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Back at it

Well, I’m back at it and not happy about it. This back-to-reality bullshit is for the birds. I’d like to go back on the holiday vacation with the family. Naturally, the first day back at the office after a long absence is always difficult. Today was no exception. Unfortunately, technology did not want to cooperate with any of us today. This made for a frustrating day all around.

It could be worse I guess. I could still be at my old job, which was pure misery. I remember when I left Progressive how happy my hubby was that I’d stop talking in acronyms. And then I started at Kaplan University and it was back to the alphabet soup he so hated. Fortunately, my current company doesn’t speak in acronyms, so he no longer has to worry about that frustration. Nonetheless, I’d love to see the measly lead flow improve back to 2022 levels.

Despite my frustration, I chose to move forward full of optimism today. While I may not have had the best day, it wasn’t the worst. Moreover, I’ll continue focusing on improving daily and hitting my goals. I used to meditate in the morning to a quick sales meditation I found on YouTube that was really effective for me. Unfortunately, the video has been removed. Consequently, I decided to write out my own sales mantra meditation. I’m toying with the idea of filming it, so I can listen to it while I sit in legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani.)

Today I hit all of my goals less my personal sales goal. My two-mile run went okay. My lungs are still a bit tight from the lingering head cold/sinus/allergy bullshit, so that’s fun. After work, I completed day three of the yoga challenge. Today’s practice was a sixty-minute Hatha class, which I really enjoyed. It was not overly strenuous, but it wasn’t overly chill either. Truly, the instructor struck a really good balance between building strength and relaxation.

First three days do the yoga challenge in the books and Insta official

Lastly, today’s bloganuary prompt is what is the earliest memory you have. My earliest memory is of saying goodbye to my grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side. I think it was late summer or fall as we didn’t have jackets on. I wasn’t quite two yet, which I know because my clearest early memory is of my grandfather passing away from a heart attack. He passed away eight days after my birthday on my grandma’s birthday. Forty years later I stand in awe of my grandma’s grace, resilience, and faith. When times are tough, I remind myself I’m cut from the same cloth. Anyways I’m back at it.

Today’s accountability tracker:

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Following the Path

It’s day two of following the path I’m carving out for 2023. My sinuses are still bothering me, so I called my run to a mile. Obviously, it wasn’t the best run I’ve ever done, but I still got it done. Afterward, I killed Sweat’s HIIT beginner week four leg week. Tonight, I’ll round out the workouts with day two of the Everyday Yoga 21-day yoga challenge. So far, my I’m off to a stellar start in maintaining my salubrious habits.

In keeping with my 2023 path, I finally got my closet cleaned. I still have two tubs to go through, but that can be done during the work week at my desk. While going through a couple of other tubs, I found all our relocation stuff with Progressive. Additionally, I found a bunch of Progressive paperwork, which I clearly don’t need. After all, I haven’t worked at Progressive since 2009. There were also some great books in there including mad libs and a would you rather book.

When we were at IKEA last week, I bought myself two shoe cabinets for the closet. It gives the closet a much cleaner look. Moreover, it was the perfect opportunity to go through my shoes and practice the art of letting go. Incredibly, I found a boot and a sneaker without a mate. My best guess is that I had already donated their mates. Fortunately, the hubby built both shoe cabinets yesterday. Consequently, once the closet was ready, I moved both cabinets into their respective places.

Don’t mind the excessive number of leggings in the background….

The question asked on the bloganuary challenge today was how are you brave. So how am I brave? I willingly ride in a car with stinky teenage hockey players that just finished playing their game after a Chipotle burrito lunch. Seriously though over the past year, I haven’t shrunk from the responsibility of protecting my children. I’ve faced tremendous adversity quietly while maintaining appearances for the betterment of my family. I don’t know what 2023 will bring, but no matter what it throws at me I’m ready.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Week four Sweat Beginner HIIT leg day. Ran one mile, and walked one. Day Two of the Everyday Yoga Shop/Practyce 21-day yoga challenge.
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song: Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen

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Intentions

Intentions sometimes get a bad rap i.e. he had the best of intentions, but….. Nevertheless, intentions are a powerful tool for creating the life you want. It can start small like setting an intention for your yoga practice or workout. Or it can be as large as setting intentions for the new year. As we start 2023, I looked back at the intentions I set for last year as inspiration for this year’s focus.

Last year the biggest intention I set was to reclaim my health by losing the thyroid weight. As I approached the ebbing months of my 42nd year, I felt a new sense of urgency regarding my health. While my family has been blessed with longevity on some sides, it’s been cursed with premature cardiac issues (plumbing not electricity). Consequently, I sat on the doorstep of high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, I knew a big change was in order.

