Sniffles and Sneezes

Last week I woke up and it was like I'd been hit by a truck. 

My head was pounding, my throat was experiencing that horrible combination of dry, sore and mucus-y. My eyes were watery and my nose was runny. 

To be honest, I think it was a mixture of a cold and allergies. I had a slight fever and chills for a day but the next day it was your typical allergy attack. Thankfully, however, I didn't have itchy eyes or an itchy throat. I can deal with the rest just fine but itchy eyes? No. And an itchy throat just makes me miserable. 

Anyway, I have learned that some things work for me and some things don't. Most nasal sprays don't work for me. And with this bout of sickness, I didn't know if it was a cold or allergies or both so I treated for both. Which in the end wasn't much different than if I treated for one or the other. 

Things that work for me:

 Just a note, I'm not getting paid to promote these brands I simply like them and they work for me. 

1-Water! Because water is good for everyone ALL the time. Drink it. Love it. Be cleansed. 

2-Nasacort Allergy 24: I don't actually love this one but I do use it on day one of my sick days. Just day one. 

3-Smith's (Kroger) brand Nose Vapor Inhaler: Honestly, it sounds disgusting but I like this because it's not liquid. It's like breathing in the Vicks vapor but more direct. And it loosens up my congestion pretty well. 

4-Puffs Plus with Lotion AND Vicks: Apparently, these aren't sold in stores anymore. Why? No idea, but you can buy them online. I bought mine on Amazon.com in bulk.

5-Tylenol Sinus:This little beauty saves my bacon. Every. Time. I like it for a couple different reasons. It works, the caplets are coated in some kind of minty stuff that makes them easier to swallow, AND it treats both allergy and cold symptoms. So, YAY! 

6-Burts Bees Lip Balm: My lips get very dry when I take decongestants so I make sure to keep this lovely lip balm close by. 

7-Vicks Vapor Rub: I actually use this and the Breathe oil to help me, you know, breathe. And I love it. 

8-Vitamin D: I have a Vitamin D deficiency so I take 10,000IU every day but I make sure I get enough when I'm sick. I've been told that Vitamin D is the boat that takes the medicine to your cells so without boats, medicines and other supplements don't really do much. 

9-Traditional Medicinals Seasonal Sampler: You get four bags of each flavor. It doesn't cost as much as buying all four flavors.

10- Essential Oils: There are a bunch of brands out there but I use doTERRA. I diffuse and topically use different oils all the time but I like to diffuse Breathe when I'm sick (along with a couple others). 

Anyway, those are my top ten "go-tos" for when I'm sick and they definitely helped me heal quickly so I could carry out my surprise out-of-town trip! That's coming on Thursday.

The oils I use when I'm sick.

My Oils "Bible". It helps you learn which oils to use for different ailments AND how to use them (Topically, Aromatically, Ingestion...yeah)

The mixtures of teas I drink in addition to the Seasonal Sampler.

7 Reasons Why It's Hard to Work Out (But Worth It)

If you have a Pinterest account, you'll understand when I say these kind of blog posts are 

EVERYWHERE! 

I wanted to write a little "somethin', somethin'" about my love hate relationship with working out. 

1. Being Noticed

First, let me just say that while I'm working out, I don't even want my husband to see me let alone anybody else. The hard part about working out is after. You're sore, you feel AMAZING but it's very rare for anyone to say, "You look like you worked out today! Way to go!" 

All, in all, it doesn't really matter if other people notice how you look and there is no way for someone else to feel your workout either. 

I guess it just helps when you know someone has taken the time to encourage you with words rather than "like" the selfie of your sweaty face "proving" you went on a run or got your butt kicked at Xtend Barre classes. (Here's looking at you, Bri.)

