Dr results

So I went to the doctor yesterday.  To put my moms worries to rest-- I am NOT pre-diabetic, or diabetic.  (WEEW).  My moms fears were that because I was overweight that I was diabetic because I am having foot issues.. ie: plantar fasciitis and foot swelling.

The doctor basically told me that I have edema in my feet. Edema is basically the accumulation of fluid in the legs, feet, or toes.  Mine is a very mild case in comparison to the case found on wikipedia.

My doctor asked me a few key questions to come up with this diagnosis. 1. Over the last 5 years have you lost or gained a significant amount of weight? YES. 2. Have your eating habits changed over the last few months.  YES.

Now lets flash back.  5 years.  Freshman year.  Compared to know-- I was a skinny B.

[caption id="attachment_155" align="alignnone" width="604"] Skinny B on the right.[/caption]

Since then I've gained a lot of weight.  Anyway, the swelling in my feet has something to do with the amount of blood my body was USED to pushing through, and now could not.  RX: Compression sock (not happening) and continuing my low carb diet.

I'm literally so excited he said that my low carb diet was a good thing.  I've been struggling with my mom about the low carb diet idea.  She hates it.  I think she only hates it because it doesnt work for her.. or she doesn't stick on it long enough to find out.  Either way she wants me to do weight watchers with her.  Sorry. I'm just not into paying someone to weigh me, and then talking about why I'm fat.  I can pay myself to do that.  --all kidding aside I know weight watchers works for a lot of people.  I've tried it before and it wasn't for me.  If it works for you-- more power to you!!

Anyway, I still have a slight feeling that this "edema" has something to do with carbs-- since it seems to happen alot more after I eat carby foods.  So basically I'm self proclaiming myself "Carb/wheat/gluten Sensitive".  Its much easier to explain to people that I eat low carb for weight loss because I'm "carb sensitive" or "wheat sensitive" than saying, "OH yeah, you should see what happens when I eat carbs.  My feet and legs balloon up.  My toes are mini sausages!!" ... not so graceful.

I'm so re leaved to hear that it was not something more serious.  Granted I know edema is kinda serious and can lead to some pretty serious issues-- I plan to start eating low carb.  Like tomorrow *this post was written last night*.

Ill keep you posted with that progress.

In other news, I went running yesterday.  Turns out the app I use posts to twitter when I start my run-- because my good friend Amy tweeted me about 3/4ths of the way though my workout-- pretty much exactly when I needed a pick me up.  Check out my stats below.. you can more than likely exactly when Amy tweeted me.  My time dropped significantly!! Love it

[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignnone" width="200"] Stats[/caption]



I think Amy tweeted me around .8.. so i got faster... then slower, then faster!

Anyway, thats all for today! Thanks for reading!

 

Random thoughts for Thursday

[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignnone" width="300"] Has nothing to do with this post but I thought it was cute![/caption]

 

1. I didn't win the powerball-- because I didn't play the powerball.  However there's still hope! My mom did! MWAHAHA!

2. I broke my hair straightener yesterday.  Well I guess its not technically broken.  It sparked the smoked. And smelt like crap.  It still works but you cant convince me to stick my 2 1/2 feet of hair into that sucker.  I'd like to keep my hair long-- thank you!

3. I ripped my second pair of nice jeans for work this week.  No idea what my problem was.  Slammed my foot right into the crotch of them causing them to rip in a not so pretty way.  At least maybe if they ripped in the knee I could wear them out when I'm not at work because that's the "style".  I'm pretty sure there's not "style" for jeans ripped in the crotch.

4. We decorated our tree last night.  My parents must have asked me a thousand times if I did this.. or that.. Seriously? I've been putting up a tree for the past 6 years.  I think I know how we do it!

[caption id="attachment_147" align="alignnone" width="640"] YAY!-- Pre-ornaments[/caption]

I must have been one fatty kid.  This ornament was made when I was about 3.  Yes, those are my teeth marks from eating the elmers glue cookie.



5. I'm going to the doctor today for my swollen feet.  I'm hoping that he has the answer to why this keeps happening?! Fingers crossed.

