Thursday, March 31, 2011

hello from the dark side...

just checking in with a few of my favorite followers tonight while i'm at work.

what's your game plan for the rest of the week and the weekend coming up? what are you groovin' to? what's getting you up and moving towards YOUR goals this weekend?

April is almost here. Are you making progress or just sitting where you always sit, doing what you always do (umm... nothing)??



Time to kick it up a notch friends. Time is getting short and our goals are waiting!! ;) GET TO IT!!

lovies!
-red

Sunday, March 27, 2011

RUN

Found this quote today. After the awesome 10 miler Todd and I pounded out (and occasionally slipped through in the muddy spots around Salem Lake) this morning, I find this sooooooo encouraging. Maybe you will too?

"Run because you want to be fast.  Run because you want to be skinny.  Run to find some quiet time.  Run to sweat.  Run to eat.  Run to hear your heart pound in your ears.  Run because you're a runner.  Run because you gotta keep the streak.  Run because you don't know why the hell you are running.  Run because you fought with your partner.  Run because your job is shitty.  Run because you got no money.  Run for the sunrise.  Run for a race.  Run because it's impossible.  Run because it's easy.  Run instead of doing the laundry.  Run instead of watching TV.  Run because no one else understands.  Run because the cool kids do it.  Run because you're tired of talking.  Run for numbers.  Run for feel.  Run to prove something.  Run because it f***ing hurts.  Or don't run.  If you got something better to do."  - Jeff Edmonds


Let me know when you want to go run - I'm always game. :) 

Two weeks until my first 1/2 marathon. BRING IT!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Discombobulation

Hi Friends!

So - Going back to work, becoming a night shifter and finally knowing what it's REALLY like to be a nurse has taken Red here a little adjustment time. 

Bloggin', keeping my house as neat as I'd like it, keeping in touch with EVERYONE and even my sleep (which I hate to admit) have all been challenged as well. Seriously, ask Todd. I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind most days. Night shift has been a HUGE challenge for me. Finding and keeping a routine/schedule is hard enough when you're in orientation and you work your preceptors schedule... but then calculate the night shift's effect on it all. No joke, I'm going crazy. 

I'm completely NOT myself and it's terrible! 


I forget almost everything Todd (anyone) asks/tells me (if I don't write it down practically immediately). 
I've lost a pay check from cleaning (to find it three weeks later in magazine of all places!?).
I think I forget to eat 85% of the time the day of the night I'm supposed to work. 
I almost forgot my mother-in-law's birthday. (thankfully, Todd's is the same week!)
I still haven't made reservations in Nags Head for our 1/2 Marathon in a few weeks - so we're probably going to be camping or something ridiculous. 
I want to sleep practically, ALL THE TIME. My usual 5.5-6.5 hr/night and good to go method isn't cuttin' it!
I was a week late getting Ginger's rabies vaccine.
Running has been difficult - either time is short, my legs feel like 100lbs barrels or it was all I could do to make it home from work with my eyes open.
Thankfully, I have remembered my BC everyday!! {yikes! I couldn't imagine that consequence too!}

I'm doing better this week.... I think. 

Hopefully I'll get to call my Dad back and catch up with him (it's been a while). I saw my mom while she was in Winston last week, so we're good for a week or so. Meg will call in the next 24 hours (I know her way too well). But even more importantly: I'll have girlfriend dates soon! I miss my friends!! 

I'm hoping the "Breakfast Club" will start soon and I can FINALLY have a regularly scheduled date with my girlfriends, food and coffee. 


*Here's to more cofffee! (and hopefully a change to day-shift soon!)  ;) 
LOVE!

Exercise of the Week - WALK!

I have had the luxury of enjoying several sunny and 80 degree days this week and to celebrate, the exercise of the week, this week, is: WALKING!


Photo & Tips from Cooking Light.com
Get out and walk!! :) 

Take your baby. Take your dog. Take your sweetie. Take your kids. Whatever it takes - get your booty out and walk.


Fitness walking is an excellent way to tone muscles and burn calories. In fact, you can burn almost as many calories with a vigorous walk as you can running, and fitness walking is much less stressful on the body. You will need to average about 12 to 15 minutes per mile. Start by walking for at least 20 to 30 minutes three to four days per week. Increase this to five to six days per week if you're trying to lose weight.


Proper Walking Form TIPS:
• Stand tall with your head up, chin level, and eyes gazing forward.
• Lift chest, and relax shoulders. Breathe deeply as you walk to get the maximum amount of oxygen to your muscles.
• Bend arms slightly and swing them front to back, not side to side or crossing the body. Do not swing elbows higher than chest level.
Keep abs tight.
• Push off with toes and land on heel, rolling back through to toe to push off again.
• Maintain a natural stride length.

Add speed intervals to your walks to burn up to 10 times more calories than you would during an ordinary fitness walk. 


GETTING STARTED:

First off - We can ALL WALK! We all do it. Even if it's just a little bit or an entire 12 hour shift. It is one physical activity WE ALLLLLLLLLLLLL CAN DO. Therefore, I don't want to hear any excuses! Just for once, DO IT

If physically, you really have to, start with 10 minutes. Add a minute each day to your walk. Build up and eventually, you will be walking 30 minutes (or more) before you know it!!! 


