we left on our Caribbean vacation. Great news, I’m not a Celiac. HOORAY! Just gluten intolerant and as the Dr. told me, if your body doesn’t agree with it, don’t eat it. So I won’t. Bad news, my esophageal ulcers are pretty bad. And I will quote the Dr. here- “you are one sick lady”. I have another scope scheduled for the end of March and in the meantime I’m on some medication that coats my esophagus before every meal and before bed to try and speed up the healing.

So here’s the fascinating part, my physical structure of my stomach is literally broken. As he said to me, yes you can avoid foods that you love like coffee, wine, chocolate but in reality it won’t make a huge difference. Your structures are literally broken. Which I find interesting. Even more fascinating- on vacation I ate whatever I wanted. Drank mimosa’s at breakfast, wine with dinner, full fat cheeses, REAL bacon, one cup of coffee each morning….and no pain. And I didn’t gain a pound. I ate what I wanted, drank what I wanted and had no pain and didn’t gain a pound. Say what?

My conclusion in my non-scientific experiment-stress. Granted, I can’t live on a Caribbean island (yet) and live the life of leisure (yet) but maybe this is about more than Starbucks and gluten.

And as always, I share with this all of you because maybe there’s a lesson in all of this for everyone. What can we, including me, learn from all this poking, prodding and test taking? What do we do in our everyday life that can be flipped to change our health? This is the hardest part of me. I’m a type A, overachieving, fast paced, fun loving, passionate woman. But at what cost?

I have joked about not wanting to do yoga because ” I get bored” for as long as I can remember. There’s a scene in the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” where she is in the yoga class and her mind is racing and you can hear her self talk and she looks at the clock and she’s been in the room….5 minutes. Torture. Well, maybe I need some yoga and “boredom”.

I have been doing a lot of reading by Tony Robbins, and believe what you may about him, but he said something that I wrote down “Are you a human living or a human doing? Are you always doing because you think you have to be?” Hmm, a human doing? That struck a cord.

But the underlying lesson in all of this is listening to your body, your instincts and trusting all of them. With each layer, I uncover more about myself and my body. What is your body telling you? Are you listening? Are you a “human doing” or are you stopping to listen?

Maybe I should stop and listen. Maybe, just maybe, I should give that yoga class a try. Maybe my Mom was right. But I have so much to do……..

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Love In Real Time

by Heather Posted on February 13, 2012

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I will say, I’m one of those lucky gals who’s fabulous husband brings her flowers almost every Friday night “just because” so this holiday is sort of celebrated regularly in this house. I know I know, puke. As my Mom regularly says, you have to kiss alot of toads until you find your prince and well, I met my fair share of toads. My prince did come. In a silver Intrepid, not a white horse. But I digress.

Love looks differently in this house these days. It looks like this…

And like this…..

And like this…….

My son’s school sent home a note asking parents to write their kids “love letters” to be read with the class telling them why they are special in honor of Valentine’s Day. Fresh off a family vacation that was filled with laughs, love and a great reminder of why “us 3″ are so special- the letter was a joy to write.

We just got home from a week away from the world. Just “us 3″ as we refer to ourselves. No work, no cell phones, no email, no internet, no one but us. And the Caribbean and days filled with nothing. We have never done a trip where it was just us, no one worked and we didn’t have any distractions. It was the greatest gift of love we could have ever given ourselves. We laughed, I cried with joy, we enjoyed the simple things and each of us grew. I watched my son discover new things (like an airplane!) and I filled my own personal tank all at the same time.

It is in these times that I realize romance and chocolates and flowers are one thing, but my greatest Valentine gifts are the moments in my life when I am smiling from ear to ear and just enjoying my life and my loves. So this Valentine’s Day celebrate the simple moments, not the grand gestures. And give yourself the gift of time with those you love–and love yourself enough to stop and breathe.

I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. This year I don’t need a dozen roses or a box of chocolates. I am grateful for meeting my loving husband because without him none of this would be possible and because of him, I have this.

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There’s Only One Direction Up

by Heather Posted on January 28, 2012

This week has been one of my toughest in recent memory. I have contemplated writing this post with full honesty and thought maybe one of you will learn from it and listen to your body and improve your health.

As I told you in my last post this week I had an endoscopy scheduled. The purpose was to take biopsies testing me for Celiac and look for possible structural damage from my gluten intolerance/possible Celiac. Yet, there were other treasures to uncover and not the good kind.

The test is fairly simple. The best part was the really good drugs to put you out. I literally remember saying as I fell asleep “these are really good.” And I said the same thing when I woke up. Clearly I enjoyed them.

