Blah, blah, blog!

Urban Zen Juice

Back in the saddle again!  Unbelievable what a few days off can do for your mind, body, spirit and FOCUS!!! I picked up a fantastic new book (it always starts with a book, doesn't it;)

Amazon Link HERE

P.S. I love how she calls it a 21 Day "Adventure Cleanse".  Totally summarizes her approach to wellness and life!

This book is full of great information, fun to read and fabulous smoothie recipes.  She gave me the "duh" tip on bagging up all of my smoothie ingredients so all I do is dump them into my Vitamix and blend every morning.  Viola!

I go to Henry's Farmer's Market, buy all of my green goodies, wash 'em up, bag 'em up and then blend 'em up over the next few days.  Easy peasy.  I add some SuperFood spirulina Goji Acai berry powder to give me a SuperWoman boost and this Urban Zen juice is crazy good stuff!  Try it!

As Kris says, Peace and Veggies

Green Smoothie Girl

It is 2010, do you know where your Vitamix is?  My husband was once the quintessential green juicer.  He faithfully stopped by the farmers market and purchased about $40 worth of produce every four days or so to jam into our Champion extraction juicer each morning.  It was tons of work and he figured that if was going to put the time and effort into it, he wanted to get some quantity of juice out of it.  Pretty soon, we needed to get realistic about our grocery budget and we (ok, he quit.  I was just a lucky recipient of his labor).  We buy a little shot of wheatgrass here and there, but mostly we're all about caffeine and wine now, not gonna lie.

I've been receiving emails from Green Smoothie Girl and she inspires me to want to do better.  This video clip makes green smoothies a total no brainer.  Simple, quick, no mess, and CHEAP.  Count me in.

Just Do It

I joined a gym tonight.

That's right.  In the worst economy in 100 years, when we are watching every budget item in this household, I joined a gym. 

Would you like to hear how I arrived at this brilliant cost-savings move?  If you have been paying attention to my life at all, you know I have been involved in launching a charter school approval.  For the past year of my life, I have spent too many hours sitting in front of computer screens and attending meetings and I have eaten more unhealthy food than I care to admit.  I've had late nights and poor habits and my body has paid the price.

In early December I attended a few fundraiser events and wore heels for too many hours and I tweaked my back.  I've been in pain for about two months now and have needed to see a chiropractor.  I purchased a voucher for a massage as a fundraiser for a Dance Studio Cheer Team from a chiropractic clinic and sat through a whole evaluation and work up with X-rays today.  Long story short: the doctor told me that I need 44 sessions at a cost of $2600 but if I paid today he could get it down to $2200.  I said I needed to talk it over with my husband. 

I know how to be pain-free. I simply need to get moving again.  Now that the charter is approved (YIPPEE) and I have all three kids in school until June, there is NO reason I cannot take them to school in the morning and head straight to the gym and take care of myself.  Wendy and I were smart shoppers and we hit all of the gyms until we found the absolute BEST BARGAIN!  We got ZERO initiation fee, and the lowest monthly fee we could find.

The way I figure it, I saved my husband $2540 today.

Wendy and I are hitting Zumba class tomorrow at 8:30 AM.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh.........

When was the last time you had a massage?  Did you do it just because it sounded good or because you were in pain?  Are you good at paying attention to what you need to stay healthy and energetic?  Or do you put yourself off until you can't stand it anymore?  In light of today's economy, it is no wonder most of us fall in the latter camp.

I experienced a migraine smack down Monday afternoon.  The "bouncing light" aura, the crushing pain, nausea, prickly heat and sweat...the works. It was mostly gone by the evening, but the residual bruised feeling, thick head, and sluggish energy lasted through the next two days.  Tuesday, my mom treated the kids and I to a super fun day at Sea World.  Baby D hung in there all day long, but passed out the last hour and I ended up carrying her five year old heft through the late night concert and into the parking lot.

I needed a massage.

Remember my whining about losing my office to give my ten year old her own bedroom?  Well, it seems, there is a silver lining in everything.  Upon moving my desk, books, and every piece of paper in the house, I stumbled upon not one but TWO gift certificates (dating back to Christmas 2005) for the local serenity spa.  Score!  I promptly booked a hot stone therapy for Thursday at six.  I've always wanted to try one.