2. Showering

I love me a good shower but every day? First off, I know it's necessary especially if you've worked up a good sweat but UHG! My skin gets dried out, my hair can't handle being washed that much and, I don't know, it's too time consuming. Then I'm so tired from working out that all I want to do is hang out in my PJs with wet hair, a make-up free face, and, if I'm being honest, bra-less. Girls, you know I'm right. So maybe it's not the showering I hate but the prepping that goes into the daily look. Even a relaxed look (a step above stay-inside-all-day-hermit, just FYI) takes effort. Doing my hair whether it's still wet or I've blow dried it. It's effort that I'd rather not take but feel obligated to complete so that I can prove I'm not as lazy as I often feel and would like to be. 

3. Others

Comparison is the thief of joy. How many times have you heard that? Alas, it is true. Don't compare your running pace, your thighs, your workout hair or how red your skin gets to the next person because it will take the joy and momentum OUT of working out. If it happens just remember that you're on your own journey. I lose sight of that fact 90% of the time. I don't believe it. BUT if I tell myself that I want to believe it, that desire carries me. So, don't give up on yourself. That can be hard. 

4.Weather

If you work out outside, this can be tricky. I hate, yes, hate running outside when it's hot. Or if there is a possibility that it may become hot while on my run. Which leads to number 5...

5. Early Wake-up Call

I like working out when there is natural light, but not enough light to make it hot. So this can be a tricky thing. I get up early and run or it just doesn't happen and not because I'm busy. It's because the sun makes it too hot. And in the summer? Oi vei.

6. Memberships

For me, if I have one, I try to get myself to go enough times in the month to "pay for itself" so that I don't feel guilty about having a "gym" category on our monthly budget. So, in that sense it's good but then you have to fight for a machine. Or plan to go when there is less "traffic". Sometimes even then you're just waiting around. I don't have time for that. However, not having a membership means that I can't always go with friends to the gym for a good swim or spin class. At least, not as often as I'd like. 

7. Fear

The infamous, "What if" comes into play here more than anywhere else in my life. What if I get injured again? What if my body doesn't respond as quickly as it did last time? What if it doesn't respond at all? What if I'm stuck feeling and looking like this forever? 

Fear is real. Fear can be debilitating or it can be a superpower. It's how you view it.

"I know you’re afraid, but being afraid is alright. Because didn’t anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger... because if you’re very wise and very strong fear doesn’t have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind. It doesn’t matter if there’s nothing under the bed or in the dark so long as you know it’s okay to be afraid of it. So listen. If you listen to anything else, listen to this. You’re always gonna be afraid even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion, a constant companion, always there. But that’s okay because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home... Fear makes companions of us all." -Clara Oswald, Dr. Who, "Listen"

Forgive my geekiness for a second and take a minute to let that sink in. It's true. Fear is the reason I can't give up. Not the reason that I should.

Positoovity

If you don't know where that word comes from, don't you fret. 

It's a pretty famous bird that sings a whole song about "Positoovity" and quite frankly it's easily becoming one of my favorite songs. 

Okay, okay, I'll tell you where it comes from, Disney's The Little Mermaid on Broadway. 

I'm including a video so that you can all be introduced to the beauty that is Positoovity. 

I'm blogging about it today because this morning was a "running" day. Meaning I ran this morning. (Just the thought alone of me FINALLY back out there are running makes my heart do a happy dance!)

Positoovity is on my playlist for what I think are obvious reasons. Let me explain. 

Scuttle sings this song and if anyone has seen The Little Mermaid, you'll know that Scuttle has quite an interesting vernacular for things. For example, a "fork" is a "dinglehopper" and is not used for eating but for combing one's hair, or in this case, "positivity" is "positoovity" and thank goodness they mean the same thing. 

He is a know-it-all bird who knows really "nothing" but is actually pretty wise. 

Wait. What?

Yeah, he may be terribly misinformed but he has good intentions and what he says helps Ariel develop her land legs, if you will. 

Now for the running part of this post. Usually the first 15 minutes of my run are energy packed. During the "walk" intervals, it's a brisk heart pumping walk that is almost faster than the "jog" intervals of the workout. However, when minutes 16-20 hit, suddenly I'm dragging my burning legs along at a pretty slow pace. That being said, I do try to pace myself in the first half of the workout so that this doesn't happen but clearly I need to keep working on that... Anyway, around minute 16ish my calves were BURNING. A good burn, but still burning. I was playfully debating with myself about calling it quits but then this song came on. 