In late January, I joined Calibrate after reviewing my options with my endocrinologist and primary care physician. Calibrate is a bit different than other weight loss programs in that it’s medically supervised and a full-year program. The first step is completing the lab work and establishing a baseline. It’s during this phase they also qualify patients for GLP-1 usage. Due to my family history in combination with thyroid disease and troubling blood sugar and cholesterol trends, I qualified for the medication.

In the last four years, I’ve gone from Hyperthyroidism (Graves) to Hypothyroidism (thank you RAI.)

Calibrate is great because it focuses on reclaiming your health by using resetting your metabolism through behavioral and dietary changes. Over the last year, I’ve made major improvements to my sleep hygiene. Additionally, I’ve made major shifts in my diet. Thankfully, the Calibrate program was the kick I needed to stop using poisonous artificial sweeteners. Moreover, I’ve hit become more intentional about what I eat and when. For example, I’ve started eating fruit seasonally. This also brings a nice variety to my diet. Lastly, the program reinforced that my workout routine was a point.

So what do I want to achieve this year?

I want to maintain my weight and health as I taper off the medication. Thankfully, the doctors designed the Calibrate program, so that their patients to come off the medication. By sticking to the programs, the changes in our biology should help us maintain the lower set point (aka our new weight). Naturally, I’ll need to maintain the healthy habits I created in order to maintain the weight loss.

Now that the enchanting holiday season is over, it’s almost time to go back to work and school. This, of course, is the lamest part of the holiday season. Nonetheless, I find myself excited to embark on my goals and intentions for 2023. 2022 blew chunks in so many ways. For me, 2023 will be a year of redemption and reclaiming the life I want to live. To that note, I’ve listed my goals below.

Goals for 2023

  • Maintain thyroid weight
  • Get back to top 10% at work
  • Run 5k
  • Run 10k
  • Blog regularly i.e 6 out of 7 days per week
  • Organize and de-clutter my closets
  • Practice yoga daily
  • Read daily
  • Complete Sweat HIIT programs
  • Complete Every Day Yoga Shop 21 Day yoga challenge

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Ran 2 miles and completed day 1 of the yoga challenge
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: almost done
  • Today’s song: Metallica’s Until It Sleeps performed by Apocalyptica
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Early Rise

It was not an early rise for me this morning. I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday since last spring. It’s actually an important part of the Calibrate program. Sleep hygiene is an integral part of living a healthy and balanced life. I’m hopeful that I can return into my normal program tomorrow. Truthfully, the late nights that started last Friday have got me off my routine.

One part of my routine that I’ve managed to maintain, despite the late nights and burgeoning cold, is my workout routine. I had such a long hiatus from working out due to my thyroid running hot. Now that I’m able to workout again and gotten back into the routine, I don’t want anything to knock me off my game. Originally I had planned to run a mile, but I was feeling good so I ended up running 1.5 miles and walking a mile. While I was working out, the boys and grandma made cookies.

Before I got to my workout, my mom, Jake and the Mayor and I ran to Target to pick up some goodies. We got lots of supplies for making cookies and pickle roll-ups. Clearly, there will be no shortage of goodies in our house over the next few weeks. I wanted to buy Arrow a cute wooly sweater, but they didn’t have his size. Consequently, I ended up getting him a cute pair of thermal pajamas. Tonight we took the grandparents down to Melly’s house to. meet the great grand birds. And now I’m headed to bed, so I can be ready for an early rise.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Sweat HIIT beginner week 2 full body workout and a 1.5 mile run
  • Book: The Marriage Game by Alison Weir
  • Blog: almost done
  • Today’s song: O Holy Night performed by Celine Dion
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Last Day

It’s the last day of the work week and my last day of work until 2023. Can I get an amen? Or maybe even a hallelujah? The week has been long as the business has been slow. Everyone that knows me well knows that I need to be busy. Idleness is not my friend. My hope for 2023 is that business goes back to booming as it did in 2021 and early 2022. We shall see. If it stays slow, I guess that will give me ample time and no excuses to not maintain the blog. Since AEP ended, our hours have been glorious. At present, I’m working a 9:00-4:00 pm shift, which is delightful. Hopefully, they’ll cut us loose early as it’s dead. I am not opposed to starting my vacation early.

As we move into the final weeks of 2022, I can’t help but be circumspect over the year that has been 2022. It began for me by bringing in the vicissitude that began in the fall of 2021. To be frank, the end of 2021 and all of 2022 has been hellacious for me. I have found myself in circumstances that one would think only exist in the movies. I mean, honestly, the shit that I have endured can’t be non-fiction. Yet here I am in the muck that is my life. Fortunately, I am one resilient bitch. And like a griffin rising from the ashes, I fully intend to make 2023 my year and reclaim my life.