If anything ever happens in my life and I (God forbid) ever find myself single again, I'm going to get rid of my bed and buy a massage table.  Something magical happens as soon as I get on that table.  I just throw some aromatherapy around the room, dim the lights and nestle my face down in that face cradle and breath in the soothing essential oils.  I am transformed.

Getting a massage makes me want to double up on the juiced greens, get back to my yoga class, and breath correctly from now on.  Oh, and my therapist met me at the front desk with a cup of hot tea, which was oh so delicious.
This is Aveda's Comforting Tea.  Every home should have this to enjoy daily.

Go be good to yourself and book a massage.  If at all possible, try the hot stone therapy.  You'll be glad you did!

My Bionic Man

The song "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas gets in my head when I think about his insulin pump.

T is hooked up, pump primed, and doing really, really well with his new insulin pump.  Almost exactly two years to the day his was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he got hooked up.

He has been doing a fantastic job with keeping his glucose levels in tight control over the past two years. I'd say he finger sticks and tests his sugar eight to twelve times a day. Pre-pump, he'd have to inject insulin the old fashioned way either proactivly (before a meal) or reactively.  He never complained, but  I'm sure he got tired of the constant analyzing and dosing (carb vs. insulin ratio). And then there were the lows (blood sugar lows).  Those are never fun. His pump keeps a baseline insulin running in the background to keep the glucose levels more constant, then he can bolus before eating. So much easier! He has set alarms to remind him to test one hour after eating.  Soon he'll be ready for the Continuous Glucose Monitor so he can get even more information on how his body is responding to food and insulin.

Yesterday he had his routine check up with his endocrinologist. She is always so impressed with his lab numbers. She beams and says she wishes all of her patients were like him.  His HbA1c (like a batting average for blood sugar levels) was down to 6.3. It was over 13 when he was diagnosed two years ago.  Six and under is considered non-diabetic. His cholesterol is excellent, and his triglycerides are like a newborn baby. His doctor said, "Do you eat anything??" I guess homegrown sprouts and juiced greens really pretty up the lab reports.

T's latest obsession is with getting a special wheat grass juicer.  It is difficult to argue with his results.  I'm so proud of him and his commitment to his health.

We can work it out....

Raise your hand if you wake up each and every day intending to workout.  Now keep it up if you make good on that promise to yourself more often than not.

Yeah, me neither.

I can provide a zillion excuses as to why the little box next to "exercise" on my Franklin task list rarely gets checked (and yes, I do write out "exercise" each and every day). Today my little side-kick and constant companion Baby D was full of piss and vinegar and I thought I'd help her redirect her energies and help me burn some calories.

I introduced her to the heavy bag.

I taught her how to throw a roundhouse kick:

We then moved on to weights: shoulder, triceps, and biceps today:


She then moved on to some interpretive dance on the mini trampoline:


We worked through the circuit, alternating activities and getting sweaty.

Believe it or not, this kid is a GREAT workout partner. She is enthusiastic, cheers me on, and is tireless.  It is now 9:00 PM. She's been going strong since 6 AM. I'm ready to collapse....why isn't she?

Sunday catch up

I've been a busy girl this past week and I really have nothing to show for it. I'm trying to keep up with that FlyLady cleaning schedule and manage my household and kids while hubby is out of town for the weekend.  My house is totally straightened, but not necessarily deep cleaned.  I think this is more a function of having kids home 24/7 (Christmas break and P's home study).  Kid clutter is ubiquitous.

My biggest focus the past few days has been nutrition and exercise.  Yes, I know I said I was starting on January 1 and I did get serious about daily exercise, but I never quite got around to journaling my food and cutting out carbs. I found myself half a pound heavier by January 7.  So.....Friday afterschool P's teacher was in our home and telling us how the teachers are doing a Biggest Loser Challenge and the pot is up to $1100 for a ten-week weight loss contest.  My neighbor Wendy (the one who organized The Six Week Challenge for our neighborhood) happened to be here and convinced me into being her second half and we joined as the 12th  couple.  That woman is going to drive me crazy. She's the most competitive person I know. That is probably what I need. 

