Carol 2.O Renewal: Pandemic, New Job, Still Getting Healthy

Wow! It's been a while, but I love writing and it's time I stop monopolizing my MFP Group discussions and return to my blog. 

2019: renovated my new home; moved there; son was married; graduations (commissioning) and just an all around crazy year. My weight increased but not as heavy as when I began this journey in October of 2016.

On Jan 1 I created a small group on MFP of 10 women. We are now down to 3 of us but continue to provide weekly, sometimes daily, support to each other. This is when I donned the "Carol 2.0" moniker.

2020: From Jan 1 to early December I dropped 40 lbs.! However I've fluffed up a bit by the end of January 2021. After a scheduled break over Christmas I haven't been able to get back on the losing train but I'm not quitting at all. This is my lifestyle and if I'm "practicing maintenance" for a while, that is OK.

After years of primarily raising my children with a few part-time stints, August 2020 brought me a full-time job as a High School Building Sub. Everyday I work school hours and fill in where needed, often in the front office or library. Miraculously this school has been full in person all year 7 school days that were remote. The students are respectful, the faculty & staff are friendly and I truly feel like I have a work family. 

Diet: I'm using My Fitness Pal and counting calories. Naturally I can get more quantity when I go low carb and fill up on vegetables and fruit. But I'm not restricting anything as a rule; just keeping my calories around 1560/day keeps me losing, albeit slowly.

Exercise: I'm walking and playing outside. I usually have 1-2 walks with my old dog of about 1 mile each and then most of the past year I take daily walks of 2-3 miles alone. This has decreased since December also and I keep trying to get back up to 5-7 days/week.

At 55 years old I have a lot to offer: I've lived a great life thus far, I'm looking forward to my new career (I'll be working as a part-time teacher next year) and I'm determined to get and stay as healthy as possible. Most of all I enjoy writing and need an outlet. 

(P.S. - I've ignored the P word....some days I felt like I was living at the start of a dystopian novel...working and being with people has been my salvation...I have lots to write about this experience we've all been through over the past year but, not today)

Narcotics Addiction Lurking in Suburbia

 Narcotic abuse is rampant in our society and we have all become complicit in ignoring its causes.

As I wrote about on April 3, I recently had minor surgery.  An endometrial ablasion,  which is a 1 day procedure that includes a D&C.  As I sat in pre-op I was visited by no less than 5 people. They each introduced themselves and reviewed what I was having done. Someone mentioned I’d be going home with 2 prescriptions: 800mg Motrin and Percocet. I was a bit nervous and really just wanted to be knocked out and taken to the OR. Actually they kept me awake so in the OR everyone could again identify themselves and say what they were there to do. My brain wanted to explode – please just put that mask of propofol on my face! 

Finally I was awaking in recovery. A nurse noticed and was at my bedside explaining she would get my Percocet and be right back. My groggy self knew enough to realize that I was not in pain at all. I was too out of it to verbalize anything. Luckily it took her awhile so when she came back with her tiny paper cup holding the pill I had the wherewithal to protest. No I do NOT want a narcotic. She was surprised and asked me my pain level from 0-10, I said 2. She agreed to “dispose” of the pill. Flashes of Nurse Jackie pocketing the pill ran before my eyes, but no matter to me, I did not want nor need to ingest it.

Today I’m 10 days post-op and didn’t fill either prescription. I took 3 standard Motrin the evening of the surgery. A couple more the next day and that was it. I never had anything close to severe pain. I was sporadically uncomfortable for a day or two as my uterus recovered from the invasion. I don’t have an unusually high tolerance for pain which makes me wonder if other people think being a little uncomfortable is reason for narcotics. I wouldn’t want someone to needlessly suffer in pain, but doesn’t a reasonable amount of pain mean your body is coping and you are alive? 

Maybe I’m the odd-man out. I never have understood women who wanted to have an epidural as soon as they arrived at the hospital for childbirth.  My thinking is that if I’m going to deliver a 7 lb. baby that it is going to hurt and I did know that when I got myself into that situation. I guess I’m of the “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” mindset. Well, at least epidurals are not a highly addictive, easily acquirable drug.

