And now I will bring you a post that has nothing to do with my almost non-existent weight loss. But I will say... I did lose 10 pounds this year! Woohoo for me.

Ok, now onto the real topic behind today's episode... my period. Ewee right! Why the hell would I talk about that? Well a friend of mine over at For the Love of the Run was looking for some active ladies to give a product a try.

Now, I am not the runner today that I will be one day, but I do my best. I really am having a hard time juggling this work, kid, husband, house, blah, blah, blah thing. I think I'm doing well and then I realize, I'm still not doing the healthy things I want to do. That aside, I am more active than enough people and the incentive to try this product was totally worth my time.

How most women feel during their period.

What is this fantabulous product you are asking???

It's an Instead Soft Cup. Here is where I will tell you that the opinion in this blog is mine, all mine!! They have provided me with product, they will compensate me by paying for a future race, but the review is in no way influenced by them. And you can believe that, because it took me about 5 months to formulate an opinion! Truth be told, I have used Soft Cups before. A friend from my retail days told me about them. So when I saw them in the store, I gave them a shot. This was, oh about 8 or so years ago. I didn't like them then.  The reason I did this challenge was because I was looking to see if maybe something had changed with the product design or that maybe my body was different after having a child and things would fit better. Now, it did take about 5 tries before I got it right.

What do I mean by right?? After this point will be some detail that maybe not everyone would want to read, feel free to go check Facebook. I suggest the For the Love of the Run page or the Spartan Race page (196 days until the PA race!!!) or the I Heart to Run page, but that's just me.

By that I mean, I didn't have leaking, I didn't have cramps, I didn't have pressure on my rectum that resulted in a sudden urge to evacuate. This product really won me over by giving me about 10 hours of 'coverage' when my period was uber heavy. Normally my flow is very slight. Well, I had a whopper one month and I went through a super tampon in about an hour. Holy inconvience! So I thought... hey, let's give those Soft Cups a try and BAM! No leakage all day.

As you can see above, I went to the tampon first, even after a few months... why? Because I was lazy. I didn't feel like getting my hands dirty (yes literally) and possibly not having it sit right. But it worked like a charm that day. When I used the rest room I did notice some leakage into the toilet. I simply repositioned it and had no problem during the rest of my day.

So maybe you want to try this for yourself? Here is some frank advice that might help guide you along: they are bigger than you'd like them to be. So when you open your first one and look at it and think about where it has to go, don't be intimidated! It will fit. Since they are kind of large, practice putting them in. Let's just say when you don't practice putting them in, and go to bed with one early in your usage, it may not end well. This comes from experience. So practice.  Also, practice is important to prevent it from giving you one amazingly painful cramp. As I stated above, they certainly push on the rectum and help some things along when not in the right placement. They also will give you a cramp so bad you double over in pain if not placed right... so practice! Once you have the fit and technique to get it in your body right, none of the above occur.


Initially I didn't like this product, but I gave it a bit more time and now I am a convert.  I had to re-read the FAQs and give it another go and you may have to as well, but it is worth your time. Why is it worth your time?? Because you'll enjoy not having to worry if you leaked through your pants. I enjoy not having to say...  'Whew, good thing I'm in a lab coat all day'.

So that is all for this review. 2013 is going to be the year I step up my game. I'm sure I said this about 2012, but I will not say it for 2014 unless I am taking it to a new level, that however is a topic for another day. I look forward to the Soft Cup helping me move through my period and activities so that I am not slowed down by having to change anything if my Aunt Flo visits during an important race or event.

Happy New Year all!

Did they steal my picture??

A big part of this whole fitness thing are my feet. And my poor feet are regularly challenged. Between running around the lab, chasing after my toddler, trying oh so hard to workout, my feet are beat! They are tired, they are dry, they are tender. They beg me for a vacation.

Since I need to keep my feet around for the rest of my life, I'm taking steps to improve their life. How is that you may wonder? Well first, new shoes. I recently was fitted at my local shoe store, they specialize in running shoes, and discovered... I've been wearing the wrong size! Well, the wrong size for running. Helps explain why my feet go numb between miles 2-3 of every 5K I've done.

What else have I done? While proper running shoes are a major thing for feet, what about how they  look when they're not in running shoes?? Do you know how every summer season almost every chick magazine talks about the dos and do nots for summer feet?

Well, they are talking to me. Right to me. Seriously, they are.