To be fair, 2022 was not all negative. I have a lot of wonderful things going on in my life. My eldest made it home safely from deployment and continues to thrive in his role. Meanwhile, Goalielocks graduated high school and the Mayor continued to kill it at the rink. Throughout the year, I found myself in Savannah, Charleston, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and Utah. Each of these trips was completely and utterly delightful. All three were a complete indulgence of my love of all things travel. For the first time, I went on a nature-oriented excursion and actually saw nature. Whereas usually, I go on a tour that sees nothing and only hears about what the tour before us saw. I cannot tell you how much peace kayaking through waters shared with baby sea turtles and baby sharks can bring a person. It was an absolutely beautiful experience.

When I look back on 2022, I have no doubt that it will reflect a period of transition in my life. Undoubtedly, transitions are not always easy, but changes like death and taxes are a constant of life. For the first time in years, I feel healthy. It has been a long journey back from my diagnosis of Graves Disease. Significantly, it is something I will always contend with, but it feels good to feel normal again. More than that it feels amazing to have shed all of the weight I gained post-RAI (radioactive iodine treatment.). It only took four years, but sometimes losing weight the right way takes time. Lastly, I could not be more proud of my boys. They have grown into emotionally intelligent, mature, and caring men. I’m one proud mama.

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I’m Back

I’m back after a well-deserved and much-needed hiatus from the blogosphere. Life has been quite busy especially with AEP over the past seven weeks. Since I last blogged, hockey season has been in full swing. Unfortunately, I missed a showcase and Thanksgiving tournament due to AEP. I did miss a couple of league games too. This year the Mayor is playing travel hockey and high school hockey as well. If you know me, you know I think high school hockey here is a complete abomination. The high school league is notorious for its huge disparity in both skill level and application of the rules. Teams have players that should be in learn to play on the bench with AAA and junior hockey players. Due to AEP, I missed most of the games. While I’m not in love with it, my player is having a great time playing with his friends.

It’s not just hockey that has kept me busy these past few months. In August, we started fostering the sweetest little puppy named Arrow. They believed him to be a husky mix. We, however, think he’s a border collie, Australian shepherd, and husky mix. I bought a DNA test, so we’ll see what breed that comes back with. Arrow is an absolute sweetheart, but also full of mischief. He’s quite the character. At eight months, he’s an avid chewer and loves to play with his siblings. Athena and Anakin have adjusted well, but they do tire of getting harassed by a puppy. Surprisingly, Arrow shares many characteristics with our sweet Maya girl, who passed in September of 2021. This, on top of his looks, is also why we think he may have some Australian shepherd in him.

In October, right before AEP, the Mayor and I traveled back to Charlotte for a showcase. He had a great weekend at the rink. This time the weather was absolutely beautiful. When we traveled to Charlotte two years ago, the weather was awful. It was freezing cold and it rained every day. There’s nothing worse than a cold winter rain especially if you’re from South Florida. This trip was great too because our team manager made arrangements for the players to eat at the hotel daily. While the players ate and watched videos, the parents could go enjoy a quiet lunch on their own. It was a really nice trip. Our next hockey trip takes us to Chicago in January.

One of the main reasons for the blogging hiatus was my health. Since joining Calibrate, I’ve lost all the post-RAI thyroid weight. Yay!! It’s been a huge year for reclaiming my health, but it hasn’t come without some hurdles. Since I don’t have a functioning thyroid anymore, I take both Synthroid (T4) and Cytomel (T3) as thyroid hormone replacements. My dose had been quite stable, however, when you lose 40lbs your dose has to change. In May, I found myself hyperthyroid again. Fortunately, my Apple watch allows me to easily track my heart rate. By the end of the month, I was getting high heart rate notifications when I was waking up. Since my heart rate wasn’t behaving, I had to stop working out. My Endo lowered my dose again and within two weeks I was feeling much better. I’m finally back to running and working out, which feels amazing.

As I type this, my oldest is on his way back to Florida for the holidays. I can’t wait to have all three of my boys home for Christmas. Last year Christmas was tough with Jake being down range. To add to the excitement, my parents will be joining us for the holiday as well. My folks haven’t been down for Christmas since 2018, so I’m super excited to have them here. My mom and I will be trying our hand at lefse again along with the smorgasbord of Christmas cookies we love to bake. In all actuality, there will be way more baked goods than necessary in my house over the next three weeks. We will be hosting our annual Christmas brunch, which is always a big hit. We’ve got it down to a science, no need to reinvent the wheel. And just like that, I’m back.

