Category Archives: Health

Challenge Winners (or OK Being A Loser)

Posted on October 2, 2014 | Comments Off on Challenge Winners (or OK Being A Loser)

This past weekend was the party for the Orangetheory weight-loss challenge. I knew how much I had lost because the weigh-in was the week before, and I was pretty sure that I didn’t win.

There was going to be a men’s and women’s winner and while I had no clue who the winner for the women would be, I had a good idea who the winner for the men would be.

There is one guy who I talk with from time to time. Sometimes we are in the same workout class, but more often he’s in the class after mine. We would check in with each other throughout the challenge and made sure that neither of us were slacking off. It also turns out that we have a mutual friend.

The day of the final weigh-in, he shared with me that he had lost over 30 pounds in the 6 weeks. In my opinion, there was no way that someone else could win.

And I was right. He was the winner for the men.

On the women’s side, until I showed up for the party, I couldn’t guess the winner. But while we were all waiting for the party to start, one of the trainers and I were talking and she brought another woman into the conversation. They were discussing her weight loss and it turned out that she had lost 17 pounds (which was 10% of her original weight).

As soon as I heard that, I knew that she would end up being the winner for the women.

There were also second and third place prizes for both men and women, but I didn’t rank in the top 3.

And you know what? I’m totally cool with that. In the 6 weeks, I had lost 9 pounds. I might have been able to lose more if I hadn’t had any setbacks (including food setbacks and health setbacks), but 9 pounds in 6 weeks is great! It’s a good pace for weight loss.

As much as I want to lose it all quickly, I’ve done that twice before. And it hasn’t ended well for me. So this time instead of the quick fix, I’m going for the happy ending.

But what I’m most proud of is that I was part of such an amazing group of people for this weight-loss challenge. I have really found my community and workout home. I thought that I had found it before, and maybe one day it will become more of a workout home for me. But this time I really feel completely comfortable with the staff and everyone who works out at Orangetheory and I feel no judgement at all.

That’s a prize that no contest can award me and I’m lucky that I got it.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Getting Closer To The Leaderboard (or I’m Almost In The Top 5)

Posted on September 29, 2014 | Comments Off on Getting Closer To The Leaderboard (or I’m Almost In The Top 5)

Instead of focusing on my week of workouts at Orangetheory, I want to focus on what happened on Monday.

As I mentioned last week, there are now Monday challenges every Monday. And it’s my plan to do the challenge each week (I will be doing one today).

I missed the very first challenge because the trainer forgot to do the challenge in my class (it was a new thing so I’m not too upset). The second week I did the rowing challenge. And I walked in this past week with every intention of doing whatever challenge happened.

Then I found out what the challenge was.

It turns out that the challenge this past week was a treadmill challenge. You had to be at 15% incline (which is what I do when I do the “all out” segments on the treadmill) and you had to be at 6 miles per hour for the speed. And the goal was to be on the treadmill at that speed and incline as long as possible.

That’s not a reality for me.

I’ve been doing 3.1 or 3.2 miles per hour most of the time. Sometimes I can push myself to 3.3 or 3.4, but it’s tough. And as soon as I hear what the challenge was, I felt defeated. There’s no way that I can run at 6 miles an hour.

In class on Monday, we had a unique treadmill workout. The first and last segment were each 7 minutes long and we had to be at a push pace (which for walkers mean about 6% incline). For those 7 minutes, we were supposed to go as far as we could go.

The first 7 minutes I made it to .392 miles. I thought that was pretty awesome. Between the segments there was some regular interval work on the treadmill and then it was time for the next (and last) 7 minute treadmill segment.

I started at 3.1 miles an hour. I like that speed because it means if I maintain that for an hour, I can do a 5K. And my goal is to get my 5K time to an hour or less.

Then I decided to see if I could make it to .4 miles in those 7 minutes. So I decided to increase my speed every minute. I was fine up until 3.6 miles an hour. That was tough, but I felt like I was cutting it close to my goal of .4 miles.

So I decided to increase my speed every 30 seconds for the last 2 minutes. And shockingly, those last 30 seconds I was going 4 miles an hour! I can’t maintain that for very long, but I did it!

Those second 7 minutes I made it .408 miles.

I finished up the workout and while I was so proud of what I had done on the treadmill earlier, the challenge was still making me feel defeated. I joked to everyone that I will go 1 second on the challenge.

Finally, it was time for the challenge. I started to bug the trainer that it was completely unfair that there wasn’t a walking option for the challenge. After bugging him and the owner, they decided that my challenge would be 15% incline and 4 miles an hour.