6. The Running schedule says 1 mile again today, so that will be happening too after work!

7. Got free coffee from Giant Eagle's Get Go today.  Of course when I decide to get the smaller cup its free.  I need to start keeping track of that stuff.

Well, I ran!

Well, I had swollen feet yet again yesterday.

[caption id="attachment_138" align="alignnone" width="300"] Doesn't look horrible, until you see the before.[/caption]

Started almost immediatly after lunch.  This picture was taken about 4 hours after the swelling started.  I'm not really sure what is causing this issue but it sure is frustrating.

Speaking of frustrating.  I need to do a side vent here which has really upset me lately.  Some people which I will leave unnamed have repeatedly told me how "unhealthy" I am, and that they're so worried about me because my feet keep swelling, I'm over weight and basically they keep telling me I have diabetes and thats why my feet are swelling.  They also think that my issue with plantar fasciitis is connected to diabetes because of the whole foot issues with the disease.  I've had my blood pressure checked, my cholesterol, my pulse etc taken when I give blood approximately ever 112 days.  Every single time I get that bloodwork back it says the same thing.  HEALTHY.

I get that I am overweight and that my BMI isn't where it should be at this point but I dunno.. I'm no docotor but in my mind all those "healthy" things have to somewhat balance out my "unhealthy" things just a little bit? Its just beyond frustrating.  Anyway, i'm going to get the foot swelling thing checked out on Thursday so I'll let you all know how that goes (is anyone reading this!?)

Anyway, I went for a run yesterday.  Shocking I know.  First run since being released from that death trap of a boot.  It was slow, yes.  It didn't feel awesome, no. But at least I did it.  And without pain!! I think my healcups are going to be the key to my success with running!

Here are the stats:

[caption id="attachment_135" align="alignnone" width="200"] Time and distance[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_136" align="alignnone" width="200"] My pace over time. Hahah gosh.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_137" align="alignnone" width="200"] summary[/caption]

I made myself a make shift 1/2 marathon running schedule.  Considering I'm basically starting from 0 this will be a long journey-- and I'm not even sure I've decided on racing yet, but only time will tell I guess.

I talked with a friend today that basically said getting to 5 is the easy part.  Getting over 5 is the hard part.  Once you get to 10 then its a cakewalk.  Which I'm not really sure I believe but I guess I'll take his word!

 

Official Twitter!

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Follow me @LifeByLex!

You can search me in twitter or click the link on the sidebar to the right!

Happy Following!

Getting back to running?

For a few months now, I've been out of running.  When I say out... I mean out.

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignnone" width="640"] Exhibit A[/caption]

 

I developed a pretty decent case of Plantar Fasciitis.  Basically swelling along the tendon that runs from your heal to your toes.  It got so inflamed basically every step hurt.  They put me in this lovely accessory for "3-5 weeks" which really turned into 8 weeks and constant pain.  After my 8 week visit with my doctor he basically told me to wear heal cups, go visit the physical therapist and check back within a few weeks.  Well PT never happened.  Too busy with my sisters wedding and just to much stuff going on.  Plus I know it shouldn't be about money but I've put myself on a pretty strict budget.

I'm still having some pain when my feet get cold or I get too stiff.

Last week, I was approached by a coworkerof mine who was interesting in possibly running the Pittsburgh Marathon Relay.  Seriously a great time.  I've ran this race at least 3 times and I've always had a blast with the people I've ran with.  Basically you split up the whole marathon between 5 people. I was so pumped and I immediatly started texting all the runners I knew. We had a team of 3-- until one decided to bail today.

My lovely sister-- marathon addict is trying to convince me that I should train for the half marathon.  I would love to do that.  I'm just not sure if I'll be physically able.. or more likely mentally able.  I've always struggled with the mental part of running.  It just gets in my head.  The thought of "I literally cant do it" just pops in my head and all of a sudden its too hard.  I can't do it anymore.

I really should start training for something... even if I don't run that race I think I need to become more active.  I need to start taking accountability for working out and eating right.

I guess I'm going to try to run a little bit over the next month or so and see where I'm at.  I've made myself a running schedule that I think its pretty doable.. I've got some thinking to do...

 

Do you think I should run the race? 

Have you ever ran a half marathon?

 

Hot mess of a morning!