The Dr. warned me that I would have a sore throat, be out of it for the rest of the day and then otherwise I should be ok. Once I was coherent he came in to talk to my husband and I and let us know what he found. He took 8 pieces of my small intestine for biopsies and found at least three esophageal ulcers. Open sores in my esophagus. Surprise. I have the pictures to prove it. Structurally, my small intestines looked good and my test results will be back in a week or so. And I wasn’t just fine the next day. The pain from the biopsies was a tad bit worse than he said it would be.

Ulcers. In my esophagus. As my Mom was quick to point out, well you aren’t on chemo. Yes well, that’s correct and it could be worse. But I’m also 35 (in 4 days) and feel like I’m 50. Hell, many of the things wrong with me come to people in their 50′s. Now I’m a tad bit more educated thanks to Google searches. (What did we ever do before Google?)

The ulcers are caused by acid reflux so I’m now on Prilosec. It could be from one too many Starbucks’ or glasses of wine or too much work stress or life stress or just 34 years of eating gluten when I shouldn’t have. Whatever the reason, I have been dealt a hand. Now I can understand a little bit more why I have been in pain for so long.

So, I cried a bit. Wallowed for two days. Felt sorry for myself and ate gluten free mac and cheese for comfort. And then I went to Wegmans, loaded up on groceries and wheat grass and decided to once again take the bull by the horns. You see, I’m scared of what COULD happen. Clearly my life is going to be a struggle in the health department. It is what it is. I am trying to avoid the preventable diseases and so that is up to me.

I feel like I hit a bottom but I know that the only way is up. I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning, spent an hour on the elliptical and then ran around the gym with my son. My life is too incredible to not take all of this seriously and do something about it. I am officially scared shitless. I’m sure there are many people who have been given the same information and thought “well, I’ll just cut down my coffee to twice a day and keep taking my pills.” I can’t do that. I don’t want to take the pills. I want to heal my body. So that means Starbucks coffee once a week for me. That means wheat grass in my green juice. It means taking my 40 pound weight loss seriously. It means trying to get rid of all the rest of the ailments that I have.

I often wonder, how many people are walking around feeling the same way I do and never do anything about it. Do something about it. Get the tests. Ask the questions. Research how to fix it. Life is too short to do nothing. And from this point on, there’s only one direction up.

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Photo Shoot

by Heather Posted on January 23, 2012

This woman is having a photo shoot this week. Glamour shots and all. Of my stomach and small intestine. :/ Jealous, aren’t you?

So I finally saw a GI specialist at the beginning of the month. He is such a lovely man. I went through my list of symptoms and joys ( not so much joy) and he had answers and solutions. Amen. First off, he said that I had bacterial overgrowth of the GI track. Say what? So, as it turns out many people with celiac (I’ll get to that later) and gluten sensitivities have a GI tract that is all out of sorts (which I knew). As I described my pain and abdominal growth with no consistent reason he said that it sounded like bacterial overgrowth. This occurs when the bacterial in the large intestine (bad) goes into the small intestine (really bad) Solution being a course of special antibiotics that are only absorbed in the GI track.

After 10 days of the pills I was amazed. My pain was almost all gone and the bloating was minimal. In one aspect I was pissed at myself. I had been walking around a year trying coffee and wine elimination, supplements up the wazoo and it was this simple of a solution. Yet, I was happy to have some relief.

So onto the glamour shots part. This Thursday I will be having an endoscopy of my esophagus, stomach and small intestine. I will have biopsies for celiac and they will check for physical damage to the organs themselves. Yes, my celiac blood tests have come back negative. Yet, when people go off gluten many times you will get false negatives for celiac in a blood test.

Enter gluten. Because I am having this procedure this week I have had to add gluten back into my diet for the past month. Now, after a year off of it (unless I made a mistake that I didn’t know about) this sounds like heaven on paper. Pizza from a pizzeria. Cut out cookies (with egg, but whatevs) Tim Bits, cookies, cake…..all my friends coming back to me.

Yet, let me tell you, it absolutely stinks. At my nephews birthday party I ate two pieces of yummy pizza. Within 10 minutes I was hot, flushed, dizzy and my ears were itching. Within an hour my sinuses were stuffy and I was tired. Abdominal pain, back in force. I have been eating gluten every day for a month now and I have only two days yet. I may have my most favorite pizza in the world and an awesome cupcake to go out with a bang- a stuffy, flushed, itchy bang but a bang nonetheless.