The first line Scuttle says is "What's this? You giving up so soon? You gotta have a little gumption. Yeah! A can-do kinda attitude. Take it from a gull who knows."

It made me smile. "Okay, Scuttle, I'll keep going." Then. all of a sudden I could imagine this fluffy seagull tap-dancing next to me as I ran. It's silly I know but after listening to the song, can't you feel it too?

Something else I noticed is one of Sebastian's lines. He says, "Positoovity? Why there's no such word." Okay, Mr. Crabby-pants! (teheh) But Scuttle isn't deterred. He keeps going. And says, "'Course there is! In the dictionary between popsuckle and prehysterical. Believe you me, I've seen it work miracles!" 

How true is that? The power of positivity is SO much more than just positive thinking. It can work MIRACLES!!! Now, don't get me wrong, some things require positivity in addition to a health regime set up by a doctor or therapist etc. What I like to take away from this though is the idea that being positive, having the best outlook on life no matter what you're dealing with, can truly help you with anything you might be facing. School. Work. A baby who won't sleep. Depression. All of those things in one bundle. Bills. A crappy car. Burning calf muscles. A positive outlook won't make those things go away but it can help the situation not seem so gargantuan and help you through it. That is what I think the word "positoovity" really means.

Got it?

I don't really think the writers of the song thought, "Gee, Caitlin will need this song for running just as much as Ariel is going to need it for when she gets her legs and has to kiss Prince Eric!" but here you have it. So, here is my challenge to you via Scuttle:

Let that POSITOOVITY work for YOU!!! 

Happy positoovitying, friends!

Backpacks and Lunchboxes

Backpacks. Books. Bouquets of newly sharpened pencils. 

School has started again and while this is my last Fall semester of my undergraduate degree, I'm a mix of excited and exhausted and it's only the second week! I have some really great classes that make me happy to go to school and then, of course, I have some really hard classes that make me want to stay in bed and watch Gossip Girl.

Wouldn't it just be easier that way?

Which is my point, really. Life would be easier in so many ways if we didn't have to load up our backpacks and pack our lunchboxes and sharpen our pencils and turn our brains to "learning" mode. However, if that were the situation, we'd be sacks of eyeballs, teeth and bones with nothing really to offer the world. 

Recently I took a quiz on PlayBuzz, the Buzzfeed of quizzes I guess, and was informed, after clicking on some pictures, that I had a "secret obsession with letting myself down". 

Well, isn't that the oldest news of the decade. 

It made me stop and think, though. Now, I know it was just a "silly quiz" and that I shouldn't put stock in it but it was fairly accurate. Perhaps I'm not "obsessed" with letting myself down, but I do worry about so many things and school just so happens to be one of them. It's become bad enough, that my body literally can't handle stress. Because of stressful situations, some beyond my control, I've acquired, if you will, adrenal fatigue* and now any situation that is remotely stressful or hard makes me want to sleep or turn my brain off which makes learning quite difficult.

But not learning, when I absolutely should be makes me feel like a failure. I fear letting myself down so much that I'll avoid trying new things or meeting new people or taking a risk. School is all of those things. The hard part about AF is that it's not like I have a panic attack becuase I'm heading to class. In fact, I am the kind of person that likes getting to know people and so I try. It's not until the end of the day that I realize that my body was registering certain events as stressful. How obnoxious is that?

 

This is a recent thing, too. As a kid and even throughout High School and my first couple years of college I loved meeting people and being outgoing and friendly. There were some who felt like I shouldn't be so gregarious but I was. Now, at age 24, I'm all reserved and awkward and it is frustrating because there are many moments when I don't feel like me.

That being said, I am trying to enjoy the journey that is life. Just, you know, ride the wave. If class is hard, let it be hard and push myself to be better.  If it's fun, enjoy it and take that feeling with me to my next event but keep busy. Keep going. Work out, make healthy and complete meals, do my homework, early to bed early to rise, take my vitamins, drink lots of water. All that jazz.