Today has been a hot mess of work.

I really enjoy getting projects thrown my way-- big or small but I really really really hate being disorganized.  I use OneNote for everything which has literally saved my butt! Someday I give an awesome tutorial on how to use OneNote and how I really use it to organize my life here at work.. some day.  Anyway, I usually start the day by reading all my email and splitting it up into "delete", "read later", "categorize" or "Remind Me" sections.  This usually helps me stay relatively organized and focused... until you forget to do it.

I got so caught up in what I had to do today I totally forgot to read my email and do my daily organizing and now I'm paying for it.  Normally all of our change requests (basically my daily work) have to be submitted by 1 pm -- in order to have them approved for the next day.  Well because I was so sidetracked I lost track of what needed to be done and it wasn't until 10 am that I realized I had to submit alot of change requests-- for a little bit of work.

I just feel like I have a lot to do.. but not much to show of it (if that makes sense).  Lots of planning but no real outputs!? I'm not sure how I want to say it but I think you get the picture!

Gotta go get myself organized for the day.. at 12:54 PM. YES.

'Tis the season!!

Hello bloggers!!

Before I throw myself into my homework-- (Read: watch teen Mom 2 with a side of homework) I thought I'd throw a little post out there to share my day.

Today was a good day at work.  I think a lot of people are still taking time off from the holiday so there weren't the normal amount of people in the office.  My feet got swollen again today for unknown reasons.  Its a little scary because I can't pinpoint exactly why its happening.

After dinner I decided to take it upon myself and put up some Christmas lights for my family. Here are my results!

[caption id="attachment_121" align="alignnone" width="640"] One side...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_120" align="alignnone" width="640"] The other...[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_122" align="alignnone" width="640"] The whole Shibang![/caption]

I also added a wreath the my favorite accessory-- My Barbie Jeep!! Please excuse the half drugged look.  Promise I wasn't!

[caption id="attachment_123" align="alignnone" width="640"] 'Tis the Season![/caption]

I ended my night with some Minty hot coco.  It felt like a great idea since I was so cold from putting up lights for two hours!

[caption id="attachment_124" align="alignnone" width="640"] Minty Hot chocolate![/caption]

 

Thanks for reading!!

 

 

School starts tomorrow!

Its the MOST-- wonderful timeeeee of the year!!! 



I can remember being really young and my dad singing this song while prancing around the kitchen.

Anyway, grad school starts tomorrow.  Technically it started for me last week because I snooped on blackboard to see my assignments and what hot mess i'd be in for.

I'm a little concerned with the amount of work I'll be doing with my school stuff and the stuff at work.  I've been assigned one of two small projects and a few little projects at work which has left my brain a little frazzled with organization.

Anyway, I'm starting my adventures in online school for my Masters in Healthcare Administration.  I'm hoping that this degree really does help to advance my career into something that will pay a little more money as I have the debt cloud hanging over my head from Undergrad.

When I was in undergrad I had a very hard time sitting in class and paying attention.  I could complete all my work as long as it was on my terms and I was alone..  call me crazy.  So when I was looking for Grad Schools I knew that I didn't want to have to be at work for 8 hours and then go to class for 4 hours-- and homework and life ontop of that.. Don't think so.

I opted for an all online class.  I'm taking 3 credits this "term".  My company will pay 50% up to $5,000 so I can purchase up t0 $10,000 worth of credits and only actually pay $5,000.  Thats pretty ballin' if you ask me.  I can have my degree finished in about 3 years if I only take 1 class per term but it should be quicker than that if I follow my scheduled 2 classes per term.

Has anyone taken an online class before? Did you like it?

Would you ever go to online school?

On Saturday

I'm writing this morning from the comfort of my lovely sister and brother in law's couch. Remember last night when I told you it was cold? Yeah it was really cold.  It involved snow.  Last night we had a really relaxing night-- went to bed around 12 hoping that the pup would last to a decent hour this morning to wake up.

At 6 I heart his little paws digging away at the bottom of his crate and him whining like he had to go out, so I decided instead of making him wait a few more hours to go out I'd just do it then and sleep on the sofa some more.  My plan worked like a charm.  We did have to go on a few walks-- totaling 1.5 ish miles but he's been very good.  His mom and dad came home from the night shift and were very tired.  Of course the only toy he wanted to play with was the loudest toy he has.  So I gave him a carrot instead.  Dude loves carrots.