The fact that I had just done 4 miles an hour on the treadmill for the first time in forever seemed to be fate.

I got it in my head that maybe I could make it a minute. So I decided that unless I fell off the treadmill, I was going to stay on there for that minute no matter what.

The first 15 seconds seemed easy. Then my legs started to feel like lead. But I was so damned determined not to quit until that one minute mark had passed.

As soon as the clock passed one minute, I thought for a moment about going more and then my hip popped out (it happens quite a bit and pretty regularly during workouts). It was clearly a sign that I had done all that I could do for that challenge.

I ended up making it 1:02. That’s passed my minute goal.

The next day, the results were posted. I didn’t make the top 5 for women, but I was only 30 seconds away. And shockingly the men did not do as well as the women. On the men’s top 5, I was tied with #5!

I tried to see the lesson in this. Obviously, I shouldn’t feel defeated until I try something. But I feel like there’s something more.

I’ve been looking at these challenges as something to do for me and not to be competitive. But both weeks I have not been that far away from making the top 5 list. If I really tried to push myself and not just do it to do it, I might actually make the list soon!

So that is my intention for the challenge today. I’m going into it with the mindset of a competitor. I want to see myself closer and closer to making it onto the top 5 list. And I know that sometime soon, I will be there.

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Another Set Back (or Why Can’t I Just Learn My Lesson)

Posted on September 25, 2014 | Comments Off on Another Set Back (or Why Can’t I Just Learn My Lesson)

The other day, I had another food set back. I had everything planned out perfectly for the day, but it just never worked out for me.

I shouldn’t have been hungry, but I was. And since I don’t keep a ton of food in my house (or many reasons), I ordered delivery food.

This was not a smart decision for many reasons. But at the time, it seemed like the only option to make myself not feel hungry anymore.

The food didn’t taste that great. It used to, but since I’ve been avoiding foods like this for a while, my body doesn’t crave them the way it used to. Even though it didn’t taste great, I ate it.

The one positive I’ve found out of this situation is that I was not able to eat even half of what I used to eat. I was too full and was starting to feel sick right away. So I did the only thing that sounded sane to me at the time.

I covered all the remaining food in household cleaner and put it straight into my garbage can outside. That way, the food would not tempt me any longer.

That night was horrible for me. I’ve had issues with my gallbladder in the past (many women on my mom’s side have had issues so it’s not a surprise that I do). I used to get gallbladder attacks a few times a year. I’ve been to the hospital for them, but it hasn’t gotten to the point where they want to remove my gallbladder (nor do I want to deal with any more surgeries than I have to).

I haven’t had a gallbladder attack in about a year or so. I was just talking to my mom about how many my gallbladder issues are gone now.

But that night, I had one of the worst gallbladder attacks I’ve ever had.

If you’ve never experienced gallbladder issues, you are lucky. The pain is incredible and it seems like no painkiller can help. The pain is in your spine and ribcage and there seems to be no position you can sit, stand, or lay down in to get comfortable. I spent that night in horrible pain and maybe slept for an hour or two total (in 10 or 15 minute spurts).

I know that setbacks are normal and that I have to understand that they will happen. But I’m hoping that somehow I will learn my lesson at least a little from this setback. The gallbladder issue was most likely caused by too much fat in the meal that I ate. And I know that other setbacks I’ve had in the past have not been as bad as this one was.

While I’m sure I will still have a craving for this food again (even though I know in my head that it won’t taste that good), I’m hoping that I will remember the pain that I felt after eating it this time. If it doesn’t prevent me from getting the food altogether, maybe it will help me eat less of it or to not order all that I did before.

But I am very proud to say that after this one setback I got back on track again the next morning. I didn’t allow myself to have a bad week because of a bad meal. And the weight that I gained from this setback is almost all gone now.

So maybe I have learned something from my past self.

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Posted in Food, Health, Tough Stuff

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Getting A Mammogram (or I Guess This Was A Rite Of Passage)

Posted on September 24, 2014 | 2 comments

When my mom tested negative for the breast cancer gene mutation, I figured that I didn’t have to do anything. My only concern was if she tested positive to get myself tested to see if I had the mutation.

But my mom’s geneticist did say that I needed to still be monitored a bit more carefully throughout my life. While my mom’s cancer is most likely a post-menopause cancer, the extra monitoring started this past weekend.