The evolution of my foot care

My heals are cracked and dry and calloused. My feet look I walked barefoot through the desert. I've used a variety of products on my feet over the years to help combat my wretched looking feet. The long metal file thing. The 'egg' type product. Various lotions and socks at bed time. None of them worked that well. They worked, but they were a pain and barely made my feet look smooth. Actually, they usually looked smoother but when I ran my hand over them they felt rough.

My right foot before

I thought I was doomed. That was until my friend over at For The Love of The Run offered my the chance to try a new product. I'm not so sure it's a brand spanking new product, but it's certainly new to me. And I would have never known about it unless she had offered me the chance to try it. So, what is it? It's a Emjoi Micro Pedi.  So this review is aimed at letting all the other people out there know, there is help! And it works!!!

Ok, so when I looked at the package I seriously thought they stole a photo of my feet for their before picture. I saw the after picture and thought there was no way in hell this was going to make my feet look like their after. My feet were too far gone. I was destined to spend the rest of my life with desert feet. So with some trepidation, I opened up the package, read the instructions (yes I really did read them) and went at it. With in 15 minutes my feet looked amazing. They needed a bit of lotion because they were so dry, but the minor cracks were completely gone. The deeper cracks were near non-existent.

I was shocked. I am still shocked. I finally have the after feet!

Right foot after

While the instructions clearly say the product is meant for one user, I let my husband use it on his feet. He loves it too. We'll be buying him is own and a replacement head for mine (for hygienic purposes and all). While he was using it, he had me looking it up online to ensure we could get him one relatively quickly.

So this product will be a staple in this house. I making sure I am stocked with AA batteries and replacement heads so if the world ends I will continue to have amazing 'after' feet. And you should make sure you invest in this and stock up too!

What blog?

Yes, yes. I am a slacker when it has come to this blog thing. I'd love to be like some of the bloggers I follow who write witty, hilarious material pretty much every day, but alas, that is not me. The past year I have taken on a whole new schlew of activities. I feel like I have more of a life than I ever have and a better support system than I could have ever imagined. And I feel like the best is yet to come.

What has brought on this change? Maybe maturity, but mostly opening my eyes and seeing there is way more to life than coming home, doing housework, watching TV, killing time on the Internet and then going to bed! Granted, I still do all that. And now I do it with the joy of a toddler 'helping' me at every step. I know the words to the songs in Baby Signing Time way better than the lyrics to whatever top 20 is on the radio.  But I've learned what is really important, my health and happiness.

How have I worked toward improving that this past year? Well, I started to complete 5Ks. Notice I didn't say run 5Ks. I complete them. I walk almost the entire 3.1 miles and do it proudly. I have come in near last or DEAD LAST at almost all of them and I did it with my head held high. I at least was out there doing it while other people are still saying 'I really should' or even worse... 'I can't'. I'd be lying if I didn't say I did get upset a little at least once at the being in the end, but I got over it. It's not easy to be last. It is not easy to accept that you still aren't where you want to be in terms of a 'running' goal. But I let myself be upset for a minute and then I got over it. Good stuff doesn't happen overnight and neither is my transformation to elite athlete. Ok, ok, not elite, but way better than I have been ever!

In December I began the P90X workout program again. This time I made it to week 7. I absolutely had a physical change in my appearance and for that I am elated. I didn't make the entire 13 weeks because I became bored with it. I really only enjoy the strength training portion and the plyo workouts. The rest is ehh for me. Especially his yoga. Don't even get me started on his yoga. If you don't know anything about yoga, then you'll probably love it. If you do, then do yourself a favor and don't ever watch it, you'll be horrified.  So, after admitting to myself that I was done with the P90X thing for awhile, I took a break.

For me, breaks can be good or bad. They can serve as a good rest and let me go back into fitness roaring or they can serve as a long term stopping point. While I have not started back with a militant gusto, I have started back up. I am working on the C25K program, a bit of the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and biking. Very soon, I will work the P90X strength training back into my workouts. Why all the variation? I have workout ADD. I decided this when I gave up P90X. I just can't stick with one thing for very long. So rather than try to conform to any one program and fail, I will play to my affliction and pull the best of it all! *Insert evil laugh*

Why all this workout stuff to begin with? Why bother? I'm doing fine being fat, my overall health is just great.... for now. The data that supports a healthy lifestyle far outweighs the data that supports carrying extra weight and being sedentary. And as my child grows up, I don't want to be the parent that can only encourage from the side lines and can barely walk up steps. As I've said before, my child and my husband deserve better.