We're... errr I'm writing this blog from the comfort of my couch and my cuddly blanket...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="470"] Sorry No makeup![/caption]

Goose and I went on a few walks today and found a few treasures that made it through trash day.  Yeah I know that's kinda gross but hey -- Goosey picked them up!  And wrote a little note....



True life-- as I was trying to post this-- little Goosey's dreams made his tail wag which when on your touchpad on your laptop- makes it extremely difficult to use the mouse!! So cute!

New blog excitement!!

I'm kind of feeling better about starting this blog and trying to get people to read it/ come up with something worth reading.  I knew before I started this blog that I'm not the best writer.. I post A LOT of pictures.. and my life really isn't that exciting but I thought I'd give  it my best shot.

I learned through my blogging bestie Amy that I need friends that arn't my family.  Sometimes I just need an outside perspective on what's going on in my life.  An honest opinion of how they see things.  That's what I'm hoping my blog will provide me-- along with some good reads and a few more new best friends.

When I posted this afternoon and found "tags" and realized people would actually like what I post I got really excited.  And then I had followers!? What is this!? EXCITING.

So here's to an exciting blog and I hope you enjoy what I write about!!

Friday Night Plans

Its cold in Pittsburgh tonight.  And really windy.  I'm puppysitting the Gooseman for my sister and the new brother in law.  I love this little guy.  Seriously.

We took a puppy photoshoot (aka two pictures) for your enjoyment:





Goose looks SO thrilled to be with his Aunt Lexi. Hahah he looks like hes gonna fall asleep.  I'm so entertaining I can't even handle it.

So anyway, We're spending our Friday night watching the MTV show Awkward. and  napping... chewing on toys.. chasing our tails.. errrr. wait.



What are your Friday plans?!

Are they way more interesting than mine!?

My Week in Instagrams

So this is a new Post that I'm going to try to do every week.  I'm SUPER active on Instagram and love taking pictures-- So for those of you who don't have instagram or don't like checking the app all the time, I'm gonna hook you up with some of my latest pictures weekly!

Remember you can follow me as Antoszewskia on instagram or you can view my pictures by following this Link!

Anyway-- On to this week in Instagrams!







Thanks for Viewing!

Inspiration comes from your toes... what!?

Sometimes stupid things motivate us.  If I tell you it was my toes today you'd think I'm crazy.

My Toes Motivated me today.

Real story-- So random but follow the train of thought if you can

1. Toes Got swollen (too many carbs + sugar)


2. Toes started to ache


3. Thought Popped into my head: "MUST DRINK MORE WATER!"


4. Thought provoked more thoughts: "… I should probably try to reduce my carbs and sugars…"


5. And another thought: ".. I should really go back to eating low carb.."


6. ".. I Can Totally do that!... I should start exercising while I'm eating low carb!"


7. "..PITTSBURGH MARATHON RELAY.." *Research, research, research..


8. "… while I'm at it, I need to start following some weight loss blogs.. "


9. "… wow their pretty.. And popular…"


10. 10.


11. "… I want to be pretty and popular… "


12. *FOLLOW*


13. *BLOG BLOG BLOG*


14. *COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT.

Okay… so now do I sound crazy for saying my toes motivate me? YES. Okay, perfect.

To do:

1. Find a relay team.  We have 3/5 members!


2. Drink more water


3. Eat low carb to feel better


4. Blog, blog, blog


5. Read more blogs--- comment. Get follows. Help!

Lazy (wo)Man's Weekend

Friday:

Friday was a fun and casual day.  My coworkers decided to all get together and go to a new Mexican place near where we work.  I’m not a huge Mexican fan but that place was so interesting inside—and the food was delicious.  They had these beautiful star lanterns decorating the whole place and the tables were wood but they had an awesome thick texture to them.. I know I sound odd after that one but it was fun.  After work I went to pick up a friend and drove back to my sister’s house to drive all together as a happy family to Light up Night.