Our principal, assistant principal, eight teachers and their spouses, plus two parent couples (we're one) are competing for $1200 and the biggest percentage of body fat lost.  And guess what?  AP said that we are using this experience (and documenting it) for a grant. I'm not writing it. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.

So my plan is this: cardio twice a day. Wendy came over yesterday and we each did 15 minutes on the rebounder, then treadmill.  Last night I did my 45 minutes or so on my pilates reformer and the ab roller.  I fired up my Calorie King nutrition manager and have been inputting my food and exercise and watching the calorie, carb, and fat targets carefully.  I started with 80 oz of water yesterday and will try to get it up to 100 oz today. I think I peed 26 times yesterday.

I'm using protein shakes, raw almonds, and quartering South Beach protein bars for snacks. Any carb needs to be consumed before 2pm. This will be good for T too, as none of us need the carbs at dinner. Last night I made a great salad using Morningstar Grillers, romaine, raw walnuts, tomatoes, and a vinaigrette of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, thyme and rosemary.  I crumbled up about a tablespoon of gorgonzola cheese  over the top and it was yummy. The combination of gorgonzola, walnuts, and olive oil put my fat over the Calorie King program limits, but I was way under for total carbs.  You just can't please everyone.

Today T comes home from AZ and I can get back to things like my LOAD challenge and taking some pictures.  Gotta go hit the treadmill and get those kids outside playing.

Post op report

P amazed us. She was such a brave girl and did very well yesterday. We arrived at 9:30 AM and came home sometime after 8 PM last night.  The hospital staff took great care of her and we were with her every step outside of the actual surgery.

Friday at school, a classmate gave her a plush teddy bear and a card wishing her a speedy recovery. P took that bear with her through everything and the staff was very accommodating in giving the bear a matching ID bracelet and casting the bear's legs to match P's. This photo was taken in the elevator (by camera phone) on her way down to surgery:

As T and I walked down the hallway to wait in the waiting room during P's surgery, we ran smack in to Miss Martha and her husband, Pastor Roy. Miss Martha has taught all three kids in preschool and she declares that she loves our family like her own. They came to pray with us during the surgery and we were so surprised and grateful for their love. They stayed the entire time, even coming up to see P in the pediatrics ward, following recovery. They took three hours out of their day to come sit with us. Neighbors and friends were texting and calling and offering to bring gluten-free dinner for our family. Her uncle Steve showed up last night with two dozen pink roses and balloons. Thank you so much for all of your wonderful posts of support and emails.  I was so touched by each and every thought.  Everything put a smile on her face and she knows that she has a ton of support and thoughts and wishes and prayers.

She has two blue casts with nail polish to match.  A physical therapist attempted crutch training after surgery, but finally agreed that crutches are too confusing and cumbersome for a nine year old with double casts. She totally wasted our time. Poor P wanted out of that hospital in the worst way yesterday. It is always so much better to be at home, in your own bed.

We have a pediatric wheelchair that gives her a sense of controlling her mobility and that makes her happy.  Bella enjoys the ride too:

Thank you again for all of your thoughts, prayers, and wishes for her recovery.  I truly appreciate it.

 

Releasing and rearranging

As you may recall,  my oldest daughter has walked on her toes since age one.  She is almost 10 now and the toe walking is affecting her life in larger ways. She cannot do PE, she has no endurance, she cannot walk quickly or long distances.  Heck, she can't really even make it the two blocks to school without complaining and creating a lot of drama.  We tried physical therapy in first grade. It didn't help.  We took her to a new orthopedic surgeon last month who was very confident that she has diplesia, a mild form of Cerebral Palsey that is the result of a birth injury. It was a lot to take in, but it isn't the first time we've been told that is likely the underlying issue. 

The surgeon explained that typically, when a person walks, the gastroc (calf) muscles, fire and rest, fire and rest, fire and rest. That is how muscle is built and how our bodies work. In P's case, the brain does not communicate fully with her lower extremities and her gastroc muscles are in a constant state of "firing".  You would think after nine years of walking on her toes, she'd have amazing calf muscles sculptured.  Nope. I massage her legs (in another attempt at gaining flexibility) and she is seems to be flesh on bone....no muscle tone at all.