And all I have been able to think about has been “this is how people live their life and don’t think anything of it”. Studies show that 1 in 133 people will be a celiac in their lifetime but only 1 in every 4,700 of those are ever diagnosed. My list of stuff goes on and on. Including IBS but this is a family blog so we won’t share that part.

Thursday morning is the big day. It will be the first time I have gotten my picture taken where I won’t angle my chin to look thinner. And the super silver lining, I don’t need a colonoscopy. There is a God.

I’ll keep you posted on the outcome but as I always close with  a nugget- if you really listen to your body and I mean REALLY listen, it will tell you something. Observe how you react to food. Eliminate things and add then back in. And if you don’t feel write, see a Doctor. Just take the time.

Say cheese.

 

PS- I just noticed that I have been blabbing on here a year now. Didn’t even celebrate. Well, happy 1 year anniversary to this little blog. And thanks for reading Mom. (anyone else out there?) :-)

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Goals, Not Resolutions

by Heather Posted on January 2, 2012

I make goals, not resolutions. Each New Years Eve, Joe and I stay in for a quiet evening. We put Logan to bed and well, this part sounds corny but it’s true, at the end of our special meal we talk about all of the amazing things we accomplished in the year and talk about our goals for our coming year. Yes, it is over a glass of wine and a great meal, but it’s our special way to kick of the clean slate that is the year ahead.

So, this year was no different. We had a great evening at home. And the lists came out and we swap lists and then talk about what we plan on accomplishing. We also do a burning bowl ceremony. It sounds crazy but it’s awesome actually. We learned the practice from Randy Gage and this is our second year doing it. I will say, the things I let go of last year, literally went away through the year. Good stuff. Learn about what it means here.

Anyhoo, I thought I would share some of my goals for 2012 here. In the spirit of accountability and openness- we are more alike than not, right? So here goes. Below are my personal goals for 2012:

1) Lose 40 pounds. (No, I will not post my goal weight here thank you very much, nice try) But this year will be the year that I lose 40 pounds.

2) Ensure that my health is my first priority, not 2nd, 6th or 10th.

3) Run the 10K relay in May. (As part of the Buffalo Nissan Marathon, we have a relay team in full effect). Not worry about the pace, just concentrate on finishing.

4) Try a new activity once a month. (I have my eyes on the Sky Zone trampoline classes, rock climbing & pilates) For a woman that can give a speech in front of hundreds, health classes give me a fear. Crazy, I know, but I plan on conquering it.

5) Dance more, stress less. ( I did purchase Just Dance 3 for the Wii with this in mind)

6) Visit more beaches.

7) Say “no thank you” more.

So, there they are. Out for all to read. I hope that you took the time to reflect on your 2011, I sure did, and realized I had a kick ass year. But this year really is about me taking care of me, full-time. So if I say, “no thank you” to you, please don’t take it personally, I’m just trying to save my life, one day at a time.

I wish you nothing but health, happiness and a killer 2012. What are you going to do to make it your best yet?

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Amazing

by Heather Posted on December 31, 2011

Many of the blogs that I read have been summing up their 2011 with one word. I have been thinking about mine for a few weeks now and it came to me today. Amazing. It really was. There were more ups than downs and I am forever grateful. Before I look forward with my goals for the next year (next post) I would like to reflect on what the highs have been for me this year.

1) My Dad’s remission continued. There is no greater gift. Amen.

2) I saw the greatest concert of my life. Joe, Logan and I made the trek to East Lansing, Michigan to see the U2 360 tour live at Spartan Stadium. We stayed with some of my favorite family members and they kindly watched Logan. Joe and I had one of those experiences watching live music that only we understand. It was the evening sky, the atmosphere, U2 at their best- just pure awesome.

3) I swam in the ocean with my son and family at Surfside Beach. I watched the sun set. I watched it rise. I felt the saltwater air. I drank margaritas while sitting in the sand. Perfection.

4) I celebrated the birthdays of nieces and nephews and friends children. Our hair gets grayer, our age creeps up yet we still come together to celebrate our children. While we still celebrate our birthdays, looking around to see your closest friends and the next generation getting bigger is always enjoyable. We have such great kids!

5) I landed my dream job. Not many people can say that. I am grateful for all of the lessons and stepping stones that brought me here and I look forward to learning from all the wins, and mistakes, that I will make along the way. I’m honored to have the job that I do and work with the people that I work with.

6) I have a beautiful son who experienced so much this year for the first time. He makes every day better. I never forget how Blessed I am.

