So I went to a nutritionist yesterday to try and help me learn to make better choices. She had some great tips, although most of the information is pretty much common sense. One thing that she told me that was surprising is that I am not getting enough dairy products. Since I am pretty much lactose intolerant, she said soy products are just as good. I am supposed to have a glass of milk (or in my case, Silk Light) with every meal. I am going to try SOOOO hard this time, and to make sure I do...I am going to post my weight once a week. Help keep me accountable! Today's weight....153.7lbs. Ahhhhh. I ideally would like to be about 145, so losing 1 pound a week, that will take roughly 2 months.

I also discovered that we get Fit TV included in our cable service. They actually have some fun things on there for weight loss (belly dancing, yoga, etc.) I think I would be much more likely to work out if I could do it at home. I watched the belly dancing show today. Maybe some other time I will actually get off the couch and participate!

Just added a blogger app to my iPhone.... Sweet!

So I have been bad about renovating my life. However, I am ready to give it another whole-hearted try. Here are the things I have already done:

1. Saw an internal medicine physician to try and figure out why I am so tired all the time. Her suggestions weren't what I expected, but I am going to try them and see what the outcome is. First, she drew some blood to rule out any easy things like anemia.

-My Hct was 34, which is low/normal. Personally, I think this number is lower since I am chronically dehydrated. So I have started taking iron supplements. Let me tell you, these things are gross. I burp up metal taste all day. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this?

-I also have an elevated eosinophil count, which is probably due to the allergies I have developed since moving up here. Going to start taking non-drowsy Claritin when I am outside for longer periods of time.

-She drew my vitamin D level, and although it was normal, she suggested taking at least 1000 i.u.s of vitamin D per day. She said people living in Seattle have more of an issue with this deficiency than the rest of the state. So I began taking my GNC vitapack regularly again. Side note: these things rock. If you are a girl, and need an all around vitamin pack, get the BeWhole from GNC. It has a multivitamin, skin and nails tab, fish oil, calcium, and vitamin D....all in one little package. And they are pretty :) They are all natural so even the coating is mica, which makes them pearly looking.

-She also thinks that I have conditioned insomnia (don't laugh mom). If you know me, you know I sleep ALLLL the time. She thinks that because I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, the 12 hours I typically get a day is not the right kind of sleep. It can take me 30min to 2 hours to fall asleep, and I wake up between 4 and 10 times a night. Apparently this isn't normal (I had no idea my sleep was wacky). It should only take people between 10 and 30 minutes to fall asleep, and they should wake up once at the most throughout the night. She suggested seeing the sleep disorders clinic at VM, and also gave me a prescription for Ambien. I tried the regular formulation, but it didn't quite work for me. I had no trouble falling asleep, but I could only sleep for 4 hours before I would wake up and have to take another dose. So this week she switched me to the Ambien CR. Now I can get a good 7-8 hours of sleep a night and actually wake up feeling rested!!

-I also talked her into giving me a prescription for massages. My insurance will cover up to 30 something massages a year for $10. So why not take advantage huh?? I am setting up an appointment with a massage therapist/occupational therapist to work on my lower back. Nursing in an ICU is HORRIBLE for your back. Especially since I am tall, everyone needs the bed lower than is ideal for me. I end up bending over considerably to pull patients up in bed, hold them why they are getting cleaned, or hoisted them to the commode. I can't wait to get my first one!

-I also made an appointment with a nutritionist. I know I need to eat better, but the "good" foods irritate my colitis. Also, I am just really lazy and I hate to cook :) Hopefully she will have some good tips about eating healther and maybe losing a few of these "marriage" pounds I have put on.

-I switched my anxiety/depression medication from an SSRI to Wellbutrin. I've been told it is the most energizing medication of them all. I can already tell a difference....hence I have the energy to post all this!

-I also switched my ulcerative colitis medication back to Asacol. It's going to be a hassle to take it three times a day, but I just think it worked so much better than the once a day version.

-I am still having nausea/stomach issues, so I am still on the Prilosec. My doctor also added another medication to help with the nausea until I can have a hydrogen breath test to see if the H. pylori bacteria is gone. That won't happen until later this month, so for now I am just eating smaller meals more times per day to keep my stomach at a more even level of acid production.

-I started taking a probiotics pill every day and trying to eat at least one yogurt a day. Yoplait light has sooo many good flavors, that shouldn't be hard at all! My favorite is the banana cream pie :)


Things I have yet to do:

-Exercise. Right now I don't have the energy, although I am looking up some fun ways to make exercise seem less like work. The gym down the hill has hip hop, yoga, and pilates classes that seem like fun. There is also a dance studio close by that has adult ballet classes. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A BALLERINA! I am hoping that the changes I am making will give me some more energy to get off my butt and exercise. I also thought about walking the dogs down to Seattle University a couple of times a week so they can run off the leash. I think Sam is adjusted enough now that he wouldn't run away. My only concern would be their interaction with other dogs. Gracie can sometimes be aggressive with certain dogs (maybe she thinks they will steal her Sammy away??) We will see how that goes. It would be nice to let them wear themselved out at the park instead of playing in my lap all the time.

-Keep the apartment clean and chores done on time. I think this will reduce my stress overall, but right now it seems more stressful to get started.

-Get all debts paid off (except the student loans). We still have that one loan from Lazyboy that is looming over me. We have until September to pay it off without any interest so I am going to buckle down this next month and make it happen! My contribution: I haven't been to Sephora or Ulta for two months!! Talk about hard! I have been using Aussie for my hair and all my leftover face stuff and makeup. I probably have a year's worth of products in my bathroom right now that has built up over time.

-Finish decorating the apartment. Most room are done except the most important!! The bedroom. Need to organize so that having a king sized bed in a small room doesn't seem so cramped. I finally got a storage unit in the basement of our building so we don't have to store Scott's overflow in the extra room anymore. Looks much better in there now!

Well, that is all I can think of at the moment. Wow, I wrote a novel.