Light Up Night is basically like a light up night in any other city.  It’s the day when they turn on all the Christmas lights, trees, unveil the windows and show off all the holiday decorations around the city.  But most importantly its when Santa throws fireballs at the Christmas tree at the point and lights the whole thing up!!

We went to dinner at Duquesne and then slowly made our way down town zig zagging down streets to look at the decorations.  There were SO many people there.

Here are some of the pictures!!













Saturday:

Saturday was a rather lazy day for me.  I got up with Goose at about 7 and he wouldn’t let me go back to sleep.  So instead I played with him and took him on a few walks and took a cat nap later.  We decided to go on a little family walk in a local park.  We made 2 loops around which was 3 miles.  Previous to this walk, 1.5 miles was Goose’s Max.  I’d say he walked at least about 2.5 miles.  Needless to day—Dude was pooped.  Goose and I snuggled on the couch while Nikki and Michael ran errands.  When they got home, we had a nice family dinner with my parents, Nikki and Mike, Goose and myself.

Sunday:

Again on Sunday I got up around 6:30 to be with Goose.  Little man must have been tired because he let me sleep till about 9 when Nikki woke up and came downstairs.  We hung out on the couch for a while and then decided to go to church as a family.  After church we decided to build Nikki and Mike a Christmas tree stand so we had to go walk around Home Depot for a while.  When we got home, My mom and dad started building the stand, Nikki started weed wacking the hillside (who let her have such a dangerous tool!?) and I played with Goose… Until I reassigned myself to decorating the front door.

After all the decorating was done we had another nice family dinner with Yummy food.

How was your weekend? 

Whats your idea of a relaxing weekend?

Giveaway!!

Peace, Love, and Low Carb is having a giveaway for an Arm Pocket Armband! Check it out here.

 

 

ZzZz...

Good Morning bloggers.

Today was extra super hard to get up.  Well I guess getting up wasn't the hard part—so far the hard part has been staying awake.

I’ve been babysitting my sisters amazing Vizsula Goose.



Seriously, if you ever want to find the world’s best snuggler you need to meet this dog.  For real.  Last night I felt overly tired from staying up late and getting up early… and probably not fully sleeping through the night.  Goose gets anxious in the middle of the night when he is in his crate.  As soon as you let him out he’ll have no problem falling back asleep on the floor, your lap—wherever.  He just cannot stand the crate.  Anyway, yesterday I was super tired and since Goose had already passed out on me, I thought I’d put him in the crate while he’s still groggy and then sneak upstairs and head to bed early.  It worked well—until he woke up.  He woke up a few more times in the middle of the night and finally at 5:25 he decided he WASN’T staying in the crate.  My mom let him out and of course he falls asleep 2 seconds later.  We went on our normal walk around the block—had some breakfast and snuggled a little before I went to work.  Leaving him is the worst part! Hes so stinkin’ warm and cuddly!

It’s kind of dark and Gloomy this morning which is making me extra tired.  I'm on this new kick where I curl my hair everyday.  I have a curling wand which for some reason curls my hair WAY better than any curling iron out there.  Someday I'll show you all how I do it exactly.  I got a ton of compliments the first day I did my hair curly (the Tuesday after my sisters wedding-- so not that long ago) and I've been doing it that way ever since.  Right now its taking me longer to do my hair but just like anything-- with practice I'll get faster and it will look better (and maybe I'll be able to do it with no burns!)

Blogger troubles

So I've struggled a little bit over the past few years deciding whether or not I wanted my blog to be something that people I actually know-- like in real life-- to know about.  I've gone back and forth, never keeping the same blog.  I have never stayed dedicated to a blog long enough to get actual real followers.

I've decided to take a slightly different approach to blogging this time.  I've decided to keep my blog in the blog world-- and if at some point down the road I want to expand my followers to my real life -- peeps-- then I'll do that.

I've also decided to switch platforms.  I've been a blogger.com fan for a long while now but while I was switching around all my blogs and being wishy-washy with my decision I've gotten thoroughly annoyed with a few different aspects of blogger.  I thought I'd give Wordpress a chance.  I've read a few blogs that seem to have pretty good success with wordpress.

So I'm going to give this a try and hopefully I can get some good followers to follow my rambling..

Cute wittle test photo

This is Goose!!