Earlier this month, I had my annual appointment with my gynecologist. She was actually one of my dad’s residents (have I ever mentioned that my dad used to be an OB/GYN and he was in charge of training all the residents in his department?) so she’s known my family for a long time. And when I saw her last year, it was right after my mom’s surgery but before too much else was done. So she knew that I would be coming in to this appointment with a lot more information.

I relayed all the important information to my doctor and then told her how my mom’s geneticist wanted me to get a mammogram this year. Even though my mom’s cancer is post-menopausal, my parents thought (and I kind of agree) that this mammogram was kind of to cover the doctors’ butts and so they could say that they did extra monitoring of me. But my doctor was more than willing to write in the order for the test and I went home that day with the phone number to set up my appointment.

I managed to get an appointment for this past Sunday (who knew they did mammograms 7 days a week?!?), and I was so nervous. I searched the internet for how to prepare for a mammogram and I bugged my mom about how much it was going to hurt. I know that she tried to prepare me the best she could.

When I go to the hospital on Sunday, the first thing I got was my hospital bracelet.

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I didn’t understand why I needed a bracelet, but later my mom said that it was because the person who checks you in for the appointment is not in the same area as the technician who does the mammogram. This way, nobody can pretend to be you.

I waited about 10 minutes and tried to read my book, but again, my nerves were getting the best of me. Finally it was my turn to head back to the room and I faced the mammogram machine.

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I swear that it looked scarier in person.

I then had to undress from the waist up (note to anyone who hasn’t gone for a mammogram yet: don’t wear a dress to your appointment) and then it was time to get squished.

And I’m not going to lie.

It hurt.

I was warned that because I’m young and have bigger breasts, I have more tissue and not only might it hurt more, I might have to go in for a repeat mammogram another time to make sure they get a clear picture.

The pain was not where I expected it. The squishing part actually wasn’t too horrible. But because of how you have to fit into the machine, the skin near my collarbone hurt so badly that my eyes teared up!

The mammogram was 4 different views (2 on each side). And I had to do 3 of them a second time right then and there because they didn’t get a good picture (I still don’t know if I have to go in for an entirely new appointment yet). But after about 10 minutes I was done.

While getting dressed again I noticed that I was starting to get bruises all over my chest (I bruise pretty easily to begin with). They only got uglier looking throughout the day. I’d put a picture of my bruises on here but I really don’t feel the need to post a topless photo on a public blog. Fortunately, the bruises are all almost gone now.

If I have to go in again for a repeat mammogram, I’m supposed to find out in the next week or so. If everything looks good, I’ll get a letter within a month.

I don’t know if I get the letter saying that everything is good if that means I don’t have to get another mammogram for another 9 years. Nobody really seemed to know the answer to that, but I’ll see what comes up as a health reminder on my profile on the Kaiser website.

If I have to go back next year, I’ll do it. It’s so important to be checked out and to make sure everything is ok (even if you don’t have a family history of breast cancer).

But the next time I go, I’m totally taking a painkiller before I go so it doesn’t hurt so much.

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Doing Some Challenges (or Mondays Are Going To Be Tough)

Posted on September 22, 2014 | 4 comments

It’s been another week of workouts at Orangetheory, and this past week also marked that last week for the weight loss challenge. I had my weigh-in for the challenge yesterday and there will be a party next weekend where they will announce the male and female winner of the challenge.

Honestly, I don’t think I won. I had some setbacks over the past 6 weeks and my food has not been as good as it could have been. But the key for me is that even with all my setbacks (and some unexpected weight gain from the heat), I’m still a few pounds lower than I was when the challenge started.

This past week of workouts has been all about challenging myself.

This started with the newest thing that Orangetheory is doing: Monday Challenges. Every Monday at the end of each class there is a challenge that you can choose to participate in. I was exhausted after the Monday class, but I’m always down for a challenge.

This week, the Monday Challenge was a 500 meter row. I got off to a great start, but I overdid it. I was so tired by 300 meters and I had to take a few second break. I ended up finishing in 1:56.8, which I think it pretty amazing. My goal is to be at 30 seconds per 100 meters or less. So my time definitely fit into my goals.

They posted the challenge winners (the top 5 men and top 5 women) on Tuesday so I got to see it on Wednesday. I didn’t make it to the top 5, but I was happy to see that I was only 20 seconds away from that top 5. That’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

On Wednesday, it was another challenging workout. I always do the cardio portion of the workouts first because my hip issues seem to get worse after the weight training. So on Wednesday, I hopped onto the treadmill at the beginning of class like normal. Except this class it wasn’t going to be 30 minutes on cardio and then 30 minutes on strength. The cardio people went to strength after the warm up. Then after the first strength block, the sides switched (strength to cardio and cardio to strength).