7) I ran a 5K. I am a runner now. I never in a million years thought I would say that.

8) Joe and I saw Jimmy Buffett in concert. It was a bucket list concert. I have never felt like I belonged more with a crazy group of people. Yes, I’m a Parrothead and proud of it :-) It’s a life philosophy.

9) I ate at great restaurants, was surrounded by great friends, drank great wine & enjoyed my life to the fullest.

10) I took many steps in the right direction, and many backwards, in regaining my health. I have a lot more work to do in 2012. It’s all part of the journey. This is my first priority above all else.

11) Met so many new people through my work and volunteering and look forward to meeting even more people in 2012. Each person brings more perspective and depth to my life and for that I am grateful.

12) I watched my husband and our friend Peter cross the finish line after completing a marathon. 26.2 miles of pride. I learned a lot from my husband through his training and that day at the race. He is one of my greatest inspirations.

13) I worked really hard at being more comfortable in my own skin. Accepting myself for all my good and bad traits. This is a work in progress, but it’s improving.

14) I hung out with my parents, laughed until I cried and celebrated with my family. I have the greatest parents (by birth and in-laws) a woman could ask for. We are a quirky bunch but we love each other.

15) I did say “no” more in 2011. It was on my goals list and I did accomplish that. I would like to say “no” even more in 2012. Balance is key.

16) I ate a fabulous meal in one of the greatest cities of the world with a very dear friend. It was one of those evenings that you hope to never forget. Thank you Keith.

17) I exchanged daily text messages with my “sister” Kellie. It is our way of staying in touch through our crazy lives but it’s one of those things that makes my life complete. I would be lost without her and thank God for her friendship every day.

18) I tried to be honest in this little blog in the hopes that each of us would feel more connected through this human experience. It is so fun for me to interact with people who actually read this. It made me realize that we are more alike than not.

19) I was able to learn even more from my four Grandparents. All four are still a part of my life and they are pretty remarkable, each of them in their own right. I’m almost 35 and I still have them to learn from. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

20) I never ever take for granted the fact that I am married to my best friend. Thank you Joe for all that you bring to my life (and for putting up with me :-) )

There were many things that I didn’t do well, and many mistakes, but I will learn from them and take them in to improve upon and make a part of my goals for 2012. There were tears and heartaches in the year too, but I think those are the things we should reflect on and learn from, not dwell on.

Throughout this year I continue to remember the legacy of Mindy. For a woman I never met, she gave me so many gifts. I think of her often and pray for her family. She may be gone, but she will never be forgotten.

I hope you take the time to reflect on your 2011 and celebrate all that you were able to enjoy and experience. I wish you the best in 2012. Here’s to our journey together. Happy New Year!

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The Battle of the Season

by Heather Posted on December 12, 2011

I am refusing to let the holidays beat me. I just won’t.

For the past two months I will strongly admit to struggling with my health balancing act. Many of us do so I am no different from anyone else. I ditched my challenge at day #51. Even off of alcohol and coffee my stomach was still a mess and I was, well, missing out on some of my favorite food experiences. So, my stomach still hurts and I can enjoy Starbucks and riesling once again.

With that said, I pretty much just went along with not a whole lotta effort in the food category. I eat healthy, but sometimes eat too much of it. I am still running a few times a week but when you feel like garbage your effort is garbage. The old addage “garbage in, garbage out” really is true. My stomach aches so I ache frankly.

I landed a new general physician who I pretty much think is the cats meow. He is young, thorough and many people that I know go to him and highly recommended him. I wrote a letter basically begging to get into his practice (side note, be your own advocate when it comes to your health care). After my thorough hour long initial examination he is now referring me to a GI specialist to tackle the pain. I will have a upper and lower GI and a colonoscoopy in my not so distant future. Happy New Year! Rock on.

So here I am in the midst of the holiday season. Party after temptation after feast. In my family this time of year was met with tons of baking. TONS. Now, being gluten free and egg free it sort of takes the fun out of the baking. Yes I have tried it more than enough times to still not understand why my cookies don’t look like the cookies in Jules Gluten Free’s blog. They look like garbage but taste pretty good. Right now, it’s not worth the effort for me.

So in an attempt to not gain 10 pounds in the month of December I am trying my best to keep the eye on the prize. Enjoy the season, yet keeping it in check. Pack my lunches more and embrace the no cookies in the house. Yet, I will still partake in my famous fudge and glasses of champagne. And I’m logging on to Weight Watchers and logging my points the best I can.

The season is part battle and part enjoyment. I plan on winning at both.

 

 

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