So we have decided to proceed with the surgery: bilateral percutaneous achilles tendon release.  The surgeon said this is a "sneaky" way at tricking the brain to work with the legs to allow the heel to hit the ground as she walks.  It will not change the brain/muscle connection, but it will, hopefully, prevent the inflexibility from causing more pain and traveling up her body. I've noticed in the past year, she is beginning to walk knock-kneed and she has complained a lot about hip and back pain.  No nine year old should have to have structural pain.

This procedure may have to be repeated as she grows. No one can guarantee this is the only surgery she will ever need. We just have to really be grateful that her form of Cerebral Palsey is as mild as it is and that she has not been limited in any other way. Her fine motor skills are slightly challenged, but only in ways that cause her to be a little sloppier or clumsier than others.  She is extremely sensitive about this and truly, it has helped me understand why she behaves and functions the way that she does.  It also explains why she is so sensory sensitive. She reacts to smell, color, noise and other stimuli differently simply because she processes the information differently.

We have tried absolutely everything we can in an attempt to avoid surgery: podiatrists, physical therapy, cranial-sacral work, chiropractic, homeopathy protocols, minerals, Mona Vie, nightly leg massage, stretches and exercises, a gluten-free elimination diet (which she is still on) and nothing got better.

So there it is. Her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday December 10. We will likely spend about 8 hours in the hospital tomorrow and bring her home at night. Her recovery involves double casts for six to eight weeks.  I am working to arrange a contract with her teacher for home study. I'm not sure when she'll go back to school. She may surprise all of us and get really confident on crutches and be back in a few weeks.  Or she may want to stay home and wait until the casts come off. Some kids require intensive physical therapy to train the muscles how to stabilize and even walk all over again. Some kids require leg braces and walking supports. Other kids start building strength as they stomp around in the cast and only require a shoe AFO (articulated foot orthodic) to bring the heel down.  All of this remains unknown until we see how she heals and rehabilitates.

I've finally realized I need to give up my downstairs office so that she has a place to retreat. During our pre-op appointment, the doctor said that even after she is able to bear weight on her casts, she should not attempt stairs.  Not only will she have no ankle flexibility in those casts, but the fiberglass casts could cause slip and we don't want to risk her falling down the stairs.  We could make her scoot up the stairs on her butt, but those are the makings of a Mommy Dearest-type expose and I just don't want to risk  future attacks on my character as a mother.  The teenage years are sure  to bring plenty of attacks without the aid of citable evidence.

Moving furniture around today, trying to squeeze a bedroom and office in one small space was bittersweet.  Bitter because of the reason: I hate that she has to go through this.  And I'll be honest, I'm bitter because I dearly love having an office and I will miss my creating space so much. 

It is also a little sweet because for the past several months, anytime I ask her what she wants for Christmas all she can obsess about is having her own room.  I would laugh it off and tell her that it isn't gonna happen in this house and to focus on something else.  The kid never once gave me a Christmas wish other than having her own room...even when she knew there wasn't a prayer of it coming to pass.

My mom kept the kids overnight for Christmas Train Cake Decorating today (pictures up soon). T and I worked to get her bed downstairs and remove my desk. As the kids came home tonight, they all stopped at the double doors to the downstairs office.  J exclaimed, "P....it's a Christmas miracle!!! You got your own room!!!"


It is not a complete room renewal. For now, her bed, desk and some toys are there.  If all goes well, she will likely inherit the room and a tween dream room makeover may just appear for her 10th birthday. Kind of crowded for now, but she's happy and I'm hoping she can look forward to her own space as she recovers over the next six weeks or so.

My Food Beliefs

A friend of mine has just laid a challenge at my feet: to blog about my food beliefs.  So here goes:

I believe food is more than just calories.  Food is more than just a way to fill up, to keep going.  It is more than cravings or flavor or convenience.  To me, food represents energy, art, health and family.  I am responsible for feeding my family and with that comes the job of teaching them about nutrition, how to cook, how to take care of themselves and make choices about what they put into their bodies for the rest of their lives.  I only have a small window of time in which to make what I do count.  To have some influence, to create memories and tradition and habit.  I take this responsibility seriously.