I tried to go back to the treadmill but my hip kept catching. So after the second block of strength when we were sent back to do cardio, I tried the spin bike that they have in the workout room. I actually used it for 2 cardio blocks. It wasn’t bad, but it’s wasn’t as good as it could have been.

The pushes and all out moments in cardio are not as easy to set on the bike. And I didn’t have my spin shoes so I couldn’t clip in (there were straps to strap my feet into, but it’s not the same).

For the final cardio block, I sucked it up and used the treadmill again.

The workout week felt like it came full circle on Friday. It was a run/row day (which I love because it means less treadmill time). The first row section of the run/row was a 500 meter row.

I was a little scared to do that 500 meter row, especially in the beginning of the workout, because I knew how exhausted I was on Monday doing the challenge. So I tried to take it easy and I managed to do all 500 meters without taking a single break! It took me a little longer than 2 minutes to do it (I don’t exactly remember my time), but it’s almost more important to me to do the row without stopping than it is to do the row quickly.

I’m looking forward to the next Monday Challenge. As long as it isn’t a timed treadmill thing, I know that I can do it and have a decent chance on making it to the top people board. I guess I’ll find out what today’s challenge is when I go to workout in a few hours!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Another Week In Workouts (or Finally Able To Do Some Jumping Jacks)

Posted on September 15, 2014 | 1 comment

First of all, if this post is a little crazy, I apologize. I’m writing this after having been up for 38 hours straight. I’ll write about that soon, but for now, I’m doing another weekly recap of workouts!

In my sleep deprived state, I really can’t remember a ton of specifics about each workout this week. But there is one thing that totally sticks out in my mind.

Pretty much since 2005, I haven’t been able to do jumping jacks. 2005 is when my hip issues started. And honestly I don’t know the time prior to 2005 that I ever did any.

Before my hip surgery, everything was just too painful to try any higher impact activities. And right after my surgery, I had to avoid them as the bone healed from where the bone spur was removed.

I had been warned for several years in follow-up visits that high impact activities can cause my other hip to go bad quicker or to need a hip replacement quicker. So I did modifications for most high impact things (or avoided them all together).

When I used to workout with Richard Simmons, modifications were easy to find. He would always do several types of modifications (including some for the people who worked out while in chairs). So I was fine doing them there.

At SoulCycle, it wasn’t as much modification, but more avoiding specific motions that aggravated my hips. Since I didn’t have to find a new way to do something, that was easy too.

But at Orangetheory, modifications aren’t always given (they are given a lot though). And sometimes I have had to remind the trainer that I’m not able to do that specific motion that they have asked us to do.

But as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been pushing myself to do more and more things. Part of it is that I’m getting stronger, and the other part is that I’m no longer living in fear of hurting my hips quicker (but I still am avoiding things like skiing or ice skating that are really dangerous for me to do). I’ve done jump squats (and it turns out I can jump pretty high!), plank jacks, and mountain climbers.

And for the first time this week, I did jumping jacks!

They weren’t pretty but they were done. I think we only had to do 10 at a time so that wasn’t too horrible. And I did take it easy on the second round of them.

But the point is that I did them! I’m sure if my hip surgeon is reading this he wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but like I said, I can’t live in fear of hurting my hips. I’ve pretty much been told that these other surgeries are going to happen eventually, so I can’t put them off forever.

I wish I could tell you more about the workout this week, but honestly my mind is so foggy right now (I’m writing this at 9pm on Sunday night and I’ve been awake since 7am Saturday morning). But I wanted to make sure that I got my Monday Workout Recap out to you all!

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Feeling Like Normal In More Ways Than One (or Getting Better)

Posted on September 11, 2014 | Comments Off on Feeling Like Normal In More Ways Than One (or Getting Better)

I’m finally starting to feel better after my throat ulcer issue. I’m still having pain while drinking water and breathing heavily while working out, but the pain is not nearly as severe as it was when I went to urgent care. The doctor there told me to give it 2 weeks to get better and I’m just past the 1 week mark. Hopefully by the end of the weekend the pain won’t be noticeable anymore.