If your reading this and you are contemplating making a change... you and your family deserve better too. It's going to suck, it's going to be painful, there will be more times than not where you'll ask yourself if it's worth it. You may break down and cry in the middle of a work out (I have). But in the end it you will be better for it all. I know because I experience those things all the time and when I see a shirt getting loser or a few seconds knock off my pace it's an amazing feeling. Yeah, it's cliche and you've probably read that a gazillion times, but try and prove everyone wrong. ;-)

Another day...

Well, that wagon is a mighty tall one. It has not been easy to get back on, but slow and steady wins the race. That phrase got me through many years of college, any adversity, and it's going to get me in shape too!

I have however jumped both feet into 5Ks! Two in 2 weeks. The first was ROUGH! But it's over with and now I can say I did it! It helps I have such great people around me for support. My husband, my friends... they keep me going and helped get me to the finish line... both times! There was no doubt I would finish, but it was so sweet to have my friends finish, then come back and get me! I'm so very blessed.

Now, I have a 5K lined up every month for the rest of the year!  More to come folks, it's only going to get better.

Where is that wagon?

Yep, I've been off the wagon. Between my monthly visitor, studying for the GMAT, the baby getting up more now than when she was a newborn... forget it! Yes, all crap excuses. Plenty of people have those obstacles and do just fine sticking with it. I know, I know. And some of my support system are kicking ass recently, and here I've been easting Reese's pieces and soda, ugh. Weight wise, it hasn't hurt me too much yet, but I do feel like crap! I'm longing for the treadmill, the trail, the elliptical! P90X... here I come! Yeah, I'm going to give that a whirl again. Since we think we may have fixed the baby sleeping thing  it will be easier to stick with it. (F'n cats waking her up all night... i.e. waking ME up all night!) I can do a lot of stuff on little sleep, but P90X is not one of them. Oh and my first 5K is in a few weeks, so I definitely need to get my dupa in gear!

I see the next wagon on yonder and will be hopping on Friday morning. Why not tomorrow or tonight for that matter? Well, I have the GMAT tomorrow and I need to be sure my body is putting energy into making my brain work, not repairing itself from workout one of week one... oh push ups/pull ups.... words cannot even express my anticipation for you. But I guess the most honest reason is- I don't want to bad enough.

1.6!

For those trying to lose weight, weigh in day can make you have a huge smile all day or be pissed ALL DAY. So far I've managed to not get upset on 'bad' weigh in days, but I since I've really buckled down, I haven't had many bad days.  This week was actually a pleasant surprise when I saw I was down 1.6 pounds!! I thought the scale may be wrong, so I got off and stepped back on. Nope, still down 1.6. Hey I'll take it.

The body always fascinates me. Take for example, years of complaining to various doctors about being heavy and how hard it is to lose the weight and years of doctors doing blood work and finding nothing. All thyroid levels, insulin levels, blah blah blah are fine. That's why it was comforting to be told to consider PCOS. Now I didn't have all of the clinical symptoms of PCOS, but I did/do have a few. What finally convinced me I had it was considering family medical history of the women in my family.  It makes it easier to accept that you have to work harder because there is a real medical reason. So imagine my surprise when I go see the doctor about nothing related to my weight and she does blood work and BAM, my thyroid levels are elevated?? What?? I have an under active Thyroid? Seriously? And you want me to take medicine??  I don't go into taking any medicine for a long period of time without seriously researching it and making sure for myself that it is necessary. So that's where I stand, researching. But it's a very interesting development.

A Healthier You

4 weeks down now. And another pound gone this week. Not too shabby. That's all I'm looking for, a pound a week. But I'm wishing I'd get closer to breaking 240 (only 7 pounds to go), so I can fulfill my promise of getting a massage with every 10 pounds lost!  I've spent so many years on the 'gosh, I can totally lose 30 pounds in 3 months right?' game and I'm done with it! I may lose the weight, but then I slack and it comes right back on. It takes some time, but it does. It helps I have created an awesome circle of people to help keep me encouraged. While Hades has decided to extend itself onto my area this week, so my walks may not be so much out doors this week, I'm am going to be keeping at it! We cleared out the living room to make way for the little one to play, which means I get room to work out more!! YAY ME!!!

I created a team, with some of those people that help keep me encouraged, for a program called 'Healthier You'. We get points for doing a whole bunch of stuff we were already doing, so I decided to try and get us rewarded for it. And the reward isn't just a healthier me, I asked to be sure. And I figure it will help keep me from getting too off track. I want to win!

Small changes, every day.