Frustration or Why I Love the Minute Clinic

I am incredibly frustrated with my body right now. Defeated by it, even.

On June 6, it decided to get strep throat. Annoying, as it was my first week at the Pilates studio. However, I was not totally shocked by this, as strep throat is my disease of choice. Anyone who has lived with me will tell you that. I still remember junior year of college, and Melissa telling everyone I had scarlet fever.....I went to the Minute Clinic, in the CVS in Rosemont. For the record, I recommend this. No waiting at the doctor's office, early hours and weekend hours, all in all more convenient.

Since I liked my first trip there so much, my body decided it would like to go back. Today, please. Thursday I started sneezing a lot, Friday I had a runny nose, yesterday I felt pretty crappy (but we decided to go to the beach, which sounded more fun than the Minute Clinic, nice as they are. Besides, that fresh air should have helped me out, right?). But last night and today, I couldn't do anything. My head hurt so badly, my throat was sore, and I absolutely could not breathe through my nose. I called my doctor's office at 2:30AM, hoping they would just call something in. They said they don't do antibiotic call ins without seeing the patient first, so if I wanted to come in on Monday or Tuesday.... Um, no. Thank you. Chris wouldn't let me go teach this morning, which I got up to do, so I decided to put that time to good use and go get better! Minute Clinic to the rescue!

I had to wait 15 minutes, which compared to your typical doctor's office waiting room time is not bad. I had the same nurse practictioner as the last time. We are now good friends. Hopefully my body can go more than 3 weeks without seeing her again. Other good thing about the Minute Clinic- the pharmacy is right there! So within half an hour, I had a diagnosis (sinus infection), drugs (amoxicillin and Mucinex) and was on my way (to a Fringe rehearsal). Hooray!

The frustration is this- Why is this happening????? I'm supposed to be at my healthiest. I'm eating more than usual, working out, doing something that I love, sleeping, even the occassional nap! But with these 2 infections I feel really defeated. I can't work out as hard as I want to, nothing sounds appetizing. Plus, I am just plain stressed out from being sick- I don't work that much, so I hate missing that money, and I need lots of hours at the Pilates studio, as I am still catching up from the first time I was sick!

There was a radio commercial on when I was young that went "If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired..." (and I can still sing the jingle), and that is how I feel right now. I really can't go through 3 week cycles of this. I don't know if it is my schedule, just the change of seasons, the change of jobs/lifestyle, the anxiety that I am carrying regarding all of it, or what. All I know is, it's got to go!

Nutrition Check-in

I have had a couple of requests for an update on how the weight gain is going. Truthfully, I have no idea. I don't weigh myself very often. I know that I have gotten stronger in my workouts, so maybe a little bit....

I'm putting protein mix in everything- my coffee, cereal, ice cream. And I've been drinking a lot of Ensure. These things have to helping some, I would think. This week I will start visiting a nutritionist. Independence Blue Cross gives their members 6 free nutritionists visits/year. Free, really! So if you have IBC, check it out (guess who's been working in insurance?)! After my visit, I hope to have a better plan of attack and a better way of tracking my progress.

Making a new body

Again, a shameful lack of posting! I'm going through a deep journal writing phase right now, that will hopefully lead to more blogging. But right now, I'm not ready to share it with the world.

What I am ready to share is news many of you have been hoping for (No, I'm NOT pregnant! Why did you think that first?). I am working conscientiously toward gaining weight. Basically, my body has hit the plateau for muscle mass. At my current weight, I simply cannot get any stronger. I need more protein and iron to make more muscle. With all of the Pilates I have been doing, I need more strength. Pilates was made originally for men, by a man after all.

Hearing this was a shock. I think I'm pretty strong! I certainly look very toned. But that is a deceptive thing about long limbs. They look great with not much work. So I will be working to build more strength in my core and arm/shoulders especially.