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Relaxing

So after a bit of a hellish, I spent yesterday evening getting a very relaxing massage. It was just what the doctor ordered. Last night I had a new masseuse, who unsurprisingly was shocked at how tight my leg muscles are. I’ve heard that from every masseuse I’ve ever used and I swear I do stretch. Of course, the rest of my muscles were also super tight and I’m feeling it today. I had no idea you could get knots in your muscles over your ribs. Ouch!

My legs were pretty sore today, from both the massage and leg day, which made my run quite arduous. I also haven’t eaten much over the past few days on account of an questionable stomach. This definitely didn’t help make my run any easier. As I finished my run, I saw my masseuse’s face telling me to stretch more, so I did spend some time stretching during my phone calls. I’m loving my new wireless headset.

Speaking of relaxing, I haven’t been great at sticking to a good yoga practice. I definitely need it, but by the time I can actually practice I’m way too tired. Hopefully, I can get myself back into a regular routine of yoga and massages. If the way my muscles feel today is any indication, I need to be getting massages regularly or maybe every other day.

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New Day

It’s a new day and a new month. Today was a much better day in the office. I cleared 10K easy despite working an hour less. Coincidentally, that’s exactly the kind of day you hope for. It’s still our busy season, but this year’s OEP seems to be less busy than last year. Nevertheless, I’m primed for success and have great support from my leadership.

Naturally, the key to my success is my fabulous sales assistants. They were well behaved today , which is always a bonus. I love having them by my side as I work all day. In fact, they’re really a great selling tool. People don’t always like sales calls, but most people love animals. My puppies are pretty quiet, but when they do bark my clients love it. This opens up the door for them to talk about their furry kids. Happiness is sharing cute animal stories with your clients as they buy from you.

Speaking of a new day, I officially started the Calibrate program this afternoon. It’s a metabolic reset program that led by a MD and coaches. My endo encouraged me to give the program a try to help take off the remaining thyroid weight and normalize my cholesterol numbers. So far the hardest part has been having to give up the Splenda in my morning coffee. They start the program gradually as it promotes success. If you make too many dramatic changes immediately, it makes it hard to sustain.

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Perfect Day

So today’s theme for bloganury is perfect day. How fitting that yesterday suck and today was a much better day. Was it perfect now? But on the whole it was significantly better than yesterday. In fact, even the puppies were on board for a better day. To be fair, however, they did lose their morning front yard privileges. Their morning and afternoon trips outside were relegated to the backyard, which apparently is not as interesting.

At work, things were much better as well. It wasn’t the knockout days I’d come accustomed to during AEP, but it was good. Goalielocks was able to go back to school after staying home the last few days with the flu. Tamiflu is definitely a wonder drug. It knocked out the worst of his symptoms pretty quickly. We kept him home until he had been without a fever for 24 consecutive hours. Yesterday would have been just short of the requisite 24 hours, so he stayed home.

Since the new year started, my ability to wake up early and workout had disappeared. Consequently, I ran two miles and walked a mile over my lunch. It’s actually a really nice way to breakup the workday and collect my sanity. Moreover, a good run always helps improve my energy and erase any negativity from the morning. The puppies would love for me to run outside, but the impact is just too much for me at this time. Hopefully, once I get back from Charleston, I can get back into my early morning habit.

Today may not have been the perfect day, but it was a great day! The highlight, of course, was talking to Jake. He looked and sounded really good today. In fact, he didn’t look as tired as usual. Thankfully, work and school continue to go really well for him. I just love getting the call from him and seeing how good he looks and sounds. It definitely puts this mom’s mind at ease.

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One of those days

Today was one of those days that makes you want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over your head. It started off with the puppies simultaneously trying to separate my shoulders and tearing my sandal while trying to greet the neighbor’s dog. Anakin was no better the second time we went out. This time it was over a bird. Needless to say, my sales assistants were not on their best behavior this morning.

As much fun as I had with the dogs this morning, the leads at work were even worse. Now I can’t complain too much as the leads have been pretty good lately. Nonetheless, they were pure and utter shit today. There’s nothing I love more than talking to someone who wants every type of insurance except dental and vision. I did manage to have a semi-respectable day, but was super happy when 6:00 rolled around.

On a high note, the dumbbell set I ordered in late November finally arrived today. This was the second attempt to deliver the product. Unfortunately, the first dumbbell set they sent is still floating around the FedEx facility in West Palm. At any rate, I’m just happy that we finally got the last Christmas present delivered. Honestly, I cannot wait until things go back to normal. Anyway, while today was one of those days, I’m look forwarding to a better tomorrow.