I’m still trying to take it easy while working out. My ear issues have not gone away as quickly as the throat issues. My dad suggested that I take some decongestants to make the fluid in my ear get absorbed. I haven’t tried that yet, but I think I’m going to start. I’m still getting dizzy a lot during the day (and especially during workouts where you go from sitting or laying down to standing a lot). As long as I’m sitting, the dizziness isn’t happening. So at least I’m able to drive and work without feeling like I’m going to fall over.

And speaking of work, that’s getting better too! I’m finally getting used to my schedule for the national box office job from home. There’s a lot of down time at that job (hence the low pay), so I’m trying to find the best use of my down time. I have done some survey coding between calls and online chats for the box office job, but there haven’t been a ton of surveys to work on lately (that should change soon).

I’m also looking into some other freelance type work that I can do from home between my work for the box office. I know that I can write and blog. I just need to find some gigs that pay for me to do that! If you know of any, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

I haven’t gone back to substitute teaching yet, but that’s mainly because all of my Mondays lately have been very busy. And since I can only work on Mondays, when that day is filled up, there’s no other option for me that week. But I’m checking for work each week and hopefully soon there will be a job for me to work.

And I emailed my old box office job. They claimed that they wanted me to come back in September when the shows were starting again. I’m a little concerned that they have decided that I’m not necessary since they haven’t had me work for a while now. But I did send them an email saying that I wanted to get back to work now that the shows are coming back as well. I haven’t heard back yet, so until I do I won’t know if they are going to keep their word about me coming back this fall.

I know I say this all the time with day jobs, but it’s feeling more and more normal now. I’m used to my schedule and I’ve created routines for myself each day that fit into the new schedule better.

If only I was making enough at one day job things would be perfect. But the struggle is worth it for me. And I know that I will find a way to fit in all the jobs that are necessary for me to support myself somehow.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Work

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Mini College Reunion And Restricted Activity (or My Week In Workouts)

Posted on September 8, 2014 | Comments Off on Mini College Reunion And Restricted Activity (or My Week In Workouts)

This week my workouts had some really awesome moments and some pretty annoying ones.

Let’s start with the bad so I can end on a positive note. Due to being sick this past week, my workouts became very tough to do. Not only was I feeling off, I had to restrict my activities to make sure that I was safe and not preventing myself from getting better.

First of all, the fluid in my ear was causing some dizziness. So I had to be super careful on the treadmill because I didn’t want to fall off. I reduced the speed I was walking and made sure to hold on to the handrails extra tight. Monday wasn’t too bad (because that’s when I was starting to have problems), but Wednesday and Friday were very tough. There were plenty of times I had to stop on the treadmill because the room was spinning around me and I was terrified I’d fall over. I had some issues during the strength portion as well, but it wasn’t as bad as the treadmill. For the strength, I only had issues when we transitioned from standing to sitting (or laying down) exercises.

I took it easy and I’m finally starting to feel better. Hopefully this week I will have much less dizziness.

The second problem was due to my throat. The ulcer/canker sore was extremely painful. And breathing heavily made it feel much worse (probably because my throat was getting dry). Trying to drink water felt like I was being stabbed in my throat, so I had to be careful with drinking water as well. So that prevented me from working out as hard as I could.

Even with these issues, I still averaged about 500 calories burned in each class, so that’s good. Going there and doing reduced activity is still way better than not going at all.

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Now for the fun thing that happened in my workout. On Monday, I went to a morning workout. This was due to the holiday (so there were no afternoon workouts that day). And in that workout, I ran into someone I went to college with and hadn’t seen in at least 10 years!

I thought I had seen her before, but not in the same class as me. I saw her name on the heart rate monitor screen (and she has a unique name so I was pretty sure it was her) but I didn’t see her when I was looking into the workout room.

So on Monday, when she walked in to the workout room, I stopped her to ask her if she had gone to LMU with me. And I’m shocked that she remembered me!

She was a couple of years ahead of me, but I met her in the first few months of college. I was in a student film I think in September or October of my freshman year, and she was in that film as well. We knew each other a bit through college since we were both in the theater world.

So it was so awesome to see her and get to catch up for a minute after class after not seeing each other for so many years! I’m not really in touch with a lot of people I went to college with so it’s nice to see people again randomly like that!

Overall, this week in workouts had its highs and lows. But like I keep telling myself, the most important thing is that I had a week of workouts!

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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An Evening At Urgent Care (or Why Being Polite Is Always Best)

Posted on September 3, 2014 | 1 comment

Yesterday, I had to go to urgent care. Since Friday, I’ve had a sore throat and my ear was hurting. I tried to just wait it out, but since I’ll be seeing my mom and grandparents this weekend, I wanted to get checked out (none of them can afford to get sick right now).