There are 2 challenges with this new quest for strength:
1. Gaining weight is foreign to me. I have weighed between 110 and 115 for the past 5 years (for me a "healthy" weight). Moving beyond these numbers is actually going to take effort- to put it on, and then not freak out about it. Hopefully, really wanting to do this Pilates program will be enough motivation for me.
2. How do I do it?
A. Supplements/Bars? I have tried Muscle Milk- yucky aftertaste and it made my stomach hurt. Chris did whey protein a while ago and it made him break out in hives. The Trader Joe's Vanilla stuff is really gritty, but mixes well into oatmeal. I don't know that I could drink it straight, but Travis tells me if I combine it with ice cream, it's better (isn't everything better when combined with ice cream?). Most of the bars taste like dirt. Or cost a lot of money
B. Vitamins? I should probably be doing this anyway.....
C. Diet? Still not a big read meat fan. And the more I read about the food farms/cattle raising habits, the more I am conviced not to eat it. I guess the free-range, organic is the way to go, which is what I try to do with our poultry and eggs. But, then again, cost becomes a factor.

I will try to keep this updated with my adventures in protein-rich food. So far, gold star for Trader Joe's Natural Peanut Butter!

Ears

I have a horrible earache. I haven't had an earache since I was about 2, I think. It is so miserable. I had to do two employee wellness meetings this morning and the entire time I was talking I just wanted to stop because I was making my own head hurt! I could hear my voice inside my head (which is always annoying) and it was making my head vibrate. I took some 8 hour Tylenol about 5 hours ago. It wore off 3 hours ago, but I feel obliged to not take any more until 5PM.

Anyone have a sure-fire earache cure? Chris's is ear candles. I tried that last night. It worked for a while; I could hear and the whole left side of my face didn't throb for about half an hour. But it clearly wasn't a cure. Maybe if I do it again? I don't feel sick, my nose isn't stuffy, my glands aren't swollen, I don't have a fever, I just want to cut my head in half.

New Year

Good grief! It's been a month since I've written. That is shameful!

So today's body talk: Pulled muscles.

I can't remember the last time I pulled a muscle. I take care to warm-up and stretch. I'm in good shape and decently flexible, so it hasn't been a problem. Last night, I pulled one. Big time. I will need to get out my anatomy book to be sure which one it is, but I'm pretty sure it is my piriformis. Runs around the butt/hip/groin area. I forced a left split. I don't have a left split; I've never had a left split. But I thought I'd just push myself into it. Now today, I can hardly walk without limping! Even sitting hurts. I'm dumb.

So tonight is gym night, but there will be no running. I think I'll work upper body. Brie said on Saturday that I was weak in my upper body. What, now? I actually have muscles there, thank you very much. But Pilates was created by a man, for men, so I have a long way to go to get to manly level!

Pilates 2

I had another session with Brie today. I have decided to enroll in the program- but that will be about 6 months down the road. Right now I need to focus on learning the apparatus and being in better control of my body. I had no idea how much my scoliosis was affecting me. My left hip sneaks up, my right side is really tight and doesn't lengthen as well, I think I'm straight when I'm not....Yikes.

X-ray results

I forgot to post this! I did get my X-ray results. Nothing except mild scoliosis. Yeah. I knew that already. Thanks. The Dr. recommended PT. In all my free time, I'll be sure to shove that in 3 times a week. I think I'm going to slowly work back into my runs and keep stretching.

Hhhhhmmmmm.

Apparently God is laughing at my blog name. My kinesic sense doesn't seem to be working too well.

I've been having a lot of hip pain, that has recently resulted in my foot feeling like it is "asleep" all the time. Also, my ribcage pops. Like my knuckles. So, I've been going to the chiropractor for these issues. I've only gone twice, but I thought it was helping. But last night, while I was running, my foot started feeling really tingly. By mile 3, my ankle was swollen. What the heck? Ice took down the swelling right away, and it hasn't returned. Mandy thinks it might be a stress fracture in my foot. Chris says sciatica. I think I will leave this one up to the medical professionals.

Also, I have been having "female problems", plus, this morning I woke up with an earache in both ears and a sore neck. So, off to the doctor's with me. I have an appointment tomorrow.

This is most frustrating, because I'm supposed to be (and think of myself as) someone who knows her body quite well and listens to it. (Well, most times as I thought about stopping at mile 2.5 last night but kept pushing.) I teach other people how to use their bodies well. And now mine seems to be crashing.