After warming up, fitness walk for three minutes, then add a one-minute speed interval. Increase your walking pace to about 8 or 9 on an intensity scale of 1-10. At the end of one minute, slow back to your fitness speed. Continue alternating three-minute segments of fitness walking with one-minute increments of speed for a total of 10 intervals. ** I like to use a stop watch and set my intervals to just repeat over and over. This way, my mind is on my walk/body, not my watch.** 

Interval workouts should be done no more than twice a week to give your body/muscles time to recover.

Find a parking lot. Find a sidewalk. Find a neighborhood. Find the Greenway. Get outside and enjoy the breeze, the birds, the heat and the sweat forming on your brow.   
Bonus: You can get your Vit.D while your out too!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Diabetes.... In a way everyone can understand

Since February has come to a quick end, I wanted to round out the Heart Health Awareness Month with more information on the arch-nemesis of heart disease: DIABETES.

Everyday we hear about "diabetes". Most of us think we know what it is and what it does to our body.... but I am never surprised by the number of patients and family members that really have no idea what diabetes is. I hear from many patients that diabetes means they need insulin. Well - maybe. But not necessarily.


There are TWO types of Diabetes:

Type 1: Insulin Dependent Diabetes (AKA: "Juvenile Diabetes") - a result from the body's failure to produce insulin - period. This is not a result of diet, lifestyle, etc. Your pancreas just isn't doing it's job for your body so your body is being FLOODED by glucose (sugar) from every source b/c insulin isn't present to remove it. These people must always use insulin - by an injection or via the insulin pump.


Type 2: Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes - Unlike Type 1's, this is a form of diabetes brought on by insulin RESISTANCE. These patients generally are prone to a state of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) b/c their body is less sensitive to the insulin it produces naturally, therefore added insulin is required to reduce their blood sugar levels.



So, why is it so important for us to monitor the amount of sugar in our blood? How does diabetes impact our hearts and cardiovascular system?

My Aunt, who was a crazy Cardiac Nurse for years has used these "word pictures" with me and her patients to simplify this disease and it's impact. I use it every time I talk about Diabetes and every patient (and even my 5 year old neighbor, Jordan) understands the impact of SUGAR on our bodies!!


From now on, think about SUGAR in our bodies as SHARDS OF GLASS.

Have you ever had  a small piece of glass in your finger? Stepped on some? Regardless, you know what glass does to our fingers and our toes..... well, it does the same thing to our vessels. When our body isn't able to control the amount of sugar moving about in our bloodstream (umm... insulin) the sugar builds up and starts cutting the lining of our vessels.

To repair these cuts, our body uses what it has available: Cholesterol. Typically in our vessels clotting (like we would do on the outside of our body) isn't normal, so cholesterol is the perfect "mud" to fill in the holes, cuts and scrapes found on the inside of our vessels to help smooth the vessel out for optimal blood flow.

This natural repair process is genius - on behalf of our Incredible Machine... but when we chronically maintain high blood sugar levels and do little to aid in the removal of plaque build-up, plaque just keeps piling up. Eventually leading to atherosclerosis (the build-up and hardening of the arteries).





Eventually, this build-up in combination with Diabetes causes other problems: narrowing of the arteries = hypertension, neuropathies in our hands and feet, decreased blood flow/circulation, vision changes and/or blindness, clots, etc.... This list could go on for a while, but these are just a few of the common problems.

 
And yes - Diabetes and take your toes, feet, fingers and hands by gangrenous ulcers! 
Gangrene Toes


Treating and PREVENTING Diabetes --- You know what I'm going to say... so just guess: ___________!!!!

Well, just in case, it starts with "E" and ends in "cise".  :)

Yes, exercise is crucial to treatment and prevention of DM as well as CVD, but I also have to put my plug in for the magic food: FIBER!!!!!!!!!!! If you know me well, you know I'm kind of obsessed with fiber. Not just because it helps you have excellent bowel movements, but it does for your cardiovascular system exactly what it does for your bowels! IT CLEANS IT OUT!! Yes, I said that.

Fiber cleans all the "icky" stuff out of our entire body... not just our bowels.


Now - on to exercise. Think of exercise as "pressure washing" the insides of our vessels. Any increase of blood flow we put on our vessels is literally like pressure washing them. The speed, like the fiber, helps to clear out the vessel of the plaque/cholesterol to prevent build-up and hardening of the arteries.



Do you get it now!?!?!?!?


- Give me some feedback! Leave your questions and thoughts here on my blog or facebook! I know I can't "cure" diabetes for anyone, but being educated is the first step in the battle of PREVENTION! I want you all to be informed too - if something doesn't make sense, let's talk about it.


MIA

YO YO! :) Sorry I've MIA for a few weeks now! I started orientation 3 weeks ago and two weeks of 10 hour days, 5 days a week sucked up all my free blog time!

Since my last blog, Todd and I have registered for our first 1/2 Marathon together! We will be running the Flying Pirate April 10th in Nags Head. We haven't gone crazy with our training (like I'd really like to do) - but this is our "season opening" of sorts. Neither of us are expected to break records (Todd probably will anyway!), just to run hard, give it our best and keep us motivated to do some hard training this Spring/Summer so we can really do some good stuff in our running world this year!

YAY! One more goal for 2011 about to be checked off!!! Let me know if you'd like to run too!! We haven't made any reservations yet - but we can always rent a house! The more, the merrier!!



WISH US LUCK!