First of all, I’ll let you all know that I’m fine. It’s a virus that caused a little sore on my throat. I just have to wait it out (like I thought). But at least I know now that I won’t get anyone sick this weekend.

I tried to schedule an appointment with my doctor first, but there were no times that wouldn’t cause me to miss work. And since it’s only my second week, I didn’t want to have to ask for time off.

So I took the chance with urgent care. You never know how long it will take, so I went in prepared to be there for several hours and had my Kindle with me.

When I checked it, I had a smile on my face and was polite to the receptionist. I know that she has to deal with sick and annoyed people all day and I figured by being nice I would at least make a little part of her day easier. I did the same thing with the second check in receptionist (who takes the payment for the appointment).

They told me that it might be an hour or so and I was fine with that. I said thank you and went to take a seat in the waiting area.

But before I could get my Kindle out and open, my name was called to go back! I was shocked that they were ready to see me so quickly!

The nurse that I met with was also very nice and friendly. She was happy that I was prepared for my appointment with all my vital information that they need (allergies, prescriptions, general stats). And she also thought it was very nice of me to let her know that my blood pressure has to be taken on the lower portion of my arm (I’m not sure why, but when it’s on my upper arm I either have very high or very low blood pressure).

I was brought back to the room and the nurse let me know that she was going to make sure that I was the next patient that the doctor would see. And no joke, a minute later the doctor walked in!

After the quick exam where the doctor determined that this was a virus and that I didn’t need a prescription, she sent me on my way. My mom had guessed that this was exactly what was wrong with me, so I was happy to have a quick diagnosis (and not needing to wait for a prescription).

As I headed to the parking garage to get my car, I realized that I only arrived there 30 minutes before! I was in and out so quickly!

I know that it wasn’t because urgent care was empty (there were lots of people in line to check in and waiting in the waiting area). And I probably wasn’t the most urgent person for them to see. The only idea that I have is because I was polite and pleasant to deal with. So everyone I encountered at the hospital wanted to help me out and make sure that I didn’t have to be there that long.

I’m happy to be polite around other people. I know how bad it feels when a customer is angry and rude to you (I’ve dealt with that at plenty of jobs). And when you are rude, things only seem to take longer. So I try to go in with a positive mindset and keep calm.

If everyone could work on being a bit more positive and polite when dealing with people, the world would seriously be such a better place.

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First Week of Workouts After The Challenge (or Weird Workout Times)

Posted on September 1, 2014 | Comments Off on First Week of Workouts After The Challenge (or Weird Workout Times)

So even though my Orangetheory challenge is over, I still think I’m going to blog about my workouts occasionally (or maybe continue the tradition of blogging about my workouts on Monday?). The only thing is, now that I don’t have to post photos on social media after every class, I have no photos from any classes this past week! It’s just so much easier to leave right after class to go home and shower instead of struggling to think of a pose for a photo.

With few exceptions, I’ve been working out at the same time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And I’ve only worked out on those days. But this week changed because life kind of took over.

This past Monday was the Primetime Emmys, and I knew I would be live-tweeting them. Since the show started at 5pm here in Los Angeles, I knew that going to my usual 4:15 class wouldn’t work. So I took the 12:15 class. That class was taught by Megan, who I had never worked with before. But JZ, who teaches the Wednesday afternoon classes I go to, happened to be working out during that class! So JZ and I worked out together during the strength section. That was pretty awesome!

Wednesday was a workout as usual during my usual time. Nothing special except that I was super sore from Monday’s workout and it seemed like all the strength exercises we had to do on Wednesday were working out the exact muscles that hurt. I struggled, but I pushed through as much as I could.

And this past Friday, I didn’t work out! Shocking, I know! I had a full morning of work and then an audition in the afternoon that I found out about on Thursday. When I called Orangetheory to move my Friday class to be later, they told me that the later classes were full and had full wait lists! This is why I sign up at least a week in advance for my classes!

But I did have some free time after my work shift on Saturday morning, so I had my Friday workout on Saturday. It felt pretty weird, but at least I got in my three workouts for the week.

What this past week proved to me is that I really am willing to find a way to get in my workouts, no matter what other scheduling issues that come up.

I know that this week will also be a little weird because of today being a holiday (there are only morning classes). But besides that, I think I will be able to make my other usual classes. And I know I’ll get in my three workouts!

After all, I’m still in the weight loss challenge and I want to win that!

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss, Work

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