Back to our nation's narcotic/opiod crisis. This situation that I was in is repeated daily thousands of times across the US. Percocet and Oxycodone are routinely prescribed for a multitude of surgeries. See the astounding data from the CDC here. Otherwise sane, productive, normal people go home and fill these prescriptions. Some of them will become addicted. Many who are able to just take a few pills or never take any more will find their pills being pilfered by someone in their household. A teenage child, one of the child’s friends, a service person, even one of their own friends who is hiding his/her addiction will find themselves sneaking 1 pill while using the bathroom.

The only power I have is that of AWARENESS. Please pass the word and research this yourself.  If you don’t think you personally know someone addicted to narcotics, you are probably wrong. There are many, many very good people hiding their addiction right in your insulated suburban neighborhood.

Although this blog has morphed from KindCleaning (with Norwex) to KindCleaning (your body for healthy living) I cannot ignore some social problems that definitely affect the health of our society.

Making Friends as an Adult is Yucky

Making new friends as an adult is a yucky and awkward business if you’re not a natural friend-maker.  Some people are, I have a friend who has relocated several times and always seems to find a group of close friends wherever she lands.  But for the rest of us, it can be a daunting process.  I’ve never had even a bit of this friend’s natural friend-making ability (which is very different from just being “friendly”).

• Nursery School – no friends at all, played alone.  Scared my mother one day when the teachers couldn’t find me.  I was hiding in an indoor playscape.
• Elementary School – friend who was a natural friend-maker lived across the street so I rode her coattails through middle school.
• High School – no friends at school; but when I started working in retail and fast food I found camaraderie with the other teens and finally had my own group. And there was one good friend who sought me out because she noticed I loved Adam Ant as much as she did.
• College – friendships mostly based on roommates and their ability to make friends
• Working World – made friends with those in my “training class” and finally did cultivate a few friendships on my own (well, it’s about time!)
• Home with a Newborn – whoa, nothing prepared me for this glut of friends.  I expected a Lucy & Ethel relationship with one of my neighbors but as I pushed the stroller past the homes during the day they were silent. It took me a couple of years to find other homemakers in the neighborhood and then to find someone whose company I really enjoyed was another challenge.

About this time one of my friends from that training class explained that making friends as an adult was kind of like dating.  You start by getting a phone number, then gauge receptiveness to getting together with the kids. Finally you see if you can branch beyond mommyhood to doing something without the kids or even having a phone conversation that isn’t about drop-offs, pick-ups or which kids have a cold.

Currently I’ve discovered several new friendships forming and I’m proud of this because they were ones I actively chose.  With my new interest in healthy living I think I’ve become a better “potential friend.”  Being happier with myself, I’m more willing to approach others and suggest a get-together.  Being someone who is activiely promoting a positive lifestyle makes me more attractive to others as a friend. 

So ladies, as we pursue our #GoRedGetFit goals be assured that our healthy lifestyle reaps many rewards.  We are healthier in body AND in mind; and that healthy mind allows us to spread our internal goodness (love) to those around us.  

How My Passion Planner Keeps me on Track

I love finding tools that help me on my journey.  Back in the olden days, you know, the 1990s? I used a Day-Timer Date book that worked well for my personal life and my job (I travelled A LOT.) But as  a technology geek I was an early adopter to digital planners.  It started with a Palm Pilot and progressed until today's Cozi, which is a website/app that I access on my laptop, Ipad, and Samsung phone. I used to keep the family calendar on the refrigerator which was virtually ignored by everyone except me anyways.  For several years now I’ve printed out the weekly schedule from Cozi for the refrigerator and it has worked pretty well.  However, when recording an appointment on my phone I would get a lingering thought: what if my account was deleted? I’d have NO IDEA when my appointments were.

This year I decided to go back to the good old days and find an actual planner.  Ideally I would want to carry it with me.  In my research I found the Passion Planner had the highest reviews.  My teenage son had been given one by his coach too so I was familiar with it.  I ordered one for myself and printed out some PDF files they provide to get started while I waited for delivery.  Finding your passion is the goal. They use terms like “Game Changer,” “Passion Road Map,” and “Prioritizing.”  I went through this exercise and found that Writing is my passion!  My jobs as Norwex Consultant and Subsitute teacher scored pretty low overall. We don’t depend on my money earning jobs to pay the grocery bill, so I realize I have a little more flexibility than many.  But the point is, if something isn’t your passion (even if you still have to do that to pay the bills) then at least begin taking small steps toward making your passion that thing that takes up most of your time (and can pay the bills possibly too.)

