M.I.A.

First of all, I want to thank all of you wonderful readers who have emailed me over the past week or so wondering if everything is OK with me. It means a lot to me that people are reading enough to realize when you have been gone to long and are genuinely curious as to why.

Since my last post I have gained exactly 5 pounds back. The very same 5 pounds I was so proud to have lost as it put me at the 10 pounds lost marker.

But I'm OK with it.  Why?

1) I have been eating like crap! (When I felt like eating at all that is.)

2) I have not been exercising AT ALL!

Why you ask again?

Because I have been sick.

I have been VERY sick.

I have been going through medical tests and doctor's appointments like crazy to find out why I am sick (and am in constant agony).

I was so stressed out, not just with the pain, but also because I was having trouble working, walking up and down stairs, sleeping, and doing just about anything really. I was so freaked out trying to figure out what it could be.

Luckily we pretty much have the answer now, also luckily it seems like something that should be easy to take care of without extensive surgeries and medications.

I have a few more tests that need to be run before the doctor can refer me to the specialist, and then they will be the ones to decide how to proceed.

Here is what we do know so far: (WARNING - This is very personal and involves women's cycles, etc and might be too much information for some people. Continue reading at your own risk!)

PCOS has pretty much been confirmed via ultrasounds, but we are still waiting on the final blood work to come back on that.

Two uterine fibroids have been discovered. One is about 2 cm and the other is around 5cm. The larger one is in the lower back area and the reason for most of the pain and the inability to sleep.

I have an excess of ovarian follicles which is also a symptom of PCOS and may be rupturing which can also be causing the pain in the abdominal areas.

Until we can get more test results back and speak to a specialist I have been placed on prescription painkillers to manage the pain so I can at least return to a somewhat normal lifestyle. I have also been placed on birth control pills for three months (starting with my next cycle) to manage the hormone levels and make the menstrual cycles more bearable as that is what is aggravating the fibroids.

Fun stuff right! At least I got in lots of reading and video game time! I even made a Shelfari account! Feel free to add me.

At least it's not cancerous...that's what I keep repeating to myself over and over again...

Next week I hope to get back to healthier eating and some exercise (pending how the painkillers work of course).  I have already been told I had to drop out of my dancing with ROTC for the season as well as drop out of my first 5K race I had planned.  I'm pretty bummed but I am hoping once my health gets back on track I can return to those things I enjoyed!

Blogging Breakdown

So...I haven't posted in a while...but it's not from a lack of trying!

I have installed the Window's Live Writer on each of my three most used computers (work desktop, home desktop, and netbook). I love Live Writer...usually...

For some reason, when I try to use it from work, it crashes out every time I try to publish the post or even publish a draft. I have now lost no less than three posts to this occurrence.

Unfortunately, when I am at home, I rarely have time to post from my desktop computer. The only time I really turn it on is to raid. Other than that I am usually cooking, cleaning, working out, doing homework, or something with my family. Oh yeah...and I get to sleep too...sometimes...

So I guess I will either have to give up on Live Writer, or start dragging my netbook with me wherever I go (which is what I am supposed to do with it anyhow).

Anyhow, a brief listing of things I was TRYING to post about:

* Last week's weigh-in put me at 161.5 lbs, earning me a "lost 5 pounds" badge


* I completed week 3 of the EA Active More Workouts challenge - half way there!

* I had a crazy busy weekend with family stuff and was unable to complete a "weekend warrior" project to share


* Tonight is my weigh-in and I'm nervous because I had a really bad eating and exercise week.


* I have a new trainer and program to help me get ready for the 5K!


Hopefully I will have more to post real soon!

Thanks for your continued reading and support!

Goals and the 5K

I realized I still needed something more to push me to get back into shape.  I couldn’t figure out what it was until a read a fellow Blogger’s post.

Rosa, over at Stuffing My Feelings wrote a wonderful post about her goal to run one 5K race per month in 2010 here.

I thought to myself, wow, she’s crazy, that’s an amazing goal.  Then I shook my head and thought to myself, I’ve never even done one, and think it would kill me to do one.

Then it hit me.  That’s what I wanted.  I wanted to run a 5K, finish it, and not die doing it.  This was a new goal to add to my 2010 Goal List.

I immediately Googled 5K runs in my area and found a women’s only race at the end of May.  Perfect!  This should be enough time to get myself ready!  I whipped out my wallet and registered before I could talk myself out of it (or let anyone else talk me out of it).  So if all goes well, I will be running the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon and 5k – Sunday May 30, 2010.

I spent some time looking into what I needed to know for running the 5K and the first things I learned was that a very good pair of shoes, fitted by a professional when possible, was pretty much a necessity.

I convinced begged the boyfriend to take me to The Running Room this morning so I could talk to someone about shoes.  A very lovely woman spent quite a bit of time with me, analyzing my feet, how I walk, how I run, etc.  We discover I needed some light stability for my arch and she showed me the shoes I could choose from.  She urged me to try on multiple pairs to ensure I found one with a good fit.  After four pairs I found my babies.

I also invested in two pair of double layer running socks for moisture and blister control (because I am uber prone to blisters).

I also learned about some good clinics they offer I might be interested in taking, as well as free practice running twice a week.  She even threw in some free running magazines.

My last stop in the 5K start-up journey was a trip to Chapters to get some books on running in general and training for the 5K.  Can you tell I’m excited?

When I got home I was so eager to get moving that I ran right to my workout room to complete my normal workout (workout #6 of the EA Active More Workouts 6 week challenge).  I followed that up with a custom workout created for the original EA Active on their 5K Challenge site.  Holy squats and lunges Batman!  My legs were on fire!

All this and I still managed to make this week’s batch of homemade honey peanut granola.  But you’ll have to wait for this week’s Weekend Warrior post for more on that!