It's hard but it's rewarding and I'd rather be an exhausted but educated sack of eyeballs, teeth and bones than a nothing-to-offer-myself-or-my-family kind.

*Adrenal fatigue. I can't remember if I've written a post about this but this news was actually a relief! Weird, I know. My two previous doctors had basically given up on me so I switched to a new one. She is AMAZING. She listens and when I told her about my last experiences, which were less than amusing, she sympathized and said, "There is nothing we can't do to help you. We'll figure this out and we won't stop until we do!" Anyway, after giving what felt like a million tubes of blood (I think it was around 12, really), and a cotton swab chewy test thing, the results were in. Adrenal fatigue was the diagnosis. You'd think that on top of all the other medical things going on I'd be frustrated but this diagnosis brought some good news. Because of all the tests my doctor had run, she found that 1) I do NOT have insulin resistance and should have never been put on a medication for that 2) My blood levels are inconsistent for someone with PCOS. Now, she suggested that I have an ovarian ultrasound to be completely sure but she said that my blood looked good so it could just be one ovary instead of both.

That's two MAJOR things that were taken off (well, just about) my list of "ailments" which also means I'm not taking as many medications as I was before. In fact, now I'm only taking one. Nexium for GERD. That and vitamins, including Rhodiola Rosea. Rhodiola rosea helps with so many things but mainly fatigue and has been SO nice to have around.

Ready to Run

Don't worry, I'm not going to post about my running experiences every day but I AM going to be writing about it. Often. Why? Because that's what kept me going the first time I started running. 

Running is a weird experience for me. 

My lungs hate it, until about 20 minutes in. 

My feet love it until about 20 minutes after I'm finished.

My brain keeps saying "I can do this!" but my legs start to feel like jello after not too long.

Not only that but I have been on a running "hiatus" for almost a year now because of a stress fracture, followed by flair ups of tendonitis. So, I've been SO chicken pants to start running again. Getting hurt is not fun and I don't want to go through that again. Therefore, I've been avoiding running until today.

This time will be different!!

For example, today I changed some things about how I ran. 

I used the full 5 minutes of my warm up and actually warmed up instead of just jumping right on in to running. I prayed that my body would be able to handle it. I actually used my inhaler. 

I made sure I had a killer playlist. 

And I stretched when I got home. Good, LONG stretching. 

It's been about 20 minutes since I got back home and guess what?

My feet don't hurt like they usually do. They're a little tired but I did just go running to that is to be expected, I think. I also feel really good. My body is a little tired but I know that I was only able to run as well as I did this morning because I gave everything I had and I had divine help. Because I asked for it. 

I am still using my Couch to 5K app on my phone so I didn't run a full 30 minutes or anything but those minutes I was supposed to run, I ran!

So, here goes! 8 weeks of training, 3 days a week. 

Totally doable. 

And on my "off" days I'll be doing my stability ball and Jillian Michaels work outs. 

It's also the first day of Fall Semester classes! I haven't been this excited about school for a long time but this semester, I'm taking some really exciting classes! French and Italian Cinema, Food in the Home, History of Design and Architecture part 2! I'm stoked. 

So, here's to new beginnings! Happy September everyone!

We'll Have a Ball!

For most who know me or follow me on Instagram know that I like to work out. 

I've even given myself the name of "Bike Babe" because about a year ago I had tendonitis bad enough that I had to stop running and turned to biking. 

Lately, biking has only been one of the many workouts I've been doing. I really enjoy water aerobics or aqua zumba, weights, the eliptical and...

THIS.

A weighted stability ball. 

(It doesn't hurt that this Reebok ball is purple!! Love it.)

I think the reason I like this so much is because it's pretty easy to watch TV and workout, which I have done almost everyday since buying it at Target.

Not only that but it comes with a DVD with two workouts. An express 20 minute workout or a 40 minute workout for when you have the time. So, if you're me, you have no excuse to not do the 40 minute workout.

Let me just tell you that it is INTENSE!!