When I started using the Passion Planner I ambitiously joined a FB chat forum of aficionados.  Wow, these people use their planners as a creative outlet that rivals some of my best scrapbooks (Oh yeah, I was big time into scrapbooking for several years – hope to at least finish the kids’ books at some point).  I wanted to use the Passion Planner as a datebook planner but I guess I need a creative outlet too!  Now I own colored highlighters, colored Sharpie pens, a small assortment of stickers and a an entire box of Washi tape. No, I never heard of washi tape either before I ventured into this new arena.

Interacting with others in the #PashFam I’ve been encouraged to explore different methods and processes in my planner.  In the beginning I planned lots of tasks but didn’t actually do them!  Now I’ve fine tuned the layout to where it really focuses me and helps me accomplish some tasks I’ve been putting off.

My Method:

1. Prior to the week:

•          frame the days with washi tape and decorate the edges, I want to look at something pretty!
•          write in appointments as they are scheduled (I’ve started keeping these above the 12:00 line no matter the time)

2. Sat/Sun before the week:

•          add in new appointments, meetings, scheduled events
•          Use the “space of infinite possibility” for a FOCUS reminder: always health related
•          Customize the “to do” section for the week with tasks that will accomplish a weekly or monthly goal.  Currently I use this for decluttering and other household projects that need to be finished.
•          Analyze my days and add specific tasks to specific days (above the 12:00 line)
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I blurred some personal items: it doesn't really look this messy!

3. During the week:

•          Journal things I do below the 12:00 line.  Some days I need a record that even though nothing big was accomplished, I was productive so I sometimes I record: laundry, cleaned litter box, vacuumed, etc.
•          Add impromptu meetings or fun things that happen in the day section below 12:00
•          Add quotes or inspiration that I hear anywhere on the page.
•          Check off completed items – such satisfaction from marking that check!
•          I use the “Today’s Focus” section to record my walks in miles
•          The “Good Things That Happened” box gets filled in as good things happen or as a reflection at the end of the week. 

This year I’ve made more progress in decluttering than ever before.  I’ve sold books on Amazon and sold some items on Ebay . I’ve taken boxes and bags to a donation facility.  I have everything ready for my tax return (before April, yay!) and am sewing some bathroom curtains today.  I’ve learned that focusing on my planned “to do” list accomplishes more because the general housework will get done eventually.  As a homemaker it is very easy to fall into the spiral of food prep, laundry, housework, shopping, repeat.  Those things expand and fill your time if you let them.  The Passion Planner focuses me on what I want to accomplish which allows the time spent on the humdrum housekeeping chores to diminish.

Spreading Heart Health Awareness ~ Better Homes & Gardens Article

My 15 minutes of fame have arrived!  There’s a piece about me in the February 2017 edition of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  I’m sure it will be a small snippet – the only questions are how small? And which picture was chosen, if any?

(Literally as I was typing, my sister called to say she received her February BH&G and I am in it!)

Back in October I was so motivated by the #GoRedGetFit group on Facebook that I changed the focus of my blog (KindCleaning.Blogspot.com) to identify my heart healthy motivation and goals. Read about it here: http://kindcleaning.blogspot.com/2016/10/gored-getfit-why-its-my-new-catchphrase.html.  

A couple of days later someone from the American Heart Association posted on the board about contacting women who were beginning to get healthy and finding out their “why” for a magazine article.  I was one of the first few to respond with a link to my blog.

Pretty quickly I was emailed by the AHA person and then connected with the writer.  We emailed and had a telephone interview.  I had to send her a handful of photos of myself.

Since my interview I’ve continued to spread the news about Heart Disease with daily exercise Facebook updates accompanied with some Heart Facts; I’ve arranged for both schools my children attend to participate in the Wear Red for Women’s Heart Health Day on February 3^rd; and I’ve taken the advice offered by the panel.  The writer has stayed in touch along the way.  Go buy the magazine!

And I'm actually looking forward to visiting my doctors this month.  Not the exam part, but I know they will see a weight loss and hopefully improved blood pressure.  Coincidentally I visit my Primary Care Physician on February 3rd!  So I'll be wearing Red and handing out stickers and flyers to everyone I meet.