To present my beliefs less seriously (because, you know I can be heavy about this topic) I give to you, my food beliefs, as expressed on T-shirt logs:

As if you didn't already know this.  I do love me some veggies.  I love the color and the flavor and the  whole concept of high vibration, live plant energy.  Who knows if that has any bearing on how healthy my body is or how I metabolize it.  I probably blow it by adding the cheese or oil and clogging up that raw veggie goodness, but at least I get those veggies in.  Anytime and anywhere I can!  If I only  had to cook for myself, I believe I could easily be a vegetarian.  Not a vegan (although I think that just sounds cool), but I could be a pretty darn good vegetarian.  I almost never crave meat, I won't buy steaks to cook and the idea of large scale animal production does skeeve me out.  Given the diabetic and celiac cards we have been dealt, it looks like meat will be part of our lifestyle until and/or unless we learn that our nutritional needs can be met with a more vegetarian focus.  Right now, I just don't have it in me to work that hard.

Next:

Or more accurately, I drink greens.  In my mind, veggies and greens are two distinct groups.  We eat lots of veggies but we drink juiced greens.  We are kind of addicted, actually.  However, if my husband suddenly went on strike and stopped juicing for us, I probably wouldn't go through all of the work to do it daily.  Juicing is kind of like working out: a partner helps keep you accountable.

Even though this image is not from a t-shirt, I love that it represents food as art.  Isn't it pretty?  I love creating and consuming colorful, beautifully arranged, intentional food.  Big sloppy portions of heat and serve crap (a la most chain restaurants) just doesn't do it for me.  I'd rather cook at home, then really enjoy a great meal at a small batch, privately owned, preferably ethnic establishment.

I've noticed that I rarely shop at "regular" grocery stores anymore.  I've been finding great things at health food stores, ethnic grocers, farmers markets and Trader Joes.  I'm even weaning us off Costco grocery shopping.  I have to say I am so much more attracted to the smaller health, ethnic and farmers markets than I am the big supermarket.  One big difference is, being the voyeur that I am, peeking into the baskets of my fellow shoppers at say, the Asian market I see TONS of veggies and unique looking fruits and I find myself wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what she's going to do with that?"  I feel inspired.  At the supermarket (Ralphs/Albertsons/Safeway/Krogers/Piggly Wiggly) I peek into the cart in front of me and when it is loaded down with cases of soda, bags of chips, stacks of Lunchables, some nitrate infused lunch meat, white bread and cellophane wrapped bakery goods....I'm not so inspired.

This leads us to my next t-shirt:

If you are having a hard time with the small font, it reads: "Stop Poisoning Your Body With Food!" with a screaming woman.  I wish the checkout clerk would wear this at the supermarket.

True or not. Healthy or not. Sane or not, I can't help but look at food with a dubious eye and silently evaluate which choice will do the least harm.  Maybe this is a symptom of my own "issues" with food, like, you know, joining Weight Watchers for the first time at age 11 or still carrying the baby weight from my first pregnancy 10 years ago....but to me, food has always been a bit of a foe.  After learning how to eat for blood sugar control for my husband and then how to eat to eliminate gluten for our daughter, I can't help but keep that raised eyebrow on our food choices.  When I think about how careful we are with nutrition and how careless others are with theirs, well, let's just say I can totally relate to that t-shirt.  I'd never wear it, but I can relate.

And finally:

Ahhh yes, a few well placed carbs can create such happiness.  I tend to place them a little too well, a little too often, but they deserve a place in my Food Beliefs T-shirt Collection, because they are part of the whole picture.

Growing up, my family ate every dinner together, around a table, discussing the day.  TV was never even in the vicinity.  Our meals were often simple, with a regular rotation and they were real and whole and made by mom's hands.  Sunday dinners were at the ranch with my grandparents and we loved her regular rotations and handmade pies.  I never realized it before, but I guess these memories created my belief of tradition and ritual as it relates to food. 

Now I challenge you to think about your food beliefs.  Blog about how you eat and why.  Then post a link here so I can learn about you.  I promise I won't show up in my "Stop Poisoing Your Body With Food" T-shirt to read your blog.