new habits, I hope...

Well, I've finally done it. I didn't think it was possible, not even for a day....but I have been junk-food free for a whole week and two days now! Josh and I both have. We have a new 30 day eating plan that consists of no sweets (no cookies, ice cream, cake, brownies, donuts, anything like that), nothing to drink except water and skim milk (chocolate milk not allowed), no french fries, no mashed potatoes, and the only restaurants we can eat at are Subway, grilled chicken from Chickfila, or healthy options from Jason's Deli (which if you were wondering, does not include the endless supply of frozen yogurt that I love so much)...the diet includes other things too, but those are the big ones.

It's really a hard plan to follow. I have dreams at night about drinking Dr. Pepper, and I honestly feel like I can taste it in my dreams. It's been 4 months since my last soda and I still want it all the time!

So the point of this whole diet is not to lose a certain amount of weight, although that'd be nice, but to prove to ourselves that we can actually say no to unhealthy, delicious, tempting treats that we usually give in to without a second thought. Hopefully, even though after 30 days we won't be as strict, I will have more healthy habits and I won't eat junk food to make myself feel happy. Yep. I eat junk food to make myself feel happy. I said it.

We ARE weighing ourselves every Sunday night, though, and I did lose 2.2 pounds this week! I don't hate it!

Dreaming of this summer...

I have been so stressed out this week.

Monday- I subbed all day, went to my class for 3 hours, got home at 8pm

Tuesday-Subbed for 2nd grade, went to hang out with Laura until 9pm

Wednesday-Subbed for 3rd grade in the morning, 2nd grade in the afternoon, did homework that was due at 5pm, went to work at the church preschool til 8:30pm

Thursday-Observed in PPCD in the morning, subbed for 2nd grade in the afternoon, did homework until 10:30pm

Friday-Worked at the church preschool all morning til noon, then from 5:45 to 10pm

Today I'm working on a project and trying to get caught up on my online class, and then I'm babysitting tonight. I am soooo behind in this online class. I thought about dropping it, but I couldn't do it and lose all the money I paid for it! So I have a month and a half to do 15 essay assignments and take a midterm and final. I seriously don't know if I can do it. The main problem is that you have to read 60 page chapters before you can do each 4 page assignment, and I am the slowest reader everrr.

So yeah. I'm a little panicky. BUT I got some really good news yesterday!

1. I'm going to start working for a family and watching their 1 year old PERFECT baby two days a week....and they're paying me $200 a week! (That's more than I made watching my sister's three children for 5 days...just saying) Also, that means two less days of subbing every week, which is fine by me.

2. This family and another family with a few kids rent a beach house in Gulf Shores, Alabama every August for a week, and want a babysitter to go with them! YES PLEASE.

3. After I found out that bit of exciting news, Josh told me that his family rented a beach house at Fernandina Beach in Florida in July, and I get to go with them!!!!

So, I'm REAL excited about the end of this summer..now, I just have to survive the next 2 months so I can enjoy the beach....

Goodbye, Dizziness. Hello, Flu.

Well thankfully the dizziness went away the day after I went to the doctor! Then yesterday I was subbing and as the day went on I felt sicker and sicker. We're talking achy muscles, headache, and fever and chills. I went to my Monday night class and shivered the entire way through it, then came home, took a bath, and went to bed at 9.

Today, I was supposed to sub for PPCD. I always get sick right when I'm supposed to sub for PPCD! I have seriously canceled on them 3 times because I've been sick, and I did NOT want to make it a 4th time...so I just went. I only had to be there until 11am, so I just loaded up on Tylenol and went for it. Not the smartest idea, I know, but I couldn't bring myself to cancel on her at the last minute again.

I just went back and read some of my posts from August and September...remember that time I was going to train for another half-marathon? Woopsy....

Also, remember that time I thought I was going to have a booming social life when I moved to Allen? That didn't work out so well either...

I'm excited for spring break! I get to see Rachel and Carol, get to go camping with Kacy, Justin, Kim, and Andrew, and I get to see my old friends Fergie, Will.I.Am, Apl.de.Ap, and Taboo. AKA I'm going to a Black Eyed Peas concert (a big thanks to Donna Hans for getting Josh two tickets for his birthday). P.S. I've never known the other two guys' names before, and I think we can all agree that they are ridiculous.

Look forward to a guest-blog coming up in the near future!

Doctor's Visit

So in the last 24 hours, it has been quite ridiculous how my thoughts about my dizziness have escalated from "This is weird" to "This may be my last meal.." and "I might die in my sleep tonight"....My paranoia is really a sad and serious problem! I am SO not allowing myself to look at WebMD ever again.

I made an appointment to see a doctor today, even though I was hesitant to spend the money ($25 is a lot of money to me, sad I know) but let me tell you, it was worth it for the peace of mind.

After I told the doctor my symptoms, he asked me if I had read anything on the internet about what it might be. I said yes, and he asked me what I read...and I said "Well...internal bleeding of the brain?" And he laughed and said "You're not that lucky!" He said he's seen thousands of patients that have dizziness, which is caused by a virus in the inner or middle ear (way to go, Kacy!) and it will just run its course. He said he's only seen 3 patients that have had brain stem problems and their symptoms are a lot worse than the ones I've been having. So anyway, I might continue to be dizzy for up to another couple weeks, and I just have to wait it out.

The doctor must have not had any other patients today, because he ended up giving me his medical advice on any other medical topic you could think of. We talked about:

1. When to start screening for colon cancer

2. The importance of breast self-exams

3. What constitutes a heavy menstrual cycle

4. How to tell whether a mole is benign, dysplastic, or melanoma

5. The color of the whites of my eyes

6. Changes in bowel movements

7. When to regularly see a gynocologist

8. Signs of anemia

I'd say we pretty much covered all the bases. I feel very close to him now.

Sickness.

Well I started feeling kind of dizzy yesterday around 6pm. I felt like my head was leaning to the right..so I sat down and watched some tv and as long as I didn't move, I was fine. At 8:30 we drove in to Dallas to watch Lost at Jenny Davis's parents house, and I felt more and more dizzy as the night went on. But I laid down on the couch while I watched Lost, and that made me feel better.

Whenever I got up, I felt like I could barely walk straight at all. Then I proceeded to the bathroom and threw up a lot and had to have three people help me make it out to the car--not my proudest moment... Then when I sat down in the car, I threw up again in a bag that Jenny's mom had given to me...I feel very close to Jenny and her mom now...then we drove home and right when I got home I threw up again! Then I slept for 12 hours. Now I'm in bed and I STILL feel super dizzy but I don't feel nauseous. This dizziness is freaking me out. I've never had it before. I can't even walk to the bathroom without feeling like I'm going to fall down.

Has anyone else ever had that happen? I need you to comfort me, because if you know me, you know I am assuming the worst here! I took Bonine (like Dramamine) which is supposed to help reduce dizziness caused from motion sickness...so I don't really know why I took it, because I'm laying motionless in my bed..but maybe it'll help?