Back in the Saddle Again!

Yes, it's been almost a year since I last published here. Life has been very busy and a few things have changed. I haven't been following a vegan diet for some time now. It was a gradual change that started with including other foods back into my diet. So you won't find any new vegan info here. I won't remove my old posts because it's been part of the journey. In other news, my husband has just been diagnosed as having celiac disease, so we are diving into the whole gluten free thing. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm so happy that he finally knows what has been causing problems for him. He's starting to feel much better after eliminating gluten. My kids and I are not completely gluten free, but we've greatly reduced our gluten intake too. It takes a lot of label reading for sure. The reason I decided to post again is that I read an email from Fly Lady last week that said "As the kitchen goes, so goes the rest of the house." And I decided it was time to get back to actually trying to get organized. So, I started tonight by shining my sink. It looks pretty good. Don't worry, I won't post a picture of it. Getting the sink shined is a small step, but it feels like I might be headed in the right direction. I'm trying not to dive in too deep because I start hard and then fizzle out. Instead, I'm just going to try to set up some habits and keep doing them over and over again. I've also been working on my fitness for awhile. I'm doing Online Boot Camp with Jonathan Roche. The biggest thing I've been learning is that fitness is a mental challenge. Being positive and having a positive mind set helps me so much. I'm feeling better and have more energy. The weight is taking a while, but I'm feeling good about it. I'm OK if the weight comes off slowly as long as it comes off and stays off. And that's my update for now. Hopefully you will hear more from me in the near future.

My Best Friend Saved My Life

It's frustrating when you have so many posts you want to write, but you just don't have the energy to do them or just about anything else.  That's where I've been for the last while and I think I finally know why.

I went on an amazing vacation with my best friend this spring.  We live in different provinces, so we don't get to spend a lot of time together, but this time, we went away and had 6 days to be together.  It was an amazing trip!  Here's how my friend saved my life:  she told me that I snored.  No, really.  I didn't know that I snored at all, but it turns out that I do and it's pretty bad.  I thought that maybe it was allergies or something, so while I noted it, I didn't think much of it until I got home and my husband confirmed it.  Then I was flabbergasted.  Why hadn't anyone mentioned it before?

My father has sleep apnea, so I knew that I needed to get things checked out.  I made my husband come with me to see my doctor so that he could talk to how I snore because I really don't know.  The doctor asked him if I ever gasp for breath and hubby realized how serious it was then.  It turns out that I do gasp for breath frequently.  With other information on my sleep patterns, my doctor arranged for me to have a sleep test done.

While I was waiting for the sleep test a number of other things began to make sense.  I'm always tired because I'm not having a sound sleep.  I put weight on easily because I'm not sleeping.  I'm forgetful, headachy, foggy-brained, and sleepy.  Sometimes I have to have a nap just a few hours after I've woken up because I can't function.  Lights started going off all over the place.

I read more about sleep apnea and found out that sleep apnea can cause heart problems and other health concerns.  If my friend hadn't mentioned it, I never would have known that something was wrong and to start looking for answers.

I've gone for the sleep test and that was an experience in itself.  I felt like a part of the Borg Collective with all the wires attached to me.  My technician was great and made lots of little jokes to help to put me at ease.  He explained what the wires were for and what they would be monitoring.  When he came in to unhook me to go to the bathroom, he let me know how I was doing and that he was getting good results.  This helped me to stay relaxed and go back to sleep when I was plugged back in.

I haven't had the results yet as the doctor was called in to the hospital.  Four of this found this information after waiting for the doctor to arrive to the clinic for about 45 minutes.  Oh well.  I go back for my results in 3 weeks (yes, another 3 weeks of waiting!).  I hope to have some answers about whether it is indeed sleep apnea, or if I have another type of sleep disorder.  At this point, I just want to know so that I can begin treatment.

In the meantime, I've started to do some exercising.  I kept stalling out before because I didn't know what to do or how to do it, but I found Jonathan Roche's noexcuseworkouts.com through the FlyLady's team.  I'm using the free program right now and it's something I can actually do.  I haven't lost weight yet, but I was able to get a pair of jeans on easily that was too tight a few weeks before I started, so I'm getting somewhere :)

Hopefully once I know for sure what is going on, I'll be able to start a treatment that will get me feeling better and posting more.



Until then, I say "Cheers" to my bestie. You are the best and I love you!