I thought, "Oh, it's just a ball and we're just going to be bouncing on it."

HA! HAHAHA! No.

 This ball is weighted. There is sand in the ball and, by George, if that doesn't up the ante I don't know what will. It's like doing Jillian Michaels with five pound weights strapped to your arms!! My body hurts SO GOOD after finishing a workout which mean two things: 1. Clearly I need to workout like that more because there are muscles that hurt that haven't hurt for ages and 2. It's a good workout.

I think my favorite part about this stability ball is the fact that crunches don't hurt my back. As for my favorite part of the workout? THE INSTRUCTOR!! She's pretty funny and seems really sweet. Encouraging but not forceful. It's basically an awesome 40 minutes of my day. You should try it out!

Movin' On Out

Some people think that my husband and I are crazy for moving as much as we do, as if we love it or something.

We don't like moving as much as we have, believe me. 

In fact, this last December we thought that it would be our last move until we graduated. 

With an apartment that provides a spacious backyard, a HUGE pantry, a washer and dryer and so much space, we thought we were set!

Then a couple things happened: 

1. My job fell through leaving us on one income.

2. The job I got to replace the one that fell through gave me such bad anxiety that I was throwing up acid on a regular basis which was making my IBS and GERD flare up like nobody's business. So, bye-bye job. One income again.

3. We realized that while we could afford the place we are in, it wasn't exactly living within our means. We desire to live within our means and not on the highest boundaries of them. Council given by Elder Bednar which can be viewed here is what stirred us to action.

Do to finances, health and ecclesiastical guidance, we decided that downsizing would be our best option. It will also allow for us to pay off debts, build up our saving account and if we stay on track, get a puppy. 

 A mini goldendoodle to be exact:

So, no, we don't love moving. However, we know that the Lord has blessed us and that we are doing what is best for us in the long run. (And, by golly, I want that puppy SO BAD!)

 

 

Bike Babe: Fitness Formula

I'm not the picture of "fitness" so I hope you didn't come here to find a magic formula for fitness. 

And I don't mean to burst your bubble when I say this but if there is anything I have learned, the word magic does not belong anywhere near health/fitness related anything! Unless, of course, we're talking about a MagicBullet blender. 

Moving on. I have had a couple of questions about my workout routine and what I eat etc. Well, nobody is perfect so we'll leave the food out of it until I can really get a better handle on that. (It's getting better everyday but it's not stellar, tweaks need to be made.) 

Anywho, I work out at the gym 4 days a week for at least 45 minutes. If I don't bike the whole time, I'll speed walk a few laps on the track or a treadmill to make up the difference. Two days a week are supposed to be toning days (Jillian Michaels abs, or Tone It Up fitness routines-more info about Tone It Up to come soon).  The last day, Sunday usually, is a walk or nothing. 

So there you have it. My "routine". 

Today's workout:

Bike Babe

It's kind of just a new nick name I gave myself but I love it. 

I'm thinking I'm going to call my adventures in biking the "Bike Babe Series".

All this biking came about because of my obnoxiously sensitive feet. 

I can't run anymore. I just can't. The last time I tried I felt fine until the next day when my feet felt like someone had taken sledgehammers to them. 

So, here's to the new Bike Babe Series! 

Fitness: An Impromptu Wog

Walk + Jog = Wog

Unless of course you do more walking than jogging and then it becomes a "wag". 

After a few months of avoiding "wogging" due to some foot problems, I decided that I'd go on a brisk walk.

Ha. Yeah right. 

That little bit of me that has been itching for a jog just stole control of my entire body! I turned on my 5K Trainer app and 30 minutes later I'd just completed "Day 1" of this training. 

How did that happen?

Sometimes you just need that rush of adrenaline, that flood of endorphins and that fresh air that only a Spring afternoon can provide. 

My feet have been okay, not great but okay. I had to ice/heat my right foot but for the most part I'm doing alright. Perhaps I'll do Day 2 on Monday. 

But who knows? Maybe I'll just keep biking my